For the past week I’ve been taking a Japanese class. It’s about time, seeing as how I’ve been living here for a year and a half now.
It’s exciting for me! I can already say a number of phrases and read a little. (very little. Japanese uses 3 written alphabets and I’ve only learned one. And if I can by chance read an entire word, I generally don’t know what it means.)
But, yeah! It’s really cool! I went to a convenience store the other day, and they sell these sticky buns that I love. I was hoping to use my newly learned “what is that?” in Japanese, since I have no idea what they are called. So I said it, and the guy behind the counter smiled and said, in English, “It’s a bun. You want it?”
That’s Japan.
(On the steamer that the buns were in, a small sign said, in hiragana, what I was able to sound out as “koshi anman”?? Anyone familiar with Japan able to tell me if this is indeed what the food I like is called, or did I read it wrong?)
Good luck! I have a a multi-lingual friend who lived in Japan for a number of years and studied for an hour every morning to learn kanji, and made it to his third 500 kanji after several years. Impressed the heck out of me, since I gather many Japanese high school graduates barely get past their first 500 and often can’t read the newspapers because they use very specialized kanji in the printed media that aren’t taught in high school.
Me, I found the most useful phrase to learn in Japan was, “Where is the bathroom?” My second day there, I was wandering in a department store near where we lived in Sasebo and needed to go desperately and couldn’t figure out where they were hiding the bathrooms. So I approached a very sweet clerk and pantomimed washing my hands. She went into long consultation with her coworkers, and then proudly took me to the display of bathroom accessories. Sigh…I bowed, waited till she’d gone around the corner, then snuck out and eventually found the bathroom myself (hiding on the staircase landing). Definitely a good phrase to know in ANY language!
Good luck with the studies, acrossthesea!! I lived in Japan for six years (1994-2000) and found that learning to speak and read made a huge difference in my life there.
And I believe, though I’m not sure, that Kushi Anman means steamed buns. Mmmmmm, steamed buns! I survived on those, though I seem to remember that they were only sold in colder weather, fall and winter. The ones I remember had a variety of fillings; Curry (yum), Pork (yum), Pizza (yechhh), Anko or redbean paste (too sweet for my tongue). Try another store, I remember that some had pictures describing what was inside… I would love to have a pork anman right about now. And on a slightly related note, another thing you could get at the Conbini (convenience store) was the Curry Doughnut. Looks just like a jelly doughnut, but instead of jelly, it’s filled with curry sauce. Sounds gross, I know, but after the first one, there is no going back. Great breakfast when you are running to catch a train.
That explains it! The main reason why I wanted to know the name of the buns was because all summer long I haven’t found them anywhere, when suddenly last week, they were back again. So you’re right, they apparently are seasonal.
(This hardly qualifies as the colder weather though, today it was close to 90 degrees! It makes more sense to sell them in July, when it rains everyday.)
My favorite variety, actually, are the sweet bean paste ones. I don’t mind the pork ones so much, I’ve never had curry, and I agree, the pizza one is disgusting.
I have seen the curry donut and knew to stay away from it because a picture clearly depicted what was in it. That’s not the kind of thing I like, so I am going to continue to avoid it. : )
Yeah, trying to read the signs now, even with my limited skills, is causing me not to watch where I’m going as much as I usually do. It’s great, just like being 5 years old all over again!
What leapfrog describes sounds like the Chinese char siu bao - a bun, which is either made of wheat, and is smooth and shiny with a sugar glaze, or made with rice flour, and is matte and fluffy, with a filling of barbecued pork in sweet pink barbecue sauce. A disgusting thought, but an absolutely delicious delicacy. Mmmm. Now I have to work out where I can buy one in Dublin.
jjimm is correct, anman are very similar to bao, though not as good! The dough on anman is kind of spongy (I guess steaming does that) and the filling isn’t that wonderful pork bbq.
(wipes slobber from chin).
I think I’m going to have to swing by Uwajimaya, the local Japanese supermarket, and see if I can find some buns for sale.
By the way, acrossthesea, at the supermarket you can buy buns to steam at home. You can keep them in the freezer and pop them into the steamer tray on your stove top and have the treat anytime you want. I used to buy a bunch and put them in my freezer just before they disappeared from the stores, then was able to enjoy them into summer.
