Category Archives: japanese food

a little (or a lot really) more okinawa

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So, the main reason I went to Okinawa was to dive. But, as I got there a little earlier than I needed to and you can’t fly within 24 hours of your last dive, I did squeeze in some other activities. And I even managed to put some makeup on…once.

But before I can even get to Okinawa, let’s discuss my little oversight when booking my flight. I went for cheap, and thus ended up on a 6:00 am flight from Narita. Now, in NY, a 6:00 am flight is not a big deal. You can take the subway, or the bus, or hop in a cab for a max of $60. In Tokyo, there is no bus or cab early enough to get you to Narita at 6:00am, let alone by 6:00am. And a cab ride? Around $200. So, upon realizing this two days before my departure, I had to book a hotel by the airport.

Freak rainstorm hit while I enjoyed a little pit stop to visit my friend Chelsea. Note to all: always carry an umbrella in Tokyo if you’re not going to check the weather.

Professing a cheap price and airport shuttle, I booked a two star hotel. Well, two star was probably a little generous. This picture illustrates pretty sell what the rest of the experience was like. On top of which, oh, no airport shuttle before 6:30 am. What the what? But at least it was only a $25 cab ride… But hey, it was a bed for a few hours of sleep and a quick trip to the airport. And the combined cost of the hotel and the cab…less than half what the cab ride would have been. How ridiculous is that?

So, after my flight, I had a few hours to kill in Naha (the “big” city where the airport is) before I needed to hop on the bus to head north, so I decided to go see this castle at the end of the monorail line. It had some amazing views and was a good little excursion. In addition to that, I got to see a little dance performance and just enjoy seeing a new city. It’s so different from Tokyo. Much more Hawaii feeling…but older and a little more Asian (but only a little).

And then it was time to take the bus and head to the American Village to meet Jan, the dive dude. He was much younger than I expected, but super nice (as stated before–not sure why I didn’t take a photo with him) and I was just so happy to be getting back in the ocean with a tank strapped to my back.

We went for two dives over these beautiful soft coral reefs. Visibility was not great, but given that there was a typhoon just four days earlier, that was to be expected. It was still incredible. I’ve never seen that much soft coral before. And so many beautiful fish. I was also reminded how much I don’t love beach entry diving…but also how quick it is. One of my favorite things was that Jan had this new type of BC, at least new to me. They are super stripped down and have a heavy plate on the back so it’s a lot easier to hover and achieve neutral buoyancy. Also, the don’t make you feel quite so think and stay-puffy. Yes, that’s a technical term.

Jan loaded up lots of tanks for all of our dives over the next two days. That’s a lot of air.

After those first two dives, Jan drove me up to the pension (like a cheap B&B) where he’d made me a reservation for two nights. The cutest little house in the world with the nicest woman…who spoke no English. It was fantastic. He also showed me where a couple of restaurants were for dinner just a short walk from the pension.

After Jan dropped me off and I got settled, I headed to the restaurant he called “authentic Okinawan cuisine” which also had live music happening. It was so great. The food was delicious (I was introduced to taco rice) and the music was so fun and the people were so friendly. I was the only white girl in the whole place.

Great light fixtures
Rocks and grass (fake of course) on the ceiling. So funky.
Okinawa is all about the pig…
Including pig ears. Can you see them? Hint, they’re super thin slices.
Super fun singers! See video below. The song is one you hear all over Okinawa.

The next day was all about diving. It started with a very Japanese breakfast (of which I tried a little of everything…pickled plums are something I will never have again, and marinated seaweed I can live without, as well. The pineapple, however, was amazing!

Jan picked me up and we headed to the dock to meet a number of other divers. We were going out for three boat dives. I was so excited. And it was incredible (the photos of the actual dive were already posted in my dive post).

Between dives we got off the boat and had some lunch. I couldn’t resist a wander over to the beach and this Shisa was just calling out to me to take his photo. So cute! (Click the link for the story…it’s pretty cool and they are all over Okinawa and Kyoto (as I found out this weekend).

Shisa

I wish I’d had my own underwater camera to take on the boat because the views were amazing, but it was way to wet for anything that wasn’t water proof. The dives were all great and it was fun to have lots of company on the boat (not that I could understand most of them, except for Jan and the couple that was diving with us). There was a group of underwater photographers and it was cool to see them get all set up under the water for photo shoots of various things. In addition to that, I got to do my first hole and tunnel diving. I don’t think cave diving is in my future…but holes and tunnels are pretty amazing.

I got back to the pension completed exhausted, lightly sun-kissed, and super salty–basically in the best state one can be in. I fell into bed knowing, but only after telling the pension lady (I don’t know what you call her) that I would need to have breakfast at 7am. We had an early start to go diving with the whale sharks.

And that experience is one I will remember for the rest of my life. Swimming with such a huge animal and being able to reach out and pet it. Seriously incredible.

After that, the diving was done so there would be time for the nitrogen build up in my blood to release prior to getting on a plane. It’s one of my favorite things about destination diving. You have to take the last day and relax. And relax I did.

I decided to spend my last night at more of a beach hotel than a budget pension. Granted, it wasn’t super luxurious, but with views like this and a location on the beach, who needs uberluxe? I spent the afternoon laying out and walking along the beach. It was just lovely.

When that was done, I needed to figure out what to do for dinner (the hotel restaurant left a little to be desired) and I was ready to put on real clothes and some makeup. So, I got dressed and headed down the road on a lovely walk during which I got to watch the sunset and stop as often as I wanted.

By the time I finally got to a any kind of civilization, I’d walked about two miles, but it was totally worth it, especially because it was this place we’d driven by four times in the past two days and it was this great touristy place with an awesome shop and several restaurants. Think Dole Plantation in Hawaii..but instead of pineapple, they had all of these purple potato treats (an Okinawan thing). I enjoyed yakiniku (Japanese version of Korean bbq) for dinner and then shopped my little heart out. It was a perfect last night in Okinawa.

Me and a giant tart

Monday morning I took a nice long walk on the beach and saw some fun creatures and collected some shells.

The I packed up and headed to the bus stop to get back down to the airport, stick my bags in a locker, and go do a little more damage in Naha. I was hoping to get a few more things for the nieces and nephews and I still needed to get my bowl. Naha actually has an entire pottery district, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to find it in time, so I headed to the main tourist drag and figured I’d find something there. I ended up missing my stop, which put me right in the neighborhood for the pottery district and I found these amazing ramen bowls. (Shown back at my apartment with delicious, homemade tonkatsu.)

I also got to see some awesome t-shirts (among lots of other shopping).

Rad Wimps. Japanese translation for Hipster.

And I ended up getting so much stuff I had to buy a new, awesome bag to get it all home in.

One of my nieces is going to be super excited about this…

I would love to say that the rest of the trip was uneventful, but that would be a lie. Nothing major. Just a piece of luggage stuck on the baggage carousel with no one able to figure out how to get it unstuck and the rest of stuck waiting for baggage for about 30 minutes. But, considering what an amazing vacation it was, small price to pay.

The end. Up next…Kyoto.

cooking again

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When I moved here, I decided I was going to really commit to observing Sunday as a religious day of rest, per my religion. In New York, I wasn’t super, well, religious about this. But I know I’m a happier person when I actually make Sunday a break from the every day. Plus, I figured it would be good to have one day when I wasn’t eating out. And so, after the first week (I am realistic in my goals…I arrived on Saturday at 5 pm), I have been very committed to this. This meant I was actually going to have to cook again…at least if I was going to eat real food.

The first thing I did was figure out how to use my Japanese rice maker that has no English on it anywhere. And while we’re on the topic of rice, can we just all acknowledge that Japanese rice is better? I know most of you haven’t actually had rice in Japan, but I’m telling you, it’s amazing. So good, in fact, that I’ll be hauling a two-kilo bag home for my sister in November because she likes rice even more than I do. Moving on…

I figured out the rice and just started with something basic. I absolutely love to bake, but cooking is a whole different ball game. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, but it’s more about speed than precision and I was made just the opposite. Even when I’m making savory things, everything I’m good at is something you put together and bake (swiss cheese chicken, leg of lamb, lasagna, Thanksgiving turkey…yes, my repertoire is weird) or something that requires people to cook their own food (fondue, raclette, paninis), so actual cooking without a recipe…not my strength.

Well, apparently, basic was a good place to start because it was delicious.  It might also help that I think the Japanese have much less tolerance for mediocrity (yeah, that’s right, I’m calling most Americans mediocre) when it comes to food. They are definitely quality over quantity.

So, this was a good start. But then, a couple of weeks ago, I was at my friend Holly’s house for dinner and she had made tonkatsu (this delicious breaded pork amazingness that I’d had one at a restaurant) using chicken instead of pork and it was so good. As good as the restaurant’s, in fact (you know, if the pork had been chicken…). And Holly also informed me, by showing it to me, that you can purchase tonkatsu sauce in the grocery store. It is available in the US, as well.  
Restaurant version

Well, that inspired me to branch out a little and try a fancier stir fry. It turned out quite nicely (I used squash instead of carrot and overcooked that slightly, but otherwise, it was delicious). That’s what I struggle with the most…getting all of the components of a meal hot, cooked, and ready at the same time. Baking is soooooo much easier.

And then I was at Holly’s again, to babysit while she and her husband went out on a date (maybe their first one sans baby since moving to Japan?), and she had made another delicious meal. This time it was gyudon, this super yummy beef on rice thing (bottom right) along with no-bake cookies (and they had a DDP for me, which is not an easy thing to find in this country, a cute baby, and Hulu Plus–if you want me to babysit for you, it doesn’t require much to make me happy).

Side note – I kind of love Mindy Kaling’s new show.
I know the gyudon may not be much to look at, but let me assure you it was unbelievable. I might have considered licking the frying pan. I didn’t, although I’m sure none of you would have been surprised if I had with only a baby to witness it. In any case, this convinced me to do two things. The first? To attempt making tonkatsu (it seemed easier than gyudon). The second? To buy a Japanese cook book. 

So, on Saturday while out and about with another friend, Erika, we found a bookstore and she, being Japanese, helped me find a really good cookbook. We went to a huge store in this lovely part of town, had dessert (it has a restaurant in it), and then wandered over to the cookbook section and found a few books in English. I’m super excited to try so many of the recipes. Unfortunately, the only recipe not in the book I chose was gyudon (it might have been in another book by the same woman and I might have taken pictures of the recipe…it makes me feel better to know I found almost the same one online when I got home that night).

And on Sunday, I made tonkatsu using pork. I didn’t follow the recipe in the book (here’s one from the Food Network if you want to try it). I just did what Holly did and it was incredible. Hot and crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. The only difference between this and the restaurant in terms of the cooking was that I pan fried, while traditionally it’s deep fried. My Japanese teacher, Sawaki-sensie, also informed me that it is typically served with cabbage. Next time. That said, it was still so delicious and how delectable does it look on a bed of oh-so-delicious sticky?

The best part about this goal to not go out to eat on Sundays (or shop, etc, etc) is that this cooking thing is now spilling over into my weekday life, too. Part of it is that some night’s I’m just so exhausted that the thought of having to use my brain enough to try and order food in Japanese is too much to handle. But the other part is that I’m not so overwhelmed by it anymore. Oh, and knowing that, if I leave my dishes in the sink all week (rinsed, of course), on Friday the cleaning lady will do them. Yeah, my life is pretty awesome. Now, don’t you wish you lived here so I could invite you over for dinner?

even i have limits

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So, I have always been one who believes in trying everything at least once (well, when it comes to food). I don’t like everything I’ve ever tried, but I am willing to try it. Yesterday tested my commitment to this belief. Maybe not more than ever (the caterpillar on my mission was by far the craziest thing I’ve ever tried), but it was quite the adventure.

I decided that I would head down to the Tsukiji Fish Market yesterday morning. The goal was to get down there in time for the auction that happens at the butt crack of dawn…but that didn’t happen. So I headed down a little later to see it (get the lay of the land for when I do have the motivation to get up at 3:30 am to head down) and to get some of the freshest sushi in the world.

This is a long row of restaurants next to the actual market. The ones with sushi have lines.  The others, not so much.

I waited in line a LONG time for this sushi, so I was hoping it was going to be worth it. And worth it, it was! Seriously, the sushi was amazing. So delicious. That said, when I was still in line (staring in the window) I saw one of the sushi chefs put this piece of nigiri in front of a customer and it moved. Yes, it MOVED. I knew I was going to eat it because, well, that’s just what I do. But I was kind of nervous about it.

All of those umbrellas? People in line for one of the sushi places. My line looked about the same. Totally worth it!

The itty-bitty sushi place where I ate. This is where I first saw the clam. Notice that it’s so small, there’s a shelf above divers’ heads for their bags. Even tighter than in NY

Anyway, I finally got seated and waited with anticipation for the piece of super fresh clam. However, before we got to that, I had a piece of sea urchin. Let me tell you, if you are going to venture into sushi for the first time (or you’re a “California Roll” type), DO NOT get sea urchin. The flavor is fine, but the texture? So nasty. And this coming from the girl who has eaten a caterpillar.

So, after I got through the sea urchin, I was just waiting for the clam. Everything else was delicious, but I was slightly preoccupied with thoughts of the clam. Oh, and being told when I could and couldn’t use soy sauce. These sushi chefs? Super nice, but very serious about their sushi. And then the clam came. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my iPhone ready to go for the video, even though I’d been thinking about it constantly since I’d seen it. Fortunately, it was so good that I felt just fine about ordering a second piece. Amazing! (Watch the lower left side of the piece…you may have to watch a couple of times to catch it.)

But the really adventurous eating came later, at the yakitori place my friend (yes, I have some friends!!!) and I went to for dinner. Yakitori, for those who don’t know, is a kind of Japanese bbq (small little skewers of assorted meats and vegetables). It’s fairly straight forward. There are some adventurous types of fish and parts of chicken you can order, but everything is cooked (and seriously delicious). Note to self: when you think something’s safe, think again.

So, when this little bowl was put in front of me full, you can understand why I was slightly shocked (and nervous) about trying it:

Fish heads, fish heads…

Yeah…so all those little silver/black specks. Eyes. Eyes on little fish. Eyes staring at me. They kind of look more like worms with eyes to me. Somehow I stomached it (the flavor was fine–once I poured some soy sauce on it–and underneath was a big things of very mild, shredded daikon), but I don’t know that I will be doing that one again. Seriously, it was a little much. Even for me. In fact, looking at this picture kind of makes me feel uncomfortable.

I’m not sure how much more adventurous I will be able to get. Not that there aren’t more things to try, but seriously, I feel like I’ve reached my limit.

For those of you with more normal palettes, please know that there is a lot of really good, very normal food in Japan. You do not (I repeat, Rae, do not) have to be an adventurous eater to enjoy Japan. Like tonight, I’m going to my friend’s apartment (yes, that’s TWO! friends) for dinner and we’re having tankatsu (delicious, breaded pork…only she’s making chicken) and rice. Very basic. Very good.

and it continues

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Perhaps I need to rename this blog Ways I am Making of Fool of Myself in Japan. But, then again, the current title seems pretty appropriate, for every day seems to present a new existential dilemma for me…or, in some cases, an existential crisis. Okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic. But only a little. Now, onto the actual post.

Friday night I was wandering around my neighborhood looking for a new restaurant to try. This is both an exciting adventure and a painful task that I get to experience every night. I so wish I spoke Japanese! And I would eat at home, but why when there’s so much good food out there that someone else has prepared and dishes that someone else will do?

Anyway, back to the story. I saw this amazing looking oyster bar, but all the tables were reserved and I did not want to sit at the bar because it was also the smoking section and, while I tolerate cigarette smoke just fine when necessary, I don’t really like it with my food. (I will be going back there sometime this week because, seriously, it looked incredible.)

So, I kept wandering and found myself down a little side street (which is most streets in Tokyo) and wandered past a restaurant with all of these lovely wind chimes tinkling in the evening breeze. I kept walking past because it was a sukiyaki/shabu shabu place, meaning it was both pricey and going to be way too much food for just me. (Don’t worry, I am making friends slowly, but I’ve actually been thoroughly enjoying my quiet life these past two weeks.)
After wandering down the street a little farther, I realized that the wind chimes were calling to me (wind chimes always remind me of my brother’s house, so that was probably part of it) and there was a waiter/host outside of the restaurant who just looked so very friendly. I headed back and followed the nice man down the stairs (everything is vertical in Tokyo, so it’s not uncommon to eat in the basement or on the 9th floor) and inside…where it was obvious that I was going to be asked to remove my shoes. I did so and then followed the host/server past a section of perfectly good, empty, western style tables to the back, where there were other diners and, yes, Japanese style table (i.e. floor level seating). Thankfully, it was not “sit cross-legged” floor seating (there was a lowered part for my feet/legs) because no one wants to think about what a disaster that might have been with my current dribbling issues. But still, is there a graceful way to sit on the floor in a restaurant? 

Once seated, I looked over the menu and decided to just get the sukiyaki (way to much food for one person), which came with a little appetizer, clear soup, sashimi, tempura, sukiyaki, and a little dessert. (Since moving here and dining alone most nights, I’ve learned to just be okay not finishing all my food even though doggy bags are not a feasible option most of the time.) The appetizers were just little vegetable dishes. The sashimi was pretty straightforward, minus the full shrimp (eyeballs and all) that stared at me. Apparently you are supposed to suck out the insides of the head. I am an adventurous eater, but even I have limits. Although you will see that they are pretty low. Then came the clear soup with, I kid you not, half a fish in it–fins and all.

See the shrimp eyes? 
See the fins?
So, at this point, I was very much looking forward to the tempura because that is always very straightforward. And the tempura came and there were no surprises. The waitress proceeded to prepare my sukiyaki (the pot is brought to the table and cooked right there on a little portable, gas range thing) and I decided to dig in to my tempura. I saw this little round blob sitting on on the paper. I wasn’t sure what it was (mushroom, maybe?), but I saw what was clearly tempura breading on it, so I pick it up and plop it in my mouth.

Sukiyaki, pre-cooking. 
Well, that tempura I saw on it was just a little flake. I had just put a large blob of grated daikon (an Asian radish) into my mouth. And while nowhere near as hot as horseradish or wasabi, it still has a little kick to it and the last think I wanted to do was swallow this whole thing. Not only that, but having had tempura one other time since living here, I knew the daikon was meant for the tempura sauce…and I wanted it in the sauce!
See? Existential crisis.
I would love to tell you that I decided to be the upstanding, appropriate, polite, well-mannered individual that my mother and grandmother raised me to be. I would love to tell you that I just sucked it up and swallowed it. I would love to tell you that those ridiculous scenes in movies where people do ridiculous things like hold food in their mouths until they can spit it out without anyone noticing are just that: completely ridiculous and totally unrealistic. I would love to say all of these things right now, but I cannot.
There I sat while this waitress took, what felt like, five years to get the sukiyaki going with a huge blob of daikon in my not-so-very-large mouth. She’d look at me every so often (probably wondering why I wasn’t touching the oh-so-delicious tempura sitting in front of me) and I’d smile to the best of my ability with my mouth full of radish. Finally, she walked away. I glanced around at the two other occupied tables and made sure no one was looking at me. And then I did what you are all hoping and praying I didn’t do (only secretly happy I did because it’s going to give you a good laugh); I lifted the little sauce bowl to my mouth and spit the daikon into it. This might be a new low. 
There’s a great quote by American author H. Jackson Browne, Jr. (I had no idea who he was until I looked for this quote) that states, “Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.” Clearly, I have some character issues. I can happily state that had anyone been with me, I would have just swallowed the daikon. There’s just something about the anonymity of living in a very foreign country where I can barely communicate with anyone that affords me the freedom to be completely ridiculous. Which, as most of you know, is not my normal state of being when I am in my normal life. And while I probably need to get back to that place because this is my normal life now, there’s something so liberating about just not caring. (I think my therapist would be proud?)

Okay, back to the rest of the meal. For the most part, it proceeded without any more ridiculousness. The only part that was a little iffy was when the nice waiter brought me a raw egg in a bowl (to accompany the sukiyaki, as I learned) and I had absolutely no idea what to do with it. I communicated as much to him using very basic English and a lot of sign language (well, ridiculous hand gestures…it would be offensive to the deaf community to call anything I was doing “sign language”). Somehow, he understood what I was asking and showed me that the egg was meant for me to mix up and then dip my beef and vegetables in it–as in dip them and then put them directly into my mouth.

Since I was now in a state of complete ridiculousness given the daikon incident, I decided to just go for it. I am so thankful that a) I am pretty comfortable with weird foods and b) I have a stomach that can handle a lot. Plus, with all the cookie dough and brownie batter I’ve consumed over the years, I figured I was pretty safe with a little more raw egg. Although, had this been any country other than Japan, I probably wouldn’t have done it, but considering their high standards for quality, I figured I was okay. (Last night is was seared chicken–as in mostly raw–in my salad. I had already taken a few bites before I realized what it was, so I just kept going. One of these days my luck is going to run out, but for now, apparently I’m okay.)

And finally, there was dessert; vanilla ice cream and some sort of jelly something (consistency somewhere between jello and gummies). I have no idea what the flavor was, but it was delicious.

And with that, I paid my bill and stood up as gracefully as possible (which is to say not very gracefully at all) and headed home…laughing to myself the whole way. If nothing else, my time in Japan will be full of very entertaining memories.