Showing bread who’s boss

I’ve started to get a bit antsy regarding the — let’s face it — blandness of a lot of the food options here in Nippon.
I therefore decided to spice things up by getting medieval on the corner supermarket’s cheese demi- baguette, or チーズフランス (“Cheese France”) as the locals call it, by throwing some jalapeños on [...]

Jazz up your boring-ass white rice

Don’t get me wrong, I like rice. Rice with flavor, that is.
Jambalaya, Spanish rice, risotto … even a good Jasmine rice tastes pretty terrific on its own. But plain Japanese white rice — while placed at every meal as if no meal could be complete without it, while served to you by well-meaning hosts who [...]

Cheap chuhai alert

While I can’t say I quite see the connection, discount wholesaler Hanamasa has decided — in honor of Hina Matsuri, or “Girls’ Day” — to knock a few yen off its already cheap chuhai. As of today, a single can of chuhai is just 88 yen, which is definitely less than you’ll find elsewhere.
One [...]

Peperoncino-infused olive oil

I’m far from an expert cook, but I’ve banged around kitchens long enough — enjoying myself in the process, I might add — that I’ve learned how to whip up a tasty dish or two. I am also, as I have mentioned before, a cheap bastard.
It is the convergence of these two points [...]

Beer special alert

Attention Tokyoites: The Queen’s Isetan chain of supermarkets is running one of their semi-regular imported beer specials. Right now, 330 mL cans of Houjun Monogatari beer are on sale for 188 yen each.
Houjun Monogatari is brewed in Germany according to the Reinheitsgebot, or German Purity Law, meaning that its ingredients are malt and hops, [...]

Kourakuen ramen

I hardly ever eat out, but if I do, chances are good that it’s for ramen.
I friggin’ love the stuff.
But considering that a bowl of good noodles tends to run from 640 to 900+ yen, plus extra for the obligatory beer, what’s a body to do when counting down till payday but still [...]

John Turningpin’s Breakfast of Fear

Ingredients
1/2 can of tuna
1 raw egg
1 large scoop of rice
Wasabi-flavored ochazuke mix
Spices
Several twists of fresh-ground black pepper
Largish dash of white pepper
3-4 dashes of rayu (hot oil)
Makin’ it
-Insert all ingredients into chawan or similar compact bowl
-Add boiling hot water and spices
-Stir
-Ingest alone or with one’s closest enemies
Came up with this one morning when very hungry but [...]

They are delicious nachos, you must eat them

Sometimes I need a taste of the things I used to enjoy back in the Old Country. Being a cheap bugger, I prefer to make most of them myself — in this case, nachos.
Look at ‘em. Just look at those damn things!
OK, maybe they don’t look that good, but they elicited well-deserved moos of deliciousness.
Ingredients [...]

Discount shopping at Hanamasa

I’m a cheapskate by necessity. I don’t eat out much, and I scout around for the best prices when shopping.
With this On the Cheap category of the blog, I’ll be sharing some of the places that have allowed me to be the bitter, frugal little man I am, as well as where to find [...]