sun-fried...er dried, horse mackerel!

This is a picture of あじ 干物,　sun-dried horse mackerel from our trip last weekend to Oarai seaside. This, accompanied with rice, miso soup and greens, was my breakfast. Years ago I would have cringed at the mere thought of fish for breakkie but now I love it!

My clever housewife knitting club classmates told me that there are many different grades of dried fish. The regular stuff costs around 200yen (2USD) per fish whereas the gourmet kind can fetch up to 1000 (10USD) each! What a surprise it was for me. Then they told me the poorer quality kind uses additional oil to compensate for lost moisture, making the fish unnecessarily oily. I am just beginning to be able to differentiate between fair and excellent sun-dried fish! This one, by the way was of excellent...superior quality...yum yum yum!

I am very satiated now, energized to go to my 1.5-hour long Japanese class starting at 10. I have been a poor student and only make it about twice a month. If my teacher had a strict policy I would go weekly but she is flexible and we only have class when both our schedules will permit.