What's Your Favorite Comfort Food?
We all have them, foods we reach for not because they’re exciting or impressive, but because they make us feel a little better. Comfort foods tend to show up when we’re emotionally worn down, stressed, or right on the edge of getting sick. They don’t fix anything, exactly, but they do make us feel better. And sometimes that’s enough.
For me, it’s almost embarrassingly specific: egg salad sandwiches. Not the fancy kind. The simple ones you find in Japanese konbini — soft white bread, mild egg salad, nothing clever going on. There often isn't even egg salad in the entire sandwich, just the part pressed up against the package — a nasty trick the convenience stores use to save money. I didn’t even eat egg salad as a kid, which makes it stranger. And yet, somewhere deep in my lizard brain, those sandwiches clearly connect to something safe and familiar. I have no memory to point to, but the feeling is there all the same.
They’re not especially healthy (though not too terrible) but that white bread definitely puts them in the “occasional indulgence” category for me. I usually avoid them. Usually. But every now and then, I just give in.
Outside of Japan, my comfort food shifts to something far less mysterious: pickleloaf sandwiches with American cheese. That one I can explain. I grew up with it. I suppose many of us kids of the 80s in The US did, or at least the American cheese part. I think bologna was more common than pickleloaf for the other kids. Anyway, it’s pure childhood nostalgia, wrapped in processed meat and plastic-wrapped cheese slices. Zero sophistication. Maximum comfort.
Comfort food isn’t really about taste or nutrition. It’s about memory, habit, and reassurance. It’s food that whispers, You’ve been here before. You’ll be fine.
So how about you — what’s your comfort food, and do you know why it is?
❦
 |
David is an American teacher and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Bluesky. |
it changes, lately I've been on a fig Newton kick
Can't go wrong there!
Very American? :P
Mine's dal. If I'm feeling down and need nourishment, a big pot of dal with lots of indian spices, fresh ginger, a big scoop of yoghurt on top and some chilli - ooh yeah. I know, it sounds far too healthy, but there's something about not being able to deal with life and having something easy on the digestion.
But that's if I'm feeling self aware. If not, biscuits that stick in your teeth like Scotch Fingers or ginger nuts or oat snaps. Australians will know. I do love an almond finger also.
And because I rarely buy biscuits for that reason, a big scoop of 100 percent peanut butter, right out the jar, on a spoon.
Dal as in the Indian curry? I do love me some Indian food. Used to eat it a lot, but haven't so much since having kids.
Yes, the one .Ade of split peas or lentils. Usually red lentils for me..
the local food, I prefer Martabak
The Asian one I like Ramen
But what I mostly get is Fried Rice
Ramen is always nice. More than ramen, I'd say gyudon. I don't know if you have that one down there. It's good!
Martabak looks interesting.
My favourite cheese and onion crisps, or chips as you guys call it. It's the most popular flavour in the UK, with a taste that if you had it the first time you probably wouldn't identify it as cheese and onion, but if you're a Brit, you'd know, yeah, that's a cheese and onion crisp.
You know, I haven't had any crisps in years. I did an informal survey among people I know several years to see if they used chopsticks or bare fingers to eat crisps and I bought a bag for that. (turns out most Japanese use chopsticks). Haven't had any since. ...hmm..but that's a good idea.
the finga lickin part at the end is the best!!!
using chopsticks to eat crisps feels a bit odd, like when I first went to Taiwan, people used chopsticks to eat chips (ie your fries 😄), but I got used to it after a while.
Ok, I am on board with using "crisps" and even do so with my British friends. But I've always thought "chips" for "fries" is just bizarre!
Anyway — I use chopsticks for fries too 😅 They are just so greasy. But also makes it easier to dunk them entirely in mustard.
Mine was a bologna and cheese sandwich. Not the packaged bologna though, the real stuff that you cut off the roll. That and the government issued cheese for low income peeps. They used to have here in the states. Not sure if that is still a thing these days but was when i was a kid. It came in a box and you had to slice it off with a knife. It made for a great comfort sandwich. and you could throw thebologna slice on the stove to fry it for warm food. LOL
I remember government cheese. I don't know if it's still a thing or not. Real bologna sounds good! The pickleloaf we had when I was a kid was just the cheap prepackaged stuff.
Yeah, we would get the cheap prepackaged stuff too, but the real reward was when we could get a big roll from the butcher just outside town.
BBQ or meatloaf probably for me. Better yet, BBQ'd meatloaf. Also fried chicken and mashed potatoes. That would definitely be a big one. I am sucker for KFC though I don't ever get it that often.
KFC is always a good one!