#shoku-and-awe

[aers-radio]

Sanuki udon was THE local dish I was told to try if I went to Takamatsu, Shikoku (which I did, and I did try). Great texture and thickness!

Udon was the first Japanese food I got really, really into. In the last few years, I've become kind of a ramen person and kind of forgotten how wonderful and satisfying udon can be!

Finally ventured into this Sanuki udon place, which I'd wanted to try for ages, and it was wonderful. The vibes were impeccable, the texture and flavor were perfect, and it was so cheap (just ¥630, with TWO big pieces of maitake mushroom tempura), and—unlike ramen—you don't walk away uncomfortably full and sleepy. Also, look how THICK!

[todayintokyo]

Taishidō Hachiman Jinja in Setagaya has several rabbits on its premises. The shrine is tranquil thanks to its trees, but also irresistibly cute. Evidence supplied above, including the rabbits Chamu and Bubu.

[orange-artblog]

old friend!!! there you are my girl :)

[deerydear]

Inspired by @vriskakinnieaynrand ...

Shuffling my library of digital music tracks and listing the first 20 songs:

I believe there is an algorithm that sorts songs to be shuffled, in my music player.

It doesn't seem to be true randomness. It may be choosing songs that "link" together by some metric, end-to-beginning. I notice how much they carry a certain tune, though I have a lot of different music. Whenever I start on a certain note, it carries the note. It matters what the starting seed is.

....C'est la vie?

I could be a Stickler: when each song ends, I could pause afterwards, go to the head of my library and press this button:

...but I didn't feel like it, this time.

I felt like letting the music play.

I tag @peppert @deadfaeries @lutefisk-market @sweagen @multipletrees @heycornbread @weepingwidar @shoku-and-awe @goliatheshead @icecreamwithjackdaniels and ANYONE WHO WANTS TO DO IT!!!

YES!!!

You!

[todayintokyo]

Chagu Chagu Umakko Festival for farm horses in Iwate, Japan

[todayintokyo]

Noren

[dekitateyo]

ninjakittycomics replied to your photoset “Saw the ad and felt like trying BOSS’ new cappuccino drink. Hmm, it’s...”

Never seen the blue can before though �� neat!

This new blue can was released only a while ago here in Japan - just in the beginning of this month/very end of August, if I'm not wrong. Maybe you will be able to find it later there in US!

shoku-and-awe reblogged your photoset and added:

Ooh, is it foamy?

If shake the can, the coffee will be a bit foamy - not too much, but it's noticeable! 

Without shaking, the drink looks like this:

[destinationtoast]

This is the envelope that the $100 came in, for anyone who doesn't know what these look like.

@shoku-and-awe @todayintokyo (or anyone else!) -- is there a specific term for these in Japanese?

My grandmother is Japanese and really likes to give gifts. Often those gifts are Japanese desserts or other food, but sometimes she just slips me cash, folded up inside a tiny, beautiful envelope. But she likes to pretend she's not giving me money, so when possible, she'll hide it somewhere that I will find later.

Today I spent the afternoon with her doing chores and tech support, and she clearly felt this warranted a significant gift in return (no matter that I enjoyed myself). But she forgot to slip something into my pocket or bag before I left, so instead she rushed outside as I was starting my car, making the old-school "roll down the window" gesture. Once I complied, she was forced to acknowledge she was handing me money, but she also tried to minimize the gesture.

The result was that she said, "Thank you, dear! I just wanted you to be able to... to buy yourself a hamburger," and then handed me a darling little envelope that turned out to contain $100. And all I could think was:

[iwillbemother]

亀田の柿の種 明太子×マヨピー味

@shoku-and-awe さん曰く

I like the idea of mentaiko flavor, but the mayo peanuts… hmm…

☆★☆ @shoku-and-awe さんへ ☆★☆

😋it’s yummy. Try them. (…Actually I’m not a faddy eater. In other words, 味音痴かもね〜 ha ha ha 😁)

[redsixwing]

Here's the tofu nuggets I mentioned! These were mixed miso, tofu, and edamame, with a bunch of veggies, a rice ball, and some pickles on the side.

[hug-your-face]

The overwhelming amount!

[todayintokyo]

We are now entering a very depressing period of 8 weeks or so, when the rest of the northern hemisphere will start posting autumn photos, autumn food, autumn festivals, autumn celebrations, autumn cats, autumn fashion, odes of joy gamboling down my dash...but here in Tokyo we'll be sweating and suffering and typhooning and suffering and airconning and did I mention suffering?

Autumn in its full red splendour usually doesn't arrive in Tokyo until November, but this year we'll be enduring the agony of a quote unquote particularly warm season. @shoku-and-awe and I will start kvetching about conbini oden, and she'll review autumn food, but it will be sweltering and we will be suffering.

Sulk.

[sakis-sweets]

Fanfic request:

Something scary (horror, I mean) about Shoku?

Idk..

OH???? i think this is the first time i've ever been asked to write a non-romantic fanfiction. i really didn't expect this. BUT, this should be fun!! i'm just gonna go ahead and saw cw: implied animal death. seriously, this is gonna be a bit fucked up. not like anything else i've written. you've been warned. let's do this

Shoku was having a bad day. As in, the worst day.

Discovering that the girl he'd loved for at least a year had her heart set on someone else had been devastating enough, but then that awful girl had made things even worse. She'd done his homework and then offered to help him win Amai's heart, only to completely and utterly fail at guessing the right things to say and do. The club leader had wrinkled her nose, as if looking at rotten food, and briskly walked away. Shoku could do nothing but bow his head and trudge to his classroom. After that, he'd witnessed Amai give a bento to the boy in his class she'd fallen for, failed a test out of sheer distraction, and then he spilled a bucket full of dirty water during cleaning duty. And, of course, he had to deal with Amai avoiding him during her first club meeting after her temporary absence. Things couldn't have gotten worse, and yet somehow...

Shoku stayed behind after everyone else had left. He needed to relieve the stress of the day, and the best way to cheer him up was some private time with the stove. Experimenting with flavor and texture, perfecting his techniques, and crafting the dish's presentation placed him right into the kitchen of a 5-star restaurant. His headscarf became a toque blanche and his uniform felt like a classic double-breasted jacket. In these few moments, no matter what happened, Shoku was in bliss.

After attempting to perfectly blend savory and sweet in one dish, Shoku looked up at the clock; it was almost six. Teachers would soon peruse the school to make the students leave. Shoku decided to taste-test his creation in the tranquility of the Japanese garden.

He left the school from the back-left door, carrying his food on the most elegant platter he could find. He studied what he'd made as he walked with pride. "I'm glad I managed to salvage the day," Shoku whispered with a smile. "Maybe tomorrow won't be so bad. Especially if this ends up working, since I'd be able to show it to people. I could name it after Odayaka-san as an apology..."

Suddenly, a grey blur darted across the path from the bushes, right where Shoku was about to step. He cried out in alarm, stumbling over himself not to crash into whatever had simply dashed out without warning. He failed to regain his footing, and watched with wide eyes as the platter fell from his hands and shattered against the tiled path. The food was ruined, and he'd probably have to reimburse the school for the broken cutlery. His only hope at comfort had been utterly dashed. He would have to spend his remaining minutes cleaning it up; there was no time to cook anything else. He reached out to pick up a piece of the platter, his shaking fingers immediately getting cut on the sharp edges. "Ow! FUCK!" He quickly drew his hand back. He'd cut the index finger of his dominant hand. It would bother him tomorrow when he tried to cook again. He would see Amai flirting with that other boy tomorrow, and she might still avoid him. His misery wouldn't end.

Snap.

Glaring fiercely, Shoku searched for whatever had caused this tragedy and saw a kitten simply staring at him from the grass. "Are you kidding me?!" he screamed. "Do you have any idea how hard I worked on that? I needed that today, especially today!" The kitten simply stared, as if mocking him. Shoku's eyes narrowed. "I've heard stories about black cats crossing your path symbolizing bad luck. Is that how fucked my life is? A striped grey cat is enough to do the job?!" The cat didn't move.

Shoku wanted his masterpiece back. But more importantly, he wanted revenge. If today was any proof, he was probably already damned. "Hey, kitty," he muttered, "did you know that cat meat is a Vietnamese delicacy? It's supposed to be really healthy..."

The cat stood to attention, arcing its back and hissing. It was fast, but Shoku was faster. The platter remained abandoned on the pathway, and when Shoku returned to his clubroom, he locked the door and drew the curtains.

From her office, Genka briefly imagined hearing a cat's strangled cry.

[ask-my-sheepkids]

"awe- shoku whats wrong? Cant you recognize me? Can i come in..?"

“Kalmia..?”

“Of course I recognize you dummie..”

“Yes you can come in..”

[redowlkitchen]

@shoku-and-awe- I made these today and they came out really well! The sourdough flavor came out really strongly--definitely not a traditional pretzel flavor, but still good!

I have another soft pretzel recipe I really like that calls for the pretzels to be boiled with baking soda before baking instead of just having the water/malt powder brushed over them. I don’t have any malt powder, so I tried that with these. It worked nicely!

[iwillbemother]

2018年6月10日🌥 I’m on a diet… と言いつつ柿の種を食べる😋

@shoku-and-awe , finally I found KAKINOTANE CAFEs.

I ate one of them, milk chocolate × KAKINOTANE. It was interesting taste. Firstly, chocolate... one moment later, TOO SWEET (actually, I don’t like milk chocolate)... finally, slightly spicy.

I thought they were great with black coffee without sugar.