Monday, February 2, 2009

Choice Cuts in Sauce

Sunset on my way out of school today.

If I forget to look out the window before I go out, this is what I always open the door to!

Isn't this single serving jar of umeshu the most delightful little thing you've ever seen? 98 yen at the supermarket.

I love shirataki. They're the noodle form of konnyaku and have no calories or carbohydrates or fat, just a few grams of fiber. They soak up flavors and are good in lots of recipes, especially hot soups and nabemono. Tonight I simmered them with mushrooms, green onions and some kind of dried bread that I like the texture of, then stirred in a packet of miso. I used a microwave and it took me like 5 minutes and was so tasty. Shirataki = lazy diet heaven. Next time I'm having them with kimchee and tofu.

Boots, I like you and all but you really let me down this weekend. This was just a few minutes after leaving the house. It was an unusually slushy weekend, and 3 miles later my feet were submerged in sheepskin cups of cold water. Dang!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just for curiosity, how cold is it in your place? I'm curious and anxious because I'm moving to Hokkaido.

Beth Roeser said...

It's not as bad as I thought it would be. Well, it was until I got my bangin parka and some heat-tech undershirts and learned to never leave the house without at least one pair of tights under my pants. Still, it's generally around 20F, except when it gets mean and goes down around 10 for a few days.

But as you probably know, Hokkaido is much colder than this part of Tohoku. When are you moving there? I've heard summers in Sapporo are amazing. If you don't land when it's already hardcore winter, and you make sure to budget for hardcore winter clothes, you'll figure it out pretty fast. I came mid-fall and I had about two weeks of complete fucking misery as the temperatures started to plunge before I had money for a coat, but once I had money I figured it out pretty fast and I've settled into it fine. I don't even remember what it's like to walk outside as anything but a spandex, wool & down burrito.

Whitney said...

sheepskin cups of cold water? eeeewwwwwww.

Jerylyn said...

umeeeeeeeeeeshuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!
dude, nothin' better for real. i always talk myself out of buying it though coz it's 13 bones.
i feel bad for your boots. you should spray scotch guard on them. :)
they sell tofu shirataki at freds but it's pretty spendy so i've always veered away from it but have remained ever curious.

Beth Roeser said...

it's about a dollar a pack here, i'm lucky because this weird cheapo super by my house sells it for about 50 cents a pack, i'm probably getting crazy lead poisoning or something though, sometimes the food there's kinda sketch.

i've heard the tofu stuff is more tasty and pasta-y but has calories and is more expensive. next time you're at uwajimaya you should pick up some of the plain ones, or some in block form, which you cut into chunks and toss into soup and stuff.

ayabean said...

Oh I love Umeshu, toooo!

anyway, sorry I was supposed to talk to you, but I got the flu and couldn't get out for 5 days...
I'll eamil you soon!

Sarah said...

Did I tell you I bought shirataki noodles, red miso, mushrooms, broccoli and soy sauce? Well I fucking did and then my fridge broke and everything went to hell. Sigh. I'm gonna march to Safeway this weekend and get it all sorted.

BTW the tofu shirataki only has 40 calories per pack, so it's not that much more.