Chef, can you make us something like this Buddha's Delight out of tofu or green jackfruit?
Mushroom tastes like chicken, so make KFC
Why did the chicken cross the road?
(Sauce Stache) 9/15/19: I finally got my hands on "Chicken of the Woods," the mushroom that tastes just like poultry.
I can't believe how incredible this mushroom tastes, so I knew I had to make a plant-based KFC ("Kentucky Fried Chik-un"). I ordered mushrooms here (no sponsorship): oregonmushrooms.com.
Vegans love to love and be loved by chickens.
The goal of SauceStache is to continue trying something new to me and something different.
I find inspiration from The SauceSquad and my constant hunt on social media to see what food is being made around the world and how I can try to make it. Let's try to make some food while having fun.
But the nation is a modern capitalist, trying-to-be-Japan economy, though it still plays second fiddle to Singapore. Bangkok has a very strong pro-Israel bias, and many Jewish Israelis do business in and travel to just about the friendliest travel destination in the world.
Ronald McDonald as Hitler in Bangkok shop
There are many Muslims living in Southern Thailand, a paradise of sunny beaches and scuba diving destinations, influenced by neighboring Islamic Malaysia.
So it's odd that this Southeast Asian kingdom, now a semi-monarchy with a new king who didn't really want to be king, loves its Nazi imagery. Swastikas are cool, as is at least one faraway dictator (the local military autocrat being despised).
This is the most generous country, very superstitious, addicted to ghost stories, and is not succumbing to Western versions of history even if Israel and England protest.
The image of Hitler is alive and well -- ask local American expat resident Eric Dubay -- in spite of all of the anti-Germany propaganda the U.S., Europe, and Israel have promoted, much to the delight and bemusement of tourists from all over, including Israel, Europe, and the U.S.
Duncan Royale Hotei-Osho: Zen Xmas dates back only about a centuryin Japan, but in the past 40 years, festivities have grown to enormous proportions (christmas-treasures.com).
Mary's Xmas Museum (Kevin Dooley/flickr)
Xmas in Japan is becoming more and more like the business-holiday celebrated innominally Christian countries.
China, Russia, and parts of the geopolitical Middle East have greedily and unofficially embraced capitalism. So Xmas couldn't be far behind.
"Electronics for all!" (AP)
In Buddhist Japan, less than 1% of the population is Christian. But like most Buddhist countries, the majority is tolerant of all faiths, particularly Shinto, Taoism, Confucianism, and Mahayana-Hinduism.
And asymmetrically sex-positive Japan is a great lover of festivals and celebrations, including the best the West has to export.
December 25th is not yet a national holiday. But December 23rd, the emperor's birth date, is.
The Zen-Shinto majority is not waiting for an "official" holiday. They're celebrating the commercial way like the rest of the world.
But Xmas Eve is celebrated in a most backward way: eating an Xmas cake, which the family patriarch purchases on his way home from work. Or the matriarch will if, which is not unlikely, dad has to work. Ebeneezer Scrooge is alive and well in workaholic Tokyo.
And a cake is not the only thing Bob Cratchit is picking up on his way home. In a grotesque perversion of Western values, the most Xmassy thing Japanese can think to do in homage to the West is picking up a bucket of KFC. Yuck. But it's corporate tradition.
Moving "cake" by all means (Kevin Dooley)
It's as American as Mc D's and high-priced consumer electronics.
Stores all over carry versions of the cake and bucket, prices drop, and they sell out by the 26th.
This has resulted in a rather interesting expression. Young girls are referred to as Xmas Cakes -- marriageable until their 25th birthday but requiring heavy discounts thereafter.
In recent years, thanks to the marketing prowess of the Colonel, KFC's dead chicken dinner has become popular.
Save the birds. We influence everyone. Eat Tofurky!
Many Japanese make reservations for their Xmas bird in a bucket ahead of time. Or they line up at outlets to pick up their orders. As a result of the chicken conglomerate's advertising campaign, most Japanese now think Westerners celebrate this way.
Of course, why limit it to dead birds? There's a dead savior, too.
He, like another Jew few think of as Jewish, gets lost in translation.
Duncan Royale Hotei-osho (the priest/monk Budai): The celebration of Christmas in Japan dates back only about a century; yet, in the past 35 years, festivities have grown to enormous proportions (christmas-treasures.com).
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Christmas in Japan is quite different from the Christmas celebrated in most countries in which the population has a large percentage of Christians or a Christian heritage. Only 1/2 of 1% of the Japanese population is estimated to be Christian, with the majority of Japanese being tolerant of all faiths: Buddhism, Christianity, Shinto, and so on. In spite of this, the Japanese are great lovers of festivals and celebrations, including Christmas.
December 25th is not a national holiday in Japan, although December 23rd, which is the birth date of the present emperor, is. Although it is not an official holiday the Japanese tend to celebrate Christmas, especially in a commercial way. The Japanese celebrate Christmas Eve by eating a "Christmas Cake," which the father of the family purchases on his way home from work (or his wife does in the case where he has to work on Christmas Eve).
Stores all over carry versions of this Christmas Cake and drop the price of it drastically on December 25th in order to sell everything out by the 26th. This has resulted in a rather interesting expression in which young girls are referred to as "Christmas Cakes" -- marriageable until their 25th birthday and requiring heavy discounts to get married after their 25th birthdays.
In recent years, thanks to the marketing prowess of the folks at Kentucky Fried Chicken, the Christmas Chicken Dinner has become quite popular. Many Japanese even make reservations for their "Christmas Chicken" ahead of time. People line up at their outlets to pick up their orders. As a result of KFC's brilliant advertising campaign, most Japanese now believe that Westerners celebrate Christmas with a chicken dinner instead of the more common ham or turkey. More
PRIVATE: Welcome teacher Virpi Loikkanen Savonlinna (Finland). In some cases religions mix together. This phenomenon is called syncretism. In Japan, for example, Buddhist and Christian traditions are combined in Christmas celebrations, as Wisdom Quarterly reveals.
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