A Food Tour in Japan

I have been offline, for a month or so, on a Japanese adventure.

When an old friend suggested I attend a food tour whilst visiting one of Japan’s largest cities, I didn’t need to accept. Thanks to a family member, who has been to Japan no less than five times, I was treated to a culinary tour of authentic Japanese meals.

Most people are familiar with Udon or Ramen – the main stay foods in Japanese cuisine, with regional variations.

Stir Fry Dishes in Japan

A regular favourite was a stir-fry with Chicken, Lotus Root and Vegetables in Black Vinegar Sauce featuring high in Hiroshima and Tokyo restaurants. I was delighted to enjoy the Lotus Root, for the first time. I liked its satisfying texture and its taste that promised an aubergine-like flavour, minus the alkalinity. Adding to the appeal, I discovered that Black Vinegar Sauce has a variety of benefits – including weight loss!

“the warming nature of black vinegar can help improve overall blood flow and circulation as well as counteract high blood pressure. ….for disinfecting cuts, insect bites or as a skin dressing. Black vinegar has few calories and if you want to lose weight, consume one to three teaspoons of vinegar daily. This vinegar maintains the health of the immune system, is anti-inflammatory, and helps to improve the body’s metabolism. It contains considerably higher amounts of amino acids, polyphenols, trace minerals, and organic acids than other vinegars including balsamic and ACV.” [ww.livestrong.com/article/280498-what-are-the-benefits-of-black-vinegar/]

And lose weight I did – although I am confident that walking over 15 km each day certainly played a key role. One that was potentially more significant than Black Vinegar sauce.

Robot Wait Staff in Japan

Bettybot needed to do perform some hijinks around the lineup at the payment counter at the front of the store, to avoid clashing with the queue of customers. Amusing to watch… arigato gozaimashita, her only response.

The real adventure in Japanese cuisine is not always found in a restaurant, where your meal may be served to you by a robot, but on the street with a plethora of food choices, small family businesses with just a handful of chairs, and also, surprisingly, in the convenience stores [gasp].

Japanese Convenience Store Food

The food in the convenience stores – i.e. Lawson, Family Mart, Seven-11 and Seicomart, is ridiculously above average. The range, quality, freshness and price stand-out from the crowd. From sandwiches to Sashimi, from Ramen eggs to ice cream or pancakes, the convenience stores have it all, even alcoholic drinks.

The stores also offer foreigner-friendly ATMs, public toilets, free charging points, and somewhere to sit and eat – (which is not so easy to find with a massive population and extremely limited street seating/green spaces). Plus, culturally it is considered rude to eat while you are walking around the streets. In this case seek out one of the convenience stores, (such as Hot Chef in Hokkaido), that stock free wet wipes and hot water plus a range of tasty, very fresh affordable food.

I will talk more about Convenience food in another post. [There is lots to discuss].

But first, the iconic Japanese food – Ramen

Ramen

It is the soup broth that the Ramen soaks in that makes the Japanese ramen so tasty. Each restaurant and region has this individual way of making it and is essentially the store’s brand. Its a long process over several days to create the unique combination of pork, vegetables and seasonings that go into the soup.

It is truly delicious and you can watch the chefs prepare your meals. This is Ippudo, the Ramen from there is reputed to be the best. This Ramen restaurant is in Susukino Ramen Alley. We had to arrive early to secure a chair.

Ramen Eggs

These come complimentary with certain meals. The eggs are marinated in soy sauce. A tip – ordering a soft poached egg as a side dish in a restaurant does not mean it will be hot. More likely it will be served COLD. I found that challenging to eat.

Ramen Eggs (Ajitsuke Tamago)

Besides Ramen, there are other marvellously unique foods I tried that I will talk about in coming posts. They include:

1. Takoyaki – Fried Octopus Balls
2. King, Snow and Hairy Crab – from Siberian waters
3. Red bean Pancakes
4. Algae
5. Pumpkin ice cream and Sakura (cherry blossom) soft serve
6. Unagi – (Freshwater eel)
7. Katsuobushi / Bonito flakes
8. Gyudon
9. Katsugen and Hokkaido dairy
10. Mushroom biscuits (cookies)

And for those who are partial to vanilla or Napoleon slices, check this custard pastry variant out:

Dog Friendly Cafes and Bars

Unlike a lot of Europe, dogs are not welcome at all eating venues around Australia. The select ones that do welcome dogs, were so few a decade ago that I started a social media group to identify and share information about their location. It now has almost 9000 members. That is a lot of folks wanting to take their doggy with them to eat/have coffee.

Mostly the allocated dog friendly space at an Australian Dog Friendly Cafe is outdoors, without a fixed roof, if the venue is serving any kind of food. I do understand that dogs are unpredictable and can bark or become a nuisance. If this is the sort of dog you have, you probably would hang out at a park instead of a cafe.

Bearing this in mind, it was with much excitement that I attended Dalgety Public House located on the riverside fringe of the CBD. Not only did this Gastropub welcome dogs, they offered wide range of events, lunchs dinners, and weekend breakfasts. The meal we had was scrumptious and the Barista was a talented coffee artist who decorated our coffee crema with our own pet or animal of choice.

Here is some of her creations. Guess which one is my pup?

Are dogs accepted at cafes, pubs in your area?

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Michelin Meal in Japan II

Michelin Star Restaurants

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Most of us are familiar with ‘Michelin stars – the rating system for high-class restaurants the world over. Those highly sought after Michelin stars are indicative of excellence in consistency, presentation of food and mastery of technique.

What would you do if you were presented with a Michelin meal you couldn’t eat? Read the first part of a Michelin Meal in Japan.

Eleven Course Meal

My stay at a traditional Ryokan, or ‘Old World’ Inn, complete with Tatami mats and sliding paper walls in Kyoto, Japan, included an evening meal, which was served to us in our very own private dining room that comprised part of the sleeping quarters. A fantastic arrangement! Yes, well not necessarily.

It meant not eating the meal was never going to be an option, as we couldn’t leave the restaurant and go home. This was in our home, albeit our room, even if it was only for a short time.

Unfortunately, my daughter a.k.a. Miss Teen now ‘Adult,’ refused to eat any of Michelin Courses #1,#2 and #3 out of 11 courses. And this entire menu was all about seafood.

From Crab to Squid, Sea Urchin to Tilefish, (whatever that is), the menu lurched from one sea creature to another form of oceanic life. [With one token course that constituted a beef dish].

Me? I love seafood of all kinds. If it came from the sea, and is edible, I will eat it.

Miss Teen now an ‘Adult,’ on the other hand, would have none of it. She cannot eat seafood, or rather will not eat seafood. There was no forewarning of the menu contents, when we booked in at this Ryokan, so this was all a complete surprise.

On reading the menu, Daughter dear declared,

“Oh! I will just eat the rice!”

I dutifully opted for eating her untouched courses #1-3, but on re-examining the menu, I quickly realized I couldn’t possibly consume each and every part of the full eleven courses, for both of us.

I had to think. Which of the following options could I take for the rest of the meal?

1. Send her meal portions back uneaten
2. Tell the staff my teen is ill and can’t eat it
3. Apologise profusely and possibly insult the chef
4. Leave the Ryokan for other accommodation

None of those options sounded palatable, (no pun intended), and there were so many courses! To insult the chef would be rude, culturally insensitive and ungrateful. I also had to bear in mind, the Chef was to serve the rest of MY meal, which I was looking forward to eating.

What was I to do?

Michelin Food Disposal

I looked at the small bin provided in our room.

It would only handle paper and dry contents. I could not leave uneaten seafood portions there.

We were to catch an airport taxi and a 10-hour flight home to Australia the next day, so hiding it in my luggage would result in me smelling like a fish tank! Not the sweetest perfume de toilet!

I devised a plan. After the gentile kimono-clad room attendant/waitress, served up the next culinary marine delight and had left the room, I found a zip lock bag in my luggage.

It was similar to the ones they give you at the airport for storing toiletries, but that was all I had. Surreptitiously, I emptied the uneaten portions of daughter’s courses, within. It wasn’t easy. Those bags are meant for lip gloss and small hand creams. Not five courses from a traditional Japanese degustation style menu!

My subterfuge was very nearly discovered when the Japanese waiter returned, shortly after serving through the seventh course. Thank goodness she knocked on the door first. I would have had to fez up to ditching the food and how would that have looked?

Japanese Rice

Meanwhile Miss Teen Now an ‘Adult’ was by now, really hungry and looking forward to eating the course of rice. She suggested she might eat both our serves, as she was hungry. “Of course you can,” I reassured her.

Just before the rice was served, we were to be served tea. Green tea. At the mere mention of Green tea by the waiter, Miss Teen Now an Adult, shook her head vigorously to indicate ‘no,’ and eagerly awaited her bowl of rice.

The course of rice was then served – but to her dismay, one bowl not two, arrived, and was served to me only!

Miss Teen Now an ‘Adult,’ was completely forlorn. First all these serves of seafood and now no rice! The poor room attendant clearly had not understood. As soon as our door was closed again, I pushed the rice bowl towards her explaining I had more than enough to eat with all the sea urchins etc. and that she should have the rice.

If the truth be told, I’d have liked to try the rice as the Japanese are very particular about its quality. They do not like imported rice, and prefer the home-grown variety. Miss Teen Now an Adult, inhaled the whole bowl, before I had the chance to request even a small tasting portion. But that is okay.

Soup and Dessert

Strangely, a small bowl of miso soup course followed the rice – perhaps it aids digestion, or could it be that they think a person has consumed too much seafood, at that point? Remember there was now two bowls for me to drink, not one!

The Dessert course consisted of a Persimmon, times two, of course. I’d never eaten a persimmon before, so that was a novel experience and I confess to being quite partial to the sweet, delicate taste. I couldn’t get through the second one, so it also went into the baggie.

There was still my shady skulduggery of hiding food to address: about 5 courses of seafood and a half a persimmon sat in a zip lock baggie inside my handbag. It was 10 pm at night, I was in a Ryokan, in Japan and there was no rubbish bin in sight.

It was time to go out for a little walk.

Gion Bin Hunt and Geishas

Now in most countries, unless a G7 or Olympics were being held, it would not be too difficult to find a rubbish bin on the street, where I could discretely dispose of all aforementioned Michelin Chef scraps.

But this was Japan.

In Japan, each citizen is responsible for their own rubbish. Japanese people take home their used plastic drink bottles and empty food wrappers for recycling or dispose of them, to landfill. You must either pay for rubbish collections from your premises, or take it to the landfill, yourself. Thus, there are very few if any, public trash bins on the streets, in Japan.

It looked like we were in a long walk.

We walked the Gion with not a single bin, in sight. We passed several 7/11 stores along the way – no bins there either.

Around 10.30 pm we saw her.

A Geisha Girl in full attire.

Japanese Geishas

The genuine Geishas are notoriously secretive and seeing a working Geisha in real life, really did make the whole rubbish disposal expedition, totally worthwhile.

In my excitement of seeing her, I fumbled for my camera, its carry cord becoming tangled up in the zip of my handbag, where said seafood was hiding. For a minute, I was completely distracted by the thought of a full-to-bursting ‘zip lock bag,’ spilling its unwanted Michelin meal contents inside my handbag, which would no doubt lead to me smelling like a tile-fish or sea urchin, for the next 24 hours! Meanwhile the Geisha was getting further away Ah!

An American tourist shouted at me to ‘run’ after the geisha, in order to get the prized photo. You can see him in the foreground. The Geisha, by then, had got some distance away. It was amazing how fast she moved in those traditional wooden shoes and maintained her poise. I got the photo. It is grainy, but one grainy photo is better than none.

You are told not to stop or ask Geishas to pose for photographs as they are considered highly skilled working ladies, who entertain guests through performing the ancient traditions of art, dance and singing and are handsomely paid for their time. And she did seem to be in a dreadful hurry.

Suddenly the fact that we had to walk further to find a bin, didn’t bother us as much. We eventually found one at the large Yasaka-jinja Shrine at the Gion. And we could both sleep easier for the rest of the night.

Miss Teen Now an ‘Adult,’ was really keen for breakfast, the next morning, but understandably so, don’t you think?

I gave her all my serving.