Don Quijote (Donki) Haul - What He Got in Japan

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Don Quijote (Donki) Haul - What He Got in Japan

Don Quijote, which is also called Donki, is one of the biggest Japanese discount chain stores. I remember that when my husband and I lived in Osaka, we sometimes went to Don Quijote nearby our home in midnight. Because Japan is the safest country, we went out whenever we felt like shopping or eating out. Midnight shopping was exciting somehow. ;) When he was on business trip in Tokyo last week, he purchased some Japanese groceries there. I'm going to share seven products he got there with you.

Don Quijote Haul

1. Echigo Kiri Mochi (越後の杵つき餅)
1kg
495yen

Kiri Mochi

Kiri mochi is square shaped mochi made of Japanese sticky rice. Kiri (切り) in Japanese means cut, so it has already cut to ready to cook. When I buy kiri mochi, I always check its ingredient. If it was made of only Japanese sticky rice (国内産もち米100％), it's pretty decent quality and tastes good. If it was made of sticky rice with some other ingredients such as corn starch and potato starch, it might be inexpensive but doesn't taste as good as one made of only Japanese sticky rice.
By the way, winter is a season to enjoy mochi for people in Japan. When I was a child, my family made mochi from scratch. My family grew sticky rice. My grandmother cooked steamed sticky rice and made mochi with a pounding mochi machine every end of the year. I really enjoyed helping her dividing into small pieces of mochi and made round shaped mochi. We made nearly 1000 pieces of mochi every year and gave away many of them to our relatives. It was my family tradition. Since my grandmother passed away, my family has never used our pounding mochi machine. However, we still eat mochi which purchased at supermarkets in winter, so when winter comes, I want to eat Japanese mochi.

2. Somi Shantan (創味シャンタン)
500g
795 yen

Somi Shantan Deluxe

Somi Shantan Deluxe is condiment for Chinese foods, and this is the one I really wanted him to purchase in Japan. If you find Somi Shantan at supermarket or Don Quijote in Japan, you really should try it. :) Somi is one of the most famous food manufactures in Japan, and Somi Shantan was first released for restaurants in Japan in1961, and it's actually used at many restaurants there. It's excellent condiment, so you can cook like a pro with this one. This condiment for home cooking used to be Ueipa which was made by Somi and sold by Hiroki Syokou, and indeed I used to use Ueipa when I lived in Japan. However, Somi stopped to continue doing business with Hiroki Syokou in 2015, and now Ueipa isn't allowed to use same ingredients anymore, but Somi Shantan is only authentic one.

You can add teaspoons of it to make fried rice, soup, stir-fried vegetable and so on. My Somi Shantan Deluxe has a small recipe booklet on it.

Somi Shantan Deluxe

3. Grated Raw Wasabi (おろし生わさび)
43g
98yen

Raw Wasabi Paste

I can get wasabi pastes at Japanese supermarket in the U.S., but when my husband called me from Don Quijote in Japan, I told him that we didn't have wasabi in our pantry. :)

4. Yuzu Kosho (柚子こしょう)
50g
278 yen

Yuzu Kosho

Yuzu kosho is a spicy Japanese condiment made from yuzu zest, red pepper and salt. My younger brother introduced yuzu kosho to me years ago, and I really loved it, so I asked my husband if he could find one at Don Quijote. Another yuzu kosho has so many positive reviews on Amazon US, you can check reviews out.

5. Marutai Nagasaki Agodashi Soy Sauce Ramen (マルタイ長崎あごだし入り醤油ラーメン)
2 Servings
178 yen

Marutai Nagasaki Fish Broth Soy Sauce Ramen

As I mentioned in my previous entry, my husband and I love Marutai ramen. This time, he bought this Nagasaki Ramen. Agodashi, a type of broth made from frying fish, has been very popular in Japan these years, and Nagasaki is the prefecture introduced agodashi originally. When I lived in Osaka, I sometimes enjoyed fish broth ramen after working. Ramen with fish broth might sounds new to you, but it tasted so good and was way beyond my expectations.

6. Marutai Kagoshima Tonkotsu Ramen (マルタイ鹿児島黒豚とんこつラーメン)
2 Servings
178 yen

Marutai Kagoshima Tonkotsu Ramen

He also chose this Marutai Kagoshima Ramen. Since our hometown is Fukuoka, where is one of most famous places for tonkotsu ramen in Japan, we wanted to try Kagoshima Tonkotsu Ramen. It must be good. :)

7. Kumamoto Tonkotsu Ramen with Raw Noodles (熊本とんこつラーメン生)
6 Servings
1000 yen

Kumamoto Ramen

At the store, he was told that Kumamoto ramen is always sold out pretty quickly. He purchased this box of Kumamoto Tonkotsu Ramen. It has 6 servings raw noodles and liquid tonkotsu soup.