Hypothetically...

[Killer Queen]

If I wanted to make, say, a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich while in Japan (God knows when that will be, though), would I have to go to a foreign-foods mart?

I've heard around that bread isn't part of the Japanese diet much, but is it that hard to find?

[Plekto]

Bread, so I hear, isn't hard to find - just that it's pretty dreadful stuff.

Jelly/preserves are easy enough to get(good on all sorts of food - they like sweets as much as us), just peanut butter - that's going to be a bit harder I suspect.

[six-eight-ten]

Bread is not much harder to find than a grocery store or a convenience store in Japan (and there are roughly 3 convenience stores per street). You'll have a slightly harder time finding peanut butter, and maybe even a slightly difficult time finding peanut butter that doesn't suck. And you'll get looks of shock and horror from Japanese people if you mention peanut butter and jelly (even if you call it "jam") in the same sandwich. This from the same people that eat rotting beans, raw egg on everything (mmm... raw egg pizza), and fish sperm.

Don't know what you're going to have to do about finding the fangirls for your breakfast, though.

[Killer Queen]

Oh, I plan to eat it myself, haha.

Maybe I'll trick them into eating it. I'll say: "If you take a bite of my PJB, I'll eat some of that natto."

Of course, I won't let them know that I like natto in the first place. Ho ho.


And what's the verdict on marshmallow flush? Even most Americans don't know what the hell a "fluffernutter" is, let alone a Japanese.

And on the subject of marshmallows: hard to find? Maybe I'll entertain my dormmates with the concept of s'mores.

[trckstr]

bread in japan sucked. it was tough finding bread that was sliced less than an inch thick, and the bread usually had this weird yellowish tint to it. I think it was potato bread or something.

[Killer Queen]

Weird.

Maybe I'd be better off sending for care packages from home...

[Vic_Rattlehead]

Even the idea of putting together peanut butter and jelly together in a sandwich makes me wanna puke!

Wouldn't the jelly fall out of the butty? Being all wibbly wobbly 'n all?

[Killer Queen]

Nah, not if you do it right.

[Digital Masta]

The bread I ate in Japan was frickin huge...I was like "why is this damn bread so damn big"

[mikem]

We, in the sense of my other American friends, load up on peanut butter at Costco. Bread and jelly are easy to find. I happen to find the bread to be very good, but the stuff I buy looks and tastes identical to the bread I got back home.

I can highly recommend the mango jams. They are really really good!

[six-eight-ten]

Even the idea of putting together peanut butter and jelly together in a sandwich makes me wanna puke!

Wouldn't the jelly fall out of the butty? Being all wibbly wobbly 'n all?

It's another one of those American English things. What Americans call "Jello" is called "jelly" in some other places. What Americans call "jelly" is usually under the category of "jam". We use the term "jam" as well, though usually in reference to jam/jelly that still has chuncks of fruit in it. So american "jelly" isn't all wibbly-wobbly, it's what you think of as "jam".

And yeah, Japanese bread is thick sliced, overall. Some of it isn't too bad, though. Some of it actually makes better toast.

[Televisions_Nick]

Most bread is sold in 4-, 5-, or 6-piece loafs with the cuts being Texas Toast style. If you go to a much bigger grocery store (for example Max Value), you can find 10-piece loafs that are thin-cut sandwich style bread.
Peanut butter is not available in most markets, you have to go to a "gourmet import foods" store, or Costco (for a big jar of jiff).
Jelly/Jam is easy to find.
Marshmellow fluff... difficult. Actual Marshmellows, not so much (Muji has their own brand that they sell at Family Mart convinience stores in addition to their own stores).

[ShadowDeth]

bread in japan sucked. it was tough finding bread that was sliced less than an inch thick, and the bread usually had this weird yellowish tint to it. I think it was potato bread or something.

Potato bread, with peanut butter (ie: choke sandwich) is one of the greatest things to ever grace earth's surface.

For shame.

[Nannou]

I learnt the hard way that peanut butter from the local store is NOT peanut butter... its some sort of freakish peanut jelly/congealment that's been imbued with sugar.

Ugh.

Ended up getting the family back home to send me some REAL peanut butter.
But found out that it can be purchased at one of the local supermarkets.

If only I had a toaster....

[Crowley]

It's another one of those American English things. What Americans call "Jello" is called "jelly" in some other places. What Americans call "jelly" is usually under the category of "jam". We use the term "jam" as well, though usually in reference to jam/jelly that still has chuncks of fruit in it. So american "jelly" isn't all wibbly-wobbly, it's what you think of as "jam".

And yeah, Japanese bread is thick sliced, overall. Some of it isn't too bad, though. Some of it actually makes better toast.

You know, this is all very well, but you're still putting peanut butter (which is gross in itself) and jam in a sandwich, you bunch o'freaks.

[ShadowDeth]

http://sifyimg.speedera.net/sify.com/cmsimages/Sify%20Food/Kidney_pie_M.jpg

:rolleyes:

[PopCulturePooka]

http://sifyimg.speedera.net/sify.com/cmsimages/Sify%20Food/Kidney_pie_M.jpg

:rolleyes:
Yum...


I never had any problems getting bread in Japan.

[mikem]

If only I had a toaster....

My toaster cost me 2200yen at Yodobashi. Put your ass on the Yamanote and go get one. :frypan: (Yodobashi is on the west side of Shinjuku.)

[Nannou]

My toaster cost me 2200yen at Yodobashi. Put your ass on the Yamanote and go get one. :frypan: (Yodobashi is on the west side of Shinjuku.)

Sounds like a plan. might be a good hangover mission for tomorrow.

[PopCulturePooka]

Sounds like a plan. might be a good hangover mission for tomorrow.
Hell tokyu hands in Shibuya should have em cheap.

[Nannou]

True trueee, I should have gone when they were doing their big Hands Messe sale.

I guess the only time I think about getting a toaster is when I want toast. Then I realise that I don't have one. So I plan to go get one. Then I get distracted and end up eating something else. Couple of days later I get the same craving for toast.....It's a vicious cycle!

[jindojim]

Hmm...I like Japan's bread. It's sliced almost an inch thick, but it's nice and hearty. And has the consistency of sponge cake. A single slice for breakfast is enough to keep me going until lunch.

I remember tasting Japan's peanut "butter" (ie peanut cream) and thought it tasted alright. It's not the same thing as a real peanut butter and jelly sandwich in Amerca, but I mean, if you're not willing to make some sacrifices coming to Japan, what's the point? Plus, I like the chocolate cream that my local konbini sells. I put some of that and some strawberry jam on my cake-like slice of bread, and I have a nice little dessert or snack.

[OaklandZoo]

If you don't mind private brand peanut butter, Seiyu has Great Value (wal-mart) brand peanut butter. and it doesn't come in a dinosauric bucket like at costco.

[Vic_Rattlehead]

http://sifyimg.speedera.net/sify.com/cmsimages/Sify%20Food/Kidney_pie_M.jpg

:rolleyes:

Steakpies is food for REAL MEN. Also, Black Pudding, Hotpots, Toad in a Hole, Corned beef hash, sheppard's pie, Cornish pasties, Haggis, Scouse and nice sunday roast.....that is the meal for people who weild iron balls. :clap:

Back on topic-- I'm ok eatnig Japanese food. I just hope some pubs have Guinness on tap!:knockout:

[seiji]

Guinness is getting very popular. Most pubs I went to in Kyoto had it, though you'll probably pay about 800yen for a pint.

As far as bread, I found the 6-slice loaf (slices almost an inch thick) at Jusco good enough for me. If you want thinner/lighter bread, most bakeries make good bread along with their pastries, and bakeries aren't too hard to find.
Peanut butter I carried myself in my suitcases because I eat a lot of peanut butter. Peanut butter is available, but it's not terribly common.

[Vic_Rattlehead]

Just do what I do. Buy unsliced bread. ;)

[Jetsetlemming]

Mm, fluffernutter.... *drool* marshmellow cream + peanut butter = awesome. Screw jelly. :D

[I Like Shinny!]

Steakpies is food for REAL MEN. Also, Black Pudding, Hotpots, Toad in a Hole, Corned beef hash, sheppard's pie, Cornish pasties, Haggis, Scouse and nice sunday roast.....that is the meal for people who weild iron balls. :clap:
How about blood pudding? Only an insane person whould eat that. Mmm, good ol' down south cookin'.

[Plekto]

Other options:
1: get a bread-slicer. That way you can make any loaf from a bakery into what you want.
2: get a bread-maker. It's a bit tricky at first, but it will make acceptable sandwich bread. Quisinart is pricey, but worth every penny. Excellent bread and smells fantastic baking. It's the American version of a rice-cooker. ;)

3: Perfect peanut or other nut-butter(almond and walnut are WAY better than peanut, btw) is as simple as two steps:
A: Raw nuts. Easy enough to get - just no salt.
B: Food processor. You can make your own peanut butter in one in under a minute. Add a little corn syrup if you like the creamy/Jiff kind.

I've even seen people use small mini-quisinarts and coffee-grinders to make enough for a single sandwich.

4:Toaster-OVEN. Always good. Easy to find I bet.

5:I second the Pot-Pie/Meat Pie. Of course, you can always make your own and make your friends amazed. Get some friends in the U.S. to send you some episodes of Good Eats! or simmilar shows(or d/l them). I like his show a lot because he's funny and yet non-nonsense about it. It's food you can make yourself. Or just go to the website.

Plus he has the best Mac&Cheeze recipe ever. Your friends in Japan will be absolutely stunned and you'll be in heaven. It's so unlike the box-stuff.

Oh - here's my recipe: How to turn boxed-stuff into something halfway real.
Ingredients:
- 2 boxes of Mac and cheese - you want Kraft or something decent as possible. In the U.S., Annie's is by far the best, with Trader Joe's a close second. Of Kraft, the three-cheese is best.
- 2 cans of tuna(I like tuna in mine) optional.
- 1 pint of half and half
- 8 ounces of grated cheese
- White or Zinfandel wine - clear as possible. Yellow or reddish-pink=NG One trick is to buy the small 4-pack of mini-bottles as one little bottle is all you need.
- Whole Wheat Bread. Thick and rustic as possible. Orowheat makes good breads. Any home bakery will also do - you want it to have massive gluten content or as many grains as possible. My favorite is OroWheat Winter Wheat, but it's pricey.
- One round pyrex pie dish.(12-14 inches)

Steps: Make the maccaroni. Drain. NO butter at all.(this actually makes it have less fat content, believe it or not). Put in the tuna, drained, if you like, and add a little salt. Add a tiny pinch of paprika for plan and a pinch of pepper if you added tuna. Put in the half of the half and half and the cheese mix.

In a seperate bowl:
Dice into 1 inch chunks or rip apart 3 slices of bread. This is where good bread is important - it has to have super-high gluten content to not fall apart. Add one of the mini-bottles of wine.(roughly a cup) Add the other half of the half-and-half. Let the bread absorb it - add to the rest.

It should have the consistency now of regular mac and cheese.

Put into the dish and toss the trated cheese on top.
25-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

When it cools, it will have the consistency of pie. It's not a professional from scratch reciepe, but it's infinately better than out of the box. FYI - all of the alcohol will have boiled off - but the taste will remain.

[I Like Shinny!]

Other options:
1: get a bread-slicer. That way you can make any loaf from a bakery into what you want.
2: get a bread-maker. It's a bit tricky at first, but it will make acceptable sandwich bread. Quisinart is pricey, but worth every penny. Excellent bread and smells fantastic baking. It's the American version of a rice-cooker. ;)

3: Perfect peanut or other nut-butter(almond and walnut are WAY better than peanut, btw) is as simple as two steps:
A: Raw nuts. Easy enough to get - just no salt.
B: Food processor. You can make your own peanut butter in one in under a minute. Add a little corn syrup if you like the creamy/Jiff kind.

I've even seen people use small mini-quisinarts and coffee-grinders to make enough for a single sandwich.

4:Toaster-OVEN. Always good. Easy to find I bet.

5:I second the Pot-Pie/Meat Pie. Of course, you can always make your own and make your friends amazed. Get some friends in the U.S. to send you some episodes of Good Eats! or simmilar shows(or d/l them). I like his show a lot because he's funny and yet non-nonsense about it. It's food you can make yourself. Or just go to the website.

Plus he has the best Mac&Cheeze recipe ever. Your friends in Japan will be absolutely stunned and you'll be in heaven. It's so unlike the box-stuff.

Oh - here's my recipe: How to turn boxed-stuff into something halfway real.
Ingredients:
- 2 boxes of Mac and cheese - you want Kraft or something decent as possible. In the U.S., Annie's is by far the best, with Trader Joe's a close second. Of Kraft, the three-cheese is best.
- 2 cans of tuna(I like tuna in mine) optional.
- 1 pint of half and half
- 8 ounces of grated cheese
- White or Zinfandel wine - clear as possible. Yellow or reddish-pink=NG One trick is to buy the small 4-pack of mini-bottles as one little bottle is all you need.
- Whole Wheat Bread. Thick and rustic as possible. Orowheat makes good breads. Any home bakery will also do - you want it to have massive gluten content or as many grains as possible. My favorite is OroWheat Winter Wheat, but it's pricey.
- One round pyrex pie dish.(12-14 inches)

Steps: Make the maccaroni. Drain. NO butter at all.(this actually makes it have less fat content, believe it or not). Put in the tuna, drained, if you like, and add a little salt. Add a tiny pinch of paprika for plan and a pinch of pepper if you added tuna. Put in the half of the half and half and the cheese mix.

In a seperate bowl:
Dice into 1 inch chunks or rip apart 3 slices of bread. This is where good bread is important - it has to have super-high gluten content to not fall apart. Add one of the mini-bottles of wine.(roughly a cup) Add the other half of the half-and-half. Let the bread absorb it - add to the rest.

It should have the consistency now of regular mac and cheese.

Put into the dish and toss the trated cheese on top.
25-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

When it cools, it will have the consistency of pie. It's not a professional from scratch reciepe, but it's infinately better than out of the box. FYI - all of the alcohol will have boiled off - but the taste will remain.
You would make Alton Brown proud. :clap:

[Vic_Rattlehead]

How about blood pudding? Only an insane person whould eat that. Mmm, good ol' down south cookin'.

By blood pudding, do you mean Black pudding? Because it's basically fried pigs blood I believe.

[ShadowDeth]

By blood pudding, do you mean Black pudding? Because it's basically fried pigs blood I believe.

Is this the que for the loo? I've only got 4 pounds. :knockout:

That's you because your dialect is different from mine.

[Billy bo bo]

Guinness is getting very popular. Most pubs I went to in Kyoto had it, though you'll probably pay about 800yen for a pint.

According to a person I know, an Irish dude like myself, he was always being offered either Guiness or beer whilst in Japan. Whenever he'd say "No" they'd keep offering it, assuming he was just being polite.

He's also got ginger hair so he could fit into the category of Irish stereotype, at least in the eyes of the Japanese. Even though I'm sure he'd resent that title.

(No I'm not American Irish, I just like the word "dude".)

[japanat]

Jesus, folks, don't get out much, do we?..:boggled: American-style peanut butter has been pretty easily available for at least 10-15 years!

You can find Skippy peanut butter at any larger supermarket (Jusco, ItoYokado, MaxValu, etc), maybe 400yen for 6oz - don't buy the peanut cream unless you like it really sweet. Most sliced bread in Japan is white Texas Toast, but again look at AEON stores (Jusco, etc) and find sandwich slices - w/o crust, however. They usually have rye and walnut bread, but it's just white bread plus maybe 5-10% rye flour. Go to another aisle and find grape, strawberry, blueberry jams, marmalades, sometimes even Vegemite! "Gohandayo!" is an interesting spread... the Japanese Vegemite?

Then go upstairs in Jusco or any other department/electronics store, and find toasters, toaster/ovens (hence the name - オーブントースター in Japanese). Breadmakers from 3000yen and up - the loaves seem to be slightly smaller than US ones (at least on my machine), so you may have to adjust your recipes to keep it from rising too much. Some places even sell whole wheat flour (Jusco, for ex).

If you want real dark breads or whole wheat, you'll need to go to a specialty store or Costco, if that's convenient (I'm not paying 3000yen in highway tolls to get the bigger jars). Also, look for ProFoods, a relatively new restaurant supply store in West Japan, for a great selection of flours (even grits!).

Don't go to Tokyu Hands unless you need the US/European brands, and want to pay twice what you need.:duh: If you can find equivalent products in another store, you'll pay much, much less than at Tokyu Hands. Use T.H. for stuff you can't find elsewhere, like shopping at Sharper Image. I bought my breadmaker at Joshin for 12,000yen, and have seen a basic one at Jusco for 3400yen. Consider Amazon.co.jp for kitchen gadgets; the prices are pretty good and the selection gets better all the time.

And the little neighborhood bakeries have wonderful, fresh-baked white English or Buttered breads in whole- or half-loaves, and you can get it sliced however thick you want. If you can't speak Japanese, just cut a piece of cardboard at the thickness you want, they'll get the idea.

[I Like Shinny!]

By blood pudding, do you mean Black pudding? Because it's basically fried pigs blood I believe.
No, the blood pudding I'm talking about is made with opossum blood. :knockout:

[Pierrot le Fou]

What japanat said.

I can't believe that you guys think you cannot buy peanut butter and jelly sandwich fixings in Japan. This is almost as ridiculous as the lack of fluoride in toothpaste myth.

[jindojim]

All ingredients purchased at Valu, my local supermarket.

[Vic_Rattlehead]

That pic makes me chunder! :P

[Nannou]

I learnt there are a couple of kick-ass foreign foodstuff supermarkets here in Tokyo by the name of Yamaya.

I've got to get myself there. I need me some home comfort food.

[Vic_Rattlehead]

Think there will be many Cornish Pasties in Japan??

[Riinuka]

Cornish pasties.. I wouldn't imagine so.

Anyone seen mushy peas over there? If not.. then it's safe for me to go. I hate them. xD

[Killer Queen]

What japanat said.

I can't believe that you guys think you cannot buy peanut butter and jelly sandwich fixings in Japan. This is almost as ridiculous as the lack of fluoride in toothpaste myth.

I was only curious.

And it appears that my question has been answered in the first couple of pages or so. I'm surprised this thread has gotten this long.

[Pierrot le Fou]

Not directed at you Killer Queen -- you aren't here yet, so I wouldn't expect you to know what's available and what's not. People who live here and believe such silliness shock the dickens out of me is all. You can buy almost anything in Japan from what I've found, and those things that you can't find in a standard supermarket are generally available in Costco or a foreign foods store. For the most part, though, you just get used to what's available around you and adapt, because it's a hassle to get stuff from 7 different stores every week.

For those of you who are finnicky and can't live without X Y or Z -- don't go overseas.

[Killer Queen]

Ah, I misunderstood then.

Interstingly enough, I did a Google Japan search for S'mores and got 964 results. That's not too shabby. Heck, I've even found results for s'mores makers. This pleases me.

[mikem]

People who live here and believe such silliness shock the dickens out of me is all.

Since I don't eat peanut butter I can only vouch that my roommate had trouble locating it. He certainly would not have bought whatever substance was pictured above though!

I still have trouble finding things in the store. I always have to ask random shoppers where things are, which generally amuses them. One housewife even pointed out all of the ingredients for yakisoba which involved dragging me around the entire store.

Anyway, you'll have a lot more beer money if you just prepare and eat Japanese food. My roommate once spent a whole day and 4000yen just to make a Mexican dinner. (Granted it fed us for two days straight, but still.)

[seiji]

I suppose my local Jusco was behind the times, because I never found peanut butter there. Peanut cream, sure (quite tasty if you like sweet things), but believe me I would have known if they had peanut butter. I later discovered that the Gyoma Super down the street did have peanut butter for a price fair by Japanese standards, but by then I had already transported another 6lbs. in my suitcase.
Yes, I ate that whole 6lbs. And the 6 before that, and the 6 before that. :P

[Televisions_Nick]

Unfortunately not everybody lives near the super-supermarkets. And even my local Daiei did not carry traditional peanut butter. So while MaxValu probably does (and is by far the best supermarket I've been to in Japan, too bad it's really far from where I live), it's not as easy as some claim. You do have to look around. Which is what we're explaining.

Also, standard yellow "ballpark" mustard wasn't the easiest thing for me to find either... none of the shops in my neighborhood carry it. I did find it at a supermarket in a department store near my work, though...

[stsparky]

If I wanted to make, say, a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich while in Japan (God knows when that will be, though), would I have to go to a foreign-foods mart? I've heard around that bread isn't part of the Japanese diet much, but is it that hard to find?

GAH! We ate roasted sesame butter and honey on toast. Way better. The health foods type markets will have tons of different nut butters. Almond is very yummy.

[Killer Queen]

Who says PBJ is my first love? I'd much rather eat a nut butter & honey sandwich, anyway, but I was afraid that'd come off rather strange. ;)

[4letterwords]

You can get regularly sliced bread too... maybe not at conbinis but you can find it. Peanut butter and jelly is also easy to find.

I love all kinds of Japanese bread. Its delicious, it really is.
Thick bread is hard to make sandwiches with, but its awesome for toast.

[Masa the Masta]

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y248/intensity06/PeanutButterJellyTime.jpg

[4letterwords]

No joke, 100% seriously... I peed my pants a little when I read that. Just a little, but it happened... and Im letting you know.

[stsparky]

Cornish pasties.. I wouldn't imagine so. ...
Oddly enough the Fukuoka Hakata Harp Irish pub had them ...

[Vic_Rattlehead]

Oddly enough the Fukuoka Hakata Harp Irish pub had them ...

Irish pubs having south western english pasties? Class!

As for peanut butter and jelly....I'm (gulp!) going to try it! :eyepop: :eyepop: