Feasts for Eyes and Tummy
Food made, food bought, and a few short trips.
Today’s soundtrack is not thematic, it’s just incredible. A cover of No Diggity by The Main Squeeze. They also have a great Redbone.
The “wow”/”wow wow” at 0:42 are just… chef’s kiss.
Life Status
Life is about as normal as one could expect. I work from home (almost) every day. But in Tokyo. I cook sometimes and I eat out sometimes. No big changes so far, but I have eaten some tasty things and seen some cool sights, and that’s what I’m going to post today! Oh I guess I turned 29. That’s it though.
Food, a collection
Here are a few things that I’ve gotten when eating out. If you’re worried at the Google maps ratings, something I’ve learned is that Japanese people are REALLY stingy with the 5-star rating. A 3.5 is considered a good rating on Tabelog, which is basically Japanese food Yelp.
While this burger is pitifully thin by America’s perhaps unreasonable standards, it was quite good. And this restaurant is notable to me because it sells canned Coke, which is the second best kind behind glass bottles. For the most part, soda is sold in plastic bottles which is absolutely bottom tier, and as a result my life has been sorely lacking in quality cola.
This curry restaurant is in Shibuya near the office, and I met one of my coworkers after work so I wouldn’t be alone on my birthday. Soup curry is a great concept -- what if I want ALL THIS FLAVOR, but just in reduced intensity so I can eat it in large volumes? Perfect.
These dishes are from a humble neighborhood restaurant nearby that sells classic Japanese dishes: soba, udon, rice bowls, etc. The waitstaff are all kind old ladies. Very relaxing. The katsu curry has an extra flavor in the sauce that I can’t identify that sets it apart from curry that I made myself (from roux cubes) and from chain curry. Maybe they make it from scratch? I’m not sure, but it keeps me coming back. The katsudon isn’t breaking any ground, but it’s still delicious and by ordering it here it means I don’t have to make a mess deep frying in my own kitchen. Worth it.
万豚記 代々木店 - - Chao! Chao! Bamboo
These two dishes are from different restaurants, but they’re both versions of tantan-men, which I love. The darker one is loaded with black sesame, and thankfully the shop offers a bib when you eat there. Lord knows that red sauce is going everywhere. This shop is also known for selling truly gigantic gyoza which I have ordered but don’t have a photo of. You can check them out on Google though. The other bowl is from a little shop in Harajuku around the corner from where I got my hair cut -- my hairdresser actually recommended it. It was one of only shops I’ve ever been to in Tokyo where you order at a counter and they bring you the food.
This just isn’t as good as poke in California or Hawaii. Not for lack of trying though, it was still good. But I’ve eaten my weight in poke prior to coming to Japan and my standards are very high. The fish was excellent, obviously. But Japan has poor access to fresh avocados. I’ve already been here twice though; it still hits the spot.
This is actually my free lunch from work. Since we aren’t quite the size of FB, there aren’t a plethora of cafes to choose from. But the food was really good AND moderately healthy (that is miso pork belly, no one is perfect).
I have had sushi many times already, but it doesn’t always look as pretty as this. It was also quite good and I will definitely return. This shop also has a specialty of 16 tiny squares of various itty-bitty sushi pieces that looked good, but I was a hungry lad so I got the big pieces. You can check it out online though.
These shots are from two different restaurants but I’m grouping them because they’re similar. The first one is a shop in TBD that allegedly started a trend (that I am unaware of, but maybe other Japanese people are?) of having tempura with champagne. Which I did. Pictured you can see eggplant, mushroom, shrimp, avocado, and mentaiko (spicy cod roe, under the avocado). This place was GREAT, like a symphony of flavor. I will be returning.
The second is from a shop in Shinjuku which was playing exclusive late 90s up to mid-2000s alt rock. Behind the bowl of udon is a tempura soft-boiled egg, and to the left are shrimp, shishito, eggplant, and pumpkin. The ginger-ale is a domestic product and was very gingery. Quite refreshing.
This tray is from a soba specialty shop. For the uninitiated, soba is a type of noodle that uses buckwheat flour in addition to more standard flours. From left to right are descending ratios of buckwheat:normal flour, with the one on the far right being the tamest in terms of flavor. All were good.
This is from my local shop that IES alum will recognize. On the right is kimchi okonomiyaki and the left is pork yakisoba. If you’ve never had it, okonomiyaki is like a savory pancake that’s good for getting rid of leftovers. The base consists of a batter and chopped cabbage -- then you’re free to add whatever veggies and meats you want to flavor it. At the end, it is topped with a sweet and tangy sauce (unsurprisingly named okonomi sauce), mayo, seaweed powder, and bonito flakes (the same thing you see on takoyaki). The yakisoba was good and classic, but didn’t break any new ground. Despite having “soba” in the name, it actually uses only normal wheat flour in the noodles, don’t fall for the classic blunder.
To finish off this section, look at this beautiful cut of meat. It was just as delicious as it looks. Yakiniku and Korean BBQ have a lot of overlap, where the chief difference I think is that KBBQ places automatically give you banchan, but you have to order them at Japanese ones. Yakiniku places from my experience tend to have more focus on beef, whereas KBBQ places feature chicken, pork, and seafood too. I don’t really care about the differences though, any time I go to either I have a great time.
Takao
My first expedition outside of Tokyo proper was to Mt. Takao, or Takao-san as it comes up in lots of articles when I googled it. When I first came to Japan in 2014, I had the totally reasonable assumption that the -san suffix attached to mountains (see also Fuji-san, Koya-san, etc) was the result of applying a certain level of respect to the mountain the same way you would a person (e.g. Nakamura-san). Turns out this is totally incorrect; -san is just one of the ways to read the character 山, which means mountain. In my headcanon though, people are still referring to these mountains with reverence.
Learning kanji is hard and the whole “this can be read multiple ways” thing is simultaneously very interesting historically and wildly frustrating today.
My trip started with a trip to the conbini to get hiking snacks (why hike if you can’t snack?). I got jerky and nuts, which I didn’t photograph because they were boring. What I didn’t buy but DID photograph is this wonderfully named product:
The American corn lobby needs to up its game.
The ride and subsequent walk to the base of the trails was through a very cute town with older architecture.
I actually didn’t know which way the mountain was after getting off the train. But everyone (most people*) travel to this station to go to the mountain, so following the crowd is usually a safe bet at attractions. After a few minutes I arrived at this cute entrance that was already featuring some blossoms:
Takao-san has both a cable car (alpine, not San Franciscan) and a chairlift. However, they both stop service at 4:00. Because I’m myself, I didn’t wake up early enough to walk up and take the lift down (which is actually preferable compared to the other way around because my right knee is… troublesome going down hill). So I took the chairlift up!
Cable cars have real walls and seats, who doesn’t want the thrill of hanging above the ground with only the looming threat of Darwinism keeping you in your seat?
At various points around the path were statues, markers, small shrines, and more. Most things didn’t have English translations of the plaques, so you can just look and enjoy the aesthetics:
One of the notable attractions on Takao-san is a monkey park. I didn’t go because I was hoping to get back down the mountain before a restaurant in town closed (spoilers: I did not make it), but I did take a photo of the adorable identifying photos as well as the family tree (heh).
The hike up itself is extremely gentle, with difficulty only being supplied by how fast you want to go. On the way I passed people carrying babies, toddlers, and a few people who could have been three times my age. The day was cloudy so I was a bit worried about the view from the summit, but clouds added to the view in a spectacular way.
I loitered at the top for an appropriate amount of time considering my investment to arrive, but I didn’t want to stay too long (again, restaurant closing soon). There are actually 6 paths up and down the mountain that meet and cross at different points, so being the adventurous lad that I am, I chose a different route down. Unlike the route up, this one was not paved and was largely empty of other people.
While the trail was lacking in people, it did have some very conscientious shine guardians.
WEAR. YOUR. MASKS.
I arrived at the entrance literally 2 minutes before the soba restaurant closed, and I didn’t want to be that guy, so I got the other tasty thing on this mountain.
The three dango brothers, part 2
Hon hon hon, I’m a chef
Here is a limited collection of things that I’ve cooked that are actually worth sharing. I have made many more things, but not everything is exciting.
This is braised pork belly. Normally it takes many many hours to make, but with the magic of a pressure cooker it only took me two. Although visually similar to thit kho (especially with the inclusion of the eggs), the absence of fish sauce gives this dish a very different flavor profile.
Although bland in color, this was very good and easy to cook. I love eggplant, pork, AND miso so I had to try it.
There are a few variations on the Japanese omelet, but all of them involve mixing the egg with other ingredients before cooking. Once mixed, you oil the pan and pour a little egg in. Once the bottom is cooked but while the top is still wet, you roll/fold it into one side of the pan. Then grease the pan again and add more egg, repeating the process and creating a soft, fluffy, layered egg. It’s a common bento ingredient and you can also see it on sushi. This rice bowl I’ve assembled is real bachelor food -- the spicy chicken was purchased from the supermarket with 20% off because I bought it near closing time.
This screenshot with Francis apron, photo of Francis in the back, and stuffed dogs where Francis used to sit is honestly tearjerking.
One of my favorite Japanese content creators was Cooking with Dog, a YouTube cooking channel that is “hosted” by a Poodle named Francis whose voiceover is done by a person with a Japanese accent trying to speak English with a French accent. It’s incredible. You can watch the omelet being made here, or just read the recipe here. Unfortunately, Francis passed away a few years ago, but the channel continues on with his spirit.
This salmon dish is a mainstay of mine, due to its simplicity and the relatively low number of dishes that get dirty. The rice is special too; it’s flavored with ginger, tofu skin, and soy sauce as well. This was the first thing I made in my oven and it worked out great, even though I usually use the broiler to cook this.
I made this on a whim when I walked by the beef section in my market and saw that this cut was only $8. In the bowl is rice, the steak, steak-don sauce (purchased), two types of pickles, and a healthy pile of green onion (it was about to go bad). Oh and wasabi on the edge of the bowl. 10/10 if I do say so myself.
Sukiyaki is a kind of hotpot consisting of meat, veggies, and other accoutrements simmered in a strong broth. In addition to the plainly visible items, this sukiyaki has tofu, daikon/carrot shavings, and shirataki, which is konjac in noodle form. The bowl that looks like raw egg is a bowl of raw egg -- some people choose to dip the hot soup items in the egg for extra flavor. I did it too; it was great. After growing up on a steady diet of cookie dough, I salmonella holds no fear in my heart.
Sukiyaki (like other hotpots) is sufficiently large that you need family/friends to fully enjoy it, and I was lucky to be invited to this sukiyaki “party” by a friend-of-a-friend after they got the meat through “furusato nozei”, an interesting tax artifact where you can send a portion of your taxes to lower-population areas (instead of your local municipality) and receive gifts in return -- often local specialties. I’m not sure filing taxes can get more rewarding than this.
Literally “hand roll” as you’ve probably seen on a menu, this is a fun social way to make and eat sushi. The pictures kind of speak for themselves, so I’ll just identify the fish: tuna, amberjack (kanpachi ), sea bream (tai), and more (but different) tuna. The bowl in the middle is salmon roe (ikura). The yellow item on the plate is an omelet, but seen from above.
Hanami
Spring is here! Starting in February, the first signs of the approaching warmth are the pink blossoms of the plum tree. TOO BAD I DIDN’T FIND ANY. These are some early-blooming sakura - they beat the white ones by several weeks. I was told that these were plum by a non-expert, and after doing some extra research online it turns out these are just a different cherry blossom.
You can tell they’re cherry because they have a split in the tip of the leaf
I first saw a smattering of these when the weather was still cold. In late March and early April is when the main course appears (this year was the earliest sakura bloom in 1200 years by the way -- global warming is real).
the classic
The tops of trees are filled with pink/white blossoms and give streets and parks around the country the illusion of being topped with fanciful clouds. People in the US get excited about the blossoms too, but in Japan the flower-viewing season (hanami) is nuts. Pink packaging and marketing is everywhere, and you can buy sakura themed/scented/flavored products of all kinds. Desserts. Perfume. Alcohol. Makeup. Shoes. If it can be reasonably colored pink and sold, it is.
Blessed FamilyMart
On the weekends, the streets are absolutely packed, and people compete for the best spots to park their picnic blankets. The train stations at popular viewing spots have police trying to control the immense flow of foot traffic in and out. I have actually already experienced hanami a bit myself (in 2018 and 2019), but I felt like I should at least brave the crowds a little bit so I can tell myself I did it in my first year actually living here. I went to Ueno Park, which is situated just north of central Tokyo and is notable for its large park and zoo, and Nakameguro which is famous during sakura time for its canal which is lined with the trees. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
City
This section is honestly just a picture dump of some photos that I’ve taken while walking around town that have no theme, other than I was intrigued, amused, or excited in the moment.
These photos were taken in a Taito Tower arcade in Shinjuku. The first one is a frickin’ train simulator. I did not try it because it looks like there might be a lot of reading involved. Or maybe a little reading. I would prefer zero reading. The second photo is of my favorite arcade game, Groove Coaster. The two control… things are essentially giant analog sticks with buttons that you can beat the devil out of. Your in-game avatar rides along a little line while music plays, and dots appear on the line telling you how to interact with the sticks. It’s really fun.
This photo was taken from the top of a hill at Todoroki Ravine (there is a ravine, I promise. It’s quite pretty too, I just didn’t take any pictures because I forget sometimes). Mt. Fuji is technically in viewing distance, except there are trees in the way. The second photo (taken nearby) is not pretty but I thought everyone would enjoy the American caricature being used to sell tires.
Dessert@Home
I went through considerable effort to decide on and place an oven in my kitchen, and goshdarnit I gotta use it. What better thing to bake than cookies?
Based on the fact that I had to source an oven myself, it will not come as a surprise that baking is not nearly as popular in Japan as it is in the US. Some ingredients were available in the extremely sparse baking section of my local supermarket, but for the rest I sourced from Amazon. I did hit a couple snags in this process though:
too wet, still delicious to eat raw
Flour in Japan is different. They have bread flour, noodle flour, pancake flour, tempura flour, all kinds of flour. But I just want all purpose flour. How do you search for that which is unremarkable? I ended up buying a package that looked quite all-purpose -- it had illustrations of cake, tempura, noodles, and okonomiyaki. This is as all purpose as it gets, I guess.
I didn’t see baking soda the first time I went to my store, so I searched for it on Amazon. However, there are only two options that I could find for baking soda:
Baking soda advertised for cleaning, which I did not want to risk buying in case it had other cleaning additives
Food grade baking soda, but whose smallest packages were a kilogram. I’m not sure I’ve used an entire kilo of baking soda in my whole life.
I eventually went back to the store and found a very small package of it -- probably 10% the size of the classic Arm & Hammer package. But it was reasonable.
I could not find vanilla extract. At all. I thought I did and ordered it on Amazon. It was vanilla oil (which is allegedly still edible and I ended up using). But still, the correct ingredient is preferred.
Butter is not sold in the usual ¼ sticks.
Fun fact, Google does not highlight “sumbitch” as a misspelled word.
Once I had gathered all my ingredients, I did perhaps the most important step for my sanity: I let the butter soften. I don’t actually own a hand mixer any more, so I had to stir this sumbitch* by hand (after-action report: I will buy a mixer). After following the recipe as I have done a hundred times (you KNOW I got it memorized), the dough was unfortunately not the correct consistency. It was too wet. I added perhaps another 1/3 cup flour to make the consistency a little more acceptable, but I was afraid of adding too much so I didn’t keep going. After all, you can’t take it out once it’s in. And baking is a science. I should have trusted my decades of chocolate chip cookie experience, because I was right. It was too wet, and the cookies were extremely flat. But they still primarily consisted of butter, sugar, and chocolate so you know they were still delicious. They were just a little less convenient than normal cookies, because they would gently fold/break in your hands due to how soft they were, and you could feel the butter on your fingers after eating one.
Zushi (not sushi)
Lower left
Through the glories of the internet, I do actually have a couple friends. And through one of these friends I was invited to a picnic to enjoy the newly-arrived warm weather in a coastal town called Zushi, which is on the southern side of the greater Tokyo metro area. It took a little over an hour to get there, but there was only train transfer and it was early on, so it wasn’t so bad. The hard part was actually getting up on time (8:30, much earlier than when I get up for work…).
The beach was quite nice, although we didn’t expect the sun to be quite so harsh. Even with sunscreen, I ended up with a very mild burn and an accompanying Fitbit tan line. Like every beach town, this one also had opportunistic birds circling to try and pilfer our picnic. Behold, our tempting spread:
Vaguely back to front, left to right: Jagabee crisps, smoked gouda crackers, onigiri, katsu sandwiches, smaller deli sandwich bites, more chips, French fries and sausages, futomaki, saucy friend chicken, un-sauced chicken, mochi, sushi.
Tyler, what do you mean this isn’t eye-catching enough? idk man
For dessert, I supplied the aforementioned cookies, but we also got what is apparently a Japanese childhood classic, the Gari-Gari-kun ice cream bar. I’d seen them in stores before but never actually tried one (I wasn’t aware of the nostalgic significance and the packaging wasn’t eye-catching enough to convince me on its own).
The bar itself is actually more of an “ice pop” than “ice cream” but it’s still refreshing on a hot day. It has the flavor of a mild soda (Ramune-esque) and is easy to eat, even on a full stomach. The company behind Gari-Gari-kun received some minor fame on the internet in the past due to a 60-second advertisement regarding a nine-cent increase in price. Also, the light-blue-rectangle aesthetic will also be recognizable to players of the Kingdom Hearts games. It was a fine conclusion to the picnic. On the way out though, we stopped for some coffee to combat the post-meal sleepies. This coffee shop was kind of cute.
The Final Course
To finish off this meal of a blog post, I will be presenting a collection of desserts that I have encountered. First is the humble conbini lineup, plus Pringles because I honestly couldn’t find a better place in this post to put them:
Up next, a couple items from a specialty shop in my neighborhood -- a French bakery.
Most of the things they sell are beautiful. This shop is also important because they sell real bread. Bread isn’t as big a part of food culture here as it is in the west, so finding a place where I can get good stuff is wonderful. The first item is exactly what it looks like -- some kind of marmalade in puff pastry. The second is something that I hadn’t heard of and had to google, a pithivier. Except instead of being filled with apple, mine was filled with marzipan. And the last is just a chocolate danish.
Up next are a few seasonal items from a very dangerous shop, Mister Donut:
In addition to the solid lineup of normal donuts all the time, Mister Donut heavily advertises their seasonal offerings to get people in the door. And they are quite good. However, when purchasing the kinako/matcha donut, Never Gonna Give You Up came on over the store radio. I couldn’t believe it.
Lastly, a couple more bites from specialty shops
The cheesecake is Bailey’s Irish Cream-cheese cake, and it was amazing. My macaron is on the right, and it was salted caramel pretzel. It was also quite good. Finally, the cream-filled dessert I’m eating on the street is from Harajuku ZakuZaku, which sells different varieties of what I would describe as a stuffed Japanese churro. These are a wonderful combination of sweet/creamy and crunchy (hence the onomatopoeia name, “zaku zaku”).
After dinner mint
I just have to share this white-hot meme:
