Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Random Picture #152



Some people look at a hot dog bun and think about what types of meat it might accommodate. Those people lack the expansive imagination of Japanese culinary types. No, they look at such buns and do not limit the scope of their thoughts to such things as meat. They can heap spaghetti or ramen in there for a multi-carb fest, or, they can pipe it full of whipped cream and jam and turn it into a dessert dog. 

One of the things which struck a uniquely Japanese discord with me was the tendency to take regular bread products and put dessert fillings into them. You could find white bread sandwiches in convenience stores, for instance, that came filled with strawberries and whipped cream. These buns are filled with yuzu jam and whipped cream. For those who don't know the delights of yuzu, it's Japanese citron which tastes like a cross between an orange and a grapefruit with perhaps a bit of lemon. Yuzu remains one of the flavors of Japan that I miss, but even a yuzu lover like me would not be compelled to buy a hot dog bun full of this jam with cream. 

4 comments:

BradleyNASH said...

So this product, just wanted to make sure I'm clear... is this a conventional treat? Or is this more of a compromise to westerners? Either way, looks interestingly enough

thegypsie said...

My husband can't wrap his head around my love of tortillas. I use them instead of hotdog buns and add salsa. Or I take a tortilla and make it crispy, then coat it with cinnamon and sugar or condensed sweetened milk. Actually my family would take buttered french bread and top it with sweetened condensed milk. Cultural differences are awesome, I can't imagine a hotdog bun filled with fruit though.

Orchid64 said...

BradleyNASH: It's neither a conventional treat nor a compromise. It's taking a traditionally Western concept (the sandwich) and altering it to suit Japanese tastes. It absolutely was not created to cater to Westerners as I never experienced a Western person who would find such a thing palatable. It's a little like the pizza with mayo and corn in Japan. It's a Western food that was altered so the Japanese would like it more.

Susie: I'm a huge fan of tortillas. In fact, I love them rather too much (the texture mainly) and have to avoid them.

In my family, and this is a very gross notion to me now, but I used to like it, we used to tear up bits of cheap white bread, add whole milk, and then sprinkle lots of sugar on it. I think this was really a poor person's breakfast (cheaper than cereal). I'm pretty sure we were the only people who did this, but it isn't so far removed from your French bread/condensed milk dish (which sounds a lot better than what we ate!).

I think that hot dog buns are just such bad bread that it's hard to imagine them pairing with anything other than a hot dog. I always find that hot dog and hamburger buns only work with meat because they are soft and make it easier to bite into the enclosed meat product. They serve a purpose, but it has little to do with superior taste or texture. I would be fine to have a biscuit, scone, or even French bread with jam and cream, but not a hot dog (or burger) bun!

Thanks to both of you for your comments!

BradleyNASH said...

Ah ok... that makes sense! Well thanks Orchid!