Worryingly, I haven’t touched upon the subject of food!
Well, I think it’s high time to address that issue and get all gourmet, trendy, and super chic and Japanese into the world of noodles, sushi and rice. Before I came here, I thought that I was pretty worldly when it came to knowing about food. Turns out I was entirely wrong. There is so so so much that I haven’t tried, and Japan has given me a kick start into trying some things that I never thought I would even consider eating.
14. Goo. I seem to have eaten a lot of goo. Some nice, some gut wrenchingly disgusting. One particular ‘favourite’ was a dubious blob of grey goo which, when picked up with chopsticks, left a nice stringy sticky trail of yuck still attached to the plate. As delicious as I’m making it sound, funnily enough it was vile. I think grey foods are better left well alone.
13. However, the beautifully vibrantly pink goo was delicious. It turned out to be pickled ginger. Yum in my tum.
12. Pickled ginger led me nicely into talking about the strange array of pickled veggies one is given as a little appetizer as soon as you sit down anywhere. Not being very sure which vegetables I’m actually eating, I always find this little titbit to be incredibly welcome.
11. Everyone knows that sushi and raw fish is a big thing over here. Well, I hadn’t realized quite how much they’re into EVERYTHING raw. I have sampled chicken liver, beef and horse, all raw, all dericious. Unfortunately it wasn’t the same case with the tripe.
10. I feel I need to say a bit more about the fish. I honestly can’t quite express how good it is here. Melt in the mouth tuna (or maguro if you want to sound fancy) mind blowingly soft salmon, and my personal favourite, sumptuous little pearls of scallop. I’m dribbling as I type.
9. The battle between sushi and sashimi. For those of you not in the know, sashimi is just sushi but without the rice. I’ll be honest; I’m batting on the side of sashimi. The rice is good, don’t get me wrong, but I find it clogs the taste of the fish a little, obviously in some cases this is a massive plus point for sushi as what’s placed on top may be far from appetizing.
8. Gyoza. Oh Gyoza how you make my life complete. Little pouches of joy filled with happiness and springtime glee. Fun to make, easy to cook, even easier to eat. You can fill them with anything (I’ve even dabbled in making apple gyoza which went down a treat even if I say so myself) dip them in whichever sauce you feel fit and feel cheery afterwards. They are the best thing ever.
7. Well, actually, I say gyoza are the best thing…I haven’t even started on all the different noodles you can get out here. Ramen, soba, udon, somen. All delicious in their own special way.
6. Ramen. The most readily available over here in Nippon (obviously depending where you go) tasty and satisfying, these noodles can be made with so many different sauces they’ll make you dizzy with choice. However, they are a touch on the greasy/salty side and tend to be eaten by lonely toothless men sitting on their own, or sumo wrestlers.
5. Soba. The more slender of the noodle family, and can be eaten hot or cold. I prefer them hot, as I do with all the noodles actually; eating them cold just feels like you’re eating lots of worms.
4. Somen. AKA Angelhair noodles. Lovely added to miso soup if you want to be filled up a little more but don’t want to worry about the addition to your waistline. A new discovery for me and a very happy one.
3. Udon, my favourite. I know a lot of people are put off by the big thick wormy resemblance of these critters, but all I can say is, don’t be put off. The best udon I’ve had are from a small restaurant called ‘beer delicia’ in Shinjuku (authentic sounding, I know). Covered with a garlic-y, chilli-y, tomato-y sauce, I have well and truly been won over by the fattest of the noodle family. Well done, sir.
2. Things I avoid: pretty much any part of the chicken which isn’t the meat, i.e. skin, cartilage and innards, or giblets. Tripe; AVOID AT ALL COSTS. The weird yellowy/greeny spongy thing which has apparently come from somewhere in the sea. Dried squid; a snack favoured by the old and smelly. Natto; fermented soy beans which look like snot, smell like rotting everything, and have the consistency of those weird gooey alien toys you could buy in an egg. NO THANK YOU.
1. I think the key thing is here is to realize that in every type of cuisine there will always be less tempting delicacies. I don’t know if I’m put off by certain things in Japan simply because I’m a massive softie from Europe, or because they actually are truly disgusting and should never be eaten by any living human being. I like to think that the latter is true. Having said that, I came to Japan slightly slimmer than I am now, and I think that’s a better testament than any to show just how much I do love the food here. Itadakimasu.
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