Japanese Grocery shopping tips

[Vexorg]

A couple of weeks ago, a new Uwajimaya grocery store (well, not new, but moved to a new location) opened just a couple of blocks from my apartment. I've been to the one in downtown Seattle a few times, but haven't ever really bothered to do much shopping there. I am at least slightly familiar with a few of the Japanese staples (stuff like Miso, Katsuobashi and some of the various noodle types) but beyond that I'm pretty much lost. Can someone give me some tips on things that I should be looking for that might be good? I don't mind experiementing a bit, but I've never been too big on seafood.

[rancor]

Japanese style curry and rice
Melon bread
Kinoko no yama (mushroom mountain chocolate candy)
Cucumber Pepsi
Liptons milk tea

Thats pretty much what I sustain myself on.

[GaijinPunch]

Japanese style curry and rice

Wow -- remind me to kick you in the cock if we ever meet. Or... take you to an Indian curry place. Your choice.

Melon bread
Kinoko no yama (mushroom mountain chocolate candy)
Cucumber Pepsi
Liptons milk tea

I'll let you pass on these. Best junk food Japan makes is Alforte (アルフォート）. Freezing them makes them like 3x as delicious. They go straight to the love handles though and it's easy to bury a lot of them in a setting, so be careful.

Uwajimaya

Ask them the history of the name of their store. Uwajima is in Shikoku...coincidentally my better half's hometown. Very small town... odd name. The boat that sank when the dipshits piloting the submarine surfaced without checking was from Uwajima.

[rancor]

Wow -- remind me to kick you in the cock if we ever meet. Or... take you to an Indian curry place. Your choice.

I didn't say it was best overall. I much prefer Indian curry to Japanese, but if you're averse to seafood and asking about the common cuisine here its very traditional and what a lot of people eat. I eat it when we visit grandmas house because I don't want to eat fish heads, seaweed, cold noodles, and whatever that awful sour pink shit is she makes..

With that being said, how can you say that Go Go Curry isn't fantastic??!

[adversity1]

Go Go Curry is dope.

さすがGP, always goin for the dick.

[greg]

Japanese style curry and rice

Wow -- remind me to kick you in the cock if we ever meet. Or... take you to an Indian curry place. Your choice.

Oh, you're one of those guys. There was a JET dude who lived in my apartment building in Himeji who was a curry nazi. It had to be Indian or Thai, but never Japanese. I like Thai curry and I can make it fairly well myself. Indian curry is good too, but for some reason, eating Indian curry is always a gamble as to whether or not I'm gonna get a case of the rocketshits. It just doesn't sit well with me. A weekend ago, I bought some Pillsbury samosas, thinking that those would be safe. Specineff and I ate some for lunch, and we were both hitting the Pepto after that.

Rancor, I tried Gogo Curry with my cousin last time I was in Akihabara. I liked it a lot! My former routine was to go to Coco Ichibanya for lunch in Akiba, but it may now be Gogo.

As for miso, my wife and I always get the Shinshuu miso, since she's from the Shinshuu area (Nagano-ken). She makes onigiri (rice balls) and bastes them with miso paste, then we grill them (or bake in the oven). The miso makes a crisp crust around the rice and everyone who tries it likes it. Give it a shot.

[Blackbird]

See if you can find Morning Rescue!

[Vexorg]

Uwajimaya

Ask them the history of the name of their store. Uwajima is in Shikoku...coincidentally my better half's hometown. Very small town... odd name. The boat that sank when the dipshits piloting the submarine surfaced without checking was from Uwajima.

The Uwajimaya stores in Seattle have been around since 1928 (with the exception of the internment camp period during World War 2,) and yes, according to this page they do seem to be named after the town of Uwajima.

Oh, and I didn't say that I don't eat seafood at all, just that I don't eat it all that often.

[professor ganson]

We have a Japanese grocer two hours north (Novi, MI) and two hours south (Columbus, OH), and we make regular trips to get goodies. I love Japanese food, but on a daily basis it wouldn't work for me-- too low in fiber and too high in sodium. You can get some quality tea (e.g. green macha tea), soba noodles, mirin, dried shitaki noodles, mochi, house spice (for sprinkling on ramen or other soups), cute candies, wasabi, c.c. lemon soda, quail eggs, warm coffee in a can, warm green tea in a can, udon noodles... I suggest experimenting. It's bound to pay off if you're willing to take some chances.

[GaijinPunch]

With that being said, how can you say that Go Go Curry isn't fantastic??!

I don't eat meat, for one...

Oh, you're one of those guys. There was a JET dude who lived in my apartment building in Himeji who was a curry nazi. It had to be Indian or Thai, but never Japanese.

If by that you mean one of those with standards, then yes, chalk me up on that list. Curry is one of the foods that Japan has absolutely brutalized. Well, if you accept it for what it is (beef stew) you may not be disappointed. Other than that, jot it down, just under pizza. Luckily there's a large Indian population here in the city.

[Siren2011]

I had Asian curry one time, in that ice cube tray form that you're supposed to put in the pan and watch it melt. Absolutely disgusting, grainy, unpleasant shit to put into my body, it is. But then again, that was just one brand...

Once you go Indian, you never go back. I'm forever devoted to this shit. Also, tandoori chicken is marvelous when prepared correctly (Yes, there is such a thing as mediocre tandoori chicken).

[Skykid]

Indian Curry is so good it never gets old no matter how often you have it. It's also a dangerous training ground for spice - I think when I had a phall I was closer to death than I've ever been.

I don't mind Japanese curry, but it is crap in a junk food sense - like thick flavoured gravy with lumps of stuff in it.

I don't eat meat, for one...

[GaijinPunch]

I don't mind Japanese curry, but it is crap in a junk food sense - like thick flavoured gravy with lumps of stuff in it.

April 10th, 2011. Skykid made sense.

Enjoy it! I eat fish though.

[maxlords]

Kinoko no yama (mushroom mountain chocolate candy)
Cucumber Pepsi

OMG! The next time I do an order with you here soon....you HAVE to send me a couple cans of that and some of that chocolate! Will pay the shipping on it

[greg]

Enjoy it! I eat fish though.

Oh good, so you're a cool vegetarian. Not one of those annoying vegans. I admit that Japanese curry lacks finesse, and I do like Indian curry. Actually, for Indian food, I love the mashed eggplant stuff, whatever it's called. Baigan Bharta, I think. When I first moved to Japan, I became basically a pescatarian (chicken and fish) type. Then after I got married, I found out my wife loved eating beef and lamb a lot. That's cool, so I went back to eating beef, I guess. I didn't have much of a health or philosophical reason as to why I gave up beef for about six months. I just felt like it, I guess.

Anyhow, this is about Japanese grocery stores. I digress.

[dcharlie]

Or... take you to an Indian curry place

Friend of a friend has a curry place in Shinagawa - best in Tokyo bar none and i'm pretty sure that, yes, i've done all of them.

Sorry Greg, i'm a curry Nazi too. I can eat Japanese curry no problem but it doesn't really count, it really does have to be Indian/Nepalese for it to count as a real Curry Night !

[Skykid]

Oh good, so you're a cool vegetarian. Not one of those annoying vegans.

No such thing as a cool vegetarian.

[rancor]

Kinoko no yama (mushroom mountain chocolate candy)
Cucumber Pepsi

OMG! The next time I do an order with you here soon....you HAVE to send me a couple cans of that and some of that chocolate! Will pay the shipping on it

Cucumber Pepsi is out of season at the moment, but the chocolates are readily available. Pepsi makes all kinds of weird shit throughout the year - Yogurt Pepsi, Azuki Pepsi, Shiso Pepsi, Pepsi Mont Blanc, Pepsi Strong Shot - The best is the cucumber flavor, and the worst is either Shiso or Mont Blanc. I think only Mont Blanc and Strong Shot are available at the moment.. S.S. is super caffeinated and Mont blanc is just terrible.. Not sure what its trying to be..

[maxlords]

Wow....that's wild! I looked em up....apparently Pepsi Mont Blanc is Pepsi delicately flavored with roasted chesnuts??? Weird. Would still love to try that and the Strong Shot versions

I had no idea Japan got sooooo many weird flavors of stuff that's so everyday here. I may have to start hunting this stuff down here and there....

The food settles it....I someday MUST go to Japan....

[GaijinPunch]

Oh good, so you're a cool vegetarian. Not one of those annoying vegans.

Indeed. I think Peta are annoying cocks, and my son has beef in his diet. I'm not into pushing any of my beliefs... not just religion.

Anyhow, this is about Japanese grocery stores. I digress.

Word... and I stand by my Al Forte statement.

[Blackbird]

Are those bourbon chocolate flavored cookies?

[GaijinPunch]

Are those bourbon chocolate flavored cookies?

Unfortunately, no. Just standard bisquits. The company that makes them is Bourbon... which is actually pronounced different from the alcoholic drink.

[Blackbird]

Awww =(. They still look really yummy, though.

[greg]

Wow....that's wild! I looked em up....apparently Pepsi Mont Blanc is Pepsi delicately flavored with roasted chesnuts??? Weird. Would still love to try that and the Strong Shot versions

Mont Blanc (or called momburan) are little cakes that have the chestnut-flavored frosting that's draped all over it in strings. It looks like a cake with a pile of spaghetti on top. My wife loves those, but even the local Japaense market in Tempe, AZ doesn't make those usually.

I had no idea Japan got sooooo many weird flavors of stuff that's so everyday here. I may have to start hunting this stuff down here and there....

Oh, wait until you get to try curry or wasabi ice cream. Japan is fixated on creating goofy-ass flavors of stuff "just because." A lot of highway service areas do this to increase traffic. I've had both of those before, and while they aren't bad, I just think, "what's the point?" Japan has a hangup sometimes when it comes to just leaving sweets stay sweet. I've even heard of whale sashimi ice cream in Nagasaki, but I've never seen it, nor would I ever want to try any sashimi-based ice cream. That's sick. I don't even like the idea of bacon ice cream like they have in France. I'll stick to the sweet stuff. And speaking of which, service areas in the Shinshuu area of Japan have blueberry and grape ice cream that's fantastic.

[Skykid]

I'm down for ice cream flavoured ice cream.

[Blackbird]

I find the weird flavors pretty interesting, myself. It gets boring eating the same thing every time. I wish we could get some weirdo flavors over here in the states for a change of pace =D.

[rancor]

Kinoko no yama (mushroom mountain chocolate candy)
Cucumber Pepsi

OMG! The next time I do an order with you here soon....you HAVE to send me a couple cans of that and some of that chocolate!

Alright man - Picked up a few items for you today - Kit-Kat "Adult Taste", Al Forte (GPs fav), Kinoko no Yama (my fav) and Pepsi Strong shot. I'll set these aside for your next order. Hopefully your other items will arrive any day now..

[greg]

This is my wife's favorite snack. Pai (pie?) no Mi. We call it chocopai.

[burgerkingdiamond]

Wow -- remind me to kick you in the cock if we ever meet. Or... take you to an Indian curry place. Your choice.

I didn't say it was best overall. I much prefer Indian curry to Japanese, but if you're averse to seafood and asking about the common cuisine here its very traditional and what a lot of people eat. I eat it when we visit grandmas house because I don't want to eat fish heads, seaweed, cold noodles, and whatever that awful sour pink shit is she makes..

With that being said, how can you say that Go Go Curry isn't fantastic??!

I went to a Go Go Curry in NYC. That shit was so fuckin good! I mean it wasn't fine cuisine, but it was a lot of pork katsu and rice goodness

[GaijinPunch]

For chocolate candy, you can never go wrong w/ Colons. Proof that Japanese need to study English harder.