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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   3116 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 21, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

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I've been reading about Japanese food (the one that doesn't get served in Japanese restaurants abroad) and I've come to the conclusion that it's self-inflicted patriotic torture, just like traditional Japanese housing. People eat it only because they grew up eating it and think it makes them more Japanese.

Every culture has dishes like these, but Japan probably has the highest proportion of them among the developed countries. I'd rather turn to the Dutch cuisine than eat oden or zenzai.

I have to disagree strongly on the zenzai. Having a warm, sweet soup on a cold winter day is like a mug of hot cocoa. The toasted mochi on top is like a savory toasted marshmallow.

I'm curious if you just don't like anko in general, what are your thoughts on taiyaki, anpan, and daifuku?

I haven't tried them.

Funnily enough I like oden but not everything in it. It's best in winter after a night of drinking beer with friends. You then drink more beer and eat the oden and eat the daikon radish with a bit of mustard. But you may be onto something.

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