Attack of the pH-Imbalanced Tomatoes

We learned a valuable lesson this week: Don't buy tomatoes in Japan.

Still feeling a bit high after making a delicious pasta sauce from perfect tomatoes courtesy of Kusu Agricultural High School I tried to replicate the success with some store-bought ones thinking "well, how different could they be?" See, people, this is why I hate tomatoes so much (as well as several other reasons having to do with their resemblance to hearts). After cutting four of them and heating them on the stove they turned to goo and I started to add spices. So far so good. Well, I went to taste test it and...DEAR GOD! It was like tasting the unholy cocktail of vomit and turpentine! Thank goodness I didn't get in too far with the spices and didn't add any veggies to it yet. An alternate dinner was whipped up and all were happy. Well, all except my pan. When I washed it out a few days later I discovered that the toxic tomatoes had stripped the enamel or whatever off the inner surface of my wok! Unbelievable!

These tomatoes were like Alien blood. I'm surprised it didn't burn a hole through the pan, stove, apartment floor and ground where it would now slowly be making it's way towards the core.

--Matt