I was just about finished grocery shopping last night when I heard a weird song coming from the streets. At first, I figured it must be politicians, driving around Tokyo trying to get people to vote for them by blasting noise into their homes (good plan, eh?).
But, when I went outside, I saw that it was an old guy with a little truck that was emitting smoke and steam. This guy had food! I flagged him down.
Turns out, it was the sweet potato guy. Stone roasted sweet potato (ishi yaki-imo) is apparently an autumn and winter favorite here in Japan. I bought one and the guy tossed in another half of a potato for good measure.
When my wife got home, she ate the extra half-potato, then chastised me for not eating mine while it was still warm (“This isn’t the kind of thing you save”). She was right, of course, but I just wasn’t in the mood for sweet potato.
Fast forward to today. After wandering around Akaska looking fruitlessly for a decent non-smoking Internet cafe (doesn’t exist, sorry), I came back to the hotel hyped up on caffeine and starving. So, I threw the potato in the microwave and two minutes later, I was in heaven. The sweet, starchy potato with a hint of smoke was exactly what I needed.
Posted by pmk at December 4, 2003 1:00 AM | TrackBack