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My Basket Mystery
ngl that aisle's prob just the "regional test" section. my basket does this thing where they try out small batches of snacks from different parts of japan you don't normally see in tokyo. like stuff from okinawa or hokkaido that never makes it to regular konbinis
i grabbed a bag of something called "ika no shiokara" from there once. it's fermented squid guts. honestly pretty good if you like salty funky stuff. the trick is to check the back for a tiny barcode sticker with a japanese address if it's domestic, no sticker means imported
the one near shinjuku gyoen has a weird layout cause it used to be a different store. the aisle you found might actually be where they used to keep the beer cooler before they moved it. just grab something under 200 yen and try it, worst case you feed it to the crows in the park
Yeah, My Basket's got some seriously weird stuff. I've been going there for ages and I still find new things tucked away. That tiny aisle sounds exactly like the kind of thing I'd stumble upon while looking for, like, soy sauce or something. It's a total rabbit hole. I once found a bag of dried seaweed that looked like tiny, black, shriveled... things. I'm still not sure what they were. But hey, that's part of the fun, right? Embrace the mystery snacks! Maybe document your findings? You could become a My Basket snack legend.
Oh yeah, that aisle is legendary. I think they just stock whatever random stuff the distributor had leftover that week, so you'll find things like mystery chip flavors from the Philippines one month and weird canned drinks from China the next. My advice is just go for it, the worst that happens is you eat one bizarre cracker and learn a lesson.
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.