Cherrilicious

Thursday, November 25, 2004

Back at Kamakura...

Went to Kamakura with my eldest sis a few weeks back.

Finally got down to tidying up the numerous pict that we took. I`ve got to mention, my eldest sis is a crazier food fanatic than I am.

Nearly died of indigestion whenever I`m with her.

We ate so much snacks that I`m at a total loss as to which to introduce first. But just to start at the easiest, some of the food that we sampled at Kamakura.

Chili-spiced and Natto (Fermented bean) Senbei

Natto. The bane of all Japanese food.

We`ve heard of it. Foreigners who ate it have nightmares of it. Some hate it but most Japanese love it.

It smells like vomit. Has a very strong, unusual taste (hint: taste=smell).

Usually, it comes in a little container where the natto is flavoured with a dash of soysauce and occasionally, a raw egg. It is then mixed with a pair of chopsticks till it becomes extremely sticky, with web-like lines decorating the brown, beany substance. After which, it is used as a side-dish for rice.

For this version, natto is mixed with cheddar cheese and put on top of a senbei (rice cracker).

The vomit taste of the natto blends with the strong taste of the cheddar cheese such that the two distinctive flavors neutralised each other.

It`s like two opposing enemies co-operating to assasinate our taste buds.

I have to admit that I was pretty impressed with this daring fusion of flavors.

It`s an acquired taste but great nevertheless.

Kamakura Green Tea with Red Bean Ice-cream.

Green tea. We`re so familiar with it that it`s almost torturous for you to read this entry.

BUT, I really liked this one. Highly recommended.

It`s not diluted with milk like the ones in the supermarket. Instead, it`s actually green tea-flavored ice.

Confused?

There is a difference. Green tea ice cream is green tea mixed with milk such that it acquires a creamy taste which tends to hide the authentic flavor of green tea.

Kamakura Green Tea Ice, on the other hand, retains the refreshing taste of green tea without the overt creaminess of other ice-cream. It`s really light and delicate.

I was initially quite disappointed with the small size of the ice-cream. But I soon realized that it`s in a very nice portion, as with all other Japanese food.

Not too much. Just enough to whet the appetite and leave a good taste and memory in the stomach.

Kamakura Chestnut Ice-Cream

Avoid this if you happened to be in the area. Waste of money.

It tasted exactly like vanilla ice-cream.

Bummer.

Carol blogged @ 6:56 PM

2 Comments:

somehow i'm finding it hard to accept the fact that something you'd describe as having a "vomit" taste or smell could be delicious...but then again, we eat all sorts of weird foods...Jau

By Anonymous, at 9:10 PM

You know, it was actually quite good.
The taste of natto can really grow on you..once you get pass the smell and the association of that smell with `something`.

By Carol, at 6:53 PM

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About Carolyn

Female
Dog year
Pisces

Now in:
X America
X Australia
X Japan
0 Singapore
X Taiwan
X other parts of the world
X bed

Fav:
Travel, photography, eat strange food, getting lost, jogging, staring at the sky, reading, real-life ghost acounts, spacing out, zzZ!

Warning: Never disturb her just before and after sleep, NEVER.

About life... :
Live without any regrets.

My rules:
LIVE hard, appreciate little things and be contented with what you receive.

Food that I`ve tried so far:

abalone, ants, bird's nest, caterpillar, century egg, chicken, clam, crab, crocodile, duck, eel, emu, fermented tofu, frog, fugu (puffer fish), ginseng, goose, grass, horse, jellyfish, kangeroo, limpets, lobster, mussel, natto, octopus, ostrich, ox tongue, oyster, pig, prawn, salmon, salted duck egg, scorpion, sea cucumber, seaweed, shark, shrimp, snails, sparrow, squid, stingray, tuna, turtle, venison, whale

apple, aronia berry, artichoke, avocado, banana, blackberry, blueberry, cherry, coconut, cranberry, dates, dragonfruit, durian, fig, gooseberry, grape, grapefruit, guava, honeydew, jackfruit, kiwi, lemon, lime, mango, mangosteen, nectarine, olive, orange, passionfruit, peach, pear, pineapple, plum, pomegranate, prune, rambutan, raspberry, sago, soursop, starfruit, strawberry, watermelon, wintermelon, wolfberry

almond, broadbean, caraway seed, cashew nut, chick peas, flax seed, green bean, lotus seed, macademia nuts, peanut, pecan, peppercorn, pine nuts, pistachio, poppy seed, pumpkin seed, red bean, sesame seed, soyabean, sunflower seeds, walnut, watermelon seed

chamomile, cherry blossom, chrysanthemum, echinacea, elderberry flower, hibiscus, lavender, lily, lotus, rose

My Stuff

Tokyo Daze
In Times of Boredom

2 Comments:

somehow i'm finding it hard to accept the fact that something you'd describe as having a "vomit" taste or smell could be delicious...but then again, we eat all sorts of weird foods...Jau

You know, it was actually quite good. The taste of natto can really grow on you..once you get pass the smell and the association of that smell with `something`.

You know, it was actually quite good.
The taste of natto can really grow on you..once you get pass the smell and the association of that smell with `something`.