What are your thoughts on the prices here in Tokyo? I am forever wishing dairy was cheaper here 🥺

@ChineseKiwi

9 ай бұрын

Just support your Aussie farmer by buying the Aussie milk in Japan LOL

@matakiso7457

9 ай бұрын

Prices are very high because Japan imports most produce.

@KeithSchwerin

9 ай бұрын

For context vs my local US market picking the cheapest option for each item: 16oz Strawberries $5 a pack A cucumber is about $0.66 16oz Shredded cheese is $4.29 10oz Udon Noodles is $2.59 1 garlic $0.89 1 Scallions(bunch) $1.66 1 Sweet onion $0.96 10oz Cherry tomatos $3.99

@amandahayward

9 ай бұрын

Wow, Seera 😮. Fruit and veg is just soooo expensive. In fact, the only thing that looks cheap is the rice 🍚. No wonder people eat out a lot. It's expensive to be healthy but to be honest, it is expensive in England too 😢

@user-eh1vi3jz1c

9 ай бұрын

Takai desu ne

Little tips: Yes dairy is super expensive. Box milk without the screw on lid still has 1L of milk. And look for high fat content milk for better tasting one. I find Hokaido milk to be more creamy. Some supermarket have fresh udon single serving as low as 30 Yen. It depends on where you shop. Tomatoes are crazy expensive, I buy Italian canned diced or whole tomatoes for any cooking applications, because the taste is very good and it doesn’t take away the quality. Occasional cherry tomatoes are saved for salads. And don’t get me started on the price of meat (specially beef) 😢😢

I wouldn't mind seeing more "day in the life" style videos, like this one. We have many of the same brands and produce, that you bought, here in Seattle. The prices didn't really shock me, so, yes, prices are high here, too.

Okra pods are actually seed pods! They're in the mallow family, so related to hollyhocks, hibiscus, and cocoa!

@tootles444

9 ай бұрын

No way!!! That’s so cool. ❤

@seerasan

8 ай бұрын

Cool fact, thank you!

Well imagine that, an Aussie with a knife! That's a (great looking) knife!

It’s always good to cook from scratch when you can. Love your shopping/eating adventures.

When I was stationed with the US Army in Japan, I had a side job. Twice a year I would go to supermarkes and get prices. That helped adjust our cost of living.

You should absolutely do more videos like this! It was awesome. As an American who lived in Korea my favorite vegetables are lotus root and dikon. So wonderful to see you using them as well. ❤

Super interesting and comfy video, Sarah! It's unironically fun to see how even mundane things like grocery shopping or cooking at home are like in other countries. Hope you show us around more shops and share some recipes. 😊

Fresh ginger freezes nicely, Sarah! It decreases a little in the strength of flavor once frozen but if you're going to cook it anyway it shouldn't matter much (or just use extra.) Suuuuuuuch a pretty knife! 😍 Practice makes perfect for knife skills!

@mibluvr13

9 ай бұрын

Yes!! Frozen ginger is really easy to grate too and lasts a long time.

@jeanettemullins

4 ай бұрын

​@@mibluvr13yes, I do this too. It's so convenient having frozen ginger to grate when you need it.

That was ace - can you give us more run throughs of normal Japanese cooking - it can be really daunting trying to identify what’s whats at the oriental supermarkets here in the UK, so this was a really good format.

Yay for Golden Curry, here in the UK.

There is currently a fierce competition for market share in the Japanese food supermarket and drugstore industries. In particular, the drugstore industry is aggressively opening new stores in rural areas. I currently live in western Japan, and compared to Tokyo, I feel that prices are about 10-20% cheaper. Because some stores have bargain sales all year round. Always on the weekends. Prices have skyrocketed in the last year or two. However, compared to Europe and the United States, prices have risen more slowly, so foreigners may perceive Japan's prices to be lower. Except for fruits and dairy products.

@internetotaku6139

8 ай бұрын

In America, my local store is way more expensive in almost every category, the milk and fruits are the only thing that I spotted that wasn't cheaper by at least a dollar or two. The potatoes and milk are the only items that my local grocery store was way cheaper in, the strawberries, blueberries and cheese were about equal price wise but with larger packaging so thats a slight win.

always the humble ones with the skills. you say you're not good with a knife, but you actually have the rocking motion in your slicing down pretty well, imo. also, is it common to see asian chefs put the index finger on the spine? I feel like that seems really common (even in Shokugeki no Soma) in asia. I was always taught to use the western pinch grip, so that's what I'm used to.

Quick lifehack: hold your santoku by the blade at the spine, not the handle. It's so much more enjoyable this way!

I too add potatoes to curry, it's delicious. Sometimes I let my curry cook until the potatoes start falling apart, really get that curry flavor in there.

If you have a grater you can also grate curry roux! Makes it dissolve super well

Wooooow! That knife looks so cool! Wanna have one!!

Hello! As you are shopping and commenting on how pricey things are, I went online and did a yen to dollar conversion. I can report that in Texas in the USA, things are much more expensive than what they are at your store. In general, the prices everywhere are skyrocketing. It is great to see that even on a budget you can make delicious healthy meals. Thank you for sharing your shopping trip, as I always find it interesting to get a peek inside grocery stores in other countries. Keep the videos coming, and I will keep on watching!😊😊😊

I really love to see you cooking! Please more of this series

OMG more cooking videos pleeeease! You're rockin' the content variety with the recent vids. I'm really enjoying it! And, although dairy is kinda expensive In Japan, I wish EVERYTHING else was as cheap. Grocery shopping in California feels like making an investment. Thanks Sarah!

@seerasan

9 ай бұрын

I’m slowly getting the hang of cooking videos! Were the closeups and voice over a good combo? I wasn’t sure! Cali sounds like a very pricey place to be 🥹

@-DirtyShoes

9 ай бұрын

Definitely a good way to go! It's great production value but I also get the impression it allows more control over the video, especially if you have to shoot it by yourself. Great job!

Rouxs are really simple, Sarah. Put a little oil in a pan, heat it to about medium heat, add about the same amount of flour. Keep it moving. When the flour is about the color of beach sand, it's good for gravies and Mac and cheese. Things like that. Deglaze with milk. Boom, done. Let it go a little longer(about milk chocolate color) and you have a good soft curry or gumbo roux. Deglaze with beer or chicken stock. This is about a good dark chocolate color, which takes about 15-20 minutes.This is where it all goes really intense. My favorite curries are from black rouxs-you can even add chocolate.

I’m loving the glitter eyeshadow! Although I am a fella, I am totally stealing that look!! I just have to find my color…

I use the exact same instant curry mix in the States. I sear off the protein, add the vegetables and soften them. I then add a bit of sugar or honey. Then a splash of rice vinegar, mirin, and shoyu. Add the curry mix and simmer until done.

Hidden Master Chef cooking skills 👌 Love Golden Curry, we use it at home 😋

I recently visited Tokyo for the first time, such an amazing country and culture. I want to experience living there someday. Love all your videos of the different places in Japan!

Fruit is a constant struggle in Japan. Right now blueberries in season in Australia is about $3.00 for a huge container (about 300 grams) and so i love it when berries get in season. I struggled cooking fresh produce in Japan because it is so expensive - so I relied a lot on native vegetables like lotus root, eggplant, okra, daikon, sweet potato, potatoes, dried seaweed, kimchi, soy and less on fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic and fresh fruit. I would love it when I used to get fresh fruit as omiyage from my colleagues (like strawberries, apples etc.) and whenever I returned home to Australia I would eat my weight in fresh fruit at Christmas. I am actually lactose intolerant so dairy being so expensive never affected me haha.

240 yen for the curry roux is a steal! I pay $5 for regular price or $3-4 when it's on sale here. Japanese knives are such amazing quality

I love how through you were in explaining a lot of the ingredients prices we can get at supermarket

this makes me hungry! As an Aussie myself, I would love to visit Japan again someday as I was in Japan 2 months ago for vacation! everything is so cheap in Japan compared with Australia!

ah, I love the vlog, thx for the video. It gives a good insight of the current prices in japan.

4:04 - I'm an Asian guy who goes to the Asian supermarket in Australia for the Asian ingredients but also the themed snacks and lollies (candy) and I'm in my mid 30s. I don't care. I WANT MY POKEMON THEMED SNACKS.

@seerasan

9 ай бұрын

YESS! You get me!! 👊

Your video was very instructive about negotiating daily life in Japan in 2023. I really think these videos are quite educational when viewed over time. Thanks for the video.

Getting to the point where you don't buy anything until it's discounted. Late afternoon/early evening a staff member goes round with the pricing machine marking down by 20, 30 or 50%. In fact some more hard-nosed customers actually pick up a food item take it over and ask the employee to discount it. Jack, the Japan Alps Brit

Love this type of video, please do more!

I buy packet curry, just warm and spread over rice, not as cheap, but saves an hour making curry and it the prefect serving size. Also Hokkaido cream stew in a packet over rice... S tier.

My curry roux of choice is Hot Vermont (yes, the kind with the apples and honey). That very mild sweetness works really works well with the spice since I add extra chilis to make the curry hotter.

so much fun to learn! my thanks for such a fun video!

Well its 0130 in Sydney and I am watching someone go shopping, instead of going to bed!

Not sure where you were shopping in this video, but the prices specifically on staple produce was way higher than I get in a smaller neighborhood in central Tokyo. Especially because if you can find a more local produce shop (I know of like 3 between my station and the one next to mine) the prices will drop significantly. Place near me had similar packs of okra for a fourth of the price stated in the video. Also Re: Fruit, there is almost always at least one cheap fruit around (usually bananas) that are normal prices. I've been buying ¥88 lemons for months now! This is doubly so again if you're going to the smaller produce places, where they don't only sell the perfect fruits and they all immediately become more normal prices (place near me had like 5 apples for ¥400 today, compared to supermarkets like this selling single apples for around ¥6-800). Anyway, as bad as inflation is generally, it is shockingly cheap to eat in Japan if you split up your shopping or just go to a slightly more local shop. Signed, a broke grad student in Tokyo

@mapbelds5

2 ай бұрын

Wow thanks! Do you have specific names of the expensive supermarkets that I don’t need to go to if I can access more affordable ones?? Planning to go to tokyo with my family of 8 and this could help. 😅

@PersonHouseInc

2 ай бұрын

​@@mapbelds5 I don't know how much help I can be because I'm just buying for myself, but I would suggest looking for the supermarket Gyomu. They're like half grocery store, half restaurant supplier, so they're your best chance for bulk prices. Also if you have a Costco membership there are a couple stores on the outskirts of Tokyo that might be what you need. Hope you and your family have a great time in Tokyo!

Love golden curry. We can get it here in Australia at regular supermarkets. I do also go to the Asian grocer for fun items. Loved this. Cheers

This was really fun to watch. Thanks for bringing us with you. 😄

I loved this. So relaxing to watch and informative. Good job Sarah! I love watching you cook and generally be happy. I'd watch more of thses and would love it for the new recipes and such you can add to it. Thanks again for the curry hack!

The food all looked so good that you cooked! Love all those veggies. Thanks for the fun video, love all the variety of different topics you cover

love the presentation style! would love to know more quick and easy dishes you'd make if you could only spare about 30 mins of time/energy per meal

would be cool to see new cooking things again!

i really liked this video! any future cooking that shows how to use japanese ingredients in a simple manner like this is welcome!

Thanks so much for this video - really practical and helpful! I’ve seen lots of videos about the cost of living - but nothing so specific and detailed. Thanks so much Sarah!

OMG those noodles look soooo good!, currently going through a heatwave here and they look like they would hit the spot!

I love so many things about all the foreign countries I've visited, but I gotta say, the comparatively low prices for groceries in the US is so nice. Even with inflation you can get good prices on fresh food. Like $1.50 per pound for apples when on sale (which is frequent), and a nice big pack of strawberries (but not the biggest) for like $2.50. And I'm in Seattle which has relatively expensive groceries.

The thing that always amuses me is that you can get ASDA chocolate in Seiyu. ASDA is a supermarket's own-brand chocolate, so in the UK it's not so desirable compared to the brand names like Cadbury's, etc. It's amusing to see a UK supermarket's brand being sold the other side of the world. The link, I guess, is that Seiyu is owned by Walmart, and ASDA was owned by Walmart.

This was great. That knife is beautiful!

I thought your chopping skills were quite good. I was really impressed with your slurping skill. I guess years of practice has paid off. Congrats on hitting 25k.

Would love to see any kind of cooking video👌 but like desserts are always nice✨

Very interesting and entertaining more of this type please

I love this, thank you! :) Your fingers folded under as you chop is great. If you put your knife hand further up the handle where it meets the blade, you'll have a ton more stability and power. A lot of chefs hold it far enough up that they're holding the top of the blade a little bit as well. That trick helped me A LOT when I was first learning knife skills!

Love that you're doing cooking vids! Best advice I ever got after getting a nice Japanese chef's knife was to get a whetstone (they're super cheap) and keep your blades sharp. They make using any knife, even cheap ones, a joy to use daily. Please, more of these!

I would like to see more cooking videos! Do what works for you! Have a great day! Take care!

I LOVE videos like this!! Also, your eyebrows are ✨️perfection✨️ omg 😍

@seerasan

8 ай бұрын

Thank you so much 🥰 obsessed with my eyebrow gel these days!

Good choice of beer Sarah lol !!!!

Very informative and fun video (both on the shopping side and the cooking side). Honestly surprised it isn't more expensive, given Tokyo's reputation for being a rather expensive city to live in. Though ¥300 for less than a liter of milk is a tough pill to swallow...it's just a tiny bit more here for a full gallon (3.785 liters)...but on the other side of the coin, I'm used to paying up for good cheese (I'm Italian, and I use parmigiano reggiano here...average $20 USD a pound). While I'll watch any video you post, as someone who likes to eat, I'd definitely watch more like this, possibly even multiple times (as I might try to emulate the cooking).

Hi Sarah ! Love Japanese curry, I will have to try Curry Udon next time ! I just paid $5.70 NZD at Japan Mart in New Zealand for a 220g box of the golden curry, mild flavour. This equates to around 504 yen ! Thanks for the Australian price comparison, alot of channels do it to usd !

You got some cooking skills Sarah... greetings from Costa Rica

I agree on the salt and vinegar chips. I NEEDED those while I was in Japan and couldn't find them at a cheap price.

You should decide your menu based on what's on sale that day. That's how the Japanese do it. Ps. You cannot convince me it takes "so much time" to whip up a simple pancake batter.

Well sharpening skills will have to improve with your cutting skills, Sarah. That will be funny, i smashed my first whetstone. It was proper caved in 😂😂. I wonder if Japan will ever pull out of the stagnant economy and get back to its greatness.

I don't mind food videos ^^ food looked nommy

Great day in the life vid!

Do we need to send some Salt and Vinegar chips to a PO box for you Sarah? 😉😉

Richtig gutes Video 🎉 Werde auf jeden Fall mal nach dem Golden Curry Ding schauen. 😂

this was so interesting! pers onally id l;ove more japanese grocery based videos and cooking bcoz even when im there i find it intimidating! i visit hokkaido for a month ech winter for skiing

I would like to see more of your daily life. This video was awesome.I also like Salt and Vinegar Chips. It is a staple in my pantry. Sending Love to you From SanDiego😊

Sera, nice cooking video. I want to see Japanese traditional home meal next time.

I'm lactose intolerant so I'd be fine with skipping the dairy lol. I know Japanese kitchens rarely have ovens but I find a bench top oven does a great job for a good old roast dinner. It would be interesting to see this done with local Japanese veges.

I'd love to see more of these relaxed videos.

Salt, pepper & lemon potatoes kid. 👌👌👌

Envious of your knife! Just a tip from a cook though; hold your grip further forward, so you keep your index finger on the back of the blade, for better control and guidance. Also, this video makes me want to go back to Japan just for the daily cooking sesh!

Great video! Very nice to see the different costs! Would also just be curious to see how inflation has hit all the chain places and things too. As someone who loves to cook, bake and eat, if I ever moved to Japan, the things that I'd find the hardest to get around would be the cost of Fruits and Cheese. And the lack of kitchen counter space =(. But the ability to eat out at quality places for a decent price would make up for it. I assume there's frozen fruit? Usually just use bag of frozen blue berries for pancakes - works just as well

You can freeze ginger whole and grate as needed.

this was a good video. i'd like to see some Chinese-fast-food, cooked...whatever makes your fancy...

Honestly while some things like fruit are definitely super expensive in Japan, I kinda feel everything else is about the same or even slightly more expensive here in LA lol Thanks for the stroll down the market! Would definitely love to see more cooking ideas! 🙂

It's £13 for 2kg of Japanese rice in London... I guess it makes sense because it needs to be imported 😅

@ChineseKiwi

9 ай бұрын

it's all geography and the local majority population preferences however. Finding good cheese that isn't insanely expensive is a struggle outside Europe and the UK for example.

@karepanman8705

9 ай бұрын

@@ChineseKiwi That makes sense. Basmati is relatively cheaper, maybe because of that

Its wild that a bag of rice of that size would be ¥1000 ($6.84 USD)! A 1 pound box of instant rice is like $2.50 (¥365) and a 1 pound container of Japanese short grain rice is $8.75 (¥1280) here in America.

@JinHee20

8 ай бұрын

Actually, ¥1000 for two kilograms of rice is still expensive. Depending on where you shop, you can actually find decent quality rice at ¥3000 for a 12Kg bag.

I had cold somen noodles for lunch just now! 😆 I don’t know why I enjoy watching people food shop so much but I really do 🙈

I love a good grocery and cooking video! More, please. Some prices seem pretty comparable to Southern California, except onions, fruit and dairy. Are frozen berries also expensive?

if you don't need to own a car and pay for petrol, insurance, registration and maintenance then this would offset the more expensive groceries, you just do several small shops you can carry on public transport. If you are in walking distance to the grocery store, then you save on a bus ticket too.

I love making kare raisu too, and that fresh okra looks so good! I rarely see fresh okra here in Los Angeles area but we do have some really tasty pickled okra from Texas

@seerasan

9 ай бұрын

I’d never seen okura back in Sydney so I’m loving how readily available it is here!! Interesting to hear it’s not common in LA either!

Have you ever tried freezing fresh ginger? I also never go through it all, and I pop it in the freezer and it works great! I have a microplane I use to shave the frozen ginger into my dishes

@seerasan

9 ай бұрын

Good tip! I’ll give this a go next time!

bring seerasan salt and vinegar chips when i come back lol i miss strong zero

Happiness is mostly found when you are content of what you have. And I think that I saw that in this video. Thank you for this video.

I'm here for Chef Sera

Hotel New Otani pancake mix should be the best pancake mix in Japan, available for about 400 yen.

@seerasan

9 ай бұрын

I’ve gotta give it a go next!

Interesting. Tohoku prices on potatoes and tomatoes are about 1/3 of that. Everything else mostly the same. I shop and cook a lot here. I like the cooking aspect of this video. I used to work as a sushi chef, so I like knives, and I think you could really improve your technique by holding the knife differently. I recommend pinching the blade with your thumb and middle finger just above the handle, with your index finger extended along the back of the blade. This will give you a lot more control. My favorite kitchen knife wasn't expensive either, even though I've used some REALLY expensive ones in the past. It cost me $35, and I did bring it with me to Japan.

Quick advice on knife skills: Instead of a finger on top of the knife (which doesn't really give much sense of control), pinch the knife with your thumb and pointer finger, and then hold the knife with the rest of your hand. This gives the best control.

Living in a relatively affordable mid sized city in America here. I was surprised that all of the items mentioned as being expensive are regular prices here - if not cheaper for the relative quality. Would kill for those cheap spice tubes. They are 2-3x the price here.

These prices are pretty similiar to Germany prices. Around 30 cents more expensive here and there but pretty similiar overall.

Ever made a rice cooker pancake? Just put all the mix in a rice cooker for 45 minutes and perfect giant pancake.

I am so happy I can get Golden Curry in Czechia. Well, it costs about 7,50 $, but still, you get 2 pots of curry out of it. So a little luxury, but it is not that bad.

Great video! Is it less expensive to cook meals at home vs. dining out?

Your chopping is fine, will improve the more you chop obviously - and honestly the prices look reasonable, comparing to prices in Germany and Greece that i can speak of, they are the same, of course you can find cheaper at Lidl or at Discount Markt in Greece but if we take average supermarket prices they are the same, including dairy