Fed Up With School Lunch :: The School Lunch Project

The roommate tipped me off to a new blog in the US called Fed Up With School Lunch. An anonymous teacher in the midwest, Mrs. Q, is eating her public school's school lunch and secretly taking photos each day to show people what American kids are eating these days. I think this is a really great blog and am surprised that something like this hasn't popped up earlier. I just wrote about Japanese school lunch, which in contrast, is applauded (well...with the exception of whale meat which is sometimes found in parts of Japan) and hailed for its accessibility and focus on nutritional education.

Check out Mrs. Q's blog if you have a chance!

My Lunch :: March 19th

Isn't it beautiful? In contrast to what we get to eat the majority of the year at school, this special graduation day bento is quite a site to be seen! It's almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

Japanese School Lunch :: Kyushoku

Obviously not my final meal EVER but probably my last Japanese school lunch ever. Tomorrow is graduation day so today, in honor of the end of the school year, we were treated to Osekihan, red rice, today. Osekihan is eaten to celebrate special occasions and is a sticky rice dish mixed with red beans and a sesame seed topping. It's pretty tasty but I was told that this red rice is also eaten when teenage girls get their first...you know...thing. Beans are a sign of fertility in Japan...and these ones just so happen to be red. Kind of cute. Kind of weird.

For the past 7 months, I've been teaching English part-time at Asakusa Junior High School. It's been a really enriching experience. I was really lucky to be placed in such a great school. The best part for me was learning from the kids about their daily lives. In Japan, the last year of JH is extremely important. They must all pass high school entrance exams and the pressure to say the pressure to do well is high would be a gross understatement. Personally, I think it's too young of an age to put so much stress, but that's their system and who am I to judge. Other highlights from the year:

• Helping the drama club perform a play in English (can you imagine memorizing 50 lines in a foreign language when you were 15?!)
• Cornering kids into having conversations with me
• Helping the 3rd graders with their interview tests for high school and hearing the news that they passed
• Singing The Beatles, Monkees, Cindi Lauper and Queen 5 times a day
• The surprise of sitting down to school lunch!

So, I never knew what was in store for me when it came to lunch. Some days it was yummy pasta, other days, it was something completely unrecognizable to me. I managed to eat everything, though there were times I was convinced I was about to spit it out (ok, that was only once with the fried whole fishies - head, tails and fins still attached and expected to be eaten) Students eat together in their homeroom classes and everyone eats the same thing. Kyushoku means "lunch duty"...or something like that. It refers to the act of students serving their peers. The students really enjoy being on lunch duty and it's fun to see all the boys race to get seconds after the class blesses their food in unison. (ittadakimasu!)

A few last tidbits about Kyushoku: the meals are planned out by a nutritionist and they are always between 800-950 calories and well balanced - carbs, proteins, grains. A lunch menu with all the nutrition facts is sent home to pare ts so they know what their kids have been eating. Teachers eat the same meal as students and they talk about all the nutritional value during lunch, so lunch is an educational experience too. Given the childhood obesity issues in America, a school lunch program like Japan's would be a really great way to educate kids at a young age about the importance of as healthy diet. It also assures that all students get at least 1 healthy and substantial meal a day. Just something to think about Michelle Obama.

Tommy Lee Jones :: The Boss (Coffee)

Remember that friend's episode where all the friends find Joey's Japanese men's lipstick commercial? Or the entire plot of Lost in Translation? ("For relaxing times, make it Suntory time") Celebrities really do make weird Japanese ads. Big stars that would NEVER be caught dead hawking cars and beer in America can be found on giant billboards across Tokyo and in prime time commercials. Right now, there is a big Hugh Jackman for Asahi Super Dry Beer campaign. On my first trip to Japan, Clooney was shilling for the Honda Odyssey. (The copy underneath George roughly translates to: "I like good cars. Because I'm a man.") These gigs pay a lot and most contracts include a clause that the commercials can't be use in Western markets, which is why you never see them. Thank goodness for YouTube!

Remember Tommy Lee Jones? I'm pretty sure he's the inspiration for Bob Harris in Lost in Translation. According to IMDB, TLJ's next big project is...sigh...Men in Black 3. In Japan, you can see Tommy's mug just about everywhere. He is and has been for some time, the face of Boss Coffee (owned by Suntory btw), a canned coffee company. He hardly speaks or smiles, but his presence is felt. This is acting at its best. He plays typical Japanese members of society and aside from TLJ, these are cool because you get a glimpse into daily life in Japan. If you've ever wanted to know what a maid cafe is like, check out the 2nd video.

Here he is as a bar host:


A TV show production guy in Akihabara:


A Hot Pepper (free restaurant guide) distributor:


And a Karaoke attendant:

My Lunch :: March 13th :: Zenya Ramen Akasaka

There are a few new shops opening up just in time for the nice weather. Zenya Ramen specializes in Hakata ramen but also makes other varieties such as miso and tsukemen. Hakata style ramen uses a thinner noodle and the broth is cloudy since it is a variation of tonkotsu (pork bone) broth.  I got the basic Hakata ramen which comes with green onions, half of a soft boiled egg, a slice of charshu (roast pork) and a nice fatty piece of pork belly. I love pork belly, so this was a welcome change to my ramen routine.

Zenya reminds me of a popular Hakata ramen branch, Jangara, but I think Zenya is better because they have better eggs. Over boiled eggs - ladies, that's a deal breaker! There are 4 other locations in Japan, with the Akasaka station the newest of the bunch and only 1 of 2 in Tokyo.

Zenya Ramen
5-1-1 Akasaka
Akasaka Station (Chiyoda)

SMAP x LIONEL RICHIE

Saw this on TV months ago and it BLEW.MY.MIND. Found it on YouTube today and just had to share...I am really impressed with Shingo's English and Lionel's enthusiasm and face. The Japanese in the beginning is just Shingo talking about how Lionel Richie is the one American singer he wanted to sing with the most. Can't really blame him, now can I? It's cool to see a star as big as Shingo (of SMAP) be starstruck by someone.

Everyday Harumi :: Tsukune

Now this is what I'm talkin'bout. Don't those babies look tasty? Tsukune. Hands down my favorite type of yakitori, or grilled chicken. When you eat yakitori, you usually get a choice of either plain salt and pepper or tare, a teriyaki like sauce. You can almost always find yakiyori at an izakaya  (Japanese pubs) staple, and I could (and have) eat it all night long. (Specifically, at Oh! Taisho on St. Mark's in NY) Who doesn't love eating chicken with cold beer? Tsukune are usually made with minced chicken, so even though Harumi's recipe calls for pork, I went with chicken. Raw ground chicken, by the way, is my absolute least favorite thing to cook with. It is just...too fleshy looking and the texture is gnarlsburgh. However, I love tsukune so much that I powered through and overcame.

This recipe is again, really simple...so simple that I can recite the recipe off the top of my head: 300g minced meat of choice, 2 TB plain flour, 1 medium egg, 1/2 an onion roughly chopped, 1 celery stalk roughly chopped, 5 basil leaves roughly chopped. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl but add the basil at the very end to maintain a nice color. Make 5 cm wide balls. Cook in a lightly oiled pan - brown both sides. DONE.

Ok, not quite done. What gives tsukune flavor is teriyaki sauce. While the meatballs are still hot, dip them in teriyaki sauce. The meatballs absorb the sauce and they become super juicy. Teriyaki sauce is really easy to make - dilute 2 TB of sugar in 50 ml of soy sauce and 50 ml of mirin. Bring it up to a boil then simmer for about 10 minutes. As it simmers, the sauce thickens and starts to look like the teriyaki sauce you know and love.