I just wanted to feature two of my favorite things which can be found in a Japanese grocery. And yes, what you're seeing in the photo is a box of Golden Curry and a bottle of Bulldog tonkatsu sauce.


Now, both those things are special to me if only because during the times when I was still too shy whenever I entered a J-grocery (well... I was always afraid that I'll look like another trying-hard baka-gaijin-otaku to the Japanese folks who frequented the same grocery), those were the first two things which I dared to try out. I was afraid because I thought I looked like a baka-gaijin-otaku, because these things are a lot more expensive than the usual stuff I pick up from the grocery, and because I was afraid that I'd waste my hard-earned money on something that tasted awful.

Anyway, I ended up buying it, taking it home, and then ultimately loving the darn things.

Now, my kitchen doesn't seem to be complete without tonkatsu sauce around (although it doesn't necessarily have to be the Bulldog brand), in much the same way that it isn't complete if I had no salt handy. I use it on a lot of things. Besides using it for dip for fried things and some veggies, I've discovered that it also makes a tasty substitute for Oyster sauce in some dishes. I've also used it as dressing once, and I've even used it on pasta and I've also made plenty of tonkatsu-flavored onigiri.

The curry, however is a different story.

At first, I got accustomed to buying the pre-cooked, ready-to-serve variety which already had bits of meat and potato in it. All I had to do was heat some water in a bowl, then soak the curry packet in the hot bath for a couple of minutes before I could tear off the top and start eating.

I later heard that Golden Curry was a good brand preferred by most, so I decided to try it. UNFORTUNATELY, when I opened the box, I found two foil-sealed plastic trays which I honestly thought was also filled with the ready-to-eat variety which I got used to. So, I opened the corners of the trays and soaked them in hot water.

Lo and behold, after the requisite three minutes, I was surprised that the curry inside the trays was still NOT in the slushy state that they were supposed to be. I took off the foil completely and was dumbfounded to find BLOCKS of dehydrated (?) curry whose sides were only a tiny bit soft to the touch.

Since I had to serve it soon, I panicked, and it was only then that it occurred to me to dump the stuff in a pot and add water. Here, I made two bad mistakes:

- since I was caught off-guard, I didn't have any fresh meat and vegetables around. Some potatoes, some carrots, and an onion would have been nice...

- I placed BOTH blocks of curry in the pot. I found out later that unless you're planning to feed about four or five people, ONE should have been enough.

So, I ended up with way too much bland curry which I and my boyfriend then had to bear with for two days. @_@

Thankfully, the curry was yummy, even by itself, but I couldn't help but feel absolutely silly about my botched cooking session. I still do, actually...

At least, I now know that by next time, I WILL have meat and vegetables ready. And some milk to serve with it. :p

Out of impulse, I decided to pass by Hatchin on the way from work today, and this was one of the first things that I saw. I just had to take it since it was so darn cute.

The bun was filled with chocolate cream, and is now sitting happily within my belly.

Burp. :p

Many people have already asked me where I shop for my bento supplies and ingredients and I've always referred them to our favorite J-grocery, Hatchin. Ofcourse, stiff like vegetables and eggs are still bought at the local grocery, but items like nori, furikake, tonkatsu sauce and the like are from Hatchin. Then there's also the local malls that occassionally may or may not have what I'm looking for, but that's too much of a hit-and-miss thing to talk about.

Anyway, I've long been talking about taking pictures of the stuff they sell at Hatchin (such as Hello Kitty cheese), but it's only now that I actually got to do it.

So, go on and have a look!


Hatchin Entrance

( Irasshaimase~! 18 pics under the cut )

I actually wanted to take more pictures since there was a whole bunch of other things that I wanted to show, but I got a little shy so I put my camera away. Hehe...

That's it for now.

The last time that I was shopping at out favorite Japanese Grocery, they had freebies at the counter. I didn't exactly know what it was since all I could make out was the word "kani" on the box (not very good with Kanji...), and the fact that it expired in two weeks. So, I grabbed several boxes of the free Kani-things, and couple of days later, I decided to use it.

And it was yummy!!

Hehe... one thing I love about J-groceries is that when they go on sale, they REALLY go on sale. On top of that, they'd rather give away their goods rather than let it all expire and go to waste. ^_^

And our lunch for that day looked like this:


( more bento pics + recipe )

Hi guys.

Since we moved in to our new apartment, I haven't had much time or energy to start cooking again. That is, until I found this community. The thing is, during the move, I had to get rid of stuff since we had no space for them at the time, and alas, it's just now that I've realized that all I have is that obento-bako in my first post. The rest have been sent to my parents' house and given away as presents to the neighborhood kids. T_T

So, I'm thinking of trekking out this weekend and arm myself properly (it's obvious that I just got my salary, ne? hehe...).

Any suggestions as to what I should buy or what I should buy first?

So far, I need to get a new bento box. That's a start. What next? Any suggestions as to where to get them?

( my logistics, for those familiar with my area )

Thanks!

(xposted at the bentolunch LJ community - here)

Because of my previous post, I am now compelled to show you what we had for dinner last night... um, without having anything to do with regurgitation...

In any case, this is me having another stupid-happy moment.

( ang babaw ko no? )

Bow. Wala lang. :D

Happiness is when after A YEAR, yours and your boyfriend's days off are FINALLY ON THE SAME DAY.

hehe... anyway, that first day when our rest days finally synched was spent walking around and exploring our quaint little village of San Antonio here in Makati.

Our gem of a find was a Japanese grocery a couple of blocks from ShopWise. And mind you, it's not like other Japanese groceries where everything for sale is either canned, bottled or dried and shrink-wrapped. This one is a grocery. It has a produce section, a meat section, a bread section, and at the time that we were there, the delivery bay was open and crates of goods were coming in. And they have cute, small baskets that you can use for shopping.

And our purchase of the day was a pair of chocolate kitty bread buns...



( Behold the kitty bread and its fate )

Oh, and random raccoon pics that I found cute. ^_^

( TANUKI!! )