Seaweed Nori のり

This is why Japanese people speak of te-maki-sushi, which is 手巻きすし,てまきすし, sushi rolled by hand. Usually the sheet of seaweed is placed in the palm of the hand and then the filling with rice is placed on top. The larger sheets are placed on the sushi-mat and then rolled, by the way.

The roasted seaweed sheets are really crisp and almost crackly when you open the package. Soft yaki-nori sheets are old, damp ones: to be thrown out. (The cat or the dog may like them though). These seaweed sheets were a way of adding salt and minerals to the traditional Japanese diet.

Fish in Hokkaido restaurant

Sushi in Hokkaido

北海道

ほっかいどう

hokkaidō

Hokkaido is well-know for fishing and therefore fish is high on the traditional Hokkaido menu. Salmon, squid, tuna and other sorts of fish are widely consumed. Hokkaido also has sheep farms and some cattle farms, but this page is about delicious fish from Hokkaido. 

A takeaway lunchbox with Hokkaido fish.

The origami variety.

Crab meat is particularly sought after in many Hokkaido restaurants as the quality is exceptional.

One crab costs between NZ$150 and NZ$180.

The origami master’s impression.

On this platter one can see squid and different kinds of shell fish. 

This is salmon roe, a dish that is regarded a delicacy. Salmon roe is very high on vitamins and omega 3. It is eaten with a spoon, although sometimes one can see it on top of a sushi-bite, which has seaweed wrapped around it in order to keep the bite nicely together.

School lunches 給食 きゅうしょく kyūshoku

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

In Japan school lunches are provided and compulsory for students, so each child will have had a healthy lunch every day. This practice is instilled from the earliest Primary School years. 

Every day the menu changes, so over a long period of time students get a balanced diet. It also curbs the annoying desire of children to express the “I don’t like this” and “I don’t like that” and “I don’t eat that”. Mind you, not as annoying as parents who decide for their children that they don’t like something! Unless there is a sound medical reason, they all eat it. Annoying too when you think about the fact that one billion people in the world experience hunger at some stage during the day… OK… Let’s move on:

These photos will give you an idea of what Japanese school lunches look like:

High in iron, protein, omega; rice, soup, milk, seaweed, 
salmon, fruit, spinach, pickles. Notice: no sugar!

げつようび の きゅうしょく

getsuyōbi no kyūshoku

Monday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

Cheese, rice, kimchee (originally Korean), quail eggs, soup, milk. Notice: no sugar!

かようび の きゅうしょく

kayōbi no kyūshoku

Tuesday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

すいようび の きゅうしょく

suiyōbi no kyūshoku

Wednesday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

Have you noticed that every day the students have soup of some sort? That’s because research has shown that soup is easier to break down in the stomach and it does so more slowly. Students won’t feel so hungry so soon. Again: no added sugar! How great is that for children!

もくようび の きゅうしょく

mokuyōbi no kyūshoku

Thursday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

きんようび の きゅうしょく

kinyōbi no kyūshoku

Friday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

We’ll just start on another week’s lunch:

げつようび の きゅうしょく

getsuyōbi no kyūshoku

Monday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

かようび の きゅうしょく

kayōbi no kyūshoku

Tuesday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

すいようび の きゅうしょく

suiyōbi no kyūshoku

Wednesday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

Do we see some repetition here?

もくようび の きゅうしょく

mokuyōbi no kyūshoku

Thursday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

That’s a boiled egg on the left there – all prepacked.

きんようび の きゅうしょく

kinyōbi no kyūshoku

Friday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

So there you have it: two weeks of school lunches in a Japanese primary school. All lunches have some rice prepared in a slightly different way. They all have a soup of some sort to help with the digestion. They all have an extra carton of milk. They all have some meat or fish to supplement. They all have some vegetables and pickles and it all fits on an easy tray to make distribution in class easy.

いただきます！

itadakimasu!

Enjoy your meal!

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

The photos were provided by S. Lowry, Japan. We are most grateful for his efforts.

Seaweed のり