Food to Challenge the Japanese Palate (Split from Nova Thread)

[ttjereth]

Originally Posted by ttjereth

Speaking of sweet and salty, something that I have found most Japanese people end up liking if you can force/trick them into trying it, is chocolate covered pretzels.


Well Japan has the pottatcho...so I guess they did adopt the salty/chocolatey flavor!!

Yeah, but chocolate covered pretzels are good. Those potato chips are absolutely disgusting.

My wife has a friend from Hokkaido who buys them as omiyage everytime she goes home. Neither of us can stand them, but my wife made the oh so Japanese mistake of telling her they were good the first time, so now we always get them

Them, and those bloody freeze dried white chocolate covered strawberries from Hokkaido are just awful.

[succubusqueen]

Yeah, but chocolate covered pretzels are good. Those potato chips are absolutely disgusting.

My wife has a friend from Hokkaido who buys them as omiyage everytime she goes home. Neither of us can stand them, but my wife made the oh so Japanese mistake of telling her they were good the first time, so now we always get them

Them, and those bloody freeze dried white chocolate covered strawberries from Hokkaido are just awful.

Really? wow...I guess I do the same..I buy them for other people..but I never eat it...jeje:D

[ttjereth]

Really? wow...I guess I do the same..I buy them for other people..but I never eat it...jeje:D

I don't know about the potato chips (I know my wife doesn't like them) but the I do know a lot of Japanese people like the strawberries, people even ask me to buy them for them when I go to hokkaido

[GomiGirl]

I LOVE the freeze dried strawberries in white chocolate. They are sensational.

[Charles]

I'll take pretzels covered in white chocolate. Something about that works better than dark chocolate.

[ichigo partygirl]

I like others have found vegemite to be amusing, but only if you give it to them straight. Putting it on some hot toast with butter is a completely different story.
Real hot hot hot sauce is pretty funny, as is a really chewy toffee. Japanese friends who have come to NZ have found toffee apples rather hard to get their heads around.

[ttjereth]

I LOVE the freeze dried strawberries in white chocolate. They are sensational.

I can't stand the strawberries. They are wayyy too sweet and tart and I'm a supposedly sweet-loving American

I've never understood how the Japanese people around me could like these, but then say that other things were too sweet

[Mulboyne]

Liquorice sweets from Holland are not much appreciated in Japan either. A Dutch mate of mine used to bring them back to Tokyo and inflict them on his colleagues. I don't really care for them either so I couldn't fully join in with the joke.

[ttjereth]

Liquorice sweets from Holland are not much appreciated in Japan either. A Dutch mate of mine used to bring them back to Tokyo and inflict them on his colleagues. I don't really care for them either so I couldn't fully join in with the joke.

Those Panda brand licorices there are good, the actual licorice (black) ones anyway. My wife can't even stand the smell

It's weird, when I was younger I couldn't stand licorice, but my dad and uncles all liked it. I only started enjoying it since I moved to Japan.

I brough some over to inflict on Japanese, my own memories of it being fairly horrible, and found to my surprise that I now liked it

[hundefar]

Liquorice sweets from Holland are not much appreciated in Japan either. A Dutch mate of mine used to bring them back to Tokyo and inflict them on his colleagues. I don't really care for them either so I couldn't fully join in with the joke.

Salty liquorice is very popular here in Scandinavia. I usually give them to any foreigner I meet who hasn't encountered them before. Always good for a laugh.

[Taro Toporific]

[SIZE="4"]frijoles refritos[/SIZE]

[ttjereth]

frijoles refritos

I know my wife doesn't like them, but there's no "eww yuck" or funny faces, just a "I'd rather not eat them if I don't have to" kind of reaction.

I should ask the people at the local mexican restaurant if they get a lot of leftover refried beans

[succubusqueen]

Those are white beans...I like darker ones better, they have better flavour!
And yes Japanese get so confused when eating refried beans. I get equallly grossed out trying to eat AN. Frijoles refritos rock!:winkb:

[Adhesive]

We live in California, my wife has to like frijoles or we'd disown her.

Another curiosity for my wife is shredded wheat cereal, which she likens to tatami, and skim milk, which of course tastes like water to her.

[succubusqueen]

Well since Ive never met anyone who actually likes this ..so called snack..Im still placing it here...Like the pottatcho, this variety seems still fit the sweet-salty category that apparently japanese dislike so much!



yuck!:confused:

[ttjereth]

We live in California, my wife has to like frijoles or we'd disown her.

Another curiosity for my wife is shredded wheat cereal, which she likens to tatami, and skim milk, which of course tastes like water to her.

I think skim milk tastes like water too

[ttjereth]

Well since Ive never met anyone who actually likes this ..so called snack..Im still placing it here...Like the pottatcho, this variety seems still fit the sweet-salty category that apparently japanese dislike so much!



yuck!:confused:

The occasional fancy (supposedly) restaurant has shrimp with chocolate sauce, but I wouldn't eat either. Blarg.

How about a picture from the home fridge:



My wife eats these but screams when she see's a cockroach...

http://www.kirainet.com/english/inago/

http://smt.blogs.com/mari_diary/2005/06/odd_and_rare_fo.html

[succubusqueen]

are those for real?...they look like the mexican Capulines (roasted grasshoppers with powdered chili)...

I'll stick with meat and potatoes ...thanks!

[hundefar]

are those for real?...they look like the mexican Capulines (roasted grasshoppers with powdered chili)...

I'll stick with meat and potatoes ...thanks!

Some places they also eat Earth Wasp Larvae.

[ttjereth]

are those for real?...they look like the mexican Capulines (roasted grasshoppers with powdered chili)...

I'll stick with meat and potatoes ...thanks!

Yes they're real. Fried in soy sauce. Bleck

[ttjereth]

[hundefar]

[ttjereth]

These seem to be bee larvae, right? I was more thinking of the earth wasp larvae. My father in law used to catch those and sell them when he was a child.

In what country?

[hundefar]

In what country?

Japan. They used to blow up the underground wasp hives (do you call them hives, I am not sure) with fireworks and collect the larvae while the wasps were unconscious and then sell them on to a shop that sold them as a delicacy.

[ttjereth]

Japan. They used to blow up the underground wasp hives (do you call them hives, I am not sure) with fireworks and collect the larvae while the wasps were unconscious and then sell them on to a shop that sold them as a delicacy.

Dunno what that is then. I'm fairly certain they don't get the hachi no ko using fireworks, but I am pretty certain I wouldn't eat either of them.

[Greji]

Dunno what that is then. I'm fairly certain they don't get the hachi no ko using fireworks, but I am pretty certain I wouldn't eat either of them.

Hey, larvae burgers! I'm in! I'm also willing to bet you will find someone over here that will also swear that it is great for the libido!

[Iraira]

Hey, larvae burgers! I'm in! I'm also willing to bet you will find someone over here that will also swear that it is great for the libido!

Right here. I've undoubtedly consumed more fruitfly larvae, pupae, and whole flies than I want to think about. They do have a suitable level of proteins, carbs, and fats, and are of course related to shrimp and other shellfish, so maybe they could be used to raise the pole.
Actually, the banana food that the little guys grow up on isn't so bad, until you add the preservative we used, which causes immediate cancers in cockroaches. Never thought of actually frying up the larvae myself, but I tried the earthworm pasta at an entomology conference once. Skipped the cricket stir fry and went to Burger Kill.

Well, that about does it for those pesky lunch cravings....

[Greji]

Right here. I've undoubtedly consumed more fruitfly larvae, pupae, and whole flies than I want to think about. They do have a suitable level of proteins, carbs, and fats, and are of course related to shrimp and other shellfish, so maybe they could be used to raise the pole.
Actually, the banana food that the little guys grow up on isn't so bad, until you add the preservative we used, which causes immediate cancers in cockroaches. Never thought of actually frying up the larvae myself, but I tried the earthworm pasta at an entomology conference once. Skipped the cricket stir fry and went to Burger Kill.

Well, that about does it for those pesky lunch cravings....

I'm sure they make for a healthy, nutrious lunch, but the question remains, will eating them stop global warming????

[Iraira]

I'm sure they make for a healthy, nutrious lunch, but the question remains, will eating them stop global warming????

Are you asking me whether eating them gives you gas?

[ttjereth]

Hey, larvae burgers! I'm in! I'm also willing to bet you will find someone over here that will also swear that it is great for the libido!

Yeah, cause all the ladies want a guy with a mouth full of dead, exploded, mashed up wasp larvae