Haripako me envió este vídeo del anuncio de uno de los últimos juegos que ha sacado Namco para la Wii en WiiWare en Japón. Es también uno de los juegos más raros que he visto últimamente, el objetivo de juego, por absurdo consiste en atrapar a un ladrón de botes de proteínas de un gimnasio. Es fabuloso como con una idea tan “absurda” han conseguido hacer un juego tan resultón:
La web oficial del juego tampoco tiene desperdicio.
En una de las aceras más grandes de Shinjuku tienen normas de tráfico para peatones. Fijaos en el cartel de la farola, por la derecha de la acera sólo se puede ir en una dirección desde las 9 de la mañana hasta las 6 de la tarde, mientras que por el carril de la izquierda la dirección varía según la hora. Medidas “extremas” como esta se tienen que tomar en zonas como Shinjuku, un barrio por el que pasan cada día cerca de tres millones de personas.
El otro día me invitaron a una barbacoa en la zona oeste de Tokyo. Lo más interesante no fueron las setas, gambas y ostras que pusieron en la barbacoa, algo a lo que ya me habitué en barbacoas al “estilo japonés”, lo que más me sorprendió fueron las “maravillosas vistas de las que pudimos disfrutar junto a un canal al más puro estilo veneciano”.
Me fascina la habilidad que tienen los japoneses para elevar autopistas por todos lados, a veces ayudan mucho a que no se vea tráfico por el centro de la ciudad. Pero cuando llegan a extremos de aprovechar el “espacio libre” que hay encima de ríos y canales construyendo autopistas que siguen su curso me parece una exageración, el caso más famoso de autopista sobre un río es la que pasa por encima de Nihonbashi que afeó una de las vistas más famosas de Japón, después de muchos años desde que se construyó ahora se la quieren cargar y hacerla bajo tierra (Al más puro estilo Madrid). Estas son algunas fotos que saqué durante la barbacoa:
Por si alguien lo se dió cuenta del detalle Dragon Ball en el vídeo del principio del post
Me hizo gracia este cartel en el que indican que en caso de gran terremoto aquí se reparte agua. En las ciudades japonesas en todos los barrios hay varios lugares asignados donde la población puede “refugiarse” y recibir agua y comida en caso de catástrofe.
Otro ejemplo más de mascota kawaii
En este vídeo, la granjero de Kumamoto explica un poco sus técnicas para conseguir formas de corazón en melones y sandías:
Diego me envió este vídeo en el que muestran la velocidad a la que puede escribir una chica que se dedica a poner subtítulos a programas de televisión que son retransmitidos en directo. Es simplemente alucinante ver como con tan pocas teclas, simplemente haciendo combos de pulsaciones consigue sacar por pantalla palabras y frases enteras a la velocidad del rayo. Es aún más increíble si tenemos en cuenta que habitualmente el idioma japones utiliza unos casi 2000 caracteres diferentes, os preguntaréis como se pueden escribir tantos caracteres con tan pocas teclas, lo expliqué hace un tiempo aquí, aunque en este caso lo han llevado un paso más allá utilizando combinaciones pulsaciones de teclas de forma simultánea.
Por cierto, si queréis mejorar vuestra velocidad de escritura e intentar llegar a nivel ninja os recomiendo artypist.
Las Mameshiba son unas habichuelas super kawaii con cara de perro creadas por la empresa de publicidad Dentsu. “Mame” significa “habichuela” y “shiba” es una raza de perro bastante popular en Japón.
Dentsu es una corporación japonesa gigantesca bastante tradicional y para intentar cambiar un poco su imagen, para ser más cool decidieron crear las Mameshiba. Lo primero que lanzaron fueron anuncios de televisión, donde las protagonistas eran mameshibas, ¡lo interesante es que pero anuncios no anunciaban nada! Fueron saliendo una serie de anuncios en forma de capítulos pero nunca anunciaron nada de nada, la gente especulaba con algún producto que podría estar detrás y que era todo una mega-campaña publicitaria para llamar la atención y crear misterio antes de mostrar el producto real.
Al final se desveló que no había ningún producto detrás, que los anuncios de Mameshiba eran simplemente para crear la imagen de marca de Mameshiba, eran anuncios para hacer que una familia personajes con forma de habichuela se hiciera famosos. Una vez consiguieron que las Mameshiba fueran populares gracias a los anuncios empezaron a vender los derechos marca a empresas de todo tipo, desde empresas de juguetes o videojuegos hasta empresas de alimentos. Por ejemplo, Bandai y Taito tienen varios productos que usan “mameshiba” como por ejemplo llaveros con forma de mambeshiba o peluches.
Es alucinante todo el negocio que han montado a partir de algo tan simple, a partir de unas habichuelas con cara de perro, han inundado el mercado con productos-merchandising de todo tipo.
Algunos de los anuncios de mambeshiba que hicieron popular la marca.
Un llavero libera-estrés con mameshibas creado por Bandai.
Las Mameshiba son unas habichuelas super kawaii con cara de perro creadas por la empresa de publicidad Dentsu. “Mame” significa “habichuela” y “shiba” es una raza de perro bastante popular en Japón.
Dentsu es una corporación japonesa gigantesca bastante tradicional y para intentar cambiar un poco su imagen, para ser más cool decidieron crear las Mameshiba. Lo primero que lanzaron fueron anuncios de televisión, donde las protagonistas eran mameshibas, ¡lo interesante es que pero anuncios no anunciaban nada! Fueron saliendo una serie de anuncios en forma de capítulos pero nunca anunciaron nada de nada, la gente especulaba con algún producto que podría estar detrás y que era todo una mega-campaña publicitaria para llamar la atención y crear misterio antes de mostrar el producto real.
Al final se desveló que no había ningún producto detrás, que los anuncios de Mameshiba eran simplemente para crear la imagen de marca de Mameshiba, eran anuncios para hacer que una familia personajes con forma de habichuela se hiciera famosos. Una vez consiguieron que las Mameshiba fueran populares gracias a los anuncios empezaron a vender los derechos marca a empresas de todo tipo, desde empresas de juguetes o videojuegos hasta empresas de alimentos. Por ejemplo, Bandai y Taito tienen varios productos que usan “mameshiba” como por ejemplo llaveros con forma de mambeshiba o peluches.
Es alucinante todo el negocio que han montado a partir de algo tan simple, a partir de unas habichuelas con cara de perro, han inundado el mercado con productos-merchandising de todo tipo.
Algunos de los anuncios de mambeshiba que hicieron popular la marca.
Un llavero libera-estrés con mameshibas creado por Bandai.
Have you ever had a cemita? It's a sandwich found in the Mexican state of Puebla. At first glance, you may think it looks like a hamburger as it's housed on a round, sesame-seed bun. But after you take a bite you'll realize this isn't a hamburger at all—instead it's a festival of flavors and textures nestled between a pillow-soft bun.
The bun, which is also called a cemita, is where the sandwich gets its name. It's an egg-rich bread topped with sesame seeds that is sort of a cross between challah and brioche. (And it's not to be confused with the cemita or semita found in Northern Mexico, which is a Mexican sweet bread spiced with star anise).
The other distinguishing characteristic of a cemita is the liberal use of the minty herb papalo. When I had my first cemita, it was that bright note cutting through all the other flavors that made this sandwich sing.
Papalo isn't always in season, however, so you may sometimes have a cemita made without it. But without the sesame-seed roll, you no longer have a cemita, you just have a sandwich.
Recently I was at a Jackson Heights taco truck that I'd never been to before, but the line was long and the condiments were fresh and plentiful—two signs the food should be delicious. To work on my Spanish I struck up a conversation with one of the other customers and asked him what to order. He said everything was good as the food tasted like what you would make at home.
We don't often think about street food as home food, but ever since that conversation I'd been obsessed with making a cemita at home. And since the cemita is nothing without the roll I knew that I'd have to figure out how to bake that particular bread in my own kitchen.
I speak just enough Spanish to get into trouble when I visit forums on Mexican food sites, so until I learned that there were two cemitas, I was wondering why there were no sesame seeds and so much sugar in the recipes I found. And yet I still couldn't find a proper recipe for the bread that I wanted.
After much delicious research out in the field, however, I decided to combine several recipes to create the tender roll. Eggs and buttermilk make the crumb soft and dense, oil and sugar make it sweet and moist and the sesame seeds add crunch and contrast. Sure it's a bit decadent, but lean times sometimes call for affordable pleasures.
This roll is intended for a cemita sandwich, though I find that it's also darn good as a bun for hamburgers, as a home for barbecue or simply on its own, warm from the oven and slathered with cool butter.
Cemita roll
Ingredients:
2 cups (9 oz.) flour
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of yeast
2 eggs at room temperature
½ cup of buttermilk
¼ cup of canola oil
1 tablespoon of milk
1 tablespoon of water
¼ cup of sesame seeds
Method:
Mix all the dry ingredients together. Whisk the eggs together with the oil.Heat the buttermilk on low until it's warm (110 degrees if you want to use a thermometer). Do not let it come to a boil!
Stir into the dry ingredients the warm buttermilk, eggs and oil. Mix until the liquid is incorporated and then let it rest for 15 minutes.
After it's rested, knead the dough on a floured-surface until it's smooth, though note that it will still be a bit sticky. That's OK.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover it and let it rise until it's doubled in size, about an hour and a half.
Depending on how large you want your rolls to be, divide the dough into eight or four balls and let them rest, covered for 15 minutes.
To shape the rolls, take each ball and then flatten it so it looks like a disc.
Place each roll a few inches apart on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet and let the rolls rise for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
When rolls have risen, mix the milk and water and brush the top of each roll with the wash. then sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Bake the rolls for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Note: Bread only lasts a day, but freezes well.
And now that you have the rolls, you can make a cemita sandwich!
Cemita sandwich
Ingredients:
A few papalo leaves (can be found at most Mexican markets)
Chipotles in adobo
A ripe avocado cut in slices
Savory Mexican meat such as carnitas or tinga
Mexican Oaxacan cheese (can substitute mozzarella if you can't find it), shredded
Method:
Take a roll and slice it in half.
Lay the avocado quarters on each half of bread.
Pile high the meat, cheese, chipotles and papalo on one half of bread, place the other half on top and enjoy!
Other people's thoughts on cemitas:
Anita shares more background, while Matt professes true love.
Have you ever had a cemita? It's a sandwich found in the Mexican state of Puebla. At first glance, you may think it looks like a hamburger as it's housed on a round, sesame-seed bun. But after you take a bite you'll realize this isn't a hamburger at all—instead it's a festival of flavors and textures nestled between a pillow-soft bun.
The bun, which is also called a cemita, is where the sandwich gets its name. It's an egg-rich bread topped with sesame seeds that is sort of a cross between challah and brioche. (And it's not to be confused with the cemita or semita found in Northern Mexico, which is a Mexican sweet bread spiced with star anise).
The other distinguishing characteristic of a cemita is the liberal use of the minty herb papalo. When I had my first cemita, it was that bright note cutting through all the other flavors that made this sandwich sing.
Papalo isn't always in season, however, so you may sometimes have a cemita made without it. But without the sesame-seed roll, you no longer have a cemita, you just have a sandwich.
Recently I was at a Jackson Heights taco truck that I'd never been to before, but the line was long and the condiments were fresh and plentiful—two signs the food should be delicious. To work on my Spanish I struck up a conversation with one of the other customers and asked him what to order. He said everything was good as the food tasted like what you would make at home.
We don't often think about street food as home food, but ever since that conversation I'd been obsessed with making a cemita at home. And since the cemita is nothing without the roll I knew that I'd have to figure out how to bake that particular bread in my own kitchen.
I speak just enough Spanish to get into trouble when I visit forums on Mexican food sites, so until I learned that there were two cemitas, I was wondering why there were no sesame seeds and so much sugar in the recipes I found. And yet I still couldn't find a proper recipe for the bread that I wanted.
After much delicious research out in the field, however, I decided to combine several recipes to create the tender roll. Eggs and buttermilk make the crumb soft and dense, oil and sugar make it sweet and moist and the sesame seeds add crunch and contrast. Sure it's a bit decadent, but lean times sometimes call for affordable pleasures.This roll is intended for a cemita sandwich, though I find that it's also darn good as a bun for hamburgers, as a home for barbecue or simply on its own, warm from the oven and slathered with cool butter.
Cemita roll
Ingredients:
2 cups (9 oz.) flour
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of yeast
2 eggs at room temperature
½ cup of buttermilk
¼ cup of canola oil
1 tablespoon of milk
1 tablespoon of water
¼ cup of sesame seeds
Method:
Mix all the dry ingredients together. Whisk the eggs together with the oil.Heat the buttermilk on low until it's warm (110 degrees if you want to use a thermometer). Do not let it come to a boil!
Stir into the dry ingredients the warm buttermilk, eggs and oil. Mix until the liquid is incorporated and then let it rest for 15 minutes.
After it's rested, knead the dough on a floured-surface until it's smooth, though note that it will still be a bit sticky. That's OK.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover it and let it rise until it's doubled in size, about an hour and a half.
Depending on how large you want your rolls to be, divide the dough into eight or four balls and let them rest, covered for 15 minutes.
To shape the rolls, take each ball and then flatten it so it looks like a disc.
Place each roll a few inches apart on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet and let the rolls rise for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
When rolls have risen, mix the milk and water and brush the top of each roll with the wash. then sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Bake the rolls for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Note: Bread only lasts a day, but freezes well.
And now that you have the rolls, you can make a cemita sandwich!
Cemita sandwich
Ingredients:
A few papalo leaves (can be found at most Mexican markets)
Chipotles in adobo
A ripe avocado cut in slices
Savory Mexican meat such as carnitas or tinga
Mexican Oaxacan cheese (can substitute mozzarella if you can't find it), shredded
Method:
Take a roll and slice it in half.
Lay the avocado quarters on each half of bread.
Pile high the meat, cheese, chipotles and papalo on one half of bread, place the other half on top and enjoy!
Other people's thoughts on cemitas:
Anita shares more background, while Matt professes true love.
