Japanese Food Appreciation Thread:
- Thread starter Etrian Oddity
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Did you go to Wakkoqu? The plates/decor look familiar. I loved that place! What a sublime steak!During the winter break I travelled around Kobe,Kyoto and Osaka and had the privelage of eating some ridiculously tasty Kobe beef and Osaka style Okonomiyaki.
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Kobe high-five!
There's some good stuff you probably just need to start hitting the locals and stray away from you local Shirokiya or Watami. I've found lots of stuff I'd never had seen if I didn't stray into the little mom and pop places. Whale bacon, ume-karage (pickled plum and jellyfish), and a few other things I'd didn't think anyone would put together.
SolidusDave
Member
What's this, a meal for ants?
I have a food allergy against pretty much any kind of seafood. Is there still enough good stuff for me to try in the japanese cuisine? From my narrow view it feels like the best jp dishes are with seafood (and/or with sauces based on seafood etc.). I already saw some good looking stuff in here though.
Yeah, it was the one close to Shin-Kobe station. Was recommended to me by a friend who read about it in his Lonely Planet travel guide.
I also forgot that Japan has the greatest ice cream snack ever.
Yukimidaifuku
A Japanese friend of mine is also allergic to fish and he still lives in Japan.
So you can do fine in Japan. You can even try sushi, but make sure it is sushi with meat, which is btw awesome.
Zoe
Member
Etrian Oddity
Member
Good tempura batter is so damned hard to make. You have to not only mix the flour into the water with an exact amount of strokes (so as to let it remain airy and bubbly), but you also have to chill it the exact right amount.So delicious, Miyakos is the greatest.
Hmm, wonder how hard it would be to make this?
I pull my hair out trying to make good tempura batter.
You don't need much! Little 6-cup rice cooker, an oven or toaster oven to broil, a small frying pan, a small pot, and you're good to go.
First step to losing weight is cutting all those noodles and rice. Second step is making everything yourself.
plenty of good dishes with beef/chicken/pork/tofu/rice
just make sure they don't use dashi
Gentleman Jack
Member
Mechamortal
Neo Member
I love crunchy rolls.
You're not alone. I like the food here in Tokyo, definitely, but the longer I'm here, the longer I realize just how unremarkable the cuisine can be as a whole. It's always the same experience each time, or rather, it's a very consistent experience. Foreign food in Japan is almost never as good as what you can find back home, either. (Part of why I feel this way is because I have coworkers who constantly complain about how bad food outside of Japan is. If only they knew how utterly boring their own cuisine can be...)
My favorite dish has to be tsukemen. Just plain noodles that you dip into a soup base. If the soup base is done right, it tastes perfect.
Has anyone watched Cooking with Dog? I think it's a great little youtube series that shows you how to make really easy basic stuff.
I love me some Gyutan (牛タン! I spent one year studying abroad in Sendai and would've never thought I'd enjoy tongue as much as I ended up doing. Same with Kani. I had the best Kanidonburi ever when I went to Otaru. Soooo gooood!
! I spent one year studying abroad in Sendai and would've never thought I'd enjoy tongue as much as I ended up doing. Same with Kani. I had the best Kanidonburi ever when I went to Otaru. Soooo gooood!
Peterthumpa
Member
Best one is Hot Philadelphia, that's for sure.
How does the dog taste?
French food is probably one of the biggest exceptions out there, but it's a very particular category of cuisine and extremely pricey.
Korean food is much worse than in Korea and in the U.S., in my opinion; the former is certainly almost indisputable. The fact is that many chefs of foreign food often have to dumb their food down in order to attract Japanese customers, or else they'll simply go out of business. Most Japanese I know have very low tolerances for oily, sweet, or salty food from other cuisines, and that's reflected in what you find here.
I find the Chinese food in Japan to be far too monotone compared to what I usually eat in HK, Shanghai and SF. Many Chinese, Taiwanese and Singaporeans I know agree as well. Just try having a xiao long bao in Tokyo and one in Taipei or Shanghai. The difference is like night and day.
I'm not sure how this could really be argued against. I describe Japanese food as very narrow. They have a small range of kinds of flavors that they enjoy, and they're extremely good at making food to fill that niche. I find it fairly odd given how much variety is embraced in other east/south east Asian cooking.
Etrian Oddity
Member
So I tried ikura sushi for the first time today! Wasn't sure how I would react to it, but I loved it. Sweeter than I expected.
I picked up the vanilla variety today for my diet's cheat day! So great!You can get this in the States, and in more flavors!
Dessert of the gods.
Yup, CwD is great. I also strongly suggest RunnyRunny999's channel. He's not only a great cook, but he's also freaking hilarious. Very witty and charming guy.
Gully State
Member
Something that I've been kinda picky about and don't quite understand but why put shrimp tempura in udon (nabeyaki etc..)rather than on the side? Putting it in the soup completely kills the crunchy texture of the shrimp tempura. Yeah, you can eat it first..but then I like to enjoy the shrimp as one of the last parts...
It seems the argument you're making though is that the food of culture is better in its country of origin which applies everywhere I'd think.
What I was saying is the Thai Indian Chinese korean food is better than what I've had in the us or the uk for example. I'm not saying its authentic but I do enjoy it.
There are a lot if flavors in Japanese food that I'm not really into 磯の香り or ocean is one if them. Also really dislike mix of salty with sweet like in mirin etc.
It's not always that simple tho. They had this complicated(ish) recipe for mochi ice cream, and my wife says "bah why not just have the ice cream by itself?" LOL
It's a good show tho, we have gyoza pretty regularly now, and she learned how to make that from Cooking with Dog. The more complicated stuff tends to be sauces with 50 ingredients that you can easily fuck up. With things like that I'd rather just go to a restaurant.
Ponzu is magic sauce makes everything taste better
It's all down to preference. If you have taste preferences that are close to what most Japanese people have (not to sweet, not too oily, not spicy, small-but-efficiently-prepared-portions), then you'll enjoy what they have to offer here. But a common complaint others have, including many Japanese who lived overseas, is that the food is just very mellow overall. There's tons of great stuff, but very little of the food seems "provoking" on the senses.
I have another acquaintance who operates a Mexican restaurant in central Tokyo. He says that he needs to not only dumb the food's natural flavors down so they don't shock Japanese people, but design the menu in a way that won't scare Japanese people away at the door. I find that tragic myself. The menu hardly resembles the Tex Mex you find in the States. And coupled with many Japanese people I know who speak of the horrendous food they've had in places ranging from China to the U.S., I really think it's just them.
But I digress. Food in Japan, especially native food, is fantastic, and I almost never eat anything nasty myself. I think the food here is worth the trip alone.
It's all down to preference. If you have taste preferences that are close to what most Japanese people have (not to sweet, not too oily, not spicy, small-but-efficiently-prepared-portions), then you'll enjoy what they have to offer here. But a common complaint others have, including many Japanese who lived overseas, is that the food is just very mellow overall. There's tons of great stuff, but very little of the food seems "provoking" on the senses.
I have another acquaintance who operates a Mexican restaurant in central Tokyo. He says that he needs to not only dumb the food's natural flavors down so they don't shock Japanese people, but design the menu in a way that won't scare Japanese people away at the door. I find that tragic myself. The menu hardly resembles the Tex Mex you find in the States. And coupled with many Japanese people I know who speak of the horrendous food they've had in places ranging from China to the U.S., I really think it's just them.
But I digress. Food in Japan, especially native food, is fantastic, and I almost never eat anything nasty myself. I think the food here is worth the trip alone.
I think this is the same for each country not only Japan. As a restaurant you have to cater to the tastes of the people who will buy your food. You can try to stay true to the origin but then there is a chance your audience will be a bit smaller.
Here in the Netherlands we have a lot of so called Chinese-Indonesian restaurant which are completely catered to the tastes of the Dutch. But you can still find true Indonesian or Chinese cooking here if you just look around. But a lot of the people don't want to do that.
The same goes for japanese restaurants here. It never tastes what I know from Japan or my mothers cooking. Everyones cooking is different and you just have to adjust it to your own taste when making it yourself.
Btw: Japanese food especially candy can be so very very sweet that when I give to people here they just look at me scared when I gobble down a whole hi-chew package.
Etrian Oddity
Member
So yesterday, I was fortunate to visit Uchi (Austin, TX) on a day when their imported fish order contained kohada, or gizzard shad.
Gizzard shad is a relative of herring, and is one of the most traditional and popular sushi toppings in Tokyo-style sushi. It never took off here in America though, perhaps due to its name or perhaps due to its native waters in Tokyo Bay and the Sea of China.
I've gotta say though, out of every nigiri I've tried, gizzard shad may be the very best. Texture and flavor were outstanding, and it wasn't as oily or fatty as tuna or bonito. In fact, the couple next to me at the sushi bar took my recommendation to try it, and actually ended up getting three or so rounds of it.
So yeah, gizzard shad. Don't let the name fool you, it's good eats.
Gizzard shad is a relative of herring, and is one of the most traditional and popular sushi toppings in Tokyo-style sushi. It never took off here in America though, perhaps due to its name or perhaps due to its native waters in Tokyo Bay and the Sea of China.
I've gotta say though, out of every nigiri I've tried, gizzard shad may be the very best. Texture and flavor were outstanding, and it wasn't as oily or fatty as tuna or bonito. In fact, the couple next to me at the sushi bar took my recommendation to try it, and actually ended up getting three or so rounds of it.
So yeah, gizzard shad. Don't let the name fool you, it's good eats.
Zoe
Member
^ You eat the scales too?
Speaking of Austin, ramen has really been taking off lately.
Ramen Tatsuya is still my favorite, but Daruma Ramen is interesting because they use chicken broth and meat instead of pork. Yesterday was the last day of the soft opening, and their grand opening is next Monday.
Speaking of Austin, ramen has really been taking off lately.
Ramen Tatsuya said:
Michi Ramen said:
Shinjuku Ramen and Sushi Bar said:
Daruma Ramen said:
Ramen Tatsuya is still my favorite, but Daruma Ramen is interesting because they use chicken broth and meat instead of pork. Yesterday was the last day of the soft opening, and their grand opening is next Monday.
Etrian Oddity
Member
It's actually scaled -- what you see is its skin coloration. Gizzard shad's skin is nothing like salmon or tuna's, it's really thin and tender. Plus, it's beautiful.
Fun fact: The sushi chef who took care of me at Uchi was actually trained by Tatsu, owner of Ramen Tatsuya and former head chef at Imperia.
I've been wanting to go to all four of those ramen shops, but when you're saving up money to visit places like Musashino and Uchi, you don't have a lot of leftover cash. :\
But yea, there's an unbelievable Japanese renaissance going on in Austin right now. Qui's is opening soon, too.
Etrian Oddity
Member
Soto? I haven't been there... oh, Cedar Park, that's why. I live south of Austin. Now you've got me curious though.
Uchi's sushi is good, but Musashino up on Anderson and Mopac is considered by many to be the best sushi in town. I've been there for lunch twice and I've gotta say, it's pretty outstanding.
Uchi's sushi is good, but Musashino up on Anderson and Mopac is considered by many to be the best sushi in town. I've been there for lunch twice and I've gotta say, it's pretty outstanding.
lunchtoast
Member
I miss coco's.
Omelette curry w/ naan bread.
Omelette curry w/ naan bread.
Zoe
Member
It's brand new, just opened in the last month I believe.
Same
Creme croquette / hanbaagu level 5 rice curry. Won't have it in my life for a long time.
I just ate here for the first time a month ago. It was really good.
Come at me, Otaku-Gaf.
Sauteed calamari!
Zoe
Member
Tatsuya > Daruma > Shinjuku > Michi
We went to Michi the first day they were open though, so they're probably better now.
Etrian Oddity
Member
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