Thursday, August 24, 2006

Food Mistakes

I'm slowly slipping into my American mode. There have been several clues. Sometimes the clues are quite subtle and painless, sometimes ... not so.

Yesterday I went to the store. There, I saw a package (below). Ooh, is that pretty, I thought to myself. And look what it IS! I read the package, correctly, but my brain didn't register that.



You see, I just saw that nifty picture and thought FUNYUNS!

I haven't eaten a Funyun in many, many years, so I tossed the bag into my basket. After I got home I used all the will power I could muster not to just open them and eat them all then and there. In fact, I went the entire day and had dinner before I plucked them from their hiding place and decided to partake.

You don't even have to be able to read Japanese to see that the picture on the bag is of a pair of grilling squid. And I knew that. It's like when you order something that looks just like onion rings in a store, you invariably get squid rings. And while I don't dislike them at all, my mind just wasn't in the correct place. My mouth was screaming for a garlic powdery, build-up-in-your-molars treat. And I got squid. The chip itself was rather airy but there were actual hard chunks in it and I think I may have chipped a tooth.

The good news is I rubber banded the bag after two and left it on the table. This morning all but that one lone guy (in the picture) disappeared.

6 comments:

Mad Scientist Matt said...

Yikes. Reminds me of the time I was still working at Amada and one of my Japanes co-workers brought back some crackers. I'd learned that half the time if I asked what something was, the reply would not really give me a good indication of how it tasted. So I just bit into one without thinking. It tasted salty and a bit like spoiled fish.

At about that time, my boss walked by and asked, "So, how do you like the octopus cookies?"

Some of the surprises were a bit more pleasant. I think I've developed a taste for anpan - except I'm not sure where I can find any out here...

Kappa no He said...

Actually, yes, I am am a fan of most of the sweets/treats/food here -- hence, the desperate need to go on a diet. But sometimes...

Man, if that stuff didn't go bad so fast, I'd send you some great an treats!

*Ironically enough, the word verification for this post is FATft. How cruel.*

Matt said...

Stuff like that gives me nightmares. Blech

Harbormaster said...

It would be a shock to expect onion rings and get something like squid. I have tried many Alaska Native foods like seal, herring eggs, and dried fish. Some are great, but I will admit to not being very brave about new food experiences!

Anonymous said...

I'd never heard of the Funyuns before, so I had to follow the link to figure that out. Puffed squid cookies? Yeah, not so sure about that...

I usually try new food, but it's not always so pleasant. I didn't think I'd like brain, intestines, or stomach, and boy, was I right. No amount of currying can save that for me.

Unknown said...

I thought it was Funyuns too. But I'm not to keen on fried onion rings, so I would have left them in the store thinking that's what they were.

Matt, you reminded me of the time a friend of mine made cookies and offered us some. I should have known, since he was a health nut that these were no ordinary cookies. They looked liked chocolate chip cookies but turned out to be seaweed cookies!

Actually they weren't half bad though.