Tired

Being a chef in Japan means working a minimum of 12 hour days 6 days a week. The hardcore apprentices only get maybe 6-7 hours away from the restaurant a day, and usually come in for at least a little while even on off days. I'm a little luckier but I'm still pulling something like 87-hour weeks, 93 if you count the train rides that I can never sit down in. Then I have to sharpen my knives when I get home, or get up early in the morning to do it before I go to work.

As Slimy As It Sounds

Ahh, squid. I learned how to cut open the body today and get out the beak and eyeballs without squishing them and getting eye juice all over the meat. I'm rarely grossed out by the shit I see anymore but carrying a handful of squid eyeballs and mouths and red juice to the garbage in my hands had me performing this mantra: 'I do not have a handful of eyeballs that look like human eyes I do not have eyeballs in my hands I have EYEBALLS in my HANDS oh no GET IT OFF ME AHHHH!!' Luckily the trash can only took a few seconds to reach.

I can deal with cooked squid; I've gotten used to the rubbery texture. But even though I've consumed my fair share of raw squid during my stint here, I just don't like it. There is a fairly popular dish called 塩辛 (shiokara) that we serve, involving cutting raw squid up into thin strips and mixing it with a soupy mess made of miso and the innards of the squid that have been rubbed through a mesh screen. It's as horrible as it sounds. Let that sit in your fridge 3 days and you've got something that rivals natto for smell.

Cooking for the Crew

An apprentice's job includes cooking the meals for the staff, which means at least lunch and dinner, and sometimes breakfast, depending on the place. This requires a basic idea of a Japanese home-cooked meal which every Japanese possesses and I don't. This is not what I studied. I know high-end Japanese cookery, but I don't really know what Mom might serve. It's the difference between serving a pate and serving a green bean casserole back home. I'm so afraid to make a misstep (a neurosis throughly enforced by my last job, where everything you did was wrong always) that it paralyzes me. Well, Fugu Senpai is having none of it. He's been dropping hints that I need to get on the creative end of the staff meals and told me flat out today that it was necessary to get my butt in gear. So I've armed myself with cookbooks and sticky notes for tomorrow. I guess pressure's the fastest way to learn.

Cracked Up

Today I broke a vase.

This could have been a pretty big deal, as dishes and pottery in Japan are not something to be taken lightly. Most places require you to handwash all articles, and some places with especially nice pieces only allow the owner to wash them. This is taken to the extent that there are professional dishwashers in Japan that deal with old or famous pieces. Japan is unlike most of the world in that, with expensive dishes, each piece is handcrafted and not a duplicate. Often tea people will have pieces dating back hundreds of years that they keep stored and only bring out when special tea ceremonies are held.

Luckily my boss is pretty laid-back and the vase turned out to not be so expensive. (I put it in front of an open window and a strong gust blew it off the sill.) In another place, this could have cost me my job.

Near the end of my shift, Fugu Senpai gave me a piece of fish to practice slicing and I got tips from him and Soba Master. That would have never never never happened in most places. I'm really lucky to be where I am.