So at any rate, I spent a couple of days with Rich & Erika in Kobe and on the night of the hand-off with Will and Maiyumi in Kyoto the three of us Scholars got together for a great home-cooked Japanese meal...
That's two Air Force pilots and one Navy ship driver getting together to make some food. Shouldn't be too hard, right?
Fortunately Erika and Maiyumi were there to direct us (actually all I did was take pictures!).
The dumplings on the right are called "jiaozi" in Chinese... the name in Japanese is something similar to it. The machine on the left is for making these little dough balls that they also have here in China.
For whatever reason they put a piece of octopus in the middle of the balls (the little purple pieces on the plate). It's the same here as well. Looks like somebody successfully created a market to push octopus parts out into.
The next step, flipping the balls just perfectly...
And finally put some excellent teriyaki sauce and some dried fish flakes and they're done! The jiaozi were excellent as well.
Thanks to the ladies for some great food!
Kobe is obviously most well-known for the special beef that is produced here. You know, the cows are feed strict diets, hung in harnesses so they can't walk, and are massaged every day to more evenly distribute the marbling. I think if I had to be a cow, this is the life I would want.
I only thought of buying Kobe beef in Japanese steakhouses, didn't even think about seeing it at the grocery store... only in Kobe I guess!
But there is a price to be paid for massaging cows.... up to $200 for 5 small steaks. Morgan and I went last year with Rich and Erika to a Kobe beef steakhouse... it is definitely worth the price, so good!
Random fact... Kobe Bryant is in fact named after this city. However he pronounces it incorrectly. Kobe Bryant is pronounced Ko-bee but the city is pronounced Ko-bay.
A view from their place in Kobe...
Walking up the hill to their place. No, the picture isn't flipped, like England the Japanese drive on the wrong side of the road...
Random pic, not sure where to put it but I thought it was funny. This is at Will's study room at his university. Somebody left the freezer door open over the weekend and well, it looks like it was humid in the room.
You Scholars in Japan live a good life!
2 comments:
Thanks again for sharing all of these trip posts! JIm served his mission in Osaka which right after he left was merged with Kobe. Rich Tanner, right? What year was he? I think in Japan, they are called "gyoza" and in America, they are sometimes called "potstickers." Yum!
Let me tell you about KOBE BryantE%&%^&(&(_&&^$$%^# I do not think that I could visit a place that has him name stuck to it.
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