On The mysteries of Yuzu Cha

I'd heard about it.
I'd seen it myself.
I had to try it.

Yuzu Cha.

It sounded aweful, a tea made by pouring hot water over orange marmelade. Why would anyone drink this stuff? I had to find out. This afternoon I swung by my favorite hideaway in Himeji, Sento Maaakusu Cafe (St. Marc's Cafe) and thought I would pass up my usual cup of coffee, and go for something less dehydrating. I got my cup of orange marmelade tea, climbed up the stairs into the (gasp!) Non-smoking section (these are rare in Nihonland) and took my first sip... Terrible. Flat out bad. It was sort of syruppy and very sweet, but with the bitter taste of orange rind, which came from the huge pile of orange rinds not surprisingly found at the bottom of my cup. I mean, what else would I expect from a tea made of orange marmelade?

Although disappointed in my experience with yuzu-cha , it will do nothing to diminish my quest to try everything weird but non-meaty in Japan. You might think, there aren't that many non-meaty weird things in Japan. But you would indeed be wrong! A new favorite of mine is this bizarre cold black barklike thing... I have no other way of describing it. It looks like thin black shredded roots (it might be) with gyunikku (some weird jelly type thing), beans, and sweet tofu. mmmm. It's delicious. I suggest anyone who is in Japan or visiting find it and try it. With that said, wish me luck on my quest of finding weird, delicious things to eat in Nipponland!