Food and Eating: September 2008

I was tempted to copy the The Omnivore's 100 I found on Dharm's website then I found it a Japanese version of it in http://www.justhungry.com/. Instead of listing what I have eaten, I shall use this list over my period in Japan as my challenge to experience as many of them as I can.

A List of 100 Japanese Foods To Try At Least Once1. Properly washed and cooked, top quality new harvest white rice (shinmai　新米) ?
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of rice in Japanese cuisine. The ultimate rice for most Japanese people comes from famed rice growing areas such as Niigata prefecture or Akita prefecture; famous varieties include _koshihikari_ and _sasanishiki_. And the best tasting rice is held to be new harvest rice or _shinmai_　新米.　The older rice gets, the less desirable it is. This differs from some other rice cultures where aged rice (e.g. basmati rice) is held in high regard. See also How to cook Japanese rice.
2. Freshly made tofu, as hiyayakko or yudofu ? in Konpachi Restaurant in Nishi AzabuTofu used to be sold by mobile street vendors, who would go around neighborhoods in the evening (just before dinnertime) tooting a loud horn. Housewives would rush to the vendor cart, bowls in hand, to buy fresh tofu. Nowadays mobile _tofu-ya_ have virtually disappeared in Japan, but small independent tofu stores do still exist. Most people just buy tofu from a supermarket or _combini_ though. See how to make your own tofu; how to make hiyayakko and agedashi dofu (another great way to enjoy tofu). Yudofu (湯豆腐）is a piping hot version of hiyayakko.
3. Properly made misoshiru and osumashi ?
Misoshiru 味噌汁　is miso soup, an osumashi おすまし　is clear soup, both fundamental parts of a traditional Japanese meal. Some people have a bowl of miso soup or clear soup at every meal. The difference between a miso soup made with proper dashi stock and good miso and an ersatz ‘instant’ one is like night and day. See Miso and miso soup basics and A week of miso soup.
4. Properly made homemade nukazuke ?
Nukazuke 糠漬け are vegetables pickled in a fermente rice-bran (nuka 糠）bed or nukadoko (糠床）. The vegetables are only left in the pickling bed for a few days. The care and feeding of a good nukadoko is a complex, much discussed matter, similar to the cult surrounding sourdough. The housewife or restaurant that has a top notch nukadoko is much respected. Unfortunately, nuka pickling at home seems to be a slowing dying art.
5. Very fresh sanma (saury), sizzling hot from the grill, eaten with a drizzle of soy sauce and a mound of grated daikon radish ?
Simply grilled fresh fish is a keystone of Japanese meals. Smaller fish such as sanma or the higher-class aji (horse mackerel) are grilled whole with their skins on, heads intact and innards left in, including sperm sacs or eggs. All parts of the fish are considered edible, and the innards are considered to be delicacies. Blue/oily fish or hikarimono （ひかりもの） are at their best in the colder months when they have more fat. Sanma used to be considered to be poor peoples’ food since it was so cheap.
6. Homemade umeboshi ?
Umeboshi (梅干し）- salted, dried then pickled ume (梅）, a fruit that is a relative of the plum and the apricot. Very salty-sour, and acquired taste. Used in small quantities, it’s a great flavor enhancer and appetite stimulant. Homemade is usually the best, and despite the effort it requires a lot of people still make their own umeboshi every year (including my mother). An acquired taste. See New rice and pickled plum and Oba-chan’s pickled plums.
7. Freshly made, piping hot crispy tempura. I prefer vegetable tempura like shiso leaves, eggplant and sweet potato. ? in Ten-ichi Restaurant in Ginza.
Tempura 天ぷら is considered to be a quintessential Japanese foo these days, but it’s actually an early imported food, introduced by Portuguese and/or Spanish missionaries in the 16th century. (See Wikipedia.) Good tempura must have crispy, light-as-air, greaseless batter coating. The usual dipping sauce is a mixture of dashi stock, soy sauce and grated daikon radish called tentsuyu （天つゆ), not, as you might think from the way tempura-like fried foods are served in pan-Asian restaurants, sweet and sour sauce! (yeah yeah, I still haven’t posted a tempura recipe here! Someday I’ll fix that…)
8. A whole grilled wild Japanese matsutake ?
Matsutake (松茸）is a very fragrant, highly saught after, and __expensive as all heck__ mushroom. In Japan it grows near matsu (松）trees, which are supposed to greatly enhance their aroma. Matsutake are as highly regarded in Japan as truffles are in Europe. Japanese matsutake prices can reach four figures (in U.S. dollars) per kilo; imported matsutake are held in much lower regard, and are often sprinkled with ‘matsutake essence’ while cooking. The best way to eat a matsutake is to simply grill it over a hot charcoal fire, and sprinkle with a tiny amount of soy sauce and so on.
9. Freshly made sobagaki with sobayu ? in Konpachi, Nishi Azabu
Soba (蕎麦）or buckwheat is best known in the noodle format. But the best way to enjoy soba in my opinion is as sobagaki (そばがき）, a chewy-soft dumpling of sorts made out of fresh buckwheat flour, boiled in water. The cooking water is called sobayu (そば湯）and is sipped along with the sobagaki.
10. Mentaiko from Fukuoka, or tarako ?
11. Mentaiko （明太子）and tarako （たらこ）are both marinated/salted pollack roe, even though the name tarako means “child of cod”. Mentaiko is a spicy version, which originated in Korea and crossed the sea to the southern island of Kyuushuu. Fukuoka, the largest city in Kyuushuu, is famous for its mentaiko. Both tarako and mentaiko can be eaten as-is with plain rice, or used as a paste or sauce - see tarako and ponzu pasta. Tarako is often used griled until firm as an onigiri filling. (Mentaiko onigiri is not that common, probably because it’s pretty expensive!) Tarako or mentaiko mixed with a bit of butter and spread on hot toast is delicous. An acquired taste.
12. Onigiri with the three classic fillings: umeboshi, okaka, shiozake ? in 7 elevens
Okaka (おかか）is bonito flakes mixed with soy sauce; shiozake （塩鮭）is salted salmon. See Onigiri FAQ.
13. Assorted fresh-as-possible sashimi ? in Aozora, Tsukiji
Sure sushi is great, but the ultimate indulgence at a sushi-ya for me is a selection of fresh sashimi; it’s beautiful to behold and a treat for the tastebuds. Be adventurous and try everything form raw (live) shellfish to raw squid to slices cut from a still live fish! (This is called ikezukuri （活け造り or 生け作り）Yes I know, it’s cruel, but it’s very Japanese.)
14. Saba oshizushi ?
鯖押し寿司　is sushi you won’t often encounter in sushi restaurants, though some Japanese restaurants do have it on their menus. It is a speciality of Okayama prefecture, but is popular all over Japan. Very fresh mackerel or saba (鯖）is fileted, salted and marinated, then pressed firmly onto a block of sushi rice; the whole is then left to rest for a few more hours. It’s a style of sushi that is much older than the nigiri-zushi you are probably familiar with.
15. Mugicha found some in Sydney. I drank it when I was pregnant.
麦茶. See Mugicha article.
16. Kakifurai ?
牡蠣フライ - breaded and deep fried whole oysters, a yohshoku dish. You may not think this is that Japanese…but that crispy, slightly bitter, creamy-seafoo flavor, eaten with Bulldog sauce, is very Japanese to me, an is something I really miss! (Oysters in Switzerland are Way Way Too Expensive.)
17. Morinaga High-Chew candy, grape flavor ? green apple flavour
I know I’m biased, but I think Japanese confectionery companies make the best tasting candies. I didn’t say chocolates or candy bars - I mean candies, or sweeties if you are of British inclination. Morinaga’s High Chew line of soft chewable candies are among the best and most popular, and of these the grape flavor is my favorite.
18. Karasumi ?
からすみ　is salted and dried mullet roe. It has a very dense, sticky yet waxy texture (sort of like a salty-fishy an not sweet fudge), and is very salty. It’s one of the 3 great delicacies, or chinmi (珍味）of Japan; the others are salted sea urchin (shiuni) and sea cucumber innards (konowata), both of which are sort of stomach-turning for me, but karasumi is an oddly addictive substance. You traditionally eat tiny slices of it to accompany your sake. Very much and acquire taste.
19. A pot of oden, preferably with homemade components especially ganmodoki, boiled eggs and daikon radish ?
おでん - see oden article and recipe.
20. Ika no shiokara ?
いかの塩辛　is cuttlefish squid that is salted and fermented in its own innards. It has a slimy sort of texture, and a very intense sea-flavor. Great on hot rice. An acquired taste. Easily obtainable in jars at larger Japanese grocery stores; if you can get very fresh squid with the innards you can make your own at home. This recipe on Chowhound should work well, but use a non-reactive, glass or ceramic container; this is powerful stuff that will at the very least stain and odorize a plastic container forever, and may even eat through thin plastic (I’ve had this happen…)
21. Calpis not quite Nathan's favourite - but he likes the connections to this drink (Japan) and would always buy it. It's too sweet.
カルピス is a sweet fermented milk beverage. It’s most commmonly sold as a concentrate, which is mixed with cold water or plain at a 1:5 or so ratio. It’s also used straight as a syrup over shaved ice (kakigouri かき氷), and as a mixer in some cocktails. Because of its fermented flavor, cloying mouthfeel and (for English speakers) rather unfortunate name which sounds like ‘cow piss’, it hasn’t seen a whole lot of success in the West, though as “Calpico” in already diluted or soda form it is sold in some parts of Asia. An acquired taste. Japanese people love fermented-milk flavor (see Yakult below). (Switzerland also sells a fermented-milk beverage called Rivella, which tastes a bit like Calpis/Calpico soda.)
22. Ankou nabe ?
あんこう鍋 - monkfish hotpot or stew. Tabletop cooking is very popular in Japan. A small portable gas burner is placed in the middle of the dining table, a variety of cut up vegetables and some kind of protein are made ready, and they’re cooked in a pot (in which they are called nabemono 鍋物 or simply nabe 鍋）of simmering water/broth, on a grill or shallow pan. Everyone at table picks out the pieces they want. Ankou is monkfish, a rather slippery, chewy fish with tons of flavor; together with lots of vegetables it makes a delicious nabe on cold winter days.
23. Unadon ?
うな丼 is unagidonburi （うなぎどんぶり）shortened; it’s eel filets with a sweet-salty sauce on a bed of rice. A very rich, high calorie dish that’s popular in the summer months, since all those calories in eel are supposed to keep your strength up!
24. Komochi kombu or kazunoko ?
Kazunoko (数の子) is brined herring roe, and komochikonbu (子持ち昆布）is the same herring roe pressed onto konbu seaweed. Both have a distinctive crunchy texture and the salty flavor of the sea. An acquired taste.
25. Yamakake, grated yamaimo with maguro (red tuna) cubes (or just tororo with a raw egg) ?
Japanese people love food with a slippery, slimy texture, and the slimiest of them all is grated yamaimo (山芋) or nagaimo (長芋), a type of yam. This is called tororo (とろろ, not totoro!). My favorite form of tororo is when it’s combined with cubes of fresh tuna, which is called yamakake （山かけ), but the ultimate slimy experience is tsukimi tororo (月見とろろ), a bowl of grated yamaimo with a raw egg which is supposed to look like a full moon.
26. Properly made gyokuro shincha ?
玉露の新茶、new-crop Gyokuro green tea. How to brew a perfect cup of green tea.
27. Milky Candy if this means Karameru, its great toffee.
28. Wanko soba
29. Omuraisu with demi-glace sauce
30. Handmade katayaki senbei
31. Yohkan (yokan) from Toraya
32. Ishi yakiimo - sweet potatoes cooked in hot stones, available from street vendor carts
33. Natto not my favourite, though much nicer than Taipei's stinky tofu. I prefer the dried nuts.
34. Fresh seaweed sunomono (can also have some tako in it)
35. Ikura or sujiko
36. Tonkatsu nope
37. Goma dofu
38. Chawan mushi or tamago dofu - the same dish either piping hot or ice cold didnt try this in japan
39. Freshly made mochi, with kinako and sugar, grated daikon and soy sauce or natto at our neighbour's house
40. Gindara no kasuzuke
41. Hoshigaki
42. Inarizushi again, eaten this outside Japan
43. Chikuzen-ni
44. Surume
45. Yakinasu with grated ginger
46. Tamago kake gohan
47. Kabuki-age
48. Nikujaga
49. Spinach gomaae
50. Fuki no tou51. Okonomiyaki
52. Yakitori53. Ohagi
54. Japanese style curry, with rakkyo and fukujinzuke as condiments
55. Kenchinjiru56. Yakult57. Kakipea
58. Takoyaki
59. Sakura mochi
60. Buta no kakuni
61. Daigaku imo
62. Kappa Ebisen
63. Chicken tsukune
64. Hakusaizuke
65. Hayashi rice
66. Goya champuruu
67. Dorayaki
68. Ochazuke
69. Sakuma Drops
70. Stewed kiriboshi daikon
71. Takenoko gohan (or in fall, kuri gohan)
72. Cream or potato korokke
73. Fresh yuba
74. Real ramen
75. Monaka
76. Ekiben of all kinds
77. Edamame they eat this in Indonesia too
78. Chicken karaage in a bento box
79. Kuzumochi
80. Mitarashi dango
81. Konnyaku no dengaku
82. Yukimi Daifuku
83. Sukiyaki
84. Nama yatsuhashi
85. Panfried hanpen
86. Nozawanazuke or Takanazuke
87. Kiritanpo
88. Amanatto
89. Narazuke
90. Aji no himono
91. Baby Ramen
92. Kobucha
93. Kasutera
94. Tazukuri
95. Karintou
96. Sauce Yakisoba
97. Kamaboko
98. Oyako donburi
99. Atsuyaki tamago
100. Kuri kintonJapanese potato salad

Monday 15 September 2008

The Japanese Omnivore's 100

Monday 8 September 2008

Dressing for fish

Sunday 7 September 2008

Hamburgers