Japanese School Lunch: Week 15

Sep 24 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.

I feel like the Kyuushoku Center dropped the ball this week. Monday’s lunch combination was pretty awful - just looking at the faces of the kids confirmed this. I was at an elementary school and those kids are pretty fickle. The only thing that got eaten completely was the fried squid. Everything else the kids pushed around with their chopsticks until the chime.

September 8, 2008

Japanese Menu	American Menu
Barley rice Eggplant and miso soup Fried squid Mixed daikon salad Milk	Domino’s Pizza Peas Mixed fruit Soft pretzel Milk
Other Notes
I generally like miso soup but eggplant isn’t so good in it. The eggplant gets mushy and slimy.

September 9, 2008

Japanese Menu	American Menu
Bread roll Blueberry jam Potato and bacon soup Omelet with meat sauce Milk	Tortilla chips with meat and cheese Carrot sticks with dip Pineapple Rice Krispie treats Milk
Other Notes
I really want to know what their omelet pan looks like. It’s a half-oval shape of egg, basically, with some meat sauce poured onto it. I normally shove it in the bread and make a sandwich out of it but today we had blueberry jam and I couldn’t do that.

September 10, 2008

Japanese Menu	American Menu
Barley rice Tofu and seaweed soup Sweet and sour pork Curry and soy sauce bean sprouts Milk	Chicken with gravy over rice Broccoli Pears Roll Milk
Other Notes
Curry and soy sauce? On bean sprouts? This is quite possibly the worst salad so far. Even the kids were reluctant to finish it and no one wanted more.

September 11, 2008

Japanese Menu	American Menu
Brown bread Cheese soup Tomato sauce spaghetti Coleslaw Milk	BBQ pork patty on a bun Green beans Peaches Cookie Milk
Other Notes
It looks a little like egg drop soup but it’s actually cheese. I have no idea what kind of cheese though.

September 12, 2008

Japanese Menu	American Menu
Millet rice Dango soup Grilled salmon and miso Shredded plum salad Jelly Milk	Fish nuggets Corn Orange wedges Roll Milk
Other Notes
Dango soup is hideous. The dango become slimy and slither all over your chopsticks. When you eat it, it’s what I imagine eating a huge, slightly salty loogie would be like. I hate to say this, but I would take fish nuggets instead!

Tags: kyuushoku

Comments

Panther

Added on Sep 25 2008 at 00:57

It does seem like the food is getting worse lol.

issa-sa

Added on Sep 25 2008 at 13:14

I know I’m sleepy as hell while I’m reading this, but the nuber of times I had to stop to make sure I didn’t misread things like “curry AND soy sauce” were a bit much this time… And what kind of ‘coleslaw’ is that supposed to be?

Caitlin

Added on Sep 25 2008 at 20:47

@issa-sa: Yes, that is curry and soy sauce. I also had to do a double-take when I looked at the menu. Their version of coleslaw is really weird. It’s completely mayo-based and it often includes fruit. I’ve never had anything resembling the stuff I remember from the US (not including KFCs super sweet version). :(

Shin

Added on Sep 26 2008 at 02:22

You can Dango that way? Here I was thinking they were skewered balls of sugary stuff.

Nagato

Added on Sep 26 2008 at 16:10

This may be a bit of a retroactive question, but does anyone ever look at you funny when you take these pictures?

Caitlin

Added on Sep 26 2008 at 22:59

@Shin: So did I, but apparently, not. That, or the center was just being cheap.

@Nagato: They used to but after explaining why, people seemed pretty understanding. Sometimes, they ask me what I thought of the lunch that day, or they’ll give me extra information about nutrition or which region is famous for a certain ingredient. It’s been a real eye-opener to some lesser known aspects of Japanese cuisine.