Here we have 40g of cocoa that cost 228 yen or AU$2.76. Barely enough to make a chocolate cake.
And a bottle of Ginger powder. I don't buy herbs and spices at Costco because they come in huge portions, too large for an ordinary family. But this little jar cost me 285 yen or AU$3.45.
How do these compare to Australia?
I have to say, we're looking forward to coming back to Australia next month (we land on the 30th of June). There are some Aussie foods that I'd love to have again . . .
Ouch, that's expensive! Do the Japanese not use ground ginger much in cooking? Maybe they prefer the fresh version?
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing they don't use ginger much. It isn't easy to get dried.Your guess is probably right, fresh is probably preferred. I mostly use it in baking, which is something Japanese don't do much of.
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy,that comment at least partly answers my question too. I took it from the size of the cocoa packet that most Japanese people don't make chocolate cake much, but I was wondering if they baked much at all, or if it was just chocolate products. Following on from this, is chocolate (as in bars of it) commonly available? Or is it not the sort of flavour that is popular?
ReplyDeleteI wss thinking at least with the ginger, presumably you don't buy it that often, but cocoa is used in somewhat larger quantity in baking (unless you really like ginger). I think that cocoa is something I'd definitely miss if I couldn't easily buy it!
There are other places to buy cocoa that have larger quantities at a small price. I almost never buy it locally at this rate, I just hadn't planned ahead sufficiently on that birthday week when a chocolate cake was expected! There is a lot of chocolate (as in bars) available, even Cadbury occasionally. We do miss Mars Bars, but Snickers and KitKats are pretty common, for example. In come places you can even by TimTams! With the cocoa, it is, again, that baking isn't so common. Not everyone has an over and if they do, it is usually only the size of a microwave.
ReplyDelete