Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Mysterious noodles


We've been checking the mail lately, waiting for a certain delivery - actually, some money someone owes us. We were promised it was "on the way."

So the other day when I came home and checked the mailbox, I found a slip from our mail carrier, telling us there was a "large envelope" awaiting pick-up.

The next morning, [The Man I Love] called me at work after he'd stopped at the post office.

"Was it the check?" I asked.

"No," he said. He sounded a little stunned. "It's noodles."


We opened it when we got home in the evening. It was packed inside two manila envelopes. Then wrapped in bubble wrap. The package beneath was wrapped in slick white and pink paper. Beneath that, a white box with beautiful calligraphy. And inside the box?


Noodles.

Quite beautiful noodles, four bundles wrapped in tissue paper emblazoned with gold seals and more black calligraphy. There were also two boxes containing pouches filled with liquid of some kind.

A printed brochure with pictures of a pretty Japanese landscape, cartoons of people drying noodles from wooden frames, diagrams showing how to cook the noodles, and photos of people in traditional clothing spinning noodles between the palms of their hands.

They must be pretty special noodles. Only every single bit of text was in Japanese, so we had absolutely no clue what they were.

We recognized the name of the sender - he is a distinguished Japanese gentleman who is a colleague of [The Man I Love.] I am hoping to hear back on this extraordinary gift of noodles, and what it means.

I'll let you know when I find out.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

I read something somewhere about noodles and New Years. We have some lovely Asian neighbors and I will ask them when I see them out playing...oh, wait, that might not be for a few more months until Spring! It is so cold here in PA today! Brrrrrrrrrrrr. I am glad you are in sunny California with your mysterious and BEAUTIFUL noodles! Blessings to you!

Glennis said...

Ah!! I hadn't thought of New Years, which is January 26th! Thanks, Rebekah!

dkuroiwa said...

Those are udon noodles...very popular anytime here in Japan...but especially in the winter because they do warm up a body!!! The pack of liquid will probably be the soup to use....but, you can use any kind of soup...a good chicken broth is good if you have nothing else. If you can get konbu (dried seaweed, that is also good for a soup!) When my husband gets home (I can't read the Chinese characters, sorry) I can have him translate it for you if want!!

During the winter season, Japanese people send boxed gifts to people to say a special "thank you", or to teachers and business associates. We also do this in the summer!! People send noodles, ham, laundry detergent (!), beer...pretty much anything you can think of!!

On New Year's Eve, we eat another kind of special soba noodle...called "toshikoshi soba"...the soup and other ingredients in the soup are similiar to regular udon, but the noodles are different.

The internet has many sights for Japanese cooking...just Google 'udon noodles' and you will find many many ways to use and enjoy those noodles!! (One of our favs is curry udon!!)

Happy eating!!

Oh! and to eat the noodles in a "traditional" way....you need to slurp the noodles...big slurps!! Just one the the parts of this culture that makes me cringe...but, "when in Rome"!!! :-D

Darla said...

What a lovely gift. I see you got some good info in the comments.

Darla

Liz Harrell said...

Whoa. That's fabulous! I've got soup-envy now. :)

CaShThoMa said...

I'll be interested to learn what's what with these mystery noodles.

Shirl said...

Hello G thank for stopping back, that plate you asked about is actually tin and on the back it says,Baret Ware, Made In England, and I guess "Arbour" is the pattern name. I just love anything Southern Belle!
Bless You, Shirl
Shirls Rose Cottage

KG said...

Well THAT'S interesting ... I bet they taste really good. I mean - those packages are gorgeous.

I am a Tornado ~ proven fact! said...

What a lovely suprise.

I don't think I'd be able to wait much longer ... those noodles look positively YUMMY and perfect on a -1 degree day. OH, that's right - you are in sunny california where it's probabaly in the high 50's. Remind me why I torture myself...

Your blog is a calling - my reminder of my dream to one day move out west.

Sugee Andersyn said...

That was a kind gesture to send those nice noodles :) Thanks for posting!