My Favorite Japanese Store

Since we have been renovating the house, I am always out and about, running errands and picking up supplies. The other week, when I was out picking up some paint, I decided to stop by my favorite Japanese store for some lunch, Japan Sage Market.

I can't remember when I discovered this little gem but you can see from the sign and store front that it doesn't look like the most inviting place. It's also not in the best part of town and even though I know I had driven by it before, I think I always thought it was just an abandoned store. Come to find out, it like stepping into Japan when you walk in.

There are several Asian stores in the Salt Lake City are but most are run by Chinese people. I think that this is the only one that is specifically Japanese run by Japanese people.  It always makes me miss Japan when I come here and I can't wait for my mom to come visit me so I can take her here and she can share with me all her secrets about making Japanese food using authentic ingredients (and chat with the other nihonjin there).

Even though it's not really a restaurant, they have a decent amount of prepared foods there like ramen, udon, curry rice, chicken yakitori, and salmon & rice. I ordered the pork ramen because that is what I was craving, but of course, my eyes were hungry and I ended up buying a lot more things (and also, cause I like to support local... and I was using a credit card and they want you to make at least a $10 purchase when you are using a credit card). I didn't take a picture of my ramen but I took  pictures of all my other things.

I'm a sucker for pan. This is definitely not as good as the real stuff (I think it was made in California somewhere). Actually, it wasn't really good at all. But I was just really craving something sweet. 

And I try not to buy these too often because I have a tendency to eat the entire bag by myself (and it's also not a fantastic price). But these are my favorite osembei these days. Lucy ended up eating most the bag but to give her credit, she shared a lot of them with the neighbor kids across the street (and me). 

I know that onigiri is super easy to make but I just never get around to it. They don't always have these at the store (or they sell out of them) so when I can find them, I always snatch them up. Lucy also loves these. 

Daifuku! I love this stuff. And Brandon doesn't so that means more for me. But Lucy does like this but can never get through a whole one (but she refuses to share with Mommy). I'm a little bit worried about how much sugar is in these but everyone once in a while, it doesn't hurt, right? And those adzuki beans have to have some decent fiber in them.

And I definitely needed to stock up on nori. Lucy loves this stuff and it make rice so much more enjoyable.

We'll see how long all this lasts until our next trip!