Sounds like "Mick Jagger"

Tuna and konbu rice

Nikujaga (Meat and potatoes simmered in a sweet broth)

Fried scallops

Mikan (a mandarin orange, or tangerine)

Milk

(937 calories)

Notes: Konbu is a type of seaweed that is most often used behind the scenes to flavor broths in Japanese cooking, but it shows up in finished dishes as well. Today’s rice was a kind of maze-gohan (mixed rice) in which ingredients were mixed into the white rice after it was cooked (in contrast to takikomi-gohan, in which raw ingredients are thrown in with the uncooked rice before the whole cooking process begins).  The tuna used today is just canned, flaky tuna like we have back in the states, which is often (but not always) distinguished from the good slabs of sushi-grade tuna meat here by using the borrowed English word “tuna” (ツナ) as opposed to the native Japanese word “maguro” (鮪). “Sea chicken” (シーチキン) is also sometimes used to refer to the canned stuff as well.

Legend has it that when Japan was first introduced to the idea of Western beef stew, they adjusted it to suit their palate by making this version of it using a concoction of soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar for the broth (a combination of ingredients that shows up in almost everything, it seems).  The result was this now popular staple of Japanese home cooking called nikujaga (literally “meat [肉 – niku] and potatoes [ジャガイモ – jagaimo]”). Like beef stew, it’s a warm, hearty dish that is great in the wintertime and warms the soul as much as it does the belly. It is most often made using sliced beef, but the today’s version of it included pork slices, potatoes, onions, carrots, shirataki (konjac noodles), and green beans. But, despite being a hearty concoction of meat and potatoes, most people here still don't find the dish complete unless served with some of that good ol' Japanese sticky rice as we can see here in today's menu.

The next town over is famous for scallops (帆立 –  hotate), so they’re a very popular food in these parts. Frying them and drizzling them with Worcestershire sauce like this is one popular option, but you can of course find them prepared many different ways. They’re often eaten raw, either served as-is (sashimi) or on top of vinegar-seasoned rice (sushi), but grilling them is another popular option. Sometimes they’re put on skewers and grilled with just a light seasoning of salt and pepper, but in Hokkaido you’re more likely to find them at yakiniku (Korean barbecue) parties just plopped on the grill still on their shell, bubbling away in a combination of soy sauce and butter (because they’re positively divine when prepared this way). Also, since they’re a local specialty here, you can readily buy boxes or bags of individually wrapped scallops to pass out as souvenirs (as it’s pretty much mandatory that you buy some sort of little edible souvenirs for your family, friends, and coworkers any time you travel somewhere). They either come soft (sometimes flavored with things like soy sauce, sometimes accompanied by a lump of cheese) or dried and somewhat chewy. They’re kind of pricey and considered quite the delicacy, and they’re easy to eat if you need a quick scallop fix. Just unwrap and eat – no heating or preparation necessary.

And finally we have dessert: mikan! Mikan show up in the grocery stores once winter starts approaching, and I pick up a bag of them pretty much every time I go to the store during these months. They’re easy to peel and amazingly delicious, and they’re almost always seedless (they are so much easier to eat than a regular orange). Many people buy them by the boxful, and almost any house you enter during the winter months will have a little basket of them set out for guests.