The Japanese are famous for their healthy diet and generally thin population (that's changing however)... but every time I go back to Japan, I tend to gain weight. Doushite? How come? Is it my Aussie metabolism, or is there some misconception here about Japanese food. Well, I'll start throwing up (that's a bad choice of words) some examples of the things we eat at T-chan's home in Japan, and you might understand.
The first thing is a yakisoba...a fairly healthy dish which has the following ingrediants - pork (buta niku), prawn (ebi), cabbage, capsicum or bell peppers (pi-man), fish cake (chikuwa), onion (tamanigi), sausage, squid (ika), scallops (hotate). Yakisoba noodles with special yakisoba sauce. All fried on the table in an electric cookplate - and lets not forget the egg (tamago).
There's nothing unhealthy about that... all good food, cooked simply and honto ni oishii (very yummy). However, the first hint is that this is just a normal lunch for us... and as a guest, it's sort of expected that I (and to a lesser extent) T-chan, fill ourselves to the max. It must be finished. In my experience, it's considered rude to leave food on your plate. But if your plate is perpetually filled up... what then?....
A very happy weight gain program... and this was just the lunch.
PS - this is one of Otousan's signature dishes, and has been a favourite amongst the many exchange students that T-chan's family have hosted over a 20 year period (through the Rotary Club). It's also one of my favourites. Arigatou Otousan!
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