I ordered a Pan-Asian udon noodle bowl with shrimp (I sometimes mess her up and order it with beef) and a bottle of Coke Zero, my preferred drink as it doesn't have any sugar in it, as a lifetime of sucking back two-liter bottles of regular Coke has me borderline diabetic.
That's my fault - not Coca-Cola's, of course. For the past two years (or maybe more), I have drunk Coke Zero, and have seen my blood sugar levels come back to normal levels.
Personally, I think it's me not sucking back two pounds of peanut M&Ms from the bulk candy store. I would eat it in a couple of hours. I told you I have an addictive personality.
To lunch: While the udon noodles and shrimp make up the bulk of the cuisine, there is of course a plethora of vegetation fried up and placed within the broth-filled bowl, including (by my recollection): bok choy, red peppers and bean sprouts, small bits of broccoli, carrots, a Thai sauce of some kind... and I top it off with two ladles of teriyaki sauce.
Oh... it comes it at 466 grams and a total of 328 calories - probably more for me thanks to the teriyaki sauce I have added. Wow! I'm losing weight! I can almost see my stomach!
I tend to eat when I'm stressed, and boy am I hungry even though I'm full.
Not bad for a total of $9.78 (before tax) - and that includes the $1.99 drink.
This is one delicious meal. While I know that shrimp is supposed to be bad for my cholesterol, I do take a Lipitor-like pill that brings my levels back to normal.
Better living through chemistry.
I'm a chopsticks guy. If I'm eating Chinese or Japanese food, you better give me chopsticks. I can easily pick up single grains of rice, or uncooked beans - all from my hybrid chopstick grip that amazed my BOE (Board of Education) bosses in Ohtawara-shi, Tochigi-ken.
Hanazaki-san, one of my two bosses, taught me how to use "Japanese chopsticks" by showing me the proper grip with two pencils - a pencil is an archaic writing device that has a piece of graphite lead wrapped with pressed wood formed into a cylindrical shape. I know, I know... barbaric, isn't it?
He taught me - I learned. And so excited was I to show off my new-found prowess with hashi (chopsticks), I promptly forgot the grip I was taught while out at a local restaurant, and created my own comfortable grip that has me only use my thumb, index and middle fingers - rather than those plus my ring finger.
I balance the lower chopstick on the side of my middle finger, and have my thumb and index finger on opposite sides of the upper chopstick. It works for me.
I have very good control, and have not dropped a chopstick in over 23 years, nor have I dropped food on myself in 22 years. I can not say the same about my fork usage.
Slippery udon noodles? Hah! It is to laugh. I slurp in their general direction!
I still have to ask for chopsticks at Teriyaki Experience, but they'll eventually come to realize that not all gaijin (foreigners) are created equal. Perhaps it's because these folks are Chinese, and not Japanese. While not a criticism of these fine people, as mentioned previously, I feel slightly ripped off when my Japanese food isn't prepared by Japanese folks.
It's the same way I feel ripped off that Scottish people aren't making my McDonalds, or when I find horsemeat in my 100% hamburger that has 0% ham in it. In other words, I don't feel ripped off at all.
Now... while I wish I had some beer or shochu (what you think is sake - Japanese rice wine) with this lunch and a pretty Ms. to share it with, when I get back to my office desk and eat, you should see the number of people who wander over to smell this tasty meal and wonder how I seem to eat a lot of Japanese or Japanese-like food so often.
I growl at them and show my teeth to scare them away and try to answer all my fan mail from the blog.
Cheers
Andrew Joseph
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