Lunch a la Japonaise

Bento (lunch) prepared and waiting for a very hungry customer.

Let's see. In this lunch I see pickled vegetables, shrimp croquette, smoked salmon over shredded raw diakon radish, mini quiche, prosciutto or raw ham, tuna sashimi with a yummy-looking melange of sauce, sesame seeds, and chopped greens (probably onion), Vietnamese summer roll, and one or two other things I can no longer see well enough to identify. For the record, at the center-top square of the bento on the left is a funny herb that is very much like a shallot, but also very different, called Myoga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myoga). I have never found it in the U.S., but I would very much like to.

Sliced pork, called char shu (as closely as I can transliterate).

Sarada (salads).

If I'm not mistaken about this one, it is a box of fish cakes. The kana on the label indicate "surimi", which is the pollock-type fish that is used in imitation seafood here, and which the Japanese have used to make their own fishcakes for far longer than we've known about it.

A variety of bento, the more expensive of which appears to be over $10.00, and the least expensive about $7.00.

Close-up of more salads, some containing meat and seafood.

For all you caviar lovers out there, I think this would be salmon. And the next photo is of a variety of caviars. Of course, the Japanese palate appreciates this item in a different context than a western appetite would. Rice, often vinegared, is the preferred medium in Japan, while in the west, of course, breads or blini would be chosen.

And last, but not least, good old sandwiches. Though you will likely find it a bit odd at first to bit into a potato salad sandwich, it is actually quite tasty. It is not uncommon to find two and three layers of filling in a sandwich, along the lines of a double or triple decker, but the fillings will be familiar and yet unfamiliar at the same time. Always good, though. I don't remember ever having had a bad sandwich.


So, that will wrap up lunch at the Sogo Department store. I'll have to look back through my photos and see what strikes me as a good post for the next go round. Sayonara for now.