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BEWARE -- the killer mustard

Bob in Iowa

Lurker
25 Nov 2004
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I had been in Japan for only a couple of days when Mike, a co-worker, asked me if I would like to visit a nearby mountaintop shrine. Except for a night at the bars, I had been working pretty much nonstop from the time that I had arrived on station, so I certainly welcomed the chance to visit a place more representative of traditional Japan.

Mitake-yama is only a short train ride away from Fussa-shi, so after a train ride, and hike through the town of Mitake, we were soon on our way up the mountain trail to the shrine. It was a hot, muggy late June Sunday afternoon, and a lot of people were making a trip to the shrine in an atmosphere that was most festive.

As we approached the top, I could smell all sorts of food cooking at various little vendor stands. Hungry from the hike, and still a bit hungover from a very late Saturday night, I quickly surveyed my choices. The squid cooking over a charcoal fire smelled good, but wasn't quite what I had in mind. Yaki-tori? -- no, I think I ate my fill of that last night along with way too much biiru. I needed some familiar comfort food to make my system right ... aha!!! HOTDOGS!!! ... YES!!! that's what I needed!

My mouth watering profusely with anticipation, I happily received my hotdog and proceeded to the side of the vendor stand, where there were familiar looking red and yellow plastic squeeze bottles. Being of the belief that ketchup has no place on hotdogs, and that a hotdog isn't a proper hotdog without a generous application of yellow mustard, I grabbed a yellow squeeze bottle. "Be careful!" Mike said, "that mustard is hot".

"No problem, I love hot mustard," I said with utmost confidence while administering a generous application to my dog.

"No Bob, I mean that stuff is really hot!" Seeing the look on my face that probably read 'give me a break here, I'm trying to eat', he just shrugged his shoulders. "Go ahead dummy!!!"

I probably looked like one of those cartoon characters with steam shooting out of his ears and eyes bulging from his face as I bit into a hot dog that I had just covered with what must have been liquid nuclear waste. Mike looked on with a contented look of 'I told you so' as I struggled with a choice of whether to spit it out, and be a spectacle of baka gaijin, or just gut it out and swallow. There were too many families about to go into a fit, so I just stood there, eyes watering, nose running profusely, forcing down what I had bitten off.

At that moment, I realized that a hotdog with ketchup might not be so bad afterall.

--Bob
 
Lol

Good story!

Something like that happened to me not too long ago. Man, did I feel stupid!
 
Bet ya did look, like a cartoon character. All I ca nsay is, Carpe Diem. (Seize the Day) or in your case, Carpe Mustard.
 
BAHAHA that is pretty funny, never had anything like that happen to me mine was always something to do with the beverages ;/
 
Hmm. Wasabi mustard, perhaps? The mustard I put on an "American dog" (what Americans call a corn dog) in Echigo tasted pretty normal to me.

Poor Bob!
 
I tried wasabi once. OMG! It was like sucking down fresh lava! NEVER AGAIN!
😲
 
Yes, it was wasabi mustard, and Claris consider yourself lucky. It looked like ordinary mustard to me, and as Jeff so aptly described, "It was like sucking down fresh lava! ".

BTW, Jeff -- I checked out your Pink Lady website -- AWESOME!!! I loved seeing those little cuties on the evening television variety shows back in the '70's, and it is good to see that they are still performing, and still looking GOOD!!!

--Bob
 
Oh, man, I'm glad it didn't happen to me. I can't even handle regular wasabi, but I put lots of mustard on my corndogs, so if I'd gotten wasabi mustard, I would have been in a lot of trouble. :(
 
Bob in Iowa said:
Yes, it was wasabi mustard, and Claris consider yourself lucky. It looked like ordinary mustard to me, and as Jeff so aptly described, "It was like sucking down fresh lava! ".

Compared to wasabi, Louisana hot sauce is tame by comparison! You'd have to have a death wish to take your chances with wasabi!

BTW, Jeff -- I checked out your Pink Lady website -- AWESOME!!! I loved seeing those little cuties on the evening television variety shows back in the '70's, and it is good to see that they are still performing, and still looking GOOD!!!--Bob

Many thanks for your kind words, my friend! I appreciate the comments! And yeah, Mie and Kei are still looking GOOD!!! I saw them live back in 2003, and they're all that----AND a bag of chips!!!
👍
 
wasabi isnt that hot, guys...i dont understand what everyone is talking about.
i eat it straight whenever i get some....tastes yum to me.
maybe i was just raised with spicy food??
 
Different people react differently to different spices. I can eat the hottest Hunan or Sichuan food all day long, but I don't eat wasabi. Go figure.
 
RinniGal said:
wasabi isnt that hot, guys...i dont understand what everyone is talking about.
i eat it straight whenever i get some....tastes yum to me.
maybe i was just raised with spicy food??

Maybe so, RinniGal, or maybe your stomach's lined with asbestos! :D
 
They should make a game show that dares people to eat the spiciest foods in the world- Wasabi Mustard, Jerk Chicken, Habanero peppers, etc. I'd love to see that.
 
Eat Wasabi ..

I think next time you are in Japan , you should eat something Japanese .. :eek:

But , poor bob anyways 😊
Once I've finally tried those pretty sacks which are usually shown in anime being given on alters. But was very shocked they taste so bad .... :(
 
well, I'd much rather stick to sushi while in Japan. Hey, I might as well. It's a chance to eat something different, and It's not as artery-clogging. lol
 
It's not that wasabi is so hot as it is aromatic, and it just overwhelms the sinuses. Actually, I grew to love the taste of wasabi, after learning to use it in moderation.
 
Kei_Shugojin said:
They should make a game show that dares people to eat the spiciest foods in the world- Wasabi Mustard, Jerk Chicken, Habanero peppers, etc. I'd love to see that.

HA! I'd pay money to see that, just for the facial experessions alone! :D
 
yeah. Especially the Habanero contest.

"Eat this plate of 100 fresh habanero pepers in under 5 minutes".


let the games... begin...

*evil laugh*
 
Kei_Shugojin said:
yeah. Especially the Habanero contest.

"Eat this plate of 100 fresh habanero pepers in under 5 minutes".


let the games... begin...

*evil laugh*

Yeah! And wash it all down with a Louisana hot sauce chaser! Fun for every boy and girl!

:D
 
I like wasabi, it clears the sinuses. It makes me tear up though, and i do feel it's acidic effects. Sometimes my mind freaks out but i calm it down.
 
I can't stand wasabi sauce. I do like sweet and sour sauce and soy sauce however.
 
Kei_Shugojin said:
yeah. Especially the Habanero contest.

"Eat this plate of 100 fresh habanero pepers in under 5 minutes".


let the games... begin...

*evil laugh*

Habaneros are wicked. I like a few tiny bits of habanero on my fish tacos, but only when I have something handy to extinguish the fire.
 
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