Living in a foreign country always has the challenge of trying to get a little taste of home, whether it be a toasted Cheese Sandwich or a Stubby of VB. While I love Japanese food and can eat and drink everything put in front of me all day long, sometimes you crave for food you just can’t easily get.

In my case there are 4 things that proved most difficult. Aussie Meat Pies, Sausage Rolls, White Crow Tomato Sauce and Aussie style “Fish & Chips”.

Well I have struck gold, welcome to the Meat Guy.. This shop has all sorts of imported food with a very heavy Australian theme to the offerings.

The Meat Guy has very convenient online shopping and delivers to your door, very fast delivery times, well packed and still frozen when they arrive.

One of the next challenges was how to cook a pie and sausage roll in Japan without a real oven. I have that covered also(see below), the Microwave I have has a button labeled “Oven” but written like ”オベン”, I didn’t even see the button until I had the need for it. Ensure if you are buying a microwave oven in Japan that it has the オベン function available, as the Fish Grill that comes with most apartments isn’t much use for western style food.

Now with a couple of attempts I have perfected the time and temperature settings for a great result every time. For a single Sausage Roll, I set the Microwave Oven to 180 degrees C for 45 minutes- for each additional Sausage roll add 10 minutes to the time. For a single Pie, I set the Microwave to 190 Degrees for 50 minutes- for each additional Pie add 10 minutes. For a single Pie and single Sausage Roll together I set the Microwave to 190 Degrees for 55 Minutes. These settings assume the Sausage Rolls and or Pies are straight out of the freezer.

I have already consumed my first order of 12 Sausage Rolls, 10 Meat Pies and 12 Mini Pies, and its about time to place my next order.

That gets two of my cravings knocked off, the next challenge is the White Crow Tomato sauce. This is proving extremely difficult. I have source Heinz Tomato sauce from the “Nation Azabu Supermarket” located in Hiroo. National Azubu Supermarket also carries a lot of other imported foods, generally with an American theme, but you can buy VB beer, good Salsa, nice Indian Curry Paste and many others, so it’s definately worth a visit to pick up some other food options. The map below shows how to get to National Azubu Supermarket from either Hiroo Station or Denenchofu Station.

National Azabu Supermarket
Tel: 03-3442-3181
Hours: 9:00AM - 20:00PM
Train Line: Hibiya

National Den-en Supermarket
(sister store offering more high-end products and Japanese products)
Tel: 03-3721-4161
Hours: 10:00AM - 20:00PM
Train Line: Toyoko

I have also emailed the makers of “White Crow” tomato sauce to see if they have an distributor in Japan, unfortunately they don’t but they did give me an alternative which I am very keen to try. Thank you to Helen from Cerebos

Nisshoku Co Ltd
9-10 Nozaki - Cho
Kita-Ku Osaka 530-0055 Japan
Phone: 816 631 42241

So while not a perfect solution it is certainly more than acceptable and does make the Pies and Sausage Rolls from the Meat Guy taste like they were made at the local bakery in some small Victorian town…which is good enough for me.

Last but not least is the Aussie style Fish and Chips.. I can buy English Style Fish and Chips at “The Hub” ,which is basically a chain of gaijin bars here in Tokyo, but the Fish & Chips are really nothing like what I was used to back in Australia. I have also had a try at making my own but it ended in a spectacular “Taste” failure… this is a work in progress for now…

So with the Meat Guy, National Azabu Supermarket and Nisshoku as shopping options I can ensure my taste buds remain in good shape and even washed down now and then with a $5 USD Stubby of VB…. yes, $5USD….there is nothing cheap about buying imported food in Japan…. if anybody knows where I can get Aussie style Fish and Chips or for that matter “White Crow” tomato sauce here in Japan, you will make a friend for life….

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