Where's Mike?

Mike has been in Okinawa for 9 days! That's the longest he's ever been away on business. I know I don't have to much room to gripe seeing as that many of our readers are Navy spouses and can handle 9 days like it was nothin'. However, to me it is a long time. He's returning on Saturday. I don't mind it too much. In fact, the first couple of days were pretty fun. I could use the computer for as long as I wanted, be a total slob, and watch whatever show I wanted on AFN. This also explains why I am dominating the blog space. We decided when we first got here that it would be much more fun to leave both of our blog entries on the same space. We thought it would be interesting to get 2 different points of view on certain subjects and also to document things that the other person might not even think about. Since Mike is returning so soon, this entry may be totally missed in between the shuffle. I'm sure that he'll probably have lots of pictures and experiences to post. However, for now I get to bore you with some of the everyday things in Japan.

I have to rave about my most recent find at the Japanese grocer. When I left San Diego, I was discouraged. I had been spoiled. I was able to walk to my local Whole Foods or Trader Joe's Market and pick up incredibly yummy local plain yogurt. After reading French Women Don't get Fat, I aquired a taste for plain yogurt. My favorite brand was Pavel's. Very much a type of Russian or Turkish yogurt. No high fructose corn syrup, pectin, gelatin or gums allowed!! I'd just add some berries and honey and viola! You could actually call me a yogurt snob to some degree. It was great to have on hand if I needed a quick sauce for beef too. For months in Japan I did without my pure unadulterated yogurt, instead relying on the overly sweetened stuff at the commissary. I almost decided to buy myself a yogurt maker, until I discovered that the Japanese standards for fresh and pure foods extended into their yogurt products and for about 157 yen at Seiyu, I could get a 500 gram tub of Mieji yogurt! Ever since then, my summer breakfasts are filled with pure bliss.

Much of the produce and dairy products in America are no match for their Japanese counterparts. The standards for freshness are much higher here and the typical Japanese consumer is willing to pay more for a higher quality or fresher product. Even if they get less of it... a cardinal sin in America! After all, even at 7-11 here, they check every hour for freshness with their deli products (you read right, every hour). Organic is also starting to really take off.

Dairy products have just recently "caught on" here in the land of the rising sun. Meiji is a huge company that makes many, many products and has also formed alliances with Coca-Cola. Meiji decided to do a joint venture with a French company and, using Hokaido milk, created this mild tasting Bulgarian style yogurt. They make their yogurt with LG21 which is a lactic acid bacteria culture that has been proven in studies to help reduce risks of gastric and duodenal ulcers. Check out this editorial on it: http://www.crisscross.com/jp/feature/987 This is a huge selling point in Japan because of the high percentage of stomach problems. Some believe that the cause of this is because of the high salt content in much of Japanese cuisine and because of all the pickled vegetables that are consumed. Above all, I don't want to demean the traditional Japanese style of eating. They are second in the world for longevity. The Japanese also have one of the lowest obesity rates among 1st world nations. The #1 spot is reserved for their neighbors, the Okinawans (in regards to longevity), who of course are officially (now) part of Japan, but have a very different culture. In fact, the Okinawa Islands weren't really considered "part of Japan" until 1609 (fairly late in Asian history) when the Japanese Satsuma Clan invaded Okinawa, which was then known as the Ryukyu Kingdom. Okinawa became a Prefecture (similar to a state) of Japan in 1879. Then after World War II, the islands were under U.S. control until they were reverted to Japan in 1972.

OK, enough of the history lesson. Needless to say, I try to live by healthy eating and lifestyle habits but I can't resist going to Mickey D's, popping up some "extra butter" flavor microwave popcorn, or chuggin' a Chu-Hi. If you're here, pick up some Mieji yogurt on your way home tonight! It's a tasty, healthy breakfast (add some strawberry jam or honey and fruit). Thank goodness Mike doesn't like yogurt, more for me!

Also fellow cooks, keep my recipe blog in mind when you're looking for something yummy to whip up. I just recently added a recipe for avocado salad.