DAY 25

Groceries and home cooking — A week's shopping at Coop in Kabayama

Why this matters

Eating out every night in Niseko bleeds a seasonal paycheck dry. This day equips you with the vocab for a weekly shop at Coop Kabayama, plus names for the dishes you can realistically cook in a staff-house kitchen. '〜はどこですか' finds the aisle; '〜グラム・〜個ください' nails the quantity.

Today's goals

✓基本食材（魚・肉・野菜・調味料）を日本語で言える
✓『〜はどこですか』で売り場を聞ける
✓量（グラム・個・本・袋）を伝えて買える
✓スタッフルームで作れる簡単な料理を3つ注文・レシピ共有できる

How it works

Hokkaido's 3 supermarket brands

·Coop Sapporo — big-box in Kabayama and Kutchan. Widest selection.
·Seicomart — 24-hour, small, famous Hot Chef counter.
·MaxValu — Aeon group. Slightly cheaper.

Asking which aisle

〜はどこですか is universal. 『お米はどこですか』『味噌はどこですか』『オリーブオイルはどこですか』.

Counting quantities

·〜グラム (g): meat, fish, cheese
·〜個 (ko): apples, eggs, tomatoes
·〜本 (hon / pon / bon): beer, PET bottles, anything long
·〜袋 (fukuro): rice, bagged vegetables

Three dishes any staff kitchen can produce

1. おにぎり — rice, salmon flakes, nori. Done in seconds if there's a rice cooker. 2. みそ汁 — dashi packet, miso, wakame seaweed, tofu. One pot. 3. やきそば — noodles, cabbage, pork, sauce. One frying pan.

Hokkaido ingredients worth seeking:

·鮭 (salmon) — 塩鮭 (salt-cured) is cheap and goes with everything.
·玉ねぎ (onion) — Kutchan is a famous onion-growing region.
·ジャガイモ (potato) — 男爵 (danshaku, mealy) and メークイン (May Queen, waxy).
·バター — Hokkaido butter at supermarket prices is a quiet luxury.

Words & patterns

vocabお米おこめokome

rice (uncooked)

vocab鮭さけsake

salmon

vocab玉ねぎたまねぎtamanegi

onion

vocabジャガイモjagaimo

potato

vocab味噌みそmiso

miso

vocab卵たまごtamago

egg

vocab牛乳ぎゅうにゅうgyūnyū

milk

vocab売り場うりばuriba

sales aisle / counter

grammar〜はどこですか（売り場）

Where is 〜? (for an aisle or product)

お米はどこですか。
okomehadokodesuka.
— Where is the rice?
鮭の売り場はどこですか。
sakenōribahadokodesuka.
— Where is the salmon aisle?

grammar〜を〜ください（量を指定して買う）

〜 (quantity) of 〜, please.

鮭を200グラムください。
sakewonihyakuguramukudasai.
— 200 g of salmon, please.
卵を1パックください。
tamagowoichipakkukudasai.
— One pack of eggs, please.

dialogue樺山のコープで、一週間分の食材を買う

At Coop Kabayama, shopping for a week

Aすみません、お米はどこですか。

sumimasen,okomehadokodesuka.

— Excuse me, where is the rice?

Bお米は、4番の通路の、一番奥です。

okomewa,yonbannotsūrono,ichiban'okudesu.

— Rice is at the far end of aisle 4.

Aありがとうございます。鮭の売り場も教えてください。

arigatōgozaimasu.sakenōribamooshietekudasai.

— Thank you. Could you also tell me the salmon aisle?

B鮮魚は、6番です。塩鮭は、冷蔵ケースの右側にあります。

sengyowa,rokubandesu.shiozakewa,rēzōkeesunomigigawaniarimasu.

— Fresh fish is aisle 6. Salt salmon is on the right side of the chilled case.

Aはい。鮭を200グラムと、玉ねぎを3個、おねがいします。

hai.sakewonihyakuguramuto,tamanegiwosanko,onegaishimasu.

— Got it. 200 g of salmon and 3 onions, please.

Drills

Q01translate_x2ja

Ask: 'Where is the miso?'

Q02translate_x2ja

At the counter: '200 g of salmon, please.'

Q03pick

Which counter word is for eggs and tomatoes?

Q04reorder

Order: ください / 3個 / を / 玉ねぎ

Q05output_free

Plan a week of simple dinners in a staff kitchen. Write your shopping list in Japanese: 5 items with quantities.

Common pitfalls

Confusing 玉ねぎ (onion) with 長ねぎ (long green onion)

CAUSE Both have ねぎ in the name

FIX 玉ねぎ = round yellow onion. 長ねぎ = long white Japanese leek. Totally different texture and flavor.

Buying 冷凍 (frozen) salmon thinking it's fresh

CAUSE Packaging looks similar

FIX Look for the kanji 冷凍 vs 生 (nama = raw/fresh). 冷凍 is fine for cooking but weird for eating raw.

Using 一本 (ippon) for an apple

CAUSE English 'one' doesn't change by shape

FIX Round things (apples, eggs, tomatoes) = 個. Long things (bottles, cucumbers, pencils) = 本. Getting these wrong is a dead giveaway you're new.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow: '〜ました / 〜でした'. Finally you can tell coworkers what you did on your day off.