Ethnography: にく肉じゃが nikujaga

 

The story that I choose was called にく肉じゃが. It was a simple story about how the reader would be able to prepare a beef and potato stew called nikujaga which originated in Japan. The dish itself would mainly consist of meat, potatoes, onion, and sweetened soy sauce and it would sometimes come with vegetables. But in the book, it only showed the meat, potatoes, onion, the vegetables, and the soy sauce which you really only need if you are doing a classic version of the dish itself. For me, I have only experienced a few things like this the first thing that comes to my mind is when I made egg drop soup in cooking class as a sophomore in high school, and yes I know egg dorp soup originated from china but it is the closest thing that I have tried to Japanese cuisine. The other thing would be when I tried boba tea or bubble tea and it was fine and everything, I think it was more or less for someone with an acquired taste for the boba pearls, and yes I know it didn’t originate from Japan but from Taiwan. I think when you're growing up in the U.S and you experience a culture that you’ve heard a lot about it and there is that initial cultural shock that you experience compared to the U.S. like in Japan there is the night market, street-side vending machines for anything and everything, and pubic baths yes I know the last one seems a little bit weird but that is okay. Compared to the U.S. it seems like Japan has a much more interesting culture. Honestly, I really wouldn’t say that my reading has improved much or at all since I read my first book in Japanese only a few days ago. But I would like to say that I am improving at a slow and steady pace.