FISH FOOD

Favorite Eating Experiences in Japan

1. Pocky-Candy biscuit sticks coated in chocolate at the top. One of the national candies of Japan, from what I could tell. I always loved the fact that when I spent a few dollars on a pack in a convenience store as big as a phone booth my change was returned, literally, on a silver platter.
2. Conveyor Belt Sushi-The industrial but cute alternative to traditional
sushi bars. Sit down and grab what you want as it wanders around the bar
like a model train. Plates are colored to indicate price. Some have machines that determine how long the fish has been on the belt and discard it accordingly.
3. Shiraume (Ryokan and Kaiseki, Kyoto)-Kaiseki refers to a multi-course, choreographed and stylized meal of largely local elements where presentation is well on par with taste. Each course, ideally, complements and accentuates the next. It’s particularly popular in the Kansai region around Kyoto and Nara. Shiraume is located in the middle of Gion, the pleasure district of Kyoto, amidst dimly quiet streets, with buildings whose windows glow like fireflies on early evenings, where Geishas occasionally glide by like ghosts, and red paper lanterns signal specialties of the house. To enter you cross a bubbling trout-filled brook. We were lucky enough to secure a room with one window to the creek and the other to a quiet Japanese garden. Our meal was served by the kimono-clad daughter of the proprietor who described each of our 14 courses in detail as they were presented. Each time she entered, she slid on her knees to our low, hovering, Japanese table, refusing to touch her feet on the ground. The meal was a ridiculous cascade of local meat, seafood, broth, fruit and vegetables, all dressed and shaped like ice sculptures.
4. Tsukemono-“Soaked things” or Japanese pickles. Pickled in salt or
brine, or sometimes soy sauce, miso or vinegar. As a friend of mine told
me before I went over, “the Japanese pickle everything.” Though not
necessarily conducive towards maintaining a low-sodium diet, the array of
pickled daikon, turnips, cucumbers, ume and Chinese cabbage is a nice
starter or side dish, or just something to munch on over a glass of beer.
5. Daiwa Sushi-Located in Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market, the largest fish
market in the world, where one dodges Bobcat crate moving vehicles and
tries not to step on escaped crabs crawling on the water soaked floor.
Daiwa is located outside of the main warehouse, amongst an open air market where you can find wet and dry goods as well as t-shirts. The bar seats around 12 people with wiggle room if you want to go to the restroom. On the sidewalk, the hostess organizes those waiting for a seat into crisp parallel lines for what can be an hour wait. Once inside, if you’re smart, you’ll choose the multi-course, prix fixe Omakase (chef’s choice) option, which runs around 60 bucks for around 12-15 servings of sushi. I’ve never tasted sushi the way I tasted it here and suspect I never will
until I make it back, sushi with a proximity to the sea that is in no way unpleasant. I tried to order sperm sac of cod but was told it was “out of season.”
6. Japanese sweets-Subtly sweet delicacies presented in elegant glass
counters and served with small shot glasses of cold tea. After we visited
a sweets store in Tokyo, having just been treated to service that would
fit in at a four start restaurant while only spending around $10 total,
the clerk chased us down the street to return the $2 tip we left. There
are as many types as you might find in a similar American store. Machaya-Youkan are jelly concoctions composed of bean paste and green tea. Kuri-Manju are stuffed with white bean paste and chestnuts and baked. The flavors are mild and delicate rather than rich and creamy, fleeting rather than cumbersome.
7. Udon-Udon are the thick, wheat based noodles, about as thick in
diameter as those chilled cheese sticks you can get in the dairy section,
that populate the broths of many Japanese soups, as well as cold dishes.
I’ve been consistently disappointed with all of the udon dishes I’ve had
over here since my experience one Sunday night in Rappongi at an udon
restaurant set into the ground like a cave right off of the train station.
Liberated from the distracting array of vegetables and additives that
might be include with the soup at a Western restaurant trying to cover its
ignorance, this bowl featured a simple and steaming broth with flaky pieces of green onion and egg that saturated the noodles towards Ameratsu. I’ll never look at a bowl of udon the same way.
8. Sembei-Kind of like sand dollar-shaped versions of those rice
crackers you find in Oriental snack mix at the airport. Made to order
over fire kettles as you watch.
9. Yakitori-Basically referring to grilled meats (and sometimes
vegetables) on skewers that function as bar food in Japan. On one of out
last nights in Tokyo we tracked down the Lonely Planet recommended Piss
Alley, a narrow Occupation Era alleyway of simple eateries that seems to
sweat history and ambience, and functions as a culinary way-station and
bar for thirsty, tired and hungry sararimen before they embark at Shinjuku station for the trip home. Orders are made to order on a grill a few feet in front of you by the owner and then served alongside tsukemono and beer as you rub elbows on the closely packed bar stools.
10. Vending machines-Vending machines are everywhere in Tokyo. Unlike
their American counterparts, though, rather than stocking them with
stomach eating purveyors of carbon, the Japanese opt for a diverse mix of
coffee drinks, green tea concoctions, beers and fruit drinks. I lived off
these things in the morning to afternoon hours as I toured the standard
tourist sites. And it was nice to be able to grab a beer at night in the
hall of my hotel.
11. Starbucks-Walk into a Tokyo Starbucks on with a hangover on a Monday morning and you’re immediately greeted with something that sounds like it starts with an S and probably means something like "good morning" and sounds like it came from a bird of paradise. Spending $6 for coffee and a bagel never felt so refreshing and esteem boosting.
12. Okonomiyaki-Translates to something along this lines of “whatever you like” and also called Japanese pizza, Japizza and the seemingly outdated and perhaps offensive Japcakes, Okonomiyaki is a pan-fried pancake/pizza/omeletteesque dish, cooked before your eyes, made with okonomiyaki sauce, egg and other ingredients including onion, mayonnaise, shrimp, squid, noodles, cheese, fish flakes, ginger, octopus and noodles. We stepped into two separate Tokyo restaurants, two nights in a row, and asked to be surprised with the chef’s choice and received Okonomiyaki both nights. I guess they thought we would want pizza, being from America.

(Obviously this is only the surface of what the Japanese have to offer. I’ll leave the rest to my next visit, or Anthony Bordain. For a much more informed view, go to www.bento.com.)