Mystery white powder from Japan

The following was amongst a whole box of stuff given to me by a friend.

It's a packet containing a bunch of smaller packets, which in turn contain a slightly salty-tasting white powder.

I think it's some kind of cooking ingredient from Japan, but I've no idea what to do with it.

There's not a single piece of Latin lettering anywhere on the packet.

What happens when you sniff a line EB?

Looks like salt, MSG, peppers and some mysterious berry thing. I'm trying to remember what part of the tongue senses ummami, which is the flavour produced by MSG, i should have payed more attention in sensory analysis.

JE, sniffing a line makes me feel a little bit queer.

Try:
Dissolving some in warm water and drinking it.
Snorting some.
Using that lighter to heat some on a spoon and smoke it.
Rubbing some on your cock/in your underwear.
Making chicken fried rice with it.

...and let us know which gives the most pleasurable results.

Tougarashi Ume Cha (are the words I can read from it.)

Cayanne pepper and plum tea! never heard of it, try making it and posting how horrible it is!

And yes it is Japanese.

It looks like individualised coke, the tracer particles glow in the dark and make sure you didn't get your stash mixed up.

(Is the lighter for reference or is it part of the Kamaikazi Blow Your Mind Lost Weekend Kit ?)

jesus that would blow your head with the Cayanne pepper in it

It's there for aesthetic, colour coordination purposes.

Thanks for the clarification, Kay.

Now, second question. Is that The Hand Of Bob in the first photograph?

If yes, then is this the TT equivalent of the creation scene on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel?

Yes, definitely tougarashi, in fact you've got some of this: http://www.emono1.jp/detail-3287.html

And if you pop the writing on the packet into ja.wikipedia.org (���ら�) you get this http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/トウガラシ (an article about chilli peppers).

Oh, that first link is exactly it, thanks. Now what to do with this "tougarashi"?

Make tea!

Boil some water and dissolve. I have zero idea how much, does it have instructions written? regarding the amount of water?

If you click on the small teacup photo on that first link, there is a photo of what is I guess one sachet dissolved in a cup of hot water.

Worth a try!

Thanks Deccie. Instructions from the back. Oh, I just noticed some Latin text. Presumably the water must be 80'C. Kids of TT solve another mystery.

It can be drank on its own, mix in water of at least 80 degrees.

The powder can also be used to spice up Pasta, Ochazuke ( a rice soup made with tea!) or onigiri (rice balls covered in seaweed!)

Not much. One of those small Japanese-style tea cups. Probably about 1/4 the size of a typical European mug.

You can also drink it cold.

QBob:Did you cut it open with scissors or does it rip of that cleanly?

Japanese technology at its best cause the packs of soup etc. I open tend to rip top to bottom no matter how I try and usually the powder ends half on the table/floor

iirc, it was once thought that umami is tasted primarily at the mid-back of the tongue (sweet on the tip, salt on the front sides, sour on the back sides and bitter at the back) but the tongue taste map theory has pretty much been debunked. Receptors all over your tongue are used for all the tastes.

Mapleleafdude, I cut the packet using scissors. Ancient Egyptian technology at its best.

I don't know if it has been debunked actually. I think umami was the strange one because it didn't have a paticular area, but I have been reading that they have actually found that certain receptors react only for one paticular taste, which caused some confusion for a while because they found out some receptors react to more than one taste. I did a sensory analysis course about a year ago and we were still using the tongue taste map theory, however this is Germany.

I dunno, google it, it's pretty much common knowledge that the map is bogus. I don't deny that certain receptors respond specifically to certain tastes but that these receptors are localized in certain areas of the tongue is not correct.

Tongue Taste Map Myth

Maybe it's not meant for eating, drinking, or snorting ... it looks rather like a brand of detergent I bought once, with little coloured grains mixed in.

Hope Ed Bob isn't foaming at the mouth now