Generalizations are typically unfair and misleading, and this holds true for Japanese food. It is far more diverse than many people think. Most of it is good, some of it is absolutely amazing, and some of it is the most foul stuff humans put in their mouths. Here is a rundown of some of the things I ate in Japan.
Sushi
Let's start with the obvious. I am a big fan of sushi. I used to eat it quite often in grad school at a cheap place near campus, usually accompanied by sake bombs and bad karaoke. The spicy tuna roll was one of my favorites. That stuff isn’t in the same league as the sushi I had in Japan. We first ate sushi at a tiny place with seating at stools around a counter which had a small conveyor belt bringing the plates of sushi around. Most of the plates had two pieces of fish sitting atop some sticky rice. You just grab the dish you want as it goes by, then pay based on the color of the plates at the end. It is a great way to do sushi. If you don’t see something you want going by, you can order from the sushi chef behind the counter. This was the first time I have ever eaten otoro, which is richest part of the belly meat of a bluefin tuna. It is often called fatty tuna in English. It tastes like butter and melts in your mouth. No joke. I know that sounds strange when talking about raw fish. If you don’t think you like sushi, or even fish for that matter, you still need to try otoro. It is bit more expensive, so we usually had just one piece at the end of the meal. I also loved the seared salmon topped with a little mayo and black pepper. The searing is just a quick pass with a blowtorch that adds another dimension of flavor that I love. I tried a few others that were pretty good. As good as the otoro and salmon were, the uni was at the opposite end of the taste spectrum. Uni is the Japanese name for sea urchin, and it was all I could do to choke it down. It tasted like rotting fish dipped in sea water. I am one of the least picky eaters I know, but I would have spit it out if I could have done so discretely. I think the second piece of uni was the only thing I left on my plate our entire time in Japan. But wait, it gets worse… There were two dishes that I opted not to try. The first one was “fish guts”, which is exactly how it was listed on the English part of the menu. The second was milt, which is part of the male reproductive system. It sort of looks like small intestines, but white. The lovely color comes from the fish semen inside. Yum! It was actually fairly popular with some of the locals. Jesslyn went hungry the three times we went for sushi.
Ramen
The staple of college students’ diets. Actually, it wasn’t quite the same as the brick of dried noodles and powder that turn into soup with a little hot water. The broth has a much more complex flavor and the noodles are a bit thicker and chewier. The noodles are hidden under a slice of roast pork, some fresh herbs, a piece of nori (dried seaweed), and sometimes a soft boiled egg. At one of the ramen joints we visited, you purchase a ticket at the vending machine just inside, then sit down at a stool and hand the ticket to the server behind the counter. I really liked the ramen, but Jesslyn didn’t care for the taste of seaweed or the slight hint of fish flavor in the broth.
Tonkatsu
We had a pretty special meal experience with the Tonkatsu Nazi. There is this old guy in Yokosuka who operates a small restaurant near the Navy base. The place consists of only a counter which can fit about seven people. There were five of us in our party and were the only diners in the place. This man is the only person working. He cooks, preps, washes dishes, takes orders, serves, and whatever else needs to be done in a restaurant. The kitchen is directly opposite the counter, so you get a great view of the meal being prepared. You never know when it is going to be open or not. Why the "nazi" nickname? He doesn’t greet you until he is ready. We sat there while he washed the dishes from the previous customers. Then he did some prep work. A good 20 minutes went by before he acknowledged our existence and took our order. We all got beers, which didn’t come for another 15 minutes. He prepped his station by chopping vegetables, and filling the small containers with the items he needs. Everything was in its place. He assembled the salads with precision, so each one was identical. We ordered the special, which is a variety of tempura vegetables, and tonkatsu, a deep fried pork cutlet. The menu is posted on various pieces of paper tacked to the wall. It was all in Japanese. Luckily, we were with people who had been there before, so we knew what to do and to expect. The food was very good, and relatively cheap, but you really go there for experience. It is funny to me… Something that would be the downfall of any other restaurant is actually the attraction here; the unpersonable, slow service.
Our tonkatsu meal with the fried pork and vegetables, pickled veggies, dipping sauce, white rice, miso soup, and of course the Kirin lager.
Beef
Japan isn’t all fish and rice. We ate beef quite a few times. It tends to be very tender and fatty, and I mean fatty in a good way. We had a great steak at a place where you order your meat by the gram and watch them hack it off the large loin. Then you stand up to eat it at a counter. I guess they don’t want you to get too comfortable and overstay your welcome. We ate tender Kobe beef burgers at a tiny counter in a hidden food court on the 7th floor of the train station.
Justin and me standing at the counter ready for our steaks.
Yakitori
There are a lot of meats on sticks in Japan. We walked by an outdoor vendor who had quite a crowd. You stand in front of the place, and just grab the sticks of meat you want, then put the empty sticks in a cup. When you are done, you are charged by how many sticks are in your cup. Unfortunately, we had just eaten when we went by. We did eat at a yakitori place one night where, we had a variety of grilled meats and vegetables on sticks. They were all great, even the liver. My favorite might have been the bacon wrapped quail eggs. We washed the yakitori down with a few chuhai’s.
Chuhai
Shochu, a liquor similar to, but usually a little weaker than vodka, is a popular in Japan. It doesn’t have much flavor, so it is commonly mixed with fruit juice and soda water to make a drink called a chuhai or chu-hi. Chu-hi’s are extremely dangerous because they don’t taste like alcohol at all, and are a light refreshing thirst quencher. They sell them in cans at every convenience store. Most are 5% alcohol, and the “strong” version clocks in at 8% or 9%. My favorite was the grapefruit which tastes like Fresca.
Snacks from the Sea
We visited the Nishiki Market in Kyoto where I sampled a variety of local treats. I had a piece of grilled fish on a stick that was labeled as “Pike Conger”, a type of eel common in Japanese cuisine and known as hamo. It was cold, firm, and had a slight fish taste. I had a tiny octopus on a stick with a quail egg stuffed in its head. It was also cold and had a strong octopusy flavor. Jesslyn was having a tough time finding something she wanted to eat, until we found little dumpling-looking things. We got a cheese flavored one and a bacon and onion flavored one. To her dismay, they turned out to be fish cakes. They weren’t bad, but not what you really want to eat for breakfast. I also had a smoked scallop, which were individually wrapped and sold. It tasted really good, but was extremely chewy. After about 5 minutes of chomping, I joked that I was chewing scallop gum.
Octopus appeared to be quite common. A very popular snack we tried was takoyaki, which are little balls of dough with chunks of octopus inside. It is topped with a sweet, teriyaki-like sauce and bonito flakes. This is might be the best way to eat octopus.
What's better than a baby octopus on a stick with a hard boiled quail egg stuffed in the head?
Dessert
We didn’t have too many desserts, but soft-serve ice cream was very popular. Every vendor had at least two flavors, vanilla and green tea, and usually a vanilla/green tea twist. In fact green tea was used to flavor a lot of things, like cakes, cookies, and Kit Kats. Another popular sweet was a cake-like pastry filled with sweetened red or white bean paste. Beans for dessert sounds odd, but it works. One night, we were watching an older gentleman making them through his shop window, when a very friendly local man came by. Through his broken English, he told us that the desserts were excellent, that Jesslyn was beautiful, and I was handsome. Then he bought us each a white bean cake. I am pretty sure he was drunk.
The food in Japan was unique and mostly delicious. You know the food of a country is special when it gets its own blog post. At the same time, I am looking forward to western style food in Australia and New Zealand.
- Jake