JSL: May 26th-May 30th
May 31, 2008 • Japanese School Lunch
Please note that the American menu provided is from my middle school in the US. It is meant to serve as a comparison.
My US middle school is out for the year now so there will be no more American menu comparisons until late August or early September. However, the irony is that after I went on a highly controlled rant (trust me, the original post was more angry that what actually appeared), the US school finishes the year with…a bag of Doritos.
It’s only been a couple months in but already, I’m resolved to pack lunches for my future children, should that ever occur. I’d rather have them eat fresh food than frozen, reheated, or brand-sponsored food. I don’t mind taking shortcuts - I’m not going to become one of those people who makes everything from scratch, even bread and ice cream, but I’m not going to end up like Sandra Lee or Rachael Ray.1 In fact, I’ll probably be the antithesis of Sandra Lee’s motto; for me, 80% homemade, 20% store bought.
| May 26, 2008 | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Japanese Menu | American Menu |
|
Rice with umeboshi |
Memorial Day in the US, no school |
| Other Notes | |
| The problem with preschools is that I don’t have a printed menu. I don’t know if they even have one (although I imagine they do). I’m guessing based on the pictures but there may be specific culinary names I’m leaving out. | |
| May 27, 2008 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Japanese Menu | American Menu |
|
Carrot bread |
Hamburger on a bun with cheese |
| Other Notes | |
| Lots of teachers absent today…I ended up getting 3 banana segments or 1.5 bananas. Everyone ate extra and we all felt sick afterwards. I can see how Kobayashi, the eating champion, came to be. | |
| May 28, 2008 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Japanese Menu | American Menu |
|
Millet rice |
Sausage on a roll |
| Other Notes | |
| I can’t find a translation for 沢煮わん in any online dictionary. I did find recipes though. | |
| May 29, 2008 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Japanese Menu | American Menu |
|
Milk bread |
Tuna salad on croissant |
| Other Notes | |
| I think the egg-like things in the soup are supposed to be cheese…. This is one of my least favorite soups because if that’s cheese, it looks curdled. | |
| May 30, 2008 | |
|---|---|
| [Not available] | |
| Japanese Menu | American Menu |
|
Barley rice |
Turkey and cheese sandwich |
| Other Notes | |
| This is the first time I’ve forgotten my camera. This meal combination is fairly common so I think I’ll be able to provide a similar picture and entry later. Pacific saury prepared this way is really delicious though. | |
- Particularly Sandra Lee…I find her to be a prime example of laziness in the kitchen. [↩]
Comments
Even if you didn’t take a picture of May 30th’s stuff, I can kinda tell the Japanese menu isn’t exactly tasty :x
@Shin: That way of cooking fish is really delicious and I bet tuna would also taste fairly good that way. If I ever get the recipe, I’ll post it. I know it translates as soy sauce but it’s far to sweet to be just soy sauce.
It’s like the difference in airline meals…American Airlines was pasta or chicken, and Asiana airlines was sushi and asian-sauce style meat (i forget if it was chicken or pork) :).
Damnit, I’ve just had dinner and now I’m hungry again!