buta-no-shogo yaki (ginger pork)

in tokyo everyone hits the street at lunchtime - far more than in theuk where people often eat sandwiches at their desks. the city seemsto come awake when the 12.15 lunch alarm goes off. everyone will getup and head out. the first time this happened greg and myself thoughtthat it was either a fire or an earthquake, we were relieved todiscover that it meant lunch. I don't think the office were all thathappy in the following weeks as we would continually roll about inlaughter when the alarm went off.

our little resistance to jp society is also represented in the factthat we NEVER go for lunch when the alarm goes off - we're just wildand go about half an hour later.

we went for lunch yesterday in one of the underground restaurants.you know the kind; it is actually the first restaurant that i went towhen i arrived over here (and one of only two lunches that i have hadwith the full team). the people of tokyo have an incredibleappreciation of space and as a result will always try to maximise it -you find restaurants in the most unlikely places; underground, dodgyelevatored blocks, carparks etc.

i chose something that i have wanted to have for ages and it wasreally very good. it's called buta (port) no ('s) shoga (ginger) yaki(fried); what taro refers to as really 'fundamental' food. basicallythe simple meal that is cooked across japan. the meal that i had wasv simple (simpler than below) - marinated pork, fried and sliced intovery thin strips and served on a bed of fried bean sprouts ... all ofthe staples of the jp diet exist here - soya sauce, pork and beansprouts.

we are preparing for our trip to toyama prefecture (leaving in acouple of hours) - we're going to be visiting the land of countrypumpkins as taro says (it's too funny to correct him right now) ... weare heading directly to one of the best ramen restaurants tonight andeating at home with the family tomorrow ... no doubt will be interesting

there are tonnes of references to this on the web - one of the best:http://japanesefood.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=japanesefood&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ed.ac.uk%2F%7Eyoshiro%2Frecipe-j.htm%23Gingerhope you\'re both well and enjoying all ... love, coops