Leafy Feast ― 2025/12/20
1188yen at Royal Host
Twenty years ago, when I was much more energetic and my wallet a bit fuller, I would never have ordered this plate, thinking, “I’m not a rabbit—I don’t pay for leaves.” But at Royal Host during lunchtime, I had no choice: this was the lowest-priced meal on the menu.
To my surprise, when the food arrived, it was actually quite satisfying. Everything was on one plate: a piece of fried chicken, a broiled shrimp, halves of a boiled egg, and an avocado (whose price has been skyrocketing with the weaker yen—I now only serve a sixth of a small fruit at home). It was more than enough for my over-60 stomach, and I left the table happily full.
(Much helped by ChatGPT, the following version is written by ChatGPT in "Olive Kitteridge style." How would you find it? I think it looks very "native," but somewhat not me.)
Twenty years ago, I would have laughed at this plate. “Leaves? Seriously? I’m not a rabbit,” I’d have said, flicking my wallet shut. Back then, I paid for food I could sink my teeth into, not for decoration.
But here I was, at Royal Host, lunch hour, with no choice. The cheapest thing on the menu was this sad little plate of “leaves.” And yet… when it arrived, I stared. Fried chicken. Broiled shrimp. Half a boiled egg. Avocado—yes, avocado, of all things, whose price now makes me ration a sixth of one at home.
And you know what? I ate every bite. My over-60 stomach declared victory. It was enough. More than enough. Ridiculous, but satisfying.
But here I was, at Royal Host, lunch hour, with no choice. The cheapest thing on the menu was this sad little plate of “leaves.” And yet… when it arrived, I stared. Fried chicken. Broiled shrimp. Half a boiled egg. Avocado—yes, avocado, of all things, whose price now makes me ration a sixth of one at home.
And you know what? I ate every bite. My over-60 stomach declared victory. It was enough. More than enough. Ridiculous, but satisfying.
Citrus! ― 2025/02/21
Strawberries are no longer an everyday fruit because of their sky-high price, but citrus fruits are still relatively accessible and there are plenty of supply now.
The other day I found domestically grown grapefruits (230 yen each) for the first time.
The "grapefruit" looked very much like a grapefruit, but it tasted much like what we call the "pearl kan" as it is said to share some genes with the grapefruit. While the pearl kan tends to be lower priced, but has a lot of seeds, this "grapefruit" is more expensive, but has no seeds and is therefore easier to handle.
Year-to-Date Low Price ― 2025/02/10
I have found a cabbage at 198 yen, excluding tax, at a newly opened greengrocer.
This might be "opening special" price, but this is the lowest cabbage price I have seen this year. A head of cabbage used to be priced at over 500 yen at the beginning of the year. I guess we have finally reached this year's new cabbage season. Soft and sweet, spring cabbage is one of my favorite vegetables Fukuoka can produce.
New Year's Feast 2025 ― 2025/01/01
Much simpler than before, but for various reasons, such as the skyrocketing prices and my deteriorating capacities, this is all I could prepare.
Anyway, A Happy New Year! I am glad I was able to get to 2025 on this blog before the end of January.
First Local Hotel Breakfast Experience ― 2024/12/22
This is probably my first hotel breakfast in Fukuoka. You don't go to a hotel for breakfast when you have something to eat at home, do you?
But this was a rare occasion for me. Having just returned from a northern town after several months (including the hellishly hot ones) of absence, there was (must have been) nothing edible left in my fridge and cupboard.
To be honest, I had been looking forward to this breakfast buffet, knowing that the hotel cafeteria was run by Royal, a name with which I have a special emotional attachment linked to my childhood memories.
Ta-da!
The pancake was the must of the must at every Royal restaurant. But now that I see all these plates, I realize how much I craved sugar and carbohydrates...
The grapefruit juice was served in a grapefruit shell. I had imagined the juice would be squeezed directly from the grapefruit, until I witnessed it being poured from a carton, and the people serving it didn't seem to be trying to hide that practice. There is something you shouldn't know to stay happy...
We paid 2500 yen each for this buffet. Reasonable for the "inbound" guests due to the cheap yen, but for the locals... Well, next time I would go for Royal Host instead.
New Year's Feast and Its Leftover Dishes ― 2024/01/06
New Year's feast, served on the morning of 1 January. This year's speciality was homemade Datemaki made from Hanpen and eggs.
For the coffee time, I especially bought a loaf of butter cream cake. The cake looks so sinful because of its fat content that I only buy it once a year.
A thin slice, about three centimetres, is the maximum quantity I can enjoy without getting heartburn afterwards.
The protein and sugar I put into my body kept me full for the rest of the day. In the evening I even hoped to skip diner. But just in case...
On the morning of the second day of 2024, we still had the same menu, but in smaller quantities and on more casual tableware.
The pudding of the day was a defrosted Christmas leftover cake with whipped cream and banana.
(The sinful cake went into the freezer.)
After the 3rd of January it is usually about how we should eat up the leftovers. But this year, I had stocked less food because of the crazy price rises, and it was easier and quicker to clear out the fridge.
Oden lasted for a couple of days.
Kuromame went with yoghrut and Kinako as a light treat.
Kakuni turned into a topping of ramen and
was cooked with daikon and atsuage for a dinner on Day 3.
Year-End Oden Banquet ― 2023/12/30
Oden is a very special dish for me to cook in many ways. Firstly, the cooking process is really complicated. It starts with shaving Katsuo-bushi for the cooking liquid. In fact, the preparation of the dashi begins the night before, when I soak a generous piece of dried kombu and some tiny dried sardines in a bottle of cold water. Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients: thickly sliced pieces of daikon are boiled until they become slightly tender, the bit-sized shin of beef needs to be boiled twice, the konnyaku needs to be finely slashed, cut into four triangles, rubbed with salt, boiled for about five minutes, and dry-fried to remove as much as liquid as possible, and lightly boil other deep-fried ingredient. And then cook the prepared items separately: the firmer ones in a shallow pan over a direct heat (picture above), while the more fragile ingredients, such as potatoes and something that needs slower cooking process, such as boiled egg and shin of beef in a slow cooker.
This time it took me a whole morning, about three hours to do it all.
The second reason I rarely cook oden is that it can be quite expensive. If I prefer less greasy fried items, or fishcakes with a less fishy smell, a portion of oden could be as expensive as or more expensive than a other decent home cooking. For example, if you add up a piece of good fried fishcake (100 yen) *3, an egg (30 yen), ganmodoki (120 yen), shin of beef (198 yen per 100 grams ) *40 grams, a quarter of not-so-bad konnyaku (40 yen), a piece of potato and daikon (about 100 yen in subtotal), you can come up with 670 yen, which is just the cost of the ingredients. We also need seasonings, dashi, heating. And to make a dinner, we still need some side dishes. We can easily spend over 1000 yen per person for a home meal, which is nothing but special to me.
Thirdly, it has become increasingly difficult to get decent oden ingredients around my area. I used to shop at Kobayashi Kamaboko store in Nishijin, and Uoka in Meinohama, but the former store has closed down. Although its products can be purchased at a local Bon Repas, the selection is limited. And the latter has been making its fishcakes smaller and smaller in recent years.
As a result, this became the very first oden in my household this year. The leftover oden was quickly packed, separated between the cooking liquid and the solid ingredients, and went to the fridge as soon as it was cool enough.
None of this precious food can go to waste.
Christmas Cake 2023 ― 2023/12/25
As-you-like Victoria sponge cake.
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 egg yoke
80g granulated sugar
1tabespoon tepid water to mix
100g cake flour
40g butter
Serve with some strawberry jam and whipped cream.
I know this is not a "proper" Victoria sponge cake in many ways, but I believe my lighter version would be the same once it gets in my stomach.
To be honest I couldn't be brave enough to follow the classic BBC recipe, which calls for 200 grams of butter and sugar...
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