"Natural" Kakigori ― 2013/09/12
JPY 350 topped with soft ice cream (additional JPY100)
By my standard, this price is outrageous for a cup of kakigori. However, the product is just irresistible in hot summer days.
What does make this kakigori so special is the ice itself. Basically, Kakigori is shaved ice seasoned with syrup which is usually artificially sweetened, coloured, and flavoured—a kind of guilty pleasure. The flavour and (mainly) colour used for the syrup determins the name of kakigori; kori ichigo is shaved ice with strawberry-flavoured, red syrup, and for kori melon, the syrup is melon-flavoured, pale-green one.
However, there are some “good-for-you” or “natural” (and usually more expensive) variations for which the syrup is made from “real” ingredients, such as green tea, coffee, or real fruits, and the ice is from “natural” water. I don’t know if there is such a thing like “artificial” water in this world, though.
This is one of such “natural” varieties—the ice is frozen with real strawberries. It tastes simply strawberry, not sugared and coloured water. This kakigori does not make you even thirstier than before as conventional varieties often do. Also, the texture of the ice is airy soft—literally melt-on-tongue at the very moment the ice went into your mouth. I treated myself with soft ice cream, but even without it, the kakigori itself would be nice and refreshing.
Actually this is the best kakogori I have ever had.
But, I must confess I can’t resist the direct sweetness and crisp texture of cheaper ones…
It’ September, time to have finished having kakigori. But the temperature is still kakigori-friendly, hovering at around 32 Celsius. I began to wonder how many times I will have kakigori this year. Usually, being a middle-aged who should be careful not to eat too much cold food (Cold food is considered to cool your body and to be not good for women. Don’t ask me why), I usually have kakigori once or not at all throughout summer. But this year is exceptional. I have had several cups already and probably some more.
Summer Scars? ― 2013/09/14
Are you OK?
I have seen trees like this quite often recently.
Prematurely dead or rotten leaves. I don’t
know what have caused this phenomenon, dehydration or sunburn?
Long Time No Listen! ― 2013/09/18
Instead of Youtube, FM radio, and digital music player, I recently began to listen to my old analogue Walkman, which I bought about seven years ago. Even then this machine was somewhat outdated—people laughed at me for relying on such an old technology. “Are you really Japanese?” my friends would say to me.
Since I got my first digital Walkman in 2007, I have abandoned my old cassette tape Walkman until today, absorbed in a stream of newly and digitally released music. And a pile of cassette tapes was quietly sitting in my cupboard.
I completely forgot them, not even thinking about throwing them away.
Then, one day, when I found my digital Walkman was out of power, the old Walkman suddenly came back to my mind. I assumed it would not work anymore or the dry batteries to drive it had been dead. However, to my surprise, it perfectly worked and the batteries were still very much alive. The triumph of simplicity!
Its sound is not as clear as digital, but it is still OK for me who grew up with analogue records, radio and television. Actually, the sound of the tape with a slight hissing noise feels more comfortable than digital one which sometimes scratches my nerves. The problems of this lovely machine are: there won’t be new contents in cassette-tape format; probably I couldn’t get a new machine once this is broken as it is discontinued in Japan; and I will be laughed at, or be seen as a ghost of the 20th century.
An Autumn Cat ― 2013/09/20
Today's Cat ― 2013/09/26
What's Your Name? ― 2013/09/27
JPY 500/3 fishes
Even my fishmonger didn’t remember the name of this fish.
He said they actually had their own name as a species, but they came into market so rarely that he couldn’t remember the name.
Anyway, it’s one of my shopping principles that I should follow any recommendations from professionals once I decided to trust them, and I bought the fish even though I was slightly anxious about how it would taste.
Back home, I cooked misosiru with one of them,
and the next day simmered the rest with soy sauce, sake, and mirin as usual.
They tasted nice, a bit similar to amadai, the tilefish which is one of my favourite fishes but too expensive to put on the table every day. The flesh was light, flaky, and very soft. Though you might smell something a bit chemical, which I found similar to the smell of shako, the squilla, it wasn’t as strong as to ruin the taste. Not bad at all for the price (2 dinners for 2 people!) and unknownness.
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