Is It Edible? And other mysteries of Japanese food...

I returned from Japan on October 3rd and have been agonizing over what to post about it since. It was such an adventure, I can't NOT post something. But it was all so different that I've been having trouble focusing on one highlight. So I think I'll just tell you everything...

Noodles & Soups
Probably my favorite Japanese food experience was the soup noodle bowl. Whether Udon, Soba, or Ramen, these dishes never failed to hit the spot. A very satisfying broth, a few vegtables, and some meat - perfection every time. The highlight for me was probably the chanko-nabe we got in the Ryokogu area. This is a type of stew that sumo wrestlers eat. A pot is brought to your table with some broth, to which you add meat, tofu, vegtables, noodles - whatever you want. As the stew cooks tableside the broth gets more and more flavorful. The last spoonfuls are the most delicious. Our chanko-nabe had the thickest udon noodles I've ever seen, as well as a slice of something pink on the outside and white on the inside. I thought it might be a vegtable, but I took a bite and it's texture was bready/doughy - sort of. Just one of many unidentifiable things that I ate on this trip.

Sushi
We had sushi meals on a couple occasions - both excellent. Once in the Tsujki fish market area and another time with some locals at a sushi bar. It goes without saying that the sushi in Japan is super-duper fresh. I might be spoiled for life now. I think the strangest piece of sushi I ate was monkfish liver. Still, to this day, I still cannot decide if I liked it or not. Let's go through the pros and cons. Pros: rich, buttery flavor. Cons: looks foul; strange buttery texture that is creepy to bite into (imagine biting into a stick of butter). When thinking about eating this particular piece of sushi, I can feel myself making a face, all the while remembering being pleasantly surprised, and actually enjoying it. Just another mystery of eating in Japan.

The Rice
Japanese people eat rice with just about everything. White, sticky, unsalted rice. This was very different for me. The rice I make at home is basmati rice, cooked with chicken broth and seasoned with a little salt. Basically, the exact opposite of what the Japanese eat. Let's just say I like my seasoned, flavorful rice better than the gluey, bland stuff I got on vacation. I chalk this up to cultural differences.

Typical Japanese Meal
When you order a traditional Japanese meal, you will get 5-7 small, simple items as opposted to one big plate of food. The items are served all at once (not in courses) and in separate compartments on a tray. Kind of like a TV dinner, I guess. You get some rice, some soup (like miso soup), some salad (like seaweed salad), maybe 1-2 pieces of sushi, and a few other items that I usually could not identify. One time I got fried lotus root in a peanut sauce. Once I got a tofu piece that was coated in something that looked like boogers. I ended up prefering the booger-coated tofu to the peanut sauce-coated lotus root - go figure. Food mystery aside, I found that I rather enjoy this way of eating and might try it out at home.

Fake Food and the Mystery of the Meal
While its true that almost all restaurants have fake food in the window to show what they serve and most menus have pictures, I still managed to be baffled by my own choices. Sometimes what is pictured isn't what you thought it was. Sometimes an English description doesn't cover all the details. All I can say it, it's a good thing that I am moderately adventurous with eating. One time I ordered a pork ramen. It had slices of pork on top, however the part of the pig these slices came from was not clear. In fact, had the menu not said "Pork" I don't think I would have guessed what those slices were. It was good though. Another time, at an Italian restaurant, I ordered seafood risotto. What I got was curried rice with some grilled seafood on the side. Did the menu mention curry? No. Would one expect curry at an Italian restaurant? No. Do I like curry? NO. Upon arrival of my dinner, I was quite disappointed. However, it is my philosophy that one never knows when one is going to start liking something, so one should just try whatever it is. I ate the seafood risotto, a.k.a. curried rice with seafood, and it was not bad. The curry flavor was very light and actually was a good compliment to the seafood. And while I'm not ready to go to an all you can eat Indian food buffet, I did enjoy my dinner.

In spite of my openness to try new foods, I have to say, the novelty of expecting the unexpected, when it came to food, wore off about halfway through the trip. There came a point where I was tired of getting my dinner and thinking, "Huh. Well that's different. I wonder if it tastes good." Even though 99% of the time I ended up liking what I got, I just wanted to order with confidence.

Is it edible?
For a day full of mystery and adventure, visit any Japanese food market and eat some samples. You'll find yourself surrounded by the unknown and constantly asking "What is it? What do you do with it? Is it edible?" I can see it's a dried squid, but what do you do with it? Any points you get from identifying the item are quickly lost when attempting to identify it's function. It's a facinating and thoroughly entertaining way to spend the day.

Dairy & Sweets - Cultural Differences
I learned quickly that the Japanese don't really do dairy. After a few days all I wanted was a cheese plate and some chocolate ice cream. Chocolate ice cream was not as ubiquitous as it is here. Green Tea ice cream - check. Red Bean ice cream - check. Chocolate ice cream - send out the search party. Cheese plate - forget about it. As for the sweets, the Japanese flavor a lot of their's with red bean paste. I discovered that red bean paste gives me heartburn. No more red bean paste for me, thanks. I did finally find what I was looking for though - chocoalte ice cream in a touristy area; cheese plate on the bar menu at my hotel; sweets in the fancy food section of an upscale department store. In short - places that cater more to international tastes.

Coffee
Every cup of coffee I had in Japan was excellent. From the coffee in the conference-sized percolator at my hotel's breakfast buffet to the cappucino at the fancy coffee shop, I never had a bad cup. Not ever. Not once. There are no words that can properly express my gratitude for this fact. In a country with so many unfamilliar ways and means, the comfort of a good cup of coffee was irreplacable. Apparently it's not hard to make a decent cup of coffee and I think the rest of the world should get on it.

Epilog
When I got home I tried to stay awake until a respectable bed time, but fell asleep on my couch. I woke up about 8 hours later, in the evening, and was starving. No food in my house and lousy with jet lag, I got in my car and decided to drive until I saw something that appealed to me. Hello KFC. As I pulled up to the drive through, I noticed, with some amusement, that there were pictures on the menu. I ordered a two piece chicken meal (breast and thigh please) with mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, 3 biscuits, green beans and brownie bites. When I got home and opened my bag I was very pleased to see that I had a chicken breast, a chicken thigh, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, 3 biscuits, green beans and brownie bites - just like I ordered. I ate my American Comfort Food Feast with a big glass of milk and then stayed up until 4am the next day (rats! Worst jet lag. Ever)..

When i woke up the next day I made Kraft mac & cheese. I added some shredded cheddar. Delicious.

A week later, however, I was craving miso soup and sushi, and missing the excellent coffee, and the gracious people of Japan. It was an extrodinary trip. Japan is one of those places that I'll visit again, and I'll have fun, but it will never be like it was the first time.