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Nabe mono? Common Pot
Huh. I don't know why, but that never bothered me. Mitsuko turned on the "Cool Japan" show, which is a group of foreigners living in Japan reflecting on odds and ends of their lives here. And today's show was all about their experiences with nabe mono, which is a fairly common style here. Basically, it's a common stew pot, with various meats, vegetables, etc. put into the pot by the people at the table -- you cook it yourself -- and everyone grabs what they like out of the pot. Using your chopsticks, of course.
And that turned out to be a stumbling block for many of the foreigners. Somehow that notion of eating from your chopsticks, and then sticking those same chopsticks into the common pot to get more food, really bothered quite a few of the foreigners. As they pointed out, you don't eat from a fork and then stick it into the common food, you use a serving fork. And...
What I found interesting is that I've had nabe mono many times, at home and in groups, and somehow it never bothered me. I mean, everyone is doing it. Just didn't bother me.
Huh. I don't know why, but that never bothered me. Mitsuko turned on the "Cool Japan" show, which is a group of foreigners living in Japan reflecting on odds and ends of their lives here. And today's show was all about their experiences with nabe mono, which is a fairly common style here. Basically, it's a common stew pot, with various meats, vegetables, etc. put into the pot by the people at the table -- you cook it yourself -- and everyone grabs what they like out of the pot. Using your chopsticks, of course.
And that turned out to be a stumbling block for many of the foreigners. Somehow that notion of eating from your chopsticks, and then sticking those same chopsticks into the common pot to get more food, really bothered quite a few of the foreigners. As they pointed out, you don't eat from a fork and then stick it into the common food, you use a serving fork. And...
What I found interesting is that I've had nabe mono many times, at home and in groups, and somehow it never bothered me. I mean, everyone is doing it. Just didn't bother me.
