Just look at that. Fascinating, isn’t it? And I get to be a part of this lunchtime process almost every day. What did I do to be so blessed?
So are you ready to join me on this crazy culinary adventure? Yes? Then follow me!
Oh, but before we begin, I’m kind of just putting up the pages of my original kyuushoku report in the order I originally typed them in. Hence, many of these posts may have been written months (or even years) ago. So if it’s, say, December and I start talking about how delicious Hokkaido asparagus is in the summer, that’s why. Also, the names of the dishes (or rather, their awkward translations by yours truly) and amount of calories contained in them are pulled straight from the school menus distributed to all faculty and students every month, and the “notes” are just my own little description and comments.
Anyway, on to the first post. Itadakimasu!
White rice
Matsukaze yaki (Kind of like a flat meatloaf made from ingredients like tofu, chicken, miso, panko bread crumbs, sake, soy sauce, sugar, and mirin, then topped with sesame seeds.)
Western-style kimpira (thinly sliced pork, gobou [burdock root], carrot, and green beans cooked in soy sauce, mirin, and sugar.)
Cabbage and abura age (deep-fried tofu skins) miso soup
Milk
(814 calories)
Notes: Kinpira is usually just thin slices of burdock root (gobou) and carrot sautéed in soy sauce and sugar and garnished with sesame seeds (and sometimes crushed red pepper for an added kick). If it’s made from any other ingredients it’s usually specified in the name. For example, we’ve had potatoes cooked kimpira-style at lunch before, and so it was called imo kimpira (“potato kimpira”). I guess meat and green beans made this day’s kimpira look more like youshoku (western-style food) than washoku (Japanese-style food) to them, hence the name. Also, matsukaze yaki is not a common food, but it shows up around New Year’s in some households. It’s amazing and easy to make, so after eating this I begged for the school’s recipe and now like to make this at home.
Everyone at work is amused at just how much I’ve taken a liking to matsukaze yaki, sometimes going so far as to blurt out things like “we’re having Danielle’s favorite for lunch today!” Luckily, this dish has shown up at my junior high (and elementary school) on multiple occasions, often paired with some form of kinpira (which is also a favorite of mine). Here’s another school lunch featuring pretty much the same menu, only with egg and nira (Chinese chive) miso soup and a kinpira made with dried shiitake mushrooms instead of green beans:
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