Today's Kanten ― 2023/11/13
Made of
1g Kanten
100cc water
200cc milk
1.5 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon beet sugar
(for two 200cc cups)
In attempt to increase richness and milkiness, I added condensed milk and sugar. The result was the best so far. The increased calories for added ingredients should be negligible, I hope.
Today's Treat ― 2023/11/22
Apple and nuts muffin and coffee: 690 yen @ Mrs. Elizabeth Maffin Hakata Station Shop
For some strange reasons, I began to crave a muffin after I heard about a food-poisoning incident caused by deadly bad muffin (not the one in the picture above). The muffins in question, allegedly with natto-like slimy texture and fermented smell, were sold to numerous people at an event and caused severe food poisoning that could have killed those who have consumed them. Also, how the trouble have been dealt with so far is so horrible that the word "muffin" hasn't left my mind.
えげつない腐れマフィン事件（写真に写っているものではありません）の話を聞いてからというもの、何かというとマフィンが気になって仕方がありません。なんでも、とあるイベントで大勢の人が買っていたマフィンが、納豆のようにぬるぬるしていて、匂いも納豆のようだったそうで、食べたら死んでもおかしくないレベルに腐っていたらしいです。その後の成り行きもすごすぎて、「マフィン」という言葉が頭から離れなくなってしまいました。
Details of the stories can be found:
This is why I went as far as Hakata Station in search of a nice and safe muffin. I enjoyed it to the very last bit and do not feel ill or uncomfortable at all now eight hours after I consumed it.
However, please note that some of its group restaurants have caused food-poisoning cases occasionally...
https://www.royal-holdings.co.jp/release/upfiles/news_20190415.pdf
そんなわけで、安全なマフィンを求めて、博多駅まで出張ってきました。全部おいしくいただいて8時間たちましたが、特段の問題はありません。ただし、この店が入っているグループの違うレストランではたまに食中毒が起きているので注意。
By the way, this shop used to offer free coffee when you buy a muffin, but now charges 380 yen for a paper cup of coffee. Demanding free coffee may be too greedy nowadays, but coffee being more expensive than a muffin is not convincing either. I wish they had an automatic coffee machine like ones we see at newer Muji shops that sells a smaller cup at 100 yen.
ところで、以前この店ではマフィンを買うとコーヒーがただで飲めたのですが、今は紙コップに入ったコーヒーが380円です。ただで出せ、というのはこのご時世厚かましいのかもしれませんが、コーヒーがマフィンより高いというのも納得いかない感じ。あたらしめの無印良品にあるような100円のコーヒーマシン（カップは小さめですが）があるといいのになあ。
Today's Kanten ― 2023/11/23
Ingredients
1g granulated kanten
250cc water
70cc concentrated coffee liquid
1 teaspoon sugar
I have finally conceived an easier and less complicated way to make coffee kanten.
コーヒー寒天を作るのに、ついにうまいことを思いつきました。
Coffee liquid for instant cafe latte (199 yen at Marukyo) is the solution. By adding it little by little to simmering kanten liquid I managed to achieve a smooth and nicely bitter coffee kanten.
カフェラテ用の濃縮コーヒー（マルキョウで199円）を寒天液に少しずつ合わせていったら、なめらかで苦味のきいた寒天を作ることができました。
I also came up with an easier way to wash pans and utensils after cooking kanten, which tends to get solid and stuck to the tools when I try to wash them with cold water. Boiling water in the pan with tools in it and scrub them while they are still hot but bearable to touch. In this way, I could clean even the mesh of the tea strainer without trouble.
それから、寒天を使った後、鍋や道具を水で洗うと寒天が固まってくっつきがちですが、鍋に道具を入れて、その鍋で水を沸かすといいことにも気がつきました。お湯が熱いうちにこすったら、茶こしの網の部分も簡単にキレイになりました。
Time to Say GoodBye ― 2023/11/25
I have rarely seen people with fabric masks recently. During the first half of 2020, when we couldn't get ordinary white masks made of unwoven fabric in 2020, fabric masks, many of which were handmade at that time, looked so precious and helpful. I got several myself just in case.
布マスクをしている人を最近ではめっきり見かけなくなりました。2020年前半は不織布マスクが手に入らなかったため、布マスク(当時は手作りも多かった）は救いの神でした。私も念のため、何枚か手に入れました。
I am thankful to them for having given a peace of mind and the courage to go out during the difficult time, but perhaps it is time to say thank you and goodbye. I haven't even touched them since the summer of 2020 when surgical masks began to be widely available again. Plus, I don’t think I would use them even if another infectious disease emerged. I probably would be attracted to new types that would be popular then.
布マスクがあると思うと安心できたし、あの厳しい時期に外出する勇気が持てました。ただ、そろそろ手放してもいいのかな？とも思うようになりました。2020年の後半以降、不織布マスクも普通に売られるようになり、それ以来布マスクには触ってもいません。もしまた感染症が流行ったとしても、そのときはそのときでまた新しいものが欲しくなるような気もします。
In the memories of cloth masks...
My favorite was ones made by Gunze (picture above, top left) . 100% cotton and as made by an underwear manufacturer, it nicely fit my face and was comfortable to wear. Besides, it has pockets in which I could insert a piece of gauze or something as an extra "filter".
布マスクを振り返って…
私のお気に入りはグンゼ製（上の写真の左上のマスク）でした。綿100%で下着会社が作っただけに、顔によくフィットして、付け心地もよかったです。それに、フィルター代わりにガーゼを入れられるポケットがついていたのもポイントが高かった。
Having written all this about the Gunze mask, I began to think that I shouldn't throw away a mask that had worked so well for me. It feels so sinful ...
グンゼのマスクについてこれだけ書くと、そんなに役立ってくれたマスクを捨てるのがなんだか悪いような気がしてきました…。もうちょっと取っておくべきかも...。
At Last... ― 2023/11/26
Do you remember the frightening accident that happened during the Yamagasa Festival in July? A man in his 50s was run over by a float that he and lot of other men were carrying.
Although the moment of the accident and his death must have been captured by many, the actual scene has never been shown anywhere. So we don't know how things went wrong and how to avoid another tragedy in the future. To make things even darker and more frightening, there seems to have been no announcement of any special preventative measures or reflection on the event, let alone the termination of the festival. No comment, of course, has been issued from our mayor, who always present at all flamboyant and garish events, including the Yamagasa.
Now, four months after the accident, the group to which the killed man belonged has finally outlined measures to prevent similar accidents. We learnt about it from an NHK news report.
According to the news report, they proposed measures such as:
- Safety and no accident is the first priority
- If any danger is observed during the Yamagasa race, anyone nearby will blow a whistle to stop the float immediately,
- Make a list of spots where accidents are likely to happen,
- Share this list with all participants, and
- Organize first aid and lifesaving courses throughout the year.
..and so on.
Believe it or not, these are the suggestions made by adult men of a certain social status after much thought. Not children's reports to their teacher.
Through this suggestion, they seem to have unintentionally revealed that until the very accident killed a man, they have NOT: a) prioritized people's lives, b) let the participants know if something dangerous happened during the race, c) checked and made a list of where was dangerous in their racing course, and even d) imagined that accidents or even death could happen during the event.
Today's Cat ― 2023/11/30
Natural bobtail.
Its Long Journey ― 2023/11/30
The other day, I found some salted frozen mackerel that were claimed to have been unloaded from a ship at a UK port.
Remembering the fat and delicious smoked mackerel I used to enjoy when I was in the UK, I almost impulsively grabbed a pack of two fillets.
先日、イギリス産（水揚げ？）冷凍塩サバを見つけました。イギリスで食べた鯖の燻製がおいしかったのを思い出し、思わす購入してしまいました。
At home, I read the label and leant that the fish had once landed in Indonesia to be processed on its way to Japan.
家に帰ってラベルを読むと、日本に到着する前にインドネシアで加工されていたことが判明。
This is the mackerel I gave been talking about. After having travelled halfway around the world, it tasted nice was fatty as I expected.
これがその地球を半周してきたサバです。 期待通り、脂がのっておいしかったです。
We happily finished our meal with the mackerel, but this meal left me an awkward and complicated feeling.
Mackerel was once a local delicacy in Fukuoka. We would boast that we could eat wild mackerel as sashimi here. However, for me at least, those days are long gone. Fresh and fatty mackerel have all and long gone from the supermarket shelves. Now we have to import palatable mackerel from the other side of the globe.
塩サバでおいしい食事ができましたが、なんとなく複雑な心境にもなりました。
サバと言えば、かつては福岡の名物でした。ここでは天然物のサバが刺身でいける、というのが自慢でした。が、少なくとも私にとっては、そんなことは遥か昔の話になりました。新鮮で脂ののったサバがスーパーマーケットから消えてからずいぶん経ちます。いまでは地球の反対側から輸入している有様です。
Reference:
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