Farmers' (Mega) Market ― 2009/12/12
This is one of, and probably the biggest, standing farmers’ market in the western area of
Have you heard of JA (Japan Agriculture), a farmers’ cooperative association
Unlike other unions or NPO, JA has a long history and is said to have a strong relationship with some politicians. . I should stop talking about what I’m not familiar with.
Anyway, this JA has been organising this kind of market all over
Particularly the area where this market is located can produce almost everything ranging from rice to beef. So the market is operated in such scale, maybe as big as a suburban-type Tesco(maybe I'm exagerating).
Fish Section (this is a farmers’ market, but somehow)
When we visited there, there seem to have been a large catch. The showcase was full of “today’s catches” at very low price.
Also, as oysters are in season now, piles of oysters in their shells (¥1,000/12 slightly-bigger- than palm-sized ones) were everywhere in the section.
Shopping fish in this market should be somewhere between catching fish yourself and shopping at a family-run fishmonger's. Here, you have to choose your fish by yourself – a self responsibility thing, but unlike fishing yourself, you can get your fish cleaned and filleted here.
This is definitely the special feature of this market. There are abundant of seasonable vegetables straight from vegetable fields.
However, there are some problems (probably only for me).
As there are ONLY seasonable vegetables, you can’t expect to get whatever you want. Now, there is no aubergine, no cucumber—instead, carrots, spring onions, leeks, giant radishes, etc. are occupying most of the space.
Also, unlike your lovely smaller-scale farmers’ markets, all products sold here carry a bar code. So the producers are not here. They just bring their harvests in and leave. The farmers get the profit afterwards according to the sales (I’m not 100% sure but I think I heard around 70% or 80% of the sales go to the farmers). Don’t you think one of the important elements when you shop at a farmers’ market—getting information from the producers—is missing?
The outside of the market site is stretching farmlands.
You will see why such a vast amount of locally grown vegetables are available here.
Today's Cat - 2009/12/14 ― 2009/12/14
Night Chemist ― 2009/12/14
Who said the Japanese are shy and indirect?
Homework: Look up the words on the signboard in your dictionary. For your reference, the pronunciation of each words is bi-yaku, and kyou-sei.
The Supermarket That I Love ― 2009/12/16
This supermarket chain definitely has its own style: non-perishable everyday food at an incredibly low price. You can’t expect extremely nice veggies or fashionable foods. And also there is no new product which is heavily advertised on TV. But you can get coffee beans, cooking oils, and tinned food, etc. at undoubtedly low price. As a result of recent government-approved deflation, many supermarkets started selling goods cheaper, but in terms of history, I think this chain is one of the Fukuoka's foremost discount supermarkets.
In fact, its marketing style hasn’t changed since I was ten-years old (um, some thirty years ago) while other chain stores were adopting trends of the moment (at one point they push their store brands, and at another time promote loyalty cards, oh, and don't forget eco bags). I guess this store focuses solely on the price. Simple and clear.
I like this store for its unchanged no-frill and sensible approach. It even hasn’t changed the template of its leaflet.
Actually, this busy layout is just as same as what my mother used to study in detail every week. And so is the store layout. Cardboard boxes are everywhere, and the products are usually in the middle of their ways to the shelves.
In short, the store is a bit messy.
I also love this little chaotic style – it feels more human than sophisticated store layouts strategically calculated to manipulate the shoppers’ psychology (eg. set expensive goods at eye-level.), don’t you think so?
New Year's Plants ― 2009/12/18
Local garden centres are now filled with cyclamen pots, ornamental kales, and little bonsais to decollate houses in Christmas/New Year style.
And I found these new year ornaments (usually placed in front of your house) are already available.
People have already started preparing for the New Year while I haven’t even finished last week’s ironing. I have to get hasty!
To the Last Bit ― 2009/12/20
My husband is having a fish soup made by pouring boiling water onto the fishbone.
No, I am not abusing him by feeding him with fish carcass after I finished my meal with the flesh.
According to him, this is a way to enjoy a fish to the last bit.
I myself don’t do this ritual, but my father did this (in his case using hot green tea), and I found my husband do the same thing after eating horse mackerels cooked in soy sauce and sugar.
Maybe this is a common method among men over certain age.
Note: You’d better do this at home, not in restaurants or formal reception. You would look either an expert in fish-eating, or just an ill-mannered idiot.
Poorman's Fugu ― 2009/12/21
As you may well know, we habitually eat Fugu (blowfish, pronounced as “fuku” in this area) which is notorious as a lethally poisoning fish. Although the number of people who died from fugu poison has declined, Fugu is still kind of out of reach, mainly because they are too expensive.
However, there are wallet-friendly varieties of Fugu. When gourmet guides refer to Fugu, it usually means Tora Fugu (Tiger Blowfish), the famously expensive one.Although there have been farmed ones available, the price of wild Tora fugu can easily reach ¥10,000/fish. I would go for
¥780/pack (the price can vary depending on the haul of the day)
The taste might be not as superb as the Tora, but OK for everyday meal at home. Anyway, I haven’t eaten Tora fugu so many times as to see the difference.
You can eat it as sahimi (a local fishmonger’s recommended method is quickly boiling it just like Shabushabe and cooling it in icy water, then slicing it into sashimi). Also you can fry or broil it, just like chicken fillets or other lean meats. Personally I like it deep-fried in light flour coating.
Waning: NEVER, ever attempt to gut or clean ANY fugu yourself . It’s almost impossible to distinguish non-poisonous from poisonous varieties, and the poisonous parts are different depending on the variety. Always ask your fishmonger if the fish on the display is suitable for sashimi when you 'd like sashimi of fugu.
Winter Walk ― 2009/12/24
As well as other towns in the Northern Hemisphere, we had bitterly cold days last week. The minimum temperature was around 5 Celsius, which is seriously cold in this area.
I like walking outside in winter, particularly when it is cold. Walking in piercing wind, I would feel a sense of heroism, and feel like conquering something. I don’t know what is the something, though.
Also, in these cold days there would be fewer people walking on my route so I don’t have to worry about interrupting other people’s walking or running into a child on tricycle (you see how timid I usually am).
It looked as if the course had been reserved for me.
The peer which was crowded with anglers in the summer
is now completely abandoned.
Instead of walking, the Fukuokan might have clammed into the city centre for their year-end binge shopping, or have gone hibernation.
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