I've made the Italian version, calamari ripieni, with lots of garlic and tomato, but stuffing small squid with mochi rice seemed a bit fiddly and the combination of soy sauce and hot squid flesh makes an overpowering aroma when cooking, which has always put me off. I had never tried it, but my husband had been waxing nostalgic about ikameshi recently, and asked me if I knew how to make it. Apparently, it was invented in 1941 and became a popular bento for people passing through Hakodate on the train. I wonder if they have a Log Lady?).īut wait, it does have one very special claim to fame: Ikameshi whole squid, stuffed with rice and simmered in a sweet soy sauce. Looking at pictures, it doesn't seem to have a whole lot to offer, but it's on Uchiura Bay, with the twin peaks of Mt Komagatake behind it (come to think of it, the town does look quite a bit like the "Twin Peaks"of David Lynch's imagination. I've always wanted to visit Hakodate, but I had never heard of Morimachi. This week, my local station has a stall from Morimachi, near Hakodate, in Hokkaido. One of the things I love about train stations in Japan, is they often have promotions by far-flung regions to promote their cuisine and attractions. They now also make a questionable range of 'cute' animals. They're based near Itabashi Tokyo, so you could say this is a meibutsu of North Tokyo. If you want to hear the Shonen Knife song (the English version there's also an original Japanese version on the Burning Farm EP), here it is: Shonen Knife Let's KnifeĮarlier packaging, from the company website. Here's a link to the company's website: kamenoko-tawashi. It just is, the best pot cleaner in the world. The packaging hasn't changed much in about 100 years, except it's plastic now. And at only 315 yen it would make a very cheap souvenir! It's wonderful in its simplicity - the bristles, made of coconut fibre, are finer and more flexible than cheaper versions, it's bound with rope and finished off with a wire hanger. It's great that such an ordinary item can take me back to those days of Stone's Ginger Wine, The Big Day Out and the old Century Tavern on George & Liverpool Sts in Sydney. So when I saw the real thing, I had to get it. Their song "Tortoise brand pot cleaner, specially selected pot cleaner, the best pot cleaner in the world is specially selected tortoise brand." is so inane, but it stuck in my head. Kamenoko Tawashi - literally "young tortoise scourer" has been around for over 100 years, but I first heard of it through the awesome Osaka band, Shonen Knife. It's a humble pot scrubber with a tortoise logo. Getting away from food for the moment, perhaps my earliest encounter with a Japanese "meibutsu", is a very ordinary thing.
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