2020.2/16 (Sun) Mashhad Purchase Day 4, Second Half
Since we hadn't eaten anything since arriving, we decided to try some Mashhad specialties on our first day!
I'm already a little hungry, but I'm taken by car to a recommended restaurant a short distance away in the suburbs.
The entrance is filled with art objects and charming staff!
The lamb chops are excellent!
Speaking of Mashhad, this is the place! It's famous for its delicious lamb chops.
It's a huge volume.
It comes out in large quantities on skewers.
Just as each ragu has its own characteristics, it seems that there are also ways of eating it that are popular in each region, so it would be interesting to research this as well.
In this way, everyone shares the rice and meat.
Iranian rice is long and fluffy, and I might even like it better than Japanese rice!
Another Iranian staple is yellow rice that has been dyed with saffron and then deliberately burnt, and it is eaten either mixed with the butter that comes with it or with stews.
Here are the rice accompaniments that were ordered with the lamb chops!
The chicken is simmered until it falls apart.
When I tried it, it tasted like it was stewed in oil, so it was similar to confit.
It's quite oily, but it's so delicious! It goes really well with rice.
They always serve me more food and I always end up overeating, which is a problem I have in Iran, but now I've found that eating just two meals a day, in the morning and at a late lunch, is just right! (laughs)
It's so delicious that I want to eat a lot, but unfortunately there's always a limit to how much I can eat.
Tea time after meals
After eating a lot of meat and rice, I finish off with chai.
In Japan, chai is often associated with spiced milk teas such as Indian masala chai, but in Iran, chai is simply hot, straight tea (served with plenty of sugar).
The thing with the white pot on top that tea is served in is called a samovar, and has been used for boiling water and making tea since ancient times in Russia and Iran. It comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, which is interesting!
Place charcoal or other material inside and boil water, and the steam will heat and keep the pot placed on top warm.
At this shop, slightly strong chai comes out of the tap at the bottom, and you can adjust the strength by adding hot water from the pot at the top.
The yellow candy-like thing is saffron nabat, sugar coloured with saffron.
Melt this little by little and enjoy the hot chai.
The chai you drink in Iran is hot whether it's summer or winter, but it makes you feel relaxed when you drink it.
Once we had finished eating, it was already evening.
We headed back to the hotel early to prepare for tomorrow.
The next day, we headed out early in the morning to a house in the suburbs where rugs are woven!
to be continued