Komban wa ロオマ 四 and Minasan!
The food is Japan is fabulous! I'll have to update this website as I go, as I haven't tried everything yet and don't have photos of everything I have tried, but for only having been here a couple of days I think I have done pretty well. I've really struck a goldmine in coming to Japan at this time, as a wonderful woman is here with me as well. Jess has been to Japan before and most times has lived with a host family, so has been and sampled much Japanese food!
What I have been most surprised at, is that there are a number of other nationalities' dishes that are very popular here. In my experience so far, the two that seem to be the most popular are Italian and Indian! Neither are traditional forms of food originating from those countries, but the dishes are very influenced.... curry and rice, but made with pork (とんこつ) or beef, and Italian carbonara.
However, tonight I'm not here to list other national dishes... I'm here to celebrate those that really make Japan a delicious place to be :)
そば
Soba
I thought I'd begin with one of the dishes that I have found the most plain but also refreshing so far..... soba. Soba noodles are probably found in many different dishes, but during my flight to Japan they were served on the plane. The noodles were green, thin and cool, the perfect texture and surprisingly refreshing as I poured a little soy sauce over them. Eating any kind of noodles with chopsticks is a challenge, but with the addition of soy sauce, you must be very skillful with your chopsticks to prevent splattering your clothes !
すし
Sushi
Perhaps the most well-known of all Japanese foods, sushi comes in more colours than the rainbow and a true sushi experience is like no other.
Made with everything from avocado and cream cheese, to salmon, egg, fish roe, crab, pickled Japanese radish (which is yellow), shrimp, whale and even horse (!!!) sushi has something to offer everyone. Sometimes it's hard to know just by looking whether or not a combination will be appetizing, so it's best to try as many as you can (though I must admit I didn't try either horse OR whale {Are you proud Room Yon?} and according to our American JET Teacher residing in Japan we aren't missing much, unless you enjoy a mouthful that takes time to chew your way through)!
Check out this video to see how you can select and take sushi plates from the self-serve belt next to the booth. At the end, you pay based on the colour of the plates you chose - each plate has a different value, ranging from ¥158 to about ¥300 depending on where you go.
おこのみやき
Okonomiyaki
This dish is sometimes referred to as a Japanese pancake, though I thought it was more like a fritter. The most entertaining part about this dish is that it is prepared right before you, on a huge hot-plate set in front of you, joined to the bar at which you sit to eat.
You really feel looked after in a Japanese restaurant....
*If you need to wait for a table to be free (and in Japan, this happens a lot at mealtimes when the restaurants are busy!) there are always seats outside (though not always enough ;)
*While you wait for your food a waiter/waitress always comes to fill your glass with iced water (and in Japan it is free - not like the Pump bottles that you must now PURCHASE at McDonalds in NZ if you are thirsty for water!). Not only will they do this, but they will, whenever your glass is getting a bit on the low side, return politely to your side and refill it for you!
*Often you are able to see the food being prepared... so you know exactly what's going on your plate!
*You are welcomed into the restaurant (with a shout - a bit scary to get used to at first) and always sent off with a holler too - I must learn to shout "gochi so sama deshita!" in return - my voice is a bit quiet in Japan!
But, I digress.....
Okonomiyaki is a mixture of vegetables and egg and sometimes meat or seafood (mine was ebi {shrimp/prawn}, cuttlefish and scallop - I know Mum... you're jealous!! ) mixed briskly to combine and placed onto a hotplate to cook. Once it is cooked it is cut into quarters, coated in thick soy sauce and a fancy patterned squirt of mayonnaise and topped with fish flakes (very strong and salty) and spring onion - Yum!!! This is placed on a cast iron hotplate and presented to you, complete with a little slicer that looks a bit like a bbq tool with the wooden handle and chopsticks. This is great fun to eat, because it takes a bit of practice to separate the ominoyaki with the chopsticks, but is very easy to pick up once you do!
Check out the video below for a preview of okonomiyaki cooking - the noodles are another yummy dish available at this restaurant.
オウライス
Omuraisu
This dish also quickly became one of my favourites! The name, in katakana, obviously comes from an English meaning.... basically it is just a shortened version of omelette rice. It is a very simple, but tasty dish consisting of a ball of rice contained within an omelette. This tasty morsel, which is about the size of my fist, is perfectly accompanied by a delicious pool of mild curry and vegetables. The dish that I selected was called 'Iroiro yasai no omukarii' which basically means' various vegetables with omelette curry'. It was delicious... oishii desune?!
See below for the photos of the Kariiraisu Menu and my meal!
とんこつ らめん
Tonkotsu Ramen
Me? Noodles?
My kids know that I despise noodles. Years of hungrily ‘cooking’ noodles in cups with water boiled in a dorm room kettle (at boarding school), have left me with an utter disdain for noodles. However, in Japan, I must do as the Japanese do….. and be pleasantly surprised!
Ramen is what Fukuoka is famous for. You can find ramen in the yatai (street stalls) in downtown Fukuoka at night – they appear in small tents on the footpath at about 5pm and the smell is divine.
However, should you want the full dining experience, the place that I visited for ramen was fantastic. This little shop is just through the Solaria Plaza in Tenjin, heading up a little street that looks like what Kiwi call Chinatown. It is also on the second floor and so provides the diner with a great view of an area that seems to become inundated by students at night.
Shuffling hungrily in the door, you are met by the most amazing scent! Slipping off your shoes and sliding them under the dining platform, one should shuffle on their knees to the waiting cushions and kneel before the table. Red lanterns adorn the large glass windows and in the warmth, with a great view, you can settle down to peruse the menu and believe me, you are spoilt for choice!
This time however, I was on a mission for tonkotsu ramen – the Fukuoka specialty, which is noodles in a broth made from pork bones and topped with this slices of pork and spring onions (and another garnish, indistinguishable to my untrained eye, though my companion surmised it was probably a form of kelp, thinly sliced). Unable to pass it up, I ordered a side dish of chicken rice. Both were delicious!
Well, there I must leave you.... my experience of Japanese cuisine is still new, but impressive over my first four days in Japan and I will add more as I continue.....
after all, I still haven't mentioned the green tea smoothies
or Mister Donut...... ;)
Still not here to update you on Mister Donut... but
I have found the most amazing place - (and totemo yasui desu!) just around the corner from where I'm living in Ijiri!
Jess and I arrived back from Yabusame and River Punting in Yanagawa; both tired and hungry. Too tired to travel back to Tenjin and search (open-mouthed) at the array of food establishments and displays in shop windows before finally selecting one, we had disembarked in our own small village. I wasn't relishing the idea of painstakingly making our way from street to street, trying not to get lost in the twists and turns of our unusual area in order to find nourishment, so when Jess pointed and said, 'How about there?' I rapidly agreed! I'm so pleased I did!
We opened the door, greeted by warmth and delicious aromas. Peering around hungrily we easily selected dishes based on the pictures on the wall and were pleasantly surprised by the the price! Perhaps it was that we had to retrieve our own chopsticks, water and collect our trays from the counter, but for a delicious meal nearly half the price of what we had been paying in town, we were more than happy to do so.
I selected a pork and curry mix that I think was called Katsu-Kare. It was delicious! Afterwards we filled our vessels with cups of steaming green tea.... as many times as we liked.
Totemo omoshiroi!
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