School Lunch in Okinawa October 22-31

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Benjamin Martin

Monday October 22

Milk, autumn rice, baked mackerel, cabbage and sesame salad, root vegetable soup

Monday’s meal highlights one of the major strengths of Japanese cuisine: seasonal ingredients. The rice was infused with flavors and vegetables that are ripe in autumn. Along side the rice was a salad of cabbage, cucumber and other vegetables in sesame dressing, a clear broth soup with root vegetables, and a slice of baked mackerel.

Tuesday October 23

Milk, Chinese rice bowl, wakame (seaweed) soup, orange

This meal shows a common lunch or “fast food” in Japan. Rice bowls allow for a “one plate” eating experience which is the opposite of traditional eating. Even here, a Chinese take on a don (rice bowl) is supplemented by soup. On the rice was a stir fry of vegetables and meat in a thick sauce. There were also quail eggs and mini shrimp.

Wednesday October 24

Milk, bread, baked fish, bean salad, mushroom soup

Wednesday is often bread day. It’s interesting how less full you feel when eating bread as opposed to rice. Likely its due to the fact it can take longer to eat rice than bread. As usual, I ended up making a tasty fish sandwich. The bean salad turned out to be mostly vegetables while the mushroom soup was a great light pairing with the heaviness of the rest of the meal.

Thursday October 25

Milk, barley rice, teriyaki chicken, mustard greens (chikina-) chanpuru, vegetable soup

This meal was pretty standard, though the chicken is more of an American take on Japanese food. The chanpuru was like many I’ve had but with mustard greens which provide unique flavors. The soup had a great broth from vegetable stock and included burdock root, daikon, and other veggies.

Friday October 26

Milk, barley rice, small fried fish, sliced burdock root, clear soup

The week ended with my favorite and least favorite items mixed together. I love kinpira (sliced) burdock and carrots, while I am not a fan of whole fish. The fish actually taste great, it just becomes a usual talking point as I rip off the heads to discard. Four years of “I don’t eat heads,” gets old, but in the end there’s really no excuse not to eat them whole except my squeamishness. I’m sure they taste just fine. The soup was extra light since it was strained to ensure a clear broth.

Monday October 29

Milk, pork curry, pickled vegetables, fruit in sauce

I’ve recently attempted making curry from scratch. Not with rue packets, but straight from seasonings. My first attempt was awesome, the second not so good. Both were far from the Japanese take on curry. Curry is a favorite in Japanese schools, but it is different. I’ve already shown how to make it from boxed curry cubes, but honestly I don’t know what’s in the cubes to make them taste so different from Indian curry. Whatever it is, both are good and definitely distinct. Once I master the from scratch version, I’ll post it!

Tuesday October 30

Milk, barley rice, vegetable irichi, stuffed inari, a-sa soup

Tuesday’s meal was a weird one. I cannot get over the stuffed inari. Inari is a bean curd pocket usually stuffed with rice at sushi restaurants. It’s slightly sweet and delicious. Unfortunately, the stuffed inari we get is a mixture of savory and sweet I find edible, but not enjoyable. The side dish is a mix of vegetables including konnaku sliced and prepared in the irichi style. Along side was a sea plant soup.

Wednesday October 31

Milk, basil spaghetti, tomato omelette, vegetable salad, Halloween cup cake

Happy Halloween! For the end of October we had a very non-Japanese meal, excepting the sheer variety of the dishes. Omelette and spaghetti? Sure! All the dishes were good on their own, and somehow came together. The portion of the salad was a bit big and since it was served cold not the best contrast to the spaghetti. The unfortunate leaf vegetables also got a bit stringy. On the upside we got tasty Halloween cupcakes.

Which was your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

School Lunch in Japan for Sept 10-28

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Benjamin Martin

Things have been interesting around here for the last few weeks. My novel is out, we got hit with typhoon 1216 and 1217 and there was a sports festival thrown in. Why does any of this matter in a School Lunch post? Well in Japan, or at least on my island, all of this tends to mess with 1. my ability to get a school lunch, 2. My ability to remember to take pictures of them, and 3. My ability to actually create a post with no internet. To top it all off, I jumped on a plane to Kitadaito for their yearly festival. But as promised, here are the school lunches I was able to catch for the days between September 10-28. Enjoy!

Tuesday September 11

Milk, chahan, chinese dumplings, chingensai soup

This lunch is a common Okinawan meal with Okinawan fried rice (chahan), dumplings and soup. The meal is heavily influenced by Chinese cuisine, which is a distinctive feature of Okinawan food. Though heavily influenced, it’s still far enough away from traditional Chinese food to rate 4 bowls of rice on the Japan scale. This version of chahan had basic mixed vegetables, egg and a bit of pork.

Thursday September 13

Milk, Neapolitan spaghetti, sautéed vegetables, acerola jelly

This meal is popular in Japanese school lunches as it is easy to serve in quantity. The noodles and sauce are pre-mixed together and sided with a saute of green beans, can tuna, and other vegetables. For dessert a jelly with acerola and milk.

Friday September 14

Milk, millet rice, baked fish, vegetable chanpuru, winter melon (tougan) soup

Today’s lunch is right back up to traditional Japanese fare. Basic white rice is mixed with awa (millet) for more diverse vitamins and minerals. The fish is a bit of mackerel in a soy based sauce. On the side is an Okinawan stir fry of vegetables (chanpuru). The soup is made of various vegetables including winter melon, a large green fruit that has the same consistency of daikon.

Wednesday September 19

White rice topped with black seseme, salmon, pickled daikon, tofu chanpuru, egg, hamburger, fried fish, vegetable

This meal isn’t a school lunch. Due to one of the typhoons we’ve had this year we ended up working on a day we hadn’t planned to, thus students had to bring their own lunches, and teachers went and bought bentos, Japanese boxed lunches. The main feature of bento as you can see above is variety. Though they aren’t always the healthiest, they generally provide small tastes of a variety of items. This bento isn’t the best I’ve had, but it was definitely edible.

Thursday September 20

Milk, purple shiso rice (yukari rice), teriyaki chicken, stir fry vegetables, egg drop soup

The rice is flavored with pickled shiso, a leaf that adds a bit of a sour bite. The chicken is your typical bit of meat with teriyaki (which actually translates to grilled bird) sauce. The vegetables are the largest part of this dish. They are a simple stir fry. On the side was an egg drop soup with more vegetables thrown in.

Wednesday September 26

Milk, bread, cheese omelette, vegetable saute, minestrone soup

The only thing keeping this meal from a one was the vegetable saute and the mix of such different items in the same meal. Alone, each item was delicious, but at first glance don’t seem to lend themselves to a single meal. I ended up using the bread as a holder for the vegetable saute (which included meat in the form of sausage) and also to absorb some of the soup. All in all a delicious, but not very Japanese school lunch.

Thursday September 27

Milk, Okinawan Soba, marinated vegetables, kyoho grapes

This meal featured a popular Okinawan dish of noodles in broth with pork belly and fish cakes. In the broth was also green onion. The side dish was a marinade of chingensai, bean sprouts, and other vegetables. For desert were two large grapes.

Thanks for waiting! This post was a tough one, with 2 typhoons, a power outage, a sports day, and a trip. There were more lunches, but this is pretty representative. We’ll have one more week of school lunches before I take off to the states for the official release party for Samurai Awakening. Thanks for reading!

The Last School Lunch Before Summer

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Benjamin Martin

This is it. The last week of school lunches before students go to summer break and I go back to eating convenience store bentos (lunch boxes) for the next month. I’m going to miss the variety and relative healthiness (and standardized portions) of school food. Since students aren’t in school, I’ll be working at my local Board of Education. Most other teachers will alternate summer vacation days with work at school. When they’re in town they’ll likely alternate between bentos, going out to lunch at local restaurants, and cooking in the small teachers’ room kitchens, but before long, everyone will be looking forward to those orange trays of food again.

Don’t worry though, I’ve got plans for this Friday post slot until the students get back. For now, though, here’s a look at this week’s school lunches from Kume Island in Okinawa. Of course, Monday was Marine Day, so there are only four this week.

Tuesday July 17

Milk, basil spaghetti, tomato omelet, eggplant and burdock salad, grape fruit

It has been awhile since we’ve had a straight one bowl on the Japan scale. This meal was tasty, but pretty different from anything I’ve ever eaten before, at least when taken as a whole. The spaghetti was tossed with a few vegetables, oil or butter, and basil, and came together quite nicely. There wasn’t much meat in it aside from a little bacon so the omelet was added for protein.

The salad was another surprise. Usually in this spot there’s a soup of some kind in Japanese meals. This time was an interesting mix of vegetables I wasn’t quite sure about, but it turned out to be very tasty. In case you didn’t know already, I’m a huge fan of burdock (gobo) root, and it worked very well here. The grapefruit was a strange addition, and I’m not much of a fan, but at least this time I remembered to eat it before I finished off the pasta. Milk and grapefruits are NOT a delicious combination.

Wednesday July 18

Milk, brown sugar bread, hamburger, vegetable irichi, asa minestrone

OK, so you’re probably wondering how this gets two bowls of rice when there is no rice present. I agree, this meal is definitely not Japanese… except parts of it are. In Japan, hamburgers are far more likely to be served as they are here, separate and almost as a steak would be back in the States. Why? Since meat has a shorter history here, and is more expensive since grazing land is at a premium, many people couldn’t afford steaks, so hamburgers got substituted. Add to that the lack of a sandwich culture (that needs its own post) and you get a Japanese take on an American favorite.

You might at this point say, hey, there’s bread. Yes, while there is bread, it is a slightly sweet bread that most people here simply break chunks off and eat separately. If they’re feeling super adventurous they might dip a bit in their soup. Which brings me to the other half of that second bowl on the Japan scale. Where else would you get ABC noodles in minestrone? ABC noodles AND the sea plant known as a-sa? Hence the second bowl.

Along side the hamburger was a common stir-fry of vegetables. Unlike chanpuru, this irichi was cooked with a bit of vinegar and other spices for a brighter taste. The plating didn’t stop me of course. I broke open the bread, cut the hamburgers, and made myself a delicious sandwich of burger and irichi.

Thursday July 19

Milk, barley rice, small fried fish, winter melon clear broth soup, Chikuzen, shiso flavored hijiki

We’re back to full on Japanese food for this meal. White rice mixed with a bit of barley for an extra range of vitamins and lower cost. Whole fried fish meant to be eaten whole (yes I cut off the heads… sorry Japan). Chikuzen is a dish we had back on March 5th and is an old name for Fukuoka-ken. It’s a mix of common root vegetables cooked with a bit of seasoning. In this one we had carrots, connyaku, burdock, lotus root, bamboo shoot, shitake mushrooms, and more.

To change-up the white rice, shiso (a leaf also used to dye umeboshi) flavored hijiki (that black seaweed we saw last week in a stir fry). On the side was a clear broth soup with winter melon and daikon.

Friday July 20

Milk, summer vegetable curry, marinated vegetables, cookies n cream ice cream

The local School Lunch center knows how to end a semester on a high note with students. Curry is a favorite Japanese lunch that almost always ends in empty plates. Add some ice cream (desserts are pretty rare, even fruit is only occasional) and you have a winner on a hot summer day.

Today’s curry was a bit different from any I’ve had before. Usually curry is based around the protein, either chicken, pork, or even beef. Today’s curry was centered around summer vegetables, with edamame, eggplant, and even tomatoes. The tomatoes gave the curry a lighter reddish color rather than the usual brown. It was almost like a semi cross between a meat sauce and our well-known curry, but all around it was still tasty.

Beside the curry was a small salad of cucumber and bean sprouts marinated in vinegar. There was also bits of bonito flakes in for flavor. Finally, each person got a little cup of Blue Seal cookies and cream ice cream.

A great week of food. Which was your favorite? Vote below.

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School Lunch in Okinawa for July 9-13

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Benjamin Martin

Monday July 9

Milk, wakame rice, shredded vegetable stir fry, skewered meatballs, and mozuku miso soup, miso cookie

Today’s meal had a variety of sea plants featured in the cooking. In the rice, shredded wakame, a type of seaweed, gave a little extra flavor to the usual white rice. In the soup, another common local seaweed, mozuku, complimented the rich miso flavors. The stir fry had a multitude of vegetables, including dried daikon (white radish) and konnyaku (a jelly made from the vegetable of the same name).

The miso cookie is a special omiyage from Kume Island. The island is known for the salty taste of the miso cookies and most people buy them as souvenirs when they visit.

Tuesday July 10

Milk, barley rice, baked mackerel, vegetable chanpuru, Shikamuduchi soup

This meal follows the traditional Japanese formula of rice, soup, a bit of fish, and a side of vegetables. Here the fish was a filet of Mackerel that had been de-boned and baked. The vegetable was the Okinawan take on stir fry with the main ingredient being cabbage. The soup is probably the most interesting of the bunch. Essentially its a clear broth version of miso soup with meat and vegetables. Instead of actual miso paste being left in, the particles are strained out or removed. I’ve never seen this one made before, so I could be wrong, if you know more about シカムドィチ let us know in the comments!

Wednesday July 11

Milk, Okinawan soba, Mo-ui and cucumber salad

This meal is straight forward and hugely Okinawan. Okinawan soba is a staple food here an is an adaptation between mainland Japanese soba and ramen. Okinawa soba noodles are made from potato or flour instead of buckwheat as in the mainland. The noodles are served in a pork broth and a slice of pork belly and usually fish paste slices are served on top. Sometimes there are also chives thrown in.

The salad is a common preparation called ‘Ae’ where sweet and sour flavors are mixed together in a marinade for the included vegetables. Mo-ui is a type of melon-ish vegetable found in Okinawa. You can see pictures of it here.

Thursday July 12

Milk, millet rice, uzu and miso baked fish, fried hijiki seaweed, clear broth soup

This week really hit on the fish and rice, not that I’m complaining. This was perhaps my favorite meal of the week. Uzu is a citrus that adds a nice acidic brightness to the fish that pairs very well with the mellow earthy miso flavors. I’m also a fan of hijiki which is a type of seaweed, but does not taste like it came from the ocean at all. The black veg is stir fried with other vegetables and served as a side for the fish. The soup was a clear broth with daikon and other vegetables.

Friday July 13

Milk, sakuna chahan, fried egg roll, chingensai soup

Sakuna is a small plant, which leaves have a strong semi-astringent taste. In Japanese, it’s also known as ボタンボウフウ. The leaves are often used in yagi-jiru (goat soup), though there’s usually an even split between people who like it and do not. The roll is just your basic deep fried roll with a bit of meat and sauce inside. The soup has the leafy bok choy cousin chingensai which is always tasty.

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School Lunch in Okinawa Japan for July 2-6

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Benjamin Martin

Monday July 2

Milk, barley rice, mozuku stuffed fried egg, daikon bushii, orange

Monday’s meal was on the far side of tasty, but for me it wasn’t much of a surprise since daikon was featured so heavily in the bushii. Stewed daikon (giant white radish) isn’t something you’ll find a whole lot in the West, but its got such a unique mild flavor to it. The bushii is essentially a light stew of pork, daikon, and other root vegetables that combine with hints of soy and other Japanese flavors for a hearty and delicious meal. Along side was a bit of fried egg with mozuku (a local seaweed) for extra protein and a bit of orange. Not a completely Japanese meal, but rather close. 4 Bowls.

Tuesday July 3

Milk, whole wheat bread, ‘cup’ baked fish, goya salad, tougan soup, apple jam

This meal was one of those odd mixes of East and West that hit far from any kind of fusion. The fish was topped with cheese and was actually quite moist. I used it to make a sandwich, though the flavors didn’t mesh all that well with the whole wheat. The goya salad was bitter as to be expected, but would have been fine except that the apple jam provided for the bread was sweet and made the acidity of and bitterness of the salad and its dressing all the more apparent. About half the elementary school kids around me kept trying to get rid of more of the goya salad by putting it on a friends’ plate. The soup which had winter melon in it was tasty. Overall confused. 3 Bowls.

Wednesday July 4

Milk, barley rice, chikina chanpuru, meat stuffed inari, root vegetable soup

If the stuffed inari looks familiar to you, it is because we had it just two weeks ago. This time it tasted a little better to me, less of the normal sweetness of the bean curd pocket, to go against the savory meat inside. The chanpuru was made with chikina (mustard greens), tofu, and other vegetables and was very good. The soup was mostly daikon and burdock root. Tasty, rather traditional. 5 Bowls.

Thursday July 5

Milk, 3 item rice, fish somen soup, tanabata jelly

This meal was served as a ‘don,’ a rice bowl topped with fried egg, chicken, and spinach. Along side was a soup with noodles made from fish as well as other vegetables. The desert was a special type of jelly for this weekend’s Tanabata star festival. I’ll be posting more on it tomorrow! A simple traditional meal. 5 Bowls.

Friday July 6

Milk, barley rice, papaya irichi, fish tempura, a-sa soup, shikuwasa jelly

Today’s meal was in honor of a group of students visiting from Nigata Prefecture. In order to give them a sense of Okinawa, the meal was designed to show unique Okinawan foods. The papaya irichi was a stir fry with shaved green (unripe) papaya, canned tuna, and other vegetables. The fish was a local variety called manbika- in tempura. The soup was a usual dashi broth with a-sa a light sea plant and tofu. Finally desert was a jelly made from shikuwasa, an Okinawan lime that is a little sour but very tasty. Very Okinawan, and Japanese in style, but not quite all Japan. 4 Bowls.

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