belated Easter egg present!

Just kidding...these are 温泉卵, onsen tamago, which are hot spring cooked eggs! They are the Japanese equivalent to Western soft-boiled eggs. They taste great with some soy sauce on rice or even on a bed of lettuce in a salad.

My student could not come to class today because of her hectic schedule so she dropped these off. It is not easy making soft-boiled eggs though I heard it can be done with an old (styrofoam) instant ramen cup and boiling hot water! Interesting.

These can be kept for one month or just a little longer than that! Wow - I was really surprised to hear that. I will give some to Hirotsugu's mother because she loves eating raw eggs on rice, if my memory serves me correctly. Speaking of giving people things, in Japan it is not good to say あげます, as in 'to give' someone something. One should be more humble or mention that they are giving them a part of a gift received from someone else. It is hard to explain but my Japanese teacher tried to educate me on this point.

Also, a key point when giving a gift is belittling it...saying what a small and boring thing it is to give. Sometimes in the States we say it's just a "little something" but I think they tend to take it a step further in Japan, all for the sake of maintaining a humble image.