Out of the hot pot and In The Miso Soup
Have you ever had Hot pot before? Yes, the dish is just called "hot pot". It is perfect for this winter season, so you should try it if you are lucky enough to have access to an Asian market! It's like meat fondue, ONLY BETTER. (yes, I'm probably biased). This is meant of a party of people because you're going to end up with a lot of food on your hands!
First, get a bajillion ingredients: A pot of water, and electric stove/burner, fried tofu, beef stock soup base, enoki mushrooms, sprouts, garlic, bok choy... basically any veggies you want. The star of the hot pot is the meat anyway. Get thinly shaved beef, pork, or lamb so it cooks quickly in the soup. Bring the water to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Add the beef soup base. Add raw veggies and mushrooms. Add the fried tofu. Finally, add the meat to brown it in the soup. Take the meat/mushrooms/bok choy out, dip in a mixture of soy sauce/hoisin/chili paste, and stuff your mouth with that savory bite of heaven. An extremely carnivorous side of heaven.
Let's switch soups. On to "In The Miso Soup", which was gross. Not the miso soup dish; I mean the book.
Like I posted in facebook a few days ago: WHAT DID I JUST READ.
I am new to Ryu Murakami. Kayleigh (Nylon Admiral) and Alley (What Red Read) had both read it and I was VERY thoroughly warned that it was a really messed up book. You might as well have strung flashing lightbulbs and added a shiny red button by saying that. Of course I'm going to read it!
Kenji (age 20) makes a living as a tour guide for Tokyo's red light district in Shinjuku. Not just any tour guide, he uses his expertise and connections to hook you up with the best services. He's jaded with seediness of life in Japan and is putting up with the daily grind (man, double entendres are no good for this review, I'm just going to stop right now) to escape to America. One day, he gets a new client - Frank. This book covers the 3 nights of the contract. Frank seems pretty shady, but so are Kenji's usual clients. However, there is something unusually unsettling about him...
I was expecting a horror thriller, and I got just that. Plus gore. Really heavy, explicit gore. I was not mentally prepared for it, and literally felt sick when I got the day 2 part of the book. It was so over the top and surreal that I wasn't sure if I had just imagined reading such a nightmarish chapter. I immediately wished I could unread it. I'm not going to spoil it for you. Provided you have a strong stomach for these things, if you can overlook the gore, it is a surprisingly astute observation and commentary of universal loneliness, cultural divides, and the negative stigma and ostracization/negligence of sufferers of mental illness. Okay, so that was a bit spoilerish, but it hardly ruins any twists for you, as you will be so engrossed in Ryu Murakami's ability to draw you into the vivid nightlife and neon lights of Kabuki-cho that you won't even see them coming!
This is definitely the kind of book that it's like "I love it! But I hate it! You should read it, but OMG don't read it!" I have been so nervous whenever anyone picked up it up on my recommendation because it's certainly not for the faint hearted!
ReplyDeleteHot pot is soooo good!
One of these things I would love. And one of them I would avoid even harder than I would avoid the plague. Never had hot pot, but it sounds amazing.
ReplyDeleteEmily - yes, I wisely advise on avoiding Ryu Murakami if you know your own limits. However, I hope that you get to try hot pot one day! Yes you may suffer from meat sweats but it will be WORTH IT, I tell you.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm like that with some movies too! "Don't watch it, it's messed up. But it's SO GOOD, maybe you should watch it. Never mind, don't ever watch it." Hmmm, Old Boy and Battle Royale come to mind.
ReplyDeleteHot pot is the best thing ever for winter :)
Mmmmmm hotpot. Although this is a COMPLETELY different thing in England (This - http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lancashirehotpot_92236 - for example!) But it sounds like what you had is close to nabe, which is one of the best winter foods! Mmmm.
ReplyDeleteI tried to read some Ryu Murakami a few years ago but it was too weird for me to follow in the Japanese (I was really really confused about what was going on, and couldn't work out if it was a language issue or if the book was supposed to be like that! I think I would do much better now, but I'm too scared to try).I'm not sure that I particularly want to read this one though! Hehe. I'm not bothered by gore and stuff, but I do occasionally venture into the Kabuki-cho area and I'm not sure that I want to be imagining horrific things that could potentially be going on there!
That recipe you posted sounded amazing until I read "kidneys" and "black pudding"...
ReplyDeleteNabe is amazing - my sisters and I inevitably fight over the last piece of oden, hahaha!
I can only imagine how terrifying it might be to read a highly detailed description of Kabuki-cho and continue reading about it until it becomes a warped account of what goes on there... only to have to venture into the area and block what you've read from your mind! If you do manage to give it a re-read, consider yourself warned ;)
Black pudding yay! Kidneys, boo! Hehe. The hotpot that my mum makes has nothing weird in, so you might like that! Hehe.
ReplyDeleteMmmmm, oden.
I get worried enough when I go to Kabuki-cho normally anyway (not sure why but I almost always seem to end up walking back through there on my own at like midnight whenever I go to that area... not good!), although not being Japanese gives me an advantage as people assume that I can't understand them, so don't try to talk to me. If I do give him another go I'm going to make sure that the book isn't set in an area that I actually go to quite often first, hehe.