Hello everyone. This is Tsukui from WAITER-U, a cafe in Shimokitazawa that resembles a campsite. Today, I'd like to talk about the staple food items I always buy when I go solo camping. I mentioned in a previous broadcast that I basically source my ingredients locally, but...When I choose a campsite, I try to pick one that's near a roadside rest area.
Roadside rest areas usually close around 4 PM, so I always schedule my trips to leave the city center in the morning, arrive at my destination around lunchtime, and then head to the rest area, making sure I finish my shopping before then.
So, there are a few things I always buy when I arrive at a roadside rest stop. First of all, thick-cut bacon. I buy just enough to last me one night. It goes well with alcohol, and I also fry bacon and eggs for breakfast the next morning, so I always buy thick-cut bacon. It goes well with alcohol, and the sound and smell of bacon frying in the morning really whets my appetite. Bacon tastes great when camping.
The second thing is butter. You can buy this at supermarkets and other places, not just roadside rest stops, but I always buy salted butter. It's really handy for grilling meat, spreading on toast for breakfast, and stir-frying with vegetables, so I always buy it.
Thirdly, depending on the season, I always buy corn. You can find it at most roadside rest stops, so I can't pass it up. As for how I cook it, I put it on a campfire grill with the husks still on. More precisely, I place a trivet or grill on top of the campfire grill and grill it on that. The husks act just like aluminum foil, resulting in a nicely cooked corn.
My way of eating corn is not to bite into it, but to use a knife to cut the kernels off the roasted cob. The key is to cut it so that the cob becomes a perfect square cuboid. My go-to way of eating the corn is to put the butter and soy sauce I bought earlier on the shaved kernels.
The fourth thing is seasonal vegetables. I buy vegetables that can be used as a side dish for barbecues, such as asparagus and eggplant. Seasonal vegetables like shishito peppers are also good. I've made all sorts of dishes while camping, but in the end, grilling meat and simple grilled vegetables as a side dish is the most delicious. So I always buy vegetables to use as a side dish for barbecues.
1, 2, 3, 4... I think this is the fifth one. From here on, it's less about food and more about the base for cooking. They sell small packs of pre-washed rice, like Ziploc bags that hold 1 or 2 cups, so I buy those. I end up eating rice anyway, so I cook it in a mess tin. In my case, I often make mixed rice dishes rather than just plain white rice,
For the sixth and seventh items, I buy ingredients for seasoned rice. For me, pickled mustard greens and mentaiko (spicy cod roe) are staples. With that, I have pretty much everything I need. And then there's the alcohol. Ice in a cooler box is essential, and if there's local sake, it's nice to buy a bottle and drink that. I buy just enough alcohol to finish it all.
Buying this much is usually enough. It usually costs around 3,000 yen. If I buy a little extra alcohol, it will cost a bit more, but if I buy any more than that, I end up with leftovers, so I put it in a cooler box to take home. For camping, it's best to buy just enough food to eat in one sitting. There's no waste, and I think it's the best way to shop.
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