Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Nikuman

This is Siopao. One of my favorite foods from my youth in the Philippines.


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I've dreamed of finding a source of Siopao in Japan since early February. I've looked and only saw it ONCE...at the airshow.

Today, Akikosan brought Nikuman to the house.


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Beautiful, aren't they? She asked first if we were vegetarian. When I told her no she showed us two boxes of these.

She told us that they are "Japanese Fast Food" - like American hot dogs. They are considered to be a convenience food and sold at places like Lawsons and Circle K - not the restaurants where I've been looking. I was so happy. They were oishi.


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Akikosan told us stories of growing up and stopping a Nikuman on the way home from school. They are only sold in the WINTER (fall/winter I'd say as they sell from Sept - April) which explains why I'd not been able to find them. In the winter they are kept by the cash registers in steamers, WARM, all day.

I don't remember a huge variety in the Philippines. Here they Curryman, pizzaman, as well as dumplings filled with veggies, chicken, seafood, beef and pork. The ones we had were darling, but my camera battery was dead.

Not to fear, most the kids loved them and we'll go buy some more soon, I'm sure. In fact, maybe next week for Ladies Lunch and Bible study at our home. LOL

Our Japanese lesson was a lot of work and fun today. We had to write our names. The kids all earned red flowers at the top of their page. I got red corrections. ::snort:: We read the hiragana (not smoothly) for all the colors. We talked. We worked on introductory phrases. Mike came in at the end of the lesson and we were glad to introduce he and Akiko.

Akiko told me, "Sorry, De'Ettasan, making miso is very hard. You should buy it in the restaurant." BUT she did show me the hiragana characters to look for. Kim, I'm going to try some cooking links and find a recipe. Do you make Miso Ramen?

I was also glad that I'd gotten a small gift for her.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sis:

Totally awesome.... now the family will know what you have been talking about and WHEN you tell them "no junk food" ... all they will have to do is remind you of your favorite Filpino snack. :):):):) They do look good and the various kinds is great. love/prayers --- Mom T.

Anonymous said...

I FORGOT to say.... how wonderful of Akiko to bring you some Siopao - Nikuman. Neat!! trust you all enjoyed it a lot. l/p Mom T.

Kim said...

It was NIKUMAN you were looking for?!?!?! I LOVE nikuman. AND>>> you don't have to wait for any season if you go to your local supermarket. THey are sold in packages of 5 usually near the bread section, in the freezer section, or in the refridgerated section!!! THere are a few different fillings - pizza, the pork mixture I like, and...Hmmm. others.

And, I don't care for miso ramen because it is too spicy for me, so I've never made it. But...it can't be THAT hard! Right? A little soup base, a little miso, a little spicy something?!?!

Kim said...

BTW - Nikuman is most popular in the Osaka region of Japan. And, if you buy it at the supermarket, you can microwave it to perfection. And, it is really good if you use a dipping sauce of soy sauce, vinegar, and hot spicy oil (rayu) or karashi (hot hot mustard).

Jennifer said...

I noticed that you used shabby blogs for your template. I tried downloading the background and had trouble with it.

Could you share with me how you downloaded yours?

Paula said...

OK De'Etta, now you've done it...I've been having a terrible time with pregnancy cravings lately and you've just set off a new one. As usual, for something I ate a long time ago in some far-off corner of the world...something to do with the fact that those are the only foods not associated in my mind with feeling nauseous. Now I am just going to HAVE to locate some nikuman in Southern California, or I won't be able to stop thinking of it. There are enough Japanese people here, it's got to be available somewhere...

Romany said...

I'm trying to figure out what they are. Steamed rice dumplings with meat filling?

One of our favourite dishes from Canada is one we can't buy here either. {sigh} So I have to make it from scratch. They are peirogis. Same principle, I guess.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Kim! WOW!!! Akiko said they were a "convenience" food....I thought she said Circle K but I bet she said that because it is close to us....I'll stop by Yokomachis or Maeda and see what I can find. Thanks for the tip! They'd be great to have on hand in the freezer. LOL

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Oh Kim - dipping sauces I want to experiment with these but havne't a clue when I go to the store. I know that I had a "sweet soy sauce" but I can't find it in the stores. I think I'll have to go out to Cheese Roll again and ask her to write down the Japanese name for it then take that to Yokimachis when I go for the nikuman. LOL

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Jennifer,

I didn't have any trouble with it. I think I just clicked and got the code....then pasted that right into the layout page under "add a gadget". I'm sorry you're having trouble. I've used a couple of their layouts and haven't had any trouble.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Paula,

Try Philippino stores and ask for siopao if you can't find Japanese...and they also have a Chinese name. I'm trying to figure out how to mail you some. I CRAVED these every single time I was pregnant. Once a philippino friend made some for me...and I have the recipe I think...but not the bamboo steamer...anyway I craved them through 9 pregnancies and feel your pain. I plan to eat enough in the next three years to make up for ALL those pregnancies.

Now - how can I get some to you?

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Yummmm...Dorothy, we love Periogis. We sponsored a family from the Ukraine and she taught me how to make them. Now, I'm lazy and buy them from the freezer section.

These are more of a steamed ROLL/Bread dough...with various fillings....I've always had them with some sort of meat and potatoes....but here they have seafood, veggies and pizza evidently....

Cynthia said...

YEA! So glad you found them. I remembered that you'd been looking for them.

Paula said...

Well, I've done some research and it looks like there's a Japanese market less than 20 miles away. With any luck they'll have nikuman--I think I just might have to pack the kids in the car and go on an "educational fieldtrip" this morning, in the interest of exploring Japanese culture...
If I can't find them there I'll try your other suggestions!

Paula said...

Good news! No need to mail me nikuman--we found them (and lots of other goodies) at the Japanese market today. Not good for my grocery budget, but much much cheaper than a trip to Japan. They had a food court as well, and the kids and I filled up on delicious udon and chicken with curry on rice. Mmmmmm...
By the way, the Japanese market had a pretty good selection, and everything was labeled in English as well as Japanese. If you ever really need to know the ingredient list in something let me know and I'll see if I can find it here. It turns out the store is only a couple of miles from a friend's house, so we will likely go quite often.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Paula- great news!