I haven't gotten to the supermarket yet this week, and I'm trying to stretch all the food in the house until I have a day off. Since I work evenings, I rarely have a chance to get things on my way home, as everything is shut. I have a refrigerator that, similar to the situation of many people who are serving time in Leopalace furnished apartments, would be considered on the small side for a bar fridge in North America. So non-perishables are my friend right now.

Looking in my cupboard this morning, I found a lone potato, and a wilting leek (negi). Soup! I fried up some bacon left in the corner of my fridge, along with thinly sliced leek. I chopped the potato and added it to the pot along with about three cups of water, some crushed garlic, and a bullion cube. When the potato was soft, I added two generous tablespoons of miso paste. A quick boil to dissolve the miso, and a nice glug of sesame oil for seasoning, and lunch was on the table. I would have liked to have rice on the side, but I made the soup in my rice pot. Oddly enough, I got this recipe from the Lonely Planet's World Food Japan book. Since I rarely look to Lonely Planet for travel advice anymore ( I got sick of their 'least cost' attitude), it's strange to look to them for food advice, but the World Food Japan book has some nice insights into Japanese cuisine from a foreign perspective, and a helpful food glossary in the back.