Friday, January 29, 2010

iyokan

There are many times when my lack of Japanese knowledge creates problems. At the time they happen they are problems, afterwards, it turns out to be a pretty funny story.

Seeing the iyokan in the market recently reminded me of this story...

Awhile back, while I was in Hawaii, a relative called from Japan to say that she wanted to send a couple boxes of "iyokan", one for my Grandma and one for us.

("Iyokan" is actually a type of citrus, which I've posted about previously here.)

Since I didn't know (at the time) that what she was talking about was citrus, I heard "ii yokan", which I thought was "good yokan" (bar of sweet bean paste).

Thinking that the boxes were small, I told her to send them to our Osaka address, thinking that Satoshi could forward the boxes of yokan to us later.

A couple days later, I get a phone call from Satoshi..."there are 2 HUGE boxes of oranges (citrus)..."

I told him, I thought she said "ii yokan", he said no, "iyokan" is a type of orange....sigh.

Since I knew he couldn't send them to us in Hawaii (agriculture restrictions), I asked him to send a box to his mother and bring the other box to work.

Then I called the relative to thank her (without telling her my mistake, of course).

I still have lots to learn when it comes to Japanese.

Fast forward to the present...I made some muffins using the juice and zest of one iyokan. I also added a handful of pecans and dried cherries. This was nice with some earl grey tea.

And since I'm talking about citrus/orange, I wanted to share with you something I found at the convenience store, Orange M&M's.

These are not only orange in color but orange flavored too. It was interesting to see these white M&M's in the bag.

It's Friday here, hope you have a nice weekend!

14 comments:

KirkK said...

Hey Kat - I love the story... it made my morning!

Rowena said...

Two large boxes! What a score, even if it wasn't what you were expecting... ;-) And I totally dig those orange m&m's. They would be PERFECT for Halloween party favors!

K and S said...

Glad I made you smile Kirk :)

I know Rowena! These WOULD be perfect for Halloween :)

Take care you two.
Kat

holly said...

m&ms is coming out with some odd flavors lately. I was just at the grocery store (in the US) and saw strawberry-peanut butter m&ms. That doesn't sound even remotely delicious to me.

K and S said...

I think those two flavors separately might be good Holly, but together, I might be hesitant to try it.

Take care.
Kat

jalna said...

Those oranges look really good. I bought oranges twice recently and both times they were dry and tasteless. I wonder what the secret to picking good oranges is.

K and S said...

Jalna, I think in Japan we benefit because ours are picked tree ripened, whereas in Hawaii most come from the mainland so they are picked before they are ripened, by the time the reach Hawaii the outside is orange but the inside isn't. I also think that when you choose, choose the heavy ones :)

Take care.
Kat

Deb in Hawaii said...

Very funny story! The muffins look great and love those crazy orange M&Ms. ;-)

K and S said...

Thanks Debinhawaii, glad to make you smile :)

Take care.
Kat

myra said...

That reminds of when I was in Japan for an exchange program in high school. I was trying to explain to some friends that I'd never been to a ryokan but my pronunciation was so poor that it sounded like I'd never been to "yokan". Of course they knew what I was talking about but they all thought it was hilarious - that and the time I raised my hand in class and asked to be excused to go to the o-tera instead of the otearai!

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad I found your blog!

I've been thinking of writing a blog based mostly around food and I searched for it and found this.

I've seen these M&Ms too and I'm curious so I think I'll get some soon. I live in Osaka as well and am originally from Hawaii so it's a nice sort of familiarity reading this blog:)

K and S said...

I am sure at the time those incidents were stressful Myra!

Thanks Anon! Good luck with your blog!

Take care.
Kat

Barbara said...

That is so funny Kat.

K and S said...

Barbara, it is :)

Take care.
Kat