When you think of Norway, what kind of food do you think of? Well, watch a Norwegian cooking show HERE and you'll learn how they make smoked fish and nettle stew outside and next to a fjord!
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After you watch, please answer ONE of the following questions:
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1. In this video, what food was similar to your country's food? What was different?
2. What is your favorite food? Do you know any of the history behind it?
3. What is the most interesting or oddest food you have ever tried? Would you recommend it?
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If you're interested, there is a restaurant in Kichijoji that serves Scandinavian food. It's called Allt Gott. Check it out!
Try cooking something yourself! Here are some recipes (in Japanese).
Or you can order Norwegian food and drinks and other goods online HERE.
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I'd like to answer question3. The oddest food I have tried before was the locusts boiled in sweetened soy sauce. In some place in Japan, people eat locusts, but it was my first time to eat insects. Honestly, I did not like it, so I cannot recommend it. I really hesitated to eat it just because I could not eat it without thinking that what I was eating was a INSECT!!!!!
ReplyDeleteRina, T1
I'd like to answer question 1. The similarity between Norwegian food and Japanese one is that both are using green vegetables with cream. In the video, it was spinach. On the other hand, we use broccoli. The difference is whether people make smoked fish by themselves or not. It seems that Norwegians cook it easily, however Japanese ordinary Japanese people don't. Instead they buy it or eat it out.
ReplyDeleteAkiko Yamaoka T1
To Question 3:
ReplyDeleteDefinitely Natto.
I believe there are not so many cultures which like fermented things for meal. When I was a child, I wanted to try some since my parents asked me to have some. But I felt very sick with the "unique" smell and almost threw up after having a bite on a bean. I've never had Natto since then.
Nike
I would like to answer question 3. Last year, I tried wheatherfish chips when my senior came back from Indonesia and brought us a bag of wheatherfish chips. The taste was not so bad, it resembled to small fish chips so many people may eat them. But I could not see directly the faces of wheatherfish when I tried them.
ReplyDeleteYumi Mizuno T1
Sorry, it was "weatherfish."
ReplyDeleteYumi Mizuno T1
I will answer Q3. The most interesting food that I have ever tried is rice pudding. My senior made it for club members, and I tried it for the first time. It was rice boiled with sugar and milk. Actually, I don't like the taste of sweet rice. For Japanese, rice is not a sweet food, so it might be felt odd. But, thinking of many people who love rice pudding in the world, it may be a good sweet if we get used to the taste.
ReplyDeleteRie Nishimura
My answer for question3 is... kangaroo, crocodile & emu meat. I ate them in Australian restaurant. They didn't taste bad.I was surprised to see kangaroo meats in almost every supermarket in Australia! :0
ReplyDeleteEri
My answer for question 3 is... kangaroo, crocodile & emu meat!! I ate them in Australia. They didn’t taste bad because they are cooked with strong flavour sauce. I was surprised to see almost all of the supermarkets in Australia selling kangaroo meat! :0
ReplyDeleteEri
I guess mountain trout he says he's going to "fish", is famous too in Japan even though I don't know if these ones belong to the same species.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, nettle is for me alien and when made to be "consistent" with the soup, it becomes to me "fiercer" as starkly opposed to what he says...
Anyway, I was most surprised to know the verb "fish" includes to catch fish "by hands" and his technique to catch fish with his bear hands!
I would like to answer question 3.
ReplyDeleteWhen I stayed in South Africa for holiday,I visited a traditional village. They served crocodile's meat for dinner. I thought it really tasted good, but my friend completely refused to eat it. He said I eat it because I don't know the kind of disgusting food crocodiles eat. My friend told me what crocodiles eat afterwards. I felt a little bit disgusted but the meat still tasted good. Now I recommend people to eat crocodile meat before getting to know it well.
Ren Liu
I would like to answer the question 3.
ReplyDeleteThe oddest thing I have ever tried is loofa soup. When I was an elementary student, one of my classmates was from Taiwan. He said loofa soup was a popular dish in Taiwan and we made it with loofas which we grew in our science class. The taste was so unique and odd. It tasted like a ginger. Although I did not think it delicious, eating it might bring you a strange and impressive experience which you cannot forget for many years. So, please try it if you have a opportunity!
Satomi Yoneyama
I will answer Q3. My favorite food is sushi. It became popular in the Edo period. Sushi in those days was like a fast food in these days, and most people ate it by hand. After eating it, they used to dry their hand with a shop curtain(Japanese noren). Therefore its dirtiness was evidence that many people had come. In other words, the dirtier it is, the more delicious sushi the shop serves.
ReplyDeleteHowever delicious sushi is, don't dry your hand with a shop curtain today!
Yusuke
I made a mistake. I answered question 2! I'm sorry.
ReplyDeleteYusuke
Q1
ReplyDeleteWhen I watched the video, smoked salmon reminded me of the Japanese salted and grilled saury. Saury is 'sanma' in Japanese. We grill them instead of smoking, and eat with soy source.
I will answer question 1. In Japan, we also eat chipped fish. Salmon is popular. The man in the video also ate chipped fish, but the flavor is very different. most Japanese chipped fish are seasoned with salt. Eating them with vegetable sauce is surprising. And I don't want to eat them with yoghurt sauce.
ReplyDeleteYohei Yasuhara
My answer to question "2: one of my favorite food is "nikujaga" (Japanese style of stew) and this has a unique history. Nikujaga was invented by a cook of the old Japanese navy in the Meiji period. A superior officer of the cook had an experience of studying abroad and had tasted the European style stew. He wanted to eat it again so he had the cook made a stew by teaching him a recipe by words. However, the cook had no knowledge of the Western style cooking, so instead he used Japanese style broth and soy sauce to season vegetables and meat, and Nikujaga was born. I think this is a very interesting story because stew and Nikujaga is a totally different meal for me!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to answer the question3. When I went to my friend's house in California, she bought me a bottle of green tea. However, I don't want admit it was green tea. It was badly sweet. It is true green tea ice cream is tasty, but for drinking, sweet green tea tastes awful, I think.
ReplyDeleteNana Nakamura
I'd like to answer the question 3. When I went to Canada, my host family took me to a Japanese sushi restaurant. I ordered "futomaki" (thick sushi roll) there, but I was shocked because the rice of that sushi was not vinegared. It is the oddest food I have ever had, and I would definitely not recommend it.
ReplyDeleteMinami
Q.1
ReplyDeleteIn that video, he was cooking smoked trout. The similar food I know is dried bonito( Katsuo-Bushi). Of course, this is different from smoked trout on how to eat it or use it. Dried bonito itself is not eaten directly but used as a seasoning. Common thing between smoked trout and dried bonito is "smoked".
Sentaro
Norwegian food is pretty different from the food we have in Oklahoma. In my hometown we smoke chicken, pork, beef and cheese - but never fish!
ReplyDeleteI don't think Norwegian food would be popular in Oklahoma - people there only like to eat meat. I'd really like to try it however...
I would like to answer question 3. One of the most interesting foods I've ever tried is stingrays. Just like as Japanese people barbecue cook beef and vegetables, stingrays are common food for barbecue food in Singapore. Actually they're tasty and similar to broiled fish. I recommend it.
ReplyDeleteMickie Yamanari
I would like to answer question 3. The oddest food I have ever tried was caramel whose flavor was a Mongolian mutton barbecue, so called Genghis khan. This caramel is one of the infamous souvenirs in Hokkaido and a friend of mine gave it to me. The taste and smell were terrible and made me feel sick. I do not know why such a awful sweet was invented.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry, I forgot to write my name.
ReplyDeleteFutoshi
I would like to answer question 1. One of my favorite foods is bean curd in Japanese "tofu". It is said that bean curd was introduced into Japana from China in the 7th century. At the time, China was in the Tang period. Tang is pronounced in Japanese "to-u".Thus, Bean curd was named "tofu".
ReplyDeleteTi syunta
To Question 1,
ReplyDeleteThe similar Japanese food to this Norwegian cooking should be "Ayu-no Shio-yaki". (Baked Ayu with salt. I don't think Ayu has an English name...It got translated to sweetfish by my dictionary.)
You often cook them outdoor, and stick them wooden picks...so the way you cook it looks similar to this Norwegian smoked fish! The different part is that we don't eat Ayu with spinach sauce or yogurt....
Miho T1
I would like to answer Q3.
ReplyDeleteI think the most interesting food that I have ever tried is blue cheese. My history teacher in junior high school brought us an assortment of cheeses from around the world, and I was surprised to learn that moldy cheese was considered a delicacy.
Its color was nice, but I thought it smelled horrible. I can't explain how it tasted, but I didn't like it. I don't recommend others to try blue cheese, but my teacher said that people who like wine might enjoy it.
Kaori Itakura
I'll answer Q3. Last day, when I visted my friend's house, he was eating yoghurt on rice. Then I was very surprised and asked him to let me try it. At a moment I had a little bite of it, I felt nausea. Rice is definately not food which matches with yoghurt. I don't recommend it.
ReplyDeleteT1, Akihiro Yamaguchi
Q3
ReplyDeleteI think all Japanese students will be surprised but my answer is udon and ramen. When I came to Japan for the first time and saw two of them in the cafeteria, I just thought: “Oh my God, spaghetti in water with a boiled egg and some ham??? Are they crazy?”. Now I am laughing every time I think of that reaction, because I love udon and ramen very much!
I am kind of a person who respects each cuisine and tries to taste everything, but I doubt I will ever taste Korean silk worms…
Anna
I'd like to answer Q2! Two weeks ago I went to Korea and since then I'm really into eating Korean food. The big difference between Korean and Japanese food is its hot flavor. Why are the cuisine of these countries so different even though they are close to each other? Historically in Japan, people mainly eat fish because Buddhism ban to eat meat. On the other hand, Korean national religion was Confusianism so they have a culture of eating meat. Therefore, Korean people like to use a lot of spices to preserve meet longer and promote fat burning.
ReplyDeleteT1 Yumiko Nomura
I'd like to answer Q1.
ReplyDeleteJapanese also eat smoked fish,but we eat it just with salt. I guess we don't use something like rosemary or nutmeg. Japanese's way to cook smoked fish is much simpler than Norwegian's.
Sayaka U
I'd like to answer question 2.
ReplyDeleteI like Korean food. There are many delicious food in Korea, but I like a cold noodle the best. I thought that a cold noodle is food for summer but actually its origin is more related to winter than summer. People in Korea use a floor heating system called 'Ondoll' to keep their house warm. The temperature in the house is often too warm, so people eat cold noodle in order to cool their body.
I'm sorry. I forgot to add my name.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to answer question 2.
I like Korean food. There are many delicious food in Korea, but I like a cold noodle the best. I thought that a cold noodle is food for summer but actually its origin is more related to winter than summer. People in Korea use a floor heating system called 'Ondoll' to keep their house warm. The temperature in the house is often too warm, so people eat cold noodle in order to cool their body.
Yuko
To Question No.3
ReplyDeleteI have eaten kangaroo meat when I was in Australia. It sounds a little bit pity to eat kangaroo but the taste was really nice. I would recommend it!!
Miyu Yoshikawa
I would like to anwer Q1.
ReplyDeleteI found it unique to Norwegian food is that they have special sauce with fish. In Japan, we tend to eat fish with simple seasoning such as pepper, sault and soy sauce. However, in the video about Norwegian food, the man made special sause with spinach and yogurt.
And I was also suprised that the man removed the bones of fish before dish it onto the plate.
In Japan, we get used to remove the bones with chopsticks and we rarely remove them before put fish onto the dish.
Misato Noto
I would like to answer the 3rd question. The oddest food I have ever eaten is emu's meat. I ate it without knowing when I visited Australia. Someone told me it was Emu's meat after I finished eating it. I still remember being shocked to hear that because I saw emus alive in a zoo a few days before.
ReplyDeleteIt tastes just like beef if I remember right.
T1 Ayaka. M
I will answer #3. One of the oddest Japanese food I have ever tried was locust boiled down with soy, inago-no-tsukudani. In my young days, I have no hesitation to eat it, however, now I cannot imagine to take it. I have already know they are originally kind of insects live in the grass place. I know it is one of our culture but I absolutely cannot recommend it to others.
ReplyDeleteSatomi Yoshida
I'd like to answer third question. The most oddest food I have ever tried is sushi in England. The important point is "in England." I think it is not sushi because the rice is like a mud and seafood ingredient is dry like a dried fish... It's just a rubbish!!!!! So, I can't recommend to eat sushi in England. You have to eat it in Japan.
ReplyDeleteYoshiki Yajima
I'd like to answer Q3. The most interesting food I've ever tried is Beijing duck.I ate it at a chinese restaurant about a month ago.Before it arrived at the table, I thought it was just duck's meat on a dish.However, what I saw was some duck's skins and something like a rice cracker.At first I doubted it really had a taste, but it tasted very well after all. Since then, Beijing duck is my most favorite food.Of course I recommend everyone to try it.
ReplyDeleteT1 Saki Ito
I'd like to answer question 3.
ReplyDeleteI've eaten frog-legs when I was in America. My father used to hunt big frogs with his friends and cook fried frog-legs for our family. It sounds disgusting, but believe it or not, it tasted really good! The meat is tender and juicy and I believe that frog-legs taste better than any other meat!
I haven't heard any restaurants that serve frog-legs in Japan, but if you find one, I strongly recommend to try them!
T1 Takaho Mikami
I will answer question 1. Japanese people also eat smoked fishes, and the method of smoking a fish is similar to that of Norway. However, Japanese people don't usually eat a fish with cream or sauce. Instead, they eat it with just salt or soy sauce. Also, many Japanese people don't like the flavor of herbs, so it is not likely that they eat that kind of green sauce with a fish.
ReplyDeleteTakuya Imai
Answer to question 3.
ReplyDeleteI've had a dessert called 'pavlova' in New Zealand. It's is very comman and popular in Australia too.
Pavlova is a kind of dessert made of basically egg white(meringue) and plenty of sugar. You mix them, chuck it into a oven and bake it slowly. Cool it down a little bit, and put whipped cream and fruits on top of massive cake of suger.
It is VERY sweet, but somehow you would get used to it and even like it.
Yurika Wada
I think the oddest food are giblets (the internal organs of animals), “hormone” or “motsu” in Japanese. I love grilled meat, but not giblets.
ReplyDeleteOnce my friend took me to a restaurant and she ordered some heart, gizzard, liver and even a brain of a monkey, and it was gross.
Although they were seasoned, the picture was somehow just too unappetizing. I also didn’t like the iron/metallic smell and taste all that much.
T1 Ayaka Kawashima
To answer the question 3, I want to let you know ice tempura which we as ESS served at the university festival. As the name shows, it is fried ice cream with toppings like chocolate source, maple syrup, or soy bean flour. I had never known before joining ESS that such a dessert exists. Although I cannot tell how to make it because it is the secret of our circle, I strongly recommend you. Please try it at the next Gaigosai!
ReplyDeleteT1 Yoshihiro
I will answer the Q1. Japanese people also eat each smoked fish, herbs and yogurt, but we never eat them together! The herbs in the video, which I think are mugwort, are used only in confectionary like dango or daifuku in Japan.
ReplyDeleteSorry. I forgot writing my name.
ReplyDeleteShiori
I would like to answer the question no.2. My favorite Japanese food is “okonomiyaki". It was originally some kind of snack in Kansai area. And after the World War Ⅱ, it spread all around Japan because it is very easy to make, and also it easily makes us full.
ReplyDeleteAsami Sudo