Today we encounter sus birds and new nicknames as we chat about the life saving konbini. Listen as we jingle a jingle, chat with a real musician and and learn more than we wanted to about supply chains. Matthew and Molly tease upcoming adventures, a new island and their predictions for tin trends in 2023.
Google Map spot where Matthew and December ate
Dre Babinski aka Steady Holiday
Steady Holiday Tiny Desk Concert
Listen to our spinoff show Dire Desires
Join our reddit
Molly 0:00
Hi. I'm Molly.
Matthew Amster-Burton 0:05
And I'm Matthew.
Molly 0:06
And this is spilled milk, the show where we cook something delicious. Eat it all and you can't have any.
Matthew Amster-Burton 0:11
And today we're talking about Japanese convenience stores aka konbini.
Molly 0:16
And we can't figure out I mean, maybe we can using the internet but we may have done this episode before. Yeah,
Matthew Amster-Burton 0:21
we're not sure I know. We've talked about this I think I think maybe we talked about it quite a bit on the 711 hot foods episode. That
Molly 0:29
sounds right.
Matthew Amster-Burton 0:30
But but also like on an episode that we recorded in Japan, I'm sure. So but you know what, like, like we said, we've done we've done 578 episodes of this show as of today, like it's probably going to be mostly reruns from here on.
Molly 0:45
No, it's not okay. But what I do want to say is that so because konbini as we'll talk more about what they are because konbini are so ubiquitous in Japan it seems right that like the like mentions of konbini should be ubiquitous throughout our show.
Matthew Amster-Burton 1:02
And as we'll find like,
Molly 1:04
I mean, our show over the years over the years Yes,
Matthew Amster-Burton 1:06
any any individual company location has an amazing depth of products to choose from, just like our show. Yes, like our show. That's right. Yeah, we've we've we now offer a lot of products at the at the spilled milk store. Yield spilled milk shoppi.org
Molly 1:24
We offer spilled 1% Milk spilled, whole milk. spilled. Seasonally spilled eggnog, but sorry, guys, we're all
Matthew Amster-Burton 1:34
Yeah, if you want to spell that dog. Like, I feel like you know, you know, we've talked many times about how like spilling milk in a car like is the is the most effective way to ruin a car forever. I feel like eggnog would be even worse,
Molly 1:47
I think. Yeah, I think so too. Yeah. Anyway, no, in this episode, we are talking about Japanese. I have said convenience stores Japanese Oh, again. They're Japanese convenience stores, also known as konbini. Which Well, I think Matthew should start us off on memory lane because your memory lane is what led to my memory lane. Well,
Matthew Amster-Burton 2:09
that's true. Yeah. Well, first of all I wanted to like the reason they're called Combini is that it's short for the Japanese phrase, convenience store.
Molly 2:16
Oh my gosh, that's perfect. Okay,
Matthew Amster-Burton 2:20
so it's just like the first three syllables of that. Alright, so my memory lane goes back to 2010 which is the first time I went to Japan. Anytime you go to Japan, you will visit convenience stores pretty regularly. But like there was one instance from that trip which I took with December when they were six. So not even teenager of the show yet and they're going to need a new name soon because they're gonna be 20 next year yeah, but we'll we'll figure that out. We'll cross that bridge when it comes to it. So on that trip,
Molly 2:50
I think maybe wait hold on yeah child of the show that you dots.
Matthew Amster-Burton 2:54
Oh 8888
Molly 2:57
That's my proposal run it by
Matthew Amster-Burton 2:58
distance is pretty good. Yeah, it sounds it sounds like short for like how the cool kids say apricots
Molly 3:04
you know June
Matthew Amster-Burton 3:05
oh my god hates me cots.
Molly 3:08
Hold on Matthew, you're gonna appreciate this. Okay, the other day. I'm sitting in the living room with Jun and she is watching the bird feeders that we have hanging outside the living room and a Steller's J which is, you know,
Matthew Amster-Burton 3:20
yeah, is your all time favorite bird.
Molly 3:22
My least favorite but well, they're so cool looking. But they're such jerks. Anyway, the stellar che comes on June doesn't even really know how I feel like how deep my antagonism for or against, whatever, whatever. June goes. That bird looks so cool. So cool, but that that is a really suss bird. And I was like yeah, because June was watching this bird like basically I the bird feeder that is intended for like little wee beautiful songbirds and even June could see that this was a bird not to be trifled with a big
Matthew Amster-Burton 4:04
bad Bird.
Molly 4:07
Bird you leave teenage slaying? Yeah, and ash and I just freaked out we were like, oh my god, did you just say PSAs?
Matthew Amster-Burton 4:14
But like, don't do the teenagers called birds like burbs or barbs or something?
Molly 4:20
That's a really suss board. Ah, boy. Okay. All
Matthew Amster-Burton 4:27
right. Orbs around here.
Molly 4:29
All right, that was our, our bird segment.
Matthew Amster-Burton 4:32
Okay, okay, what's our bird segment call? It's called SOS Barb's right. Okay, Abby, Abby, can you please make me come up with a theme song for SOS Barb's Okay, so, on this trip to Japan in 2010, it was just me in December age six. I dragged them to like this small town called Ouji near Kyoto, because there was like an old tea shop that I wanted to go to. I can't believe You dragged it was the worst like, like and so we like we went to this tea shop, which was very nice. And of course December I had no interest in it whatsoever because why should they then got lost trying to get back to the train station and like was late for lunch and we were hungry and lost and like at this place that December didn't want to be. And then we finally found the train station. And like to the right of the train station was this little Family Mart convenience store, and we got a tonkatsu bento and sat on a bench just outside the Family Mart and ate it. And I'm going to see if this works. I'm about to put in the chat. A link to Google Maps that I'm hoping will take you you can see exactly where we sat. Okay, here I go. I'm gonna Okay, and if it if this works for you, I will put it in the show notes also. Oh, I see it. Okay, which bench did the one on the left the one on the left just just under the vertical sign that says Tokyo bank. Oh, this is wonderful. Yeah, as soon as I looked like, okay, they've renovated the facade of this family mart since then. But the bench is exactly the same. And that is where we sat to the right of the entrance to Jr Ouji. Station. And like, we just felt like, okay, like, you know, we were we were things were really dicey there for a minute, but like we're eating this this delicious tonkatsu bento from the Family Mart that they warmed up for us and everything's gonna be okay. Now.
Molly 6:22
I just love that you said under the sign that says Tokyo bank because all of these signs are in Kanji, except family Mark. Yeah. Well, David, trust me. Thank you. Okay. So Matthew, you know, for listeners who don't know, when we talk about these convenience stores, we're talking about mostly kind of a handful of chains. So there's, of course 711. We'll get up to that more in a minute. There's Family Mart. Yep. There's Lawson, which for a while I called Lawson's, but it's Lawson.
Matthew Amster-Burton 6:54
Station. No one ever says it. But it's often on the sides as Lawson station. I'm not gonna go into the history of all of these chains. Those are the three big ones, seven 711 Family Mart and Lawson. There are a couple of smaller ones and some regional ones. We'll talk a little bit about also, when we when we get into the history,
Molly 7:11
and these are I mean, what could we liken them to in the US they are truly everywhere. Yeah, you're never far from one.
Matthew Amster-Burton 7:19
Yeah, it's really there isn't anything like them in the US? Like maybe maybe like bodegas in New York? Oh, I
Molly 7:27
think that's a great analogy. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay. But even
Matthew Amster-Burton 7:31
more ubiquitous, like, you know, often on a single block, there will be like one of each of the main major chains.
Molly 7:38
Yeah. Okay. So Matthew, does your memory lane end there in 2010?
Matthew Amster-Burton 7:43
It does not know. Are you going to have some memory lane? We can switch off? Yeah, yeah.
Molly 7:47
Okay, so my memory lane dates back to 2017, which is when you and I first went to Tokyo together. Yeah. My first trip to Tokyo your many times. trip to Tokyo. We were staying in Nakano. And I think the first convenience store we went to was the Lawson That was sort of maybe half a block down from our apartment. Yes. And I remember going there first thing in the morning to get coffee from there like so mochi Cafe is the brand of coffee they sell. Yeah. And it's not great. But it really got the job done. Yeah, I would get so you would order it from the counter. It came out of like a machine but the man working behind the counter would operate it for me. And you taught me how to order the size that I wanted. And I could go by myself. Yeah. And get my own coffee. And then sometimes in the afternoon, we would also go and get a mocha.
Matthew Amster-Burton 8:45
Yeah, I love that. The Lawson mochi cafe mocha, I think is the best mocha I've ever had. Just because it's not very sweet.
Molly 8:52
Yeah, no, it's really good. So anyway, my first introduction was through like a, you know, daily morning visit for coffee. And then from there, I started to look around and notice, like, you know, I gotta be honest, I know we talked about this on the 711 like hot foods episode, but I don't go into a convenience store or even a bodega in the US looking for like, ready to eat food. Sure. I would go in looking for like a bag of Cheetos or a bottle of water on a road trip or some peanut m&ms right at a Combini there is just a different vibe to the section of all these like prepared ready to eat foods. I mean, for one thing, there is like an entire part of the refrigerated case devoted to different types of onigiri.
Matthew Amster-Burton 9:38
Yeah, we'll talk a lot about that with our guests. We're gonna have a guest today by the way, yes, yes.
Molly 9:42
There are also like really good looking sandwiches. Anyway, I could go on and on and on. But there's also often a really great like little mini stationery section and a Combini where you can guess you're like a dispenser on the list. Yeah, where you can get your like inexpensive Japanese notebooks made by campus campus brand. And the paper is so soft and smooth. Yeah. They're in some Lawson's or was it Family Mart there used to be a little MUJI section.
Matthew Amster-Burton 10:13
Yes. Were you ever which door? It is either, but yes.
Molly 10:17
Okay. Oh, and then I do also remember going to that Lawson to get various types of gummies. Yeah, I do because I'm sorry. Yeah. Because they have really, there's usually at least an extensive like end cap of gummies. And that actually, it was the trip when you coined the jingle for Chibby gummies. Can you like jingle? Your jingle jingle
Matthew Amster-Burton 10:44
TV, TV, TV gum gummy. gummies.
Molly 10:46
So catchy. My family sings it all the time. Yeah,
Matthew Amster-Burton 10:50
I do, too. I'm not the rest of my family.
Molly 10:53
Anyway, I have one other thing I want to add to my memory lane, which is that the trip the second trip that we took together to Tokyo, the one on which we brought our families. When I arrived at at the airport with my mom and June and ash, of course, we were all you know, total disasters having travelled many hours, many, many hours. But when we were going to get on the train to go to Nakano. I remember feeling such a sense of peace, knowing that there was a Family Mart right near the entrance to the train station. Yeah. And that we could get onigiri went and we got onigiri Yeah, I got June and my mom and ash and myself all owner Gary's in the gash may have also gotten a sandwich. And we sat on the train. And I just remember how delighted June was by this owner, Gary, like, everyone was just like, sighing. And it was wonderful. Thank you family.
Matthew Amster-Burton 11:53
That's okay. So that that like, fits with the rest of my memory lane too. Because like the things I remember, like, like times when like the Colombini was there for me when I really needed it. Yes. So like in 2020, like at the end of that trip, like at the beginning of 2020. We were not traveling to Japan, like in the middle of 2020. So beginning of 2020, we had spent New Year's in Japan, and we were like getting ready to head home and I got the flu. And I remember Yeah, and so there so I was not allowed to fly with the flu, because I'm not a maniac. So they they like checked us into this airport hotel, like, you know, like near Narita Airport with like, nothing around, except there was a Lawson in the lobby of the hotel. And so like, I lived on food from Lawson for like three days until I was, you know, my fever broke and I was cleared to fly. And, you know, it was fine. Like if the Lawson hadn't been there, and you had to like rely on like room service or something. It would have been like, I would remember it as a much more miserable experience.
Molly 12:54
Ya know, or if you had been in the States, and had had to rely upon like 711
Matthew Amster-Burton 13:01
Yeah, because we did that 711 hot foods episode and like our conclusion was like, 711 hot foods in the US are pretty bad.
Molly 13:09
Yeah, no, no, I can absolutely imagine living cheerfully on Lawson for 72 hours. Yeah, yeah.
Matthew Amster-Burton 13:16
And then in 2018 like I went with my family to do a bike ride in Japan, the Shimanami Kaido which is a it's a long bike trail, we only did like a fraction of it that leaves from from Onomichi in Honshu and crosses over into Shikoku and like goes across six islands with these like, you know, big suspension bridges and like you know, we're we are not experienced cyclists and we did like 10 Miles maybe and we were done. But like at the end of that like at the point where like, you know, feeling like oh my god we're so exhausted there was there was a loss and just like in this tiny town on some island in Inland Sea, and like you know, we were so happy to see this Lawson and like right outside the law said there was like a farm stand selling locally grown mandarin oranges. So we got some of those and like ate those and like some like stuff from Lawson, oni Getty and like some fried chicken and stuff in the parking lot. So great.
Molly 14:13
Oh, God. Matthew, yeah, when this episode airs, you're going to be heading to Japan. True. I can't even say the word. I'm so choked up. Ah, anyway,
Matthew Amster-Burton 14:26
and you're gonna be embarking on an adventure of your own.
Molly 14:28
I am I am when this episode airs. We will have a new baby. Matthew when you come home would you just come over and I don't know just could I show you all my all my holiday snaps Could I get Yeah, show me all your holiday snaps. Can I get you to maybe just like set up? I don't know. Maybe next door I could I could put you up in my mom's and you can just come over and make me onigiri whenever I want it because I want them fresh. Okay. Yeah, I mean, unless you're going to wrap them up the way they do in an onigiri I
Matthew Amster-Burton 14:58
don't think that's humanly possible. Well, I think I think you have to have a factory. And we'll we'll talk about what that means.
Molly 15:03
But I think that the way you could make it up to me that you are going to Japan and I'm getting a baby is I mean, and and don't get me wrong, everybody, this baby's going to be wonderful. But it's not a Lawson or a family mark. No, it's quite the opposite. It's quite the opposite. It is going to take and take and take rather than even given give. And so I would just like you to come over and be my on demand. Onigiri maker maybe for 24 hours. Okay. Yeah, I'll do it. Okay, great. You're perfect. I'm glad that we arranged that. Okay, Abby,
Matthew Amster-Burton 15:35
Abby, edit that part out. So So Molly can't prove that I ever agreed to. Okay.
Molly 15:41
So Matthew, what? How did that come? Whoa, whoa.
Matthew Amster-Burton 15:49
Molly needs these to be power cycled? Have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in?
Molly 15:56
Matthew, how did the konbini come to be what it is? Because I think that when a lot of people think at least when a lot of Americans or Westerners maybe think about Japanese food, we don't picture the greatness of a convenience store. Okay, so like a great convenience store.
Matthew Amster-Burton 16:15
I knew very little of this history. Like it's, we'll see whether it's actually interesting. It's like it's sort of corporate history in the sense of like, some stores open and then some other stores open, but there isn't anything where like someone like, you know, like, stopped their ice cream truck in a parking lot. It was like swarmed with customers looking for melted ice cream like oh, that's officer episode.
Molly 16:35
That's as everyone knows, that's the American Dream American store, have
Matthew Amster-Burton 16:39
your truck break down and get swore, gets swarmed.
Molly 16:44
The truck break down gets formed and make a lot of money. Okay, well,
Matthew Amster-Burton 16:47
let me answer your question about the history of the company by asking you a question. Do you read diamond chain store magazine a Japanese language industry magazine,
Molly 16:57
you know, I let my subscription lapse
Matthew Amster-Burton 17:00
I thought you might have I don't like like when you get it like it piles up by the side of the bed you're like, catch up on Diamond chain stores
Molly 17:06
you never have time to read like articles of that length.
Matthew Amster-Burton 17:11
So I so I found an article a diamond chain store that says that quote Japan's first convenience store is said to be mambi toyonaka store which opened in Osaka Prefecture in 1969 as the first door of the my shop chain, but that was like sort of like early rumblings of like what Combini would become okay, because there weren't that many of them and I think probably like they were would not have like all of the departments that you expect today.
Molly 17:40
You know, I really feel like especially from the name of this, Mommy toyonaka store the first store of the my shop chain, it really does have a bodega vibe. Yeah, it feels like this could be you know, the shop on the corner kind of thing like go pick up your toilet paper when you run out.
Matthew Amster-Burton 17:57
Yep. So convenience we know them today really day to the 70s and we're boring like kind of around the same time I was which was did surprise me. So like you know there were small stores like like the my shop chain and like other like, you know, individual stores selling assorted snacks and supplies well before that, but the first like real modern chain Combini was 711 Probably we'll get to that which launched in Tokyo in 1974. Except that Family Mart claims to have opened its first store in 1973. But other sources say 1975 I could not pin this down and maybe someone in our audience knows
Molly 18:35
I don't know how we can possibly go on with this episode without having this date. Correct?
Matthew Amster-Burton 18:39
Yes. The story of Lawson is probably the most interesting because it was originally a dairy shop in the US that was founded in like the 30s and was founded by actually this is sort of like the soft serve story because it was founded by like a guy who ran a company delivering milk and was like Ooh, maybe I could make more money if I made customers come to me to get them out and so I opened a milk store called Lawson station in the 30s
Molly 19:07
Okay wait but so this was in the US and so then it was it like export it became like an international chain and went to
Matthew Amster-Burton 19:16
serve first it was just a dairy shop and became like a you know full service convenience store chain in the Midwest. Then opened its first store in Osaka in 1975 the year I was born and since then went out of business in the US there's no more Lawson in the US and hasn't been for decades but are all over Japan now. And Mr. Donut had the same like you know corporate trajectory really
Molly 19:39
Yeah. I'm sure I knew that back when we did an episode in which we talked more sure Mr. Donut but and the
Matthew Amster-Burton 19:46
loss and the loss of logo still it still says Lawson station and has like an old fashioned milk jug and the logo. It's a really nice looking logo. Definitely, definitely the best logo of the big three Combini I think
Molly 19:57
and so Okay, so So basically that's it Yeah of the Combini it was selling assorted snacks and supplies
Matthew Amster-Burton 20:04
yeah but when they first started they did not have own again at the first company owner gitI were marketed in 1978 and it the it was like the the breakthrough was the packaging and so like they could like have it have them on the shelf and know that the naughty the seaweed wrapping was not going to get soggy and do you want to talk about like how this works
Molly 20:26
the packaging that keeps the naughty separate from the moisture of the race in an owner Gary is truly brilliant How can we possibly like try to describe this to a listener?
Matthew Amster-Burton 20:39
So like the key thing is that the seaweed is like kept between two very thin pieces of cellophane or some kind of plastic film yeah and yes ideally when you open it up, it all comes together such a such that the the naughty wraps around the rice the plastic completely pulls away and you take a bite immediately and you get the crisp seaweed and and the tender rice all in one bite.
Molly 21:08
And you know there's a very handy illustration on the rapper like a three step process for how to achieve this, like packaging and eating perfection and it does work a lot of the time. I mean I imagine if you grow up in Japan you might be able to get it to work like 99% of the time
Matthew Amster-Burton 21:24
Yeah, I think that I think the issue that many people run into like if they encounter this for the first time like as an adult is not noticing that the first that's step one is like pull the thing down the middle of the triangle yeah and try and you try and just kind of like like like rip it open in some sort of Gorilla ish way. Yes. Which does like it works eventually you get to the food you just end up like getting showered with like tiny little green seaweed confetti
Molly 21:52
well what is one thing I've always wondered about is like so if you've ever made so listeners if you've ever made onigiri at home you know that like you really need to eat them fresh right like the rice just starts to feel stale very quickly. So how is it I mean even with this brilliant packaging, how is it that these own a girI are so fresh?
Matthew Amster-Burton 22:17
So I think it is that they get delivered many times a day many times a day. Yeah. So so like you know when I when I think about like you know I used to I used to before everybody started talking about about like supply chain issues like I would use I used to like bore people like probably including you and now all of our listeners by talking about how like like one of the one of the amazing things about Japan is its supply chain logistics. I blocked out whatever ever everyone just just like climaxed meaning that like, you know, they, they have a very sophisticated system for getting products into stores and like preserving the cold chain along the way. And like so if you go into into a 711 and pick up an owner get it off the shelf, like it was probably delivered within the last couple of hours. Like you know, some some urban stores get deliveries of food five times a day.
Molly 23:18
That is incredible. And so that goes for I guess all the like fresh ready to eat foods. Right. So the sandwiches, would that also go for the hot foods like then the Nikko Oman?
Matthew Amster-Burton 23:32
I think so that's a good question. I know, like we're gonna we're going to talk a little bit about the downsides of Colombini, of which there are some and one of them is food waste, because like they are not allowed to mark down, like, you know, products, they're about to expire. And so like a lot of stuff gets thrown out. Okay, so that's, that's the other side of the of the freshness. So nowadays, over like the most recent figures I could find were from 2007 For some reason, but in 2007 over 2.5 billion Combini owner gitI were sold, it is the most popular Combini item. Okay, and incredible, there are over 50,000 konbini in Japan now, so like to give you an idea, like, it's really hard to overstate how ubiquitous they are. But like, it is common, like if you're in a city in Japan to like be standing in front of a 711 and be able to see another 711 Like not just like a competitor which of course like you'll see a loss and in a Family Mart but also another 711 Like a block away.
Molly 24:31
That is just fascinating to me. I mean, I remember standing on what is the street that Alba ramen is on?
Matthew Amster-Burton 24:38
Oh, I think whatever that's yeah, sometimes just called Nakano ramen Street.
Molly 24:44
Okay, well there's there's a Family Mart like if you're walking toward Alba ramen and life supermarket is behind you there's a Family Mart on the right there they never left Yep. And then at the end of the all the way the end of the street there's gonna be like another Larson. I mean last
Matthew Amster-Burton 24:59
night Brie Larson is going to be standing there handing out.
Molly 25:03
That's exactly right. And then who else there must be other Larson?
Matthew Amster-Burton 25:07
Big like, Oh, I could come up with Nate Larson of the band shudder to think so those are definitely the two most famous
Molly 25:14
large those are who are going to be waiting for you. I'm not going around the street yet.
Matthew Amster-Burton 25:18
Do you know we're gonna have a special a special musical guest like it was a accomplished musician later on this episode? It's not Nate Larson.
Molly 25:26
No, it's not hold on. Should we bring on our guest? Actually,
Matthew Amster-Burton 25:29
let's do it.
We are delighted to welcome Dre from steady Holliday as our guests on spilled milk today. Dre is a musician, whose new album newfound oxygen comes out next year drape of insky Welcome to spilled milk.
Dre Babinsky 25:50
Thank you so much for having me. Well,
Molly 25:52
we wanted to start out by asking you about your recent trip to India. Right? You You just got back. What did you eat?
Dre Babinski 25:59
Oh, my gosh. Well, I was there visiting my husband's family and art made about 70% of the food I ate there and oh my god. It was it was such a treat. They live in Bangalore, which is in the south. And one of one of the really common things in the southern diet. Is dosa be familiar with that?
Matthew Amster-Burton 26:25
Yes. Yeah, very much. So. Yeah, so
Dre Babinski 26:28
we ate a lot of dosa. For anyone who doesn't know what this is. It's like a savory it's almost like a crepe. It's a very very family splashed like crispy batter. It's often eaten alone, but there's also like fillings to put in it like a masala dosa is just like kind of like a spiced potato filling inside of this big fin light crepe. So good coalition. And we also had a lot of Aki roti, which is like a I think it's a rice flour based again, like a fried crispy bread, even with with different kinds of chutneys and sauces. So incredibly delicious.
Matthew Amster-Burton 27:09
Yeah, a couple of weeks of home cooked Indian food sounds okay.
Dre Babinski 27:14
It was such a treat that, like a little paranoia about what I can eat and not eat. Sure, just based on my own gut health, Western gut health. Yeah, I was very happy to eat in a place where like, I just, I knew I knew the source.
Matthew Amster-Burton 27:31
Awesome. So the reason we want to have you on this Japanese convenience store episode is that we saw a video that you did a couple of years ago with Yamaha where where you went to Japan, you did some sort of like recording visited the Yamaha guitars factory. And then also there was a part of the video where you were trying to kind of tried to outsmart the Combini odd packaging, which Molly and I have both had that experience too. And so I wanted to ask, like, What's your connection to Japan? And like, how often have you visited?
Dre Babinski 27:58
You know, I've only been to Japan twice now. Okay, both times relatively recently. I'm half Japanese by design. I am very American as all of my Japanese family. So yeah, I've done a little a little psychoanalyzing, but I think that both my grandma and my grandpa, my Japanese said they existed in like a wartime and postwar America and didn't really share a lot of Japanese culture with my mom. Sure. And I think that that just kind of like continued to filter down to me, where I took a lot of pride and being American, and kind of like subverting any, like stereotypes that people might have, when they look at me, I took a lot of pride in that in for a long time. And the older I get, the more interested I am in my own history and my family and culture in general. I feel like much later in life I've like come into just having a much deeper like curiosity about the place that I come from, and just the the bigger world at large. So my interest in Japan has only like kind of grown in time and somewhat recently. So it's been a new thing that that I've like started to like want to explore there and also just like kind of learn about it cold like for the first time.
Molly 29:27
Yeah, you know, speaking of convenience store onigiri Do you have a favorite of the big three Japanese convenience store chains like Lawson and Family Mart and seven honestly,
Dre Babinski 29:38
I think they're all the same. I don't claim to have any, like, strong opinion about they're all great.
Matthew Amster-Burton 29:47
Honestly, yeah, I don't either. Like my opinions are based on like, you know, kind of which which one was there for me like at a time when I really needed it and like which one has the nicest logo which is probably Lawson for me
Dre Babinski 29:58
for sure. Yeah, listen does has the best logo. I agree.
Matthew Amster-Burton 30:01
When you say when you walk into a company like which which sections do you gravitate toward?
Dre Babinski30:06
Oh negati is always first that's partly because I'm vegetarian have a hard time eating in Japan unfortunately. Sure. And that's I often go into a convenient for a meal just like a snack. So only giddy is usually like a meal supplement. And not just a snack. I learned after the fact that my favorite negati which is the soft boiled egg one is totally made with pork broth like the duck.
Matthew Amster-Burton 30:41
Oh yeah.
Molly 30:43
Wait so do they hold on to how's the pork broth incorporated into the soft boiled egg onigiri
Dre Babinski 30:49
it's like a marinated egg like it's a tough nut to egg like usually comes in ramen you know? It seasoned with show you and and likely some like fish stock and pork broth.
Molly 31:03
Yeah. Okay, so So what flavor do you think you'll defer to if you don't get the soft boiled?
Dre Babinski 31:11
Like the Maebashi is also one there's also I don't know what the name of it but it's like just the seasoned kelp one poodles. There's like a red bean and sesame one that it's there's nothing inside and then talked. I don't think it has any nobody on the outside. It's just it's just like a circular bowl form. Yeah, it's Yeah, so red beans. See? Like finish with sesame. It's really simple, but just excellent.
Matthew Amster-Burton 31:41
Yeah, cuz it seems like there's there's like a few if you can, like try and categorize and there's like the round ones that don't that don't have naughty and mate might have like seasonings mixed throughout. There's like the classic triangular ones with the with the naughty that's separated by film and then there's like fancy ones on the top shelf that might come in like a little Italy.
Dre Babinski 32:00
Totally. I really want to try the Omo rice one. Have you heard that?
Matthew Amster-Burton 32:05
No, that sounds great. So
Dre Babinski 32:06
it has like a like your McDonald's like egg like Patty on top. I don't think that one's wrapped in it. I think it's it's one of the circular ones. But I think that that one might have like chicken in the right like, it might be like a fried rice situation, which very likely has some kind of like meat in it.
Matthew Amster-Burton 32:24
Yeah. And I know they like more and more. They're putting English like on the front of the package. But I don't know about like ingredients in English.
Dre Babinski 32:32
Yeah, it's a crapshoot. I like to do the best I can when
Matthew Amster-Burton 32:36
you know. All right. So what are what are some of your favorite non odd items at the at a company?
Dre Babinski 32:42
Oh, man. It's so basic. But the egg salad sandwich.
Matthew Amster-Burton 32:46
I'm so glad you mentioned that because because like egg salad is like one of my things that I just cannot like get my head around like as as a food. But I know that that is such a beloved item for so many people.
Molly 32:57
My spouse has eaten so many of those
Dre Babinskir 33:01
eight there's something so pure and simple about it. It's like three ingredients ish. And it's it's perfect. It's it's true. of sandwiches really? Love. Yeah, a few key ingredients perfectly proportional. Perfect.
Matthew Amster-Burton 33:20
It's like It's like almost ice but with the egg on the inside. The rice is bread,
Molly 33:24
and the rice is bread. There we go. Well, will you tell us about your new album?
Dre Babinskir 33:29
Yes, it's called newfound oxygen, and nuclear and oxygen is kind of like my shorthand for all of the life lessons and things that I've learned, picked up along the way, just being alive and getting older and entering like a new phase of life where I'm not so head to mouth. There's there's just a lot of growing pains and, and reality checks. And I realized that that's that's kind of a running theme in all of my writing, reflecting on what I've done and what I can do better. And this is kind of a continuation of that.
Matthew Amster-Burton 34:08
I love that. So I first heard about you when you did the Tiny Desk home concert are just kind of kind of in like the doldrums of the pandemic and you had your band like outside the window like socially just it's I just thought it was like it was like so adorable, and loved the song so much. It's been such a treat to follow your career since then. And we're really excited for the new album.
Dre Babinski 34:30
Oh, yes. Thank
Matthew Amster-Burton 34:31
you anything anything about about Japan or about konbini that that we didn't ask you that, that you would love to talk about?
Dre Babinski 34:39
Oh my gosh. Also, the adzuki bean mochi. Guys who de Fuca Yeah, yeah, that's another thing that is just always like, suspiciously fresh at a like, I don't understand. Yeah,
Matthew Amster-Burton 34:54
they get deliveries like four or five times a day. Oh, Not necessarily of the of the dye fuku but maybe like, you know, but like they have like food coming in many times a day. And that's why everything seems so weirdly fresh. Wow, amazing. Where can people find you online if they want to follow you or learn more?
Dre Babinski 35:14
Instagram probably makes the most sense. It's the one social media that I've doubled down on. Yeah, just add study holiday.
Matthew Amster-Burton 35:22
Okay. We'll link to that in the show notes too. Well, thank
Molly 35:24
you so much for joining us. Pleasure. Thank you, and we wish you many onigiri in 2023
Matthew Amster-Burton 35:34
Thanks for joining us. We really really enjoyed this.
Molly 35:39
So Matthew, there's so many things that make konbini great and we only covered a few of them with drag talked of course about onigiri delete waivers. I didn't
Matthew Amster-Burton 35:46
make her listen to me talk about supply chain logistics.
Molly 35:49
I can't God was my lunch. She She I'm so glad she mentioned the egg salad
Matthew Amster-Burton 35:55
that you bring to the show. Becky selling it. It's one of her favorites also.
Molly 35:59
Okay. Okay, so we've talked about mochi cafe. What else do we love?
Matthew Amster-Burton 36:05
Okay, let's talk more about the hot foods. Like every every company has its own brand of fried chicken. So there's like seven chicken from 711. There's Fami cheeky from from family mark, which is usually family where it is is abbreviated to Fami Ma. And there's there's cut dog a coon at Lawson which is like a little cartoon chicken and it's like a little box of chicken nuggets. So the i i liked the family cheeky best like like No, have I done like a taste test. No, it's mostly probably because of the name but it's like it's just like a piece. It's like a boneless fried chicken Patty that you like eat out of a little paper pouch. It's so good.
Molly 36:43
June I think June got that as a snack one afternoon. June was more into the hot case than I
Matthew Amster-Burton 36:48
love the hot case. And then in fall it I especially think about the hot case in fall and winter because that's when they have the nikuman which are like Chinese style pork buns, but there's also like, like a curry one at a pizzolatto They're so good. And then the Odin section, which I don't even think I can like accurately describe it is like such a Japanese thing
Molly 37:10
is that where there's like a chafing dish, like a steam tray type thing that has like a dark brown liquid. And there are things in there,
Matthew Amster-Burton 37:21
right? They're like little it's like divided into like little square compartments. And so Oda is a dish of like fish cakes and other things like stewed in, in like a dashi based broth. And the thing I love about this is that it is like the last thing that I ever would have thought of, to sell at the counter at a convenience store. It's like a thing that like an old man like yo in it, like tidy restaurant in an alley would specialize in but also every convenience store. And it's not like they have like, you know, 10 items to choose from they have like 30 items to choose from. So you know, I It's wild,
Molly 38:00
it had not occurred to me that there was a seasonal quality to what you can buy in a konbini because I have only been I've only been to Japan and in October and December January. Is there like a summer equivalent? I mean, can you buy like your ice cold cucumbers?
Matthew Amster-Burton 38:17
Good question. So like definitely there are more like cold noodle dishes. Like in the cold case in summer. Like I recently read like an amazing wrap up in probably sorta news of like, all the cold noodle dishes we got at 711 and it was like Oh 11 figs so they all sounded like you know, like a spicy Chinese style lot. And like he actually Chukka like a you know, a dipping Robin and anyway. Yeah, so so like, I haven't even gotten the Odin that many times, but like, you know, it makes a really good snack if it's a cold day and you and you want to like warm up with like a little like soft fish cake or like a little bundle of noodles that's like tied in a knot. That's one of my favorite items. It's a little a little morsel of beef tendon. That's super super tender.
Molly 38:58
One thing that I remember noticing about buying gummies in Congress is that you know, you would find something you really liked like put a like the the Muscat grill one or something and you'd be like This is delicious. Let's go buy three more packages to take home and you'll never find them again. It's like they're committed to variety even like within gummies and so you can find all these different ones but you better buy as much as you want at a given time because you'll never find
Matthew Amster-Burton 39:31
them again this is especially true of the candy and snack section I think that if you see something like grab it because you won't necessarily be able to find it like even at another another of the same chains locations or like even necessarily the next day at that store wherever we went found like a like a Pierre error may like like East PA on gummy.
Molly 39:50
Yes, I remember and we were like this is brilliant. And then we never found it again why
Matthew Amster-Burton 39:54
for the show Laurie had like likes to tell the story of how one time at a company she found Don't like Ritz cracker sandwiches and like rich brand, like black truffle cream cheese rich cracker sandwiches and they were really good and she never saw them again.
Molly 40:12
You know, so while we're talking about like very random things at Combini I remember going to get onigiri and I distinctly remember standing off to the side of the door after getting my onigiri and paying and unwrapping my onigiri there there's always a trash right beside the door and it's not even it's not like a big ol like American trash can. It's like a small little rectangular thing yet you know all the trash somehow makes it into the trash can Yeah, in any way you can throw away your little wrapper there. And it just I don't know everything is where you need it to be.
Matthew Amster-Burton 40:51
I think we should say like, like, like public trash cans are very hard to come by in Japan. That's so like, you know you you will see people like carry your trash but like they'd you'll see like someone like passing by a comb BD and being like, I know this trash can is supposed to be for like stuff. I bought the company, but I'm just gonna like sneak this over into this trashcan, and we'll keep walking. It's a nice public service.
Molly 41:13
I also remember so when you and I were first there, it was October. And we went to the Combini and bought like the basic concrete Combini umbrella. Yes, a clear plastic. I
Matthew Amster-Burton 41:26
didn't put that on the list. Of course. It's like it works out to be like $2 or so. Yeah, like a $4 I
Molly 41:32
think and it's like a big ol umbrella with like a hook handle. And everybody has the same umbrella. And when you arrive in a store I for some reason I keep thinking of when I arrive in a combi, like near the trash can. There's always a conveniently located umbrella stand where everybody puts their umbrellas. And everybody has the same umbrella. Yet somehow you wind up leaving with your umbrella. I mean you do. Oh, okay. Do you steal other people's views? Do you ever look like the highest quality? Basic umbrella?
Matthew Amster-Burton 42:06
No, I don't I don't deliberately steal umbrellas. But I'm sure there have been times when I when I walked off with someone else's umbrella. They are all the same.
Molly 42:13
They are all the stuff. But what I love about it is that like there's just no question, you're going to fold up your umbrella and you're going to leave it there. And then you're going to take it on the way out whereas I feel like a lot of stores in the states maybe especially in Seattle where we're used to a lot of rain. There is not an umbrella stand because we're all just expected to wear hoods. That's true. Also even if there is some accommodation for umbrellas it's usually some weird ass little plastic bag like like umbrella condom that you're supposed to slide your umbrella and
Matthew Amster-Burton 42:44
she didn't have those two they don't work very well and they don't work well.
Molly 42:48
They don't work well. Okay, so
Matthew Amster-Burton 42:50
there's there's great bentos. I think I think we talked about that the the like individual ice cream bar ice cream confection section. Love that, okay, like anytime I don't even like they'll have like, my favorite is the Black Thunder ice cream bar, which is like the Black Thunder candy bar only ice cream. But like, there are so many great ice cream things, there's that there's that one that you kind of squeezed into your mouth? Do you know what I mean? Kids love this. Oh, it's
Molly 43:13
like a push pop. It's like
Matthew Amster-Burton 43:15
a little bag of ice cream that you kind of squish it like Sogod and like slobber all over. Okay, I don't remember the name of that.
Molly 43:22
So, Matthew, is there anything that's not great about konbini? I mean, you know, this has been such a wholly positive episode, we should, we should try to find something negative to say, Okay,
Matthew Amster-Burton 43:31
I mean, I think kind of what's not great about konbini is sort of, it's sort of like saying, like, what are there any things that are not great about capitalism, because like, you know, Combini is like, like the product of late capitalism. And so along with that, you know, most convenient are like a franchise model where, like the owner of the store is like taking a lot of uncompensated risk and has to abide by you know, lots of restrictions set by the company, but they don't really like own a share in the company, they just own the particular store, and you know, don't have like the protections of an employee. The actual employees of the store tend to be extremely underpaid, overworked, and often like guest workers from other countries who do not enjoy the same rights and privileges as Japanese citizens. So these are this is the dark underbelly of the Combini are these things that are like special to Combini versus other types of businesses? Not really, for the most part, I don't think okay, but yes, it's not it's not like some magic island that exists separate from global capitalism.
Molly 44:36
Okay. However, we are going to continue looking for that idol. Yes,
Matthew Amster-Burton 44:39
that's right. If we find that island, like, like, that'll be our Animal Crossing Island.
Molly 44:43
That's right. We find that island we will let you know, and we will make sure that it is well stocked with him.
Matthew Amster-Burton 44:50
You can all join us there and we can ruin it together.
Molly 44:52
That sounds like so much fun. I can't wait. Is there going to be a hatch there? Do we have to push a button or anything? Oh,
Matthew Amster-Burton 44:58
it'd be a hat. She's going to be festooned with hatches and duck hatches.
Molly 45:04
Oh, that's great. I love not hatches they are not such
Matthew Amster-Burton 45:09
No, not us us born our island is gonna have all kinds of birds, Barb's sauce and otherwise
Molly 45:19
Matthew Do we have anything else to say about onigiri or islands or Barb's
Matthew Amster-Burton 45:25
I mean definitely yes but we can save it for another time I think you know I think I think like people who have like been to to accompany like are like you know, basking in the in the nostalgia, or who live in Japan and like are gonna go get something after the episode and everyone else is ready for us to move on to segments. Yes, Molly, do we have any spilled mail?
Molly 45:54
We do and in fact, it's for me. Okay. Okay, so this is from listener Eliana. I recently listened to all of the holiday cookie episodes as inspiration for my own baking. And I have a question for Molly about the cookie tins she so carefully packs. I was wondering, do you have a collection that you get back from your recipients? Or do you buy new ones? If so, do you have a recommendation for where to get them cheaply? I am so glad you asked this question listener Eliana. I'm sorry, we're answering it in January. But go ahead and make a note.
Matthew Amster-Burton 46:28
I mean, probably January is the best time to buy holiday tins at a at a reasonable price.
Molly 46:34
True. That's true, although they're pretty cheap. Anyway.
Matthew Amster-Burton 46:37
Yeah. Tell us how this is done. Because I've been wondering this too. So I actually
Molly 46:41
think that there are more places these days that are selling holiday tins than there were like 10 years ago. I think it's easier to find them now. But my most reliable spots are get ready if you have a like craft store in your area like a Joanne fabrics is where I go I mean Seattle Joanne fabrics, usually starting you know when they start stocking the Christmas stuff in November or God late October, you will see that they have a whole bunch of like really cute empty Christmas tins and the prices price is good. You might also try something like Michaels or Hobby Lobby I don't know. Also, we have a Washington based drugstore chain called Bartell drugs of core cartel has a great selection of cookie tins. I'm always really pleased with Bartell so I don't know about like CVS, Walgreens, whatever you might try those but I don't know
Matthew Amster-Burton 47:40
I feel like Bartell really specializes in like holiday stuff. And it does a really good job
Molly 47:45
of it. And then the third idea I have for you is target target. It definitely is stalking some cute, like well designed on trend tins. And
Matthew Amster-Burton 47:59
anyway, what are this year's what are the 10 trends for 2023 you
Molly 48:04
can picture you can picture that like, you know back when my mom used to first do this when I was a kid a lot of the like attractive tins had like Norman Rockwell kind of designs on them or like sort of like an old fashioned kind of like, poinsettia kind of vibe. Sure. Whereas now if you mean muted colors and things like that, and you know, it's more like
Matthew Amster-Burton 48:32
anyway, now you you don't ask your gift recipients to give the tins back to you. But I feel like I have
Molly 48:37
you almost always give me the tins back. And most people if they do give me the tins back, which is maybe one or two families a year, they usually have washed them.
Matthew Amster-Burton 48:48
Oh, I thought you're gonna say they usually put like, like retaliatory grenades, and then I was gonna feel bad for doubt retaliate. No,
Molly 48:55
no, no. Anyway, in the past, also, Brandon, when we were married, used to have pretty good luck getting tins at Goodwill, and those were extra cheater cards and you need to allot some time to wash them and allow them to dry thoroughly. Yeah, yeah. So I really start with new tins every year, but they're pretty cheap. Especially if you kind of just keep an eye out. Like maybe even year round. Maybe TJ Maxx. God, that would be a Christmas 10 kind of place.
Matthew Amster-Burton 49:23
Yes to themselves.
Molly 49:25
Good luck. Thank you so much, Ellie, and happy baking to you later this year. All right,
Matthew Amster-Burton 49:31
thanks. Our producer is Abby sercotel. Molly has an excellent newsletter. Molly. I always plug your newsletter when you plug your own.
Molly 49:39
So my newsletter is almost a year old. I started in February of 2022. It's called I've got a feeling it's on substack you can find it at Molly weisenberg.substack.com. I post usually every week. That's what I aim for. And I post essays about stuff I'm into, or like what's going on On or like whatever I want to write about. And people tell me they enjoy it. So maybe you will, too.
Matthew Amster-Burton 50:05
I think you will. And it's, it is a premium newsletter. So if you want to get all of them you, you pay and it's very well worth it. Oh, thank
Molly 50:13
you, Matthew. So that's Molly weisenberg.substack.com.
Matthew Amster-Burton 50:16
Please rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. I want to thank Dre from steady holiday again for being our guest and we will link to her latest single and, and another album of hers in the show notes. Her new album, new found oxygen will be out in a couple of weeks, but a couple of singles are out now and they are real good.
Molly 50:35
So you can also chat with other spilled milk listeners at everything spilled. milk.reddit.com
Matthew Amster-Burton 50:41
And until next time, thanks for listening to spilled milk.
Molly 50:43
Maybe like if you're really nice. We'll we'll we'll come over and may go and
Matthew Amster-Burton 50:49
use your bathroom.
Molly 50:51
Or we go I'm falling my Matthew Then, who are you? I
Matthew Amster-Burton 51:06
can't I can't like reach out over the internet and peel off your Scooby Doo mask much as I would love to.
Molly 51:11
Why is it that people always peel their masks off from underneath chip? Good question. Low I mean, I can just pull it down. Right?
Matthew Amster-Burton 51:19
Like goes over your head.
Molly 51:21
I think we've solved this.
Matthew Amster-Burton 51:22
Yeah, like like if you I'm imagining like Frankenstein Halloween, like latex masks.
Molly 51:28
Yeah, you gotta you gotta pull it up. Yeah. Okay. I'm Molly. And I'm Matthew and this is the show where Abby's going to kill us for this this opening.
Matthew Amster-Burton 51:39
And today we're Oh, and we're, I'm clipping a little hang on.
Molly 51:44
Okay, should we start over?
Matthew Amster-Burton 51:45
Yeah.