May 9, 2006
Japanese Snacks and Sayings
There are so many different types of yummy snacks in Japan, it's difficult to not want to try them all. I have had some weird stuff, but most everything I've tried tastes pretty good.
One of my coworkers went to Kobe and nearby onsen area during Golden Week. Yes, that's Kobe, as in Kobe beef. He didn't bring back any beef, but he did bring back some regional snacks. One of which is pictured below, the Roof Tile Cookie, literally. In Japanese, it's called "kawara-senbei". "Kawara" means roof tile and "senbei" means cookie. I remember eating something similar in my childhood. The flavor is not super strong, but the texture is nice, sort of like a crispy sugar cookie, but not with a bunch of sugar.
Even with all the snacking, you must eat a real meal eventually. My favorite place and dish is at a little restaurant called Midori, it's a short 3 minute walk from the ATT office building in Akasaka. The sign is not in Roman characters and neither is the menu, so you and I would have problems. Except I know where it is. The only thing I order there (because it's my favorite) is the "Ghin-da-ra", which is silver cod. During lunch, it's just the set menu. So, your meal comes with a couple of little side dishes, a bowl of rice, miso soup, and the main dish. The silver cod is grilled, buttery, and soft. This is a picture of the chef with a big flounder. Doesn't it look super fresh? I think he was preparing this for the dinner crowd as we were the last ones in there for lunch today.
This past weekend, I heard a lot of girls saying "kawaii", which means "cute or pretty". But I had to ask my coworkers, what else can you say? What if you wanted to say "cool" or "super"? Here's a few good alternatives:
SUGOYEEEE!!
means something like "super" or "wow, that's great!"
KaKoyeeeEE!!! (kaGoyeeEE)
which means something like "Waay Cool! "
ICHIBAN!!!
you are the best!!
KIREYEEEEE!!
beautiful!
KANDOUSHITA!!
touched
and
CHOW KIREYEEEE!! (CHOW is not pronounced like "chow fun - chinese noodles". The -OW is pronounced like "toe".)
really beautiful!