There is nothing to eat, only expensive ingredients to make...what exactly?!

So, let's go grocery shopping in Tokyo.  No driver's license just yet, so we have to stay close by--places we can walk, bike or train to.  And, since we walk, bike or train, we can only carry so much, creating an every other day shopping need.  Okay, I already mentioned there is a Costco, but that is for another post.

Let's visit National Azabu, the closest and most expensive one with plenty of foreign choices.  The yen/dollar rate is always changing, but most recently it hovers around 100 yen to $1, so any photos you see, just make the conversion.

Meat/fish department:

Tako anyone?  Such a wide selection.  I won't even show the beef or pork, it is too expensive.  No turkey (except at Costco), plenty of chicken and lots of other very fresh fish. 

For those of you who don't live in Hawaii or have never visited Japan, kamaboko is a fishcake--white  fish parts chopped, processed and steamed.  Think imitation crab except nastier tasting.  It is then cut into slices to place on top of ramen. It is usually pink and white, but look at this gorgeous kamaboko I found!  Yes, it is Pikachu kamaboko ready to be sliced and garnished.

We love, love, love Japanese food, but we also crave our American/Hawaiian stuff.  Luckily National Azabu has a lot of it.  You can buy about a cup of sour cream for $4!  I just had to have some recently for soup I was making.  I refused to pay as I needed two cups.  So...I googled "how to make sour cream" and saved myself almost $8.  You have to be resourceful here.  And yes, you too can make sour cream! Just plan ahead, it takes 72 hours.

They have fabulous yogurt here, but I had to train myself to love plain yogurt over Greek style as it is waaaay too expensive.  

You read that right, $29 for a quart of Fage Greek style yogurt.

Another bargain..cake mix for almost $8.  Emma had to make me one for my birthday--wow.  Just our luck, Japanese directions were pasted on the back, covering the English ones.

Produce should be reasonable, right?  Depends.  Sendai was considered the place to get most of Tokyo's vegetables, but since the tsunami/quake/nuclear power plant melt down, people here are too worried about radiation, so we spend most of our money on fruits.  For example:

Almost $10 for a quarter or less of a watermelon.  Okay, melons have always been expensive here.  We saw one in a crate, bedding in straw for nearly $100.  I splurged once and ate every bit.  Peaches (below) for just over $3 for 2.  My parents and sisters have peach trees in Utah--they GIVE them away.

There is always Frosted Flakes, regular or waffle flavored.  But you have to ask for Corn Frosties.

And who could live without Creap?

True story.  I bought Organic Arugula from Costco last week to make salads.  I washed it, spun it, left it in the fridge for a few hours.  Later when we went to eat it, I almost put a spoonful of bee in my mouth.  Can you see it?  I don't know how it survived, but it was definitely moving.  So glad I spied it before I ingested it.

Now for the fabulous food--Tempura, Ramen, Curry Rice, Mabodofu, etc., etc., etc.

Scott introduced Emma to Yakidango--mochi balls (pounded rice balls) coated with teriyaki-like sauce and roasted.  Yum!  They found some as big as golf balls in Nikko.

  

Oishii!  So, I have learned to just bite the bullet so to speak and just buy what needs to be bought so we don't starve.  I am sure we won't.