that scene in “spirited away“, at the beginning, where chihiro’s parents stumble upon a deserted foodstall, an exotic feast spread upon the front counter. all manner of small roasted bird and fatty… um… pork? chihiro’s father sucks a large sacklike thing into his mouth. it looks moist and succulent and quite oily, i guess like a stewed eggplant. i think that i will never tire of watching this.
there were no mystery meats for me this morning, although i did get through that scene — and the one of the soot creatures’ feeding time — over two slices of black rye toast with maple syrup, and a cup of tea. after two bits of toast i felt like another. maybe for lunch. after some drawing.
at the other end of the lunch simplicity scale: a few days ago i bought a futo maki at david jones foodhall. the process in itself is simple enough. however you wouldn’t expect that a little round of rice and other bits rolled up in nori would contain this:
would you?
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in the u.s., they list ingredients largest amount first. i read the ingredients of the futomaki and was wondering, what kind of futomaki is made primarily of gourd shavings…?
i was imagining it something like the deep fried taro root pastries you get at dim sim, crumbly-flaky on the outside and filled with nummy goodness. except i can’t picture crustacea-and-their-products filling.
i think way too much about dim sum.
in australia they are obliged to list by content too. it was actually a very flavoursome futomaki, with just a thin ring of rice between the nori and the 42 ingredients. but you are right, i wouldn’t have picked gourd shavings to be the primary filler.
also, it is impossible to think too much about dimsum. i know exactly the fried taro things you dream about. the pool of saliva collecting at the base of my tongue would testify to that.