Kushiyaki

Kushiyaki is typical Japanese cuisine, skewered vegetables,sea food,beaf and chicken etc grilled on an iron plate.
Today I went to the Japanese restaurant in Osaka to have Kushiyaki for my lunch.
It was good!!!

Oyako-domburi

While I'm on vacation in Canada I won't be eating Japanese food at all. Of course I will be too busy trying the local food so I've been wondering what I sould have for my last meal before leaving Japan.

I decided on "Oyako-domburi"a very popular Japanese home style dish which is very simple and quick to prepare.
The name can be roughly translated to"mother and sons(oyako) served on rice(domburi)".
It's served rice in a bowl with chicken and an beaten egg boiled with soup stock.
(Egg and chicken = Mother and sons)

Usually I would make it at home,ingredients are usually on hand but in preparation for my trip to Canada I've totally cleaned out my fridge which I'll leave empty while I'm away.
See you next month!!!

Tonkatsu

Have you heard about Tonkatsu?
Tonkatsu is  popular Japanese dishes which are deep fried pork cutlets.
It's usually(always?)  served with thinly sliced cabbage and miso soup.

Tonkatsu sauce is made from fruit and vegetable purees such as apple and tomato puree, sugar, salt, spices, starch and caramel. The ingredients are similar to Western Worcestershire but the consistency and taste are different.

Today,I went to Tonkatsu restaurant to eat lunch.
Needless to say,it was delicious!!!
Sometimes I cook Tonkatsu as my dinner because it's easy to cook and almost all Japanese people love Tonkatsu!!!

Ryotei

Sprinked water in front of the restaurant  means "we are Open"

Ryotei is an expensive restaurant that serve Japanese traditional Kaiseki-ryori(haute cuisine of Japanese) in private Japanese-style room . There are plenty of ryotei in Kyoto.
Luckily I had a chance to go there!!!Food was delicious and really comfortable room so I had a great time.

Kaiseki ryori is a traditional Japanese multi-course meal prepared from fresh, seasonal ingredients. Some dishes are served hot, while others are served chilled or at room temperature — just the way they're meant to be enjoyed.

Recently, some high-class restaurants have begun offering meals in a single container, such as a basket.

The restaurant was located along the liver

Hitsumabushi

Hitsumabushi is a very famous dish from the Nagoya region.
In Japan,there are so many kinds of local special dishes.It's a source of pleasure and interest when we are traveling around the country.

After trying Hitsumabushi on my last trip to Nagoya,it wouldn't be right to go there without enjoying it again.
The first time was an eye opening experience for me.

Everywhere in Japan we can find Unagi-Donburi(grilled eel on rice) which varies from place to place.
Hitsumabushi is the Nagoya version,finely chopped after being basted and  grilled before the customers eyes and served on top of rice.
Sounds like any other Unagi-Donburi but somehow it becomes easier to eat and even tastier,when prepared in the local style.

Usually the customers in famous Hitsumabushi restaurants are not local people but tourists who want to sample this most famous example of Nagoya cuisine.
The restaurants cater to their customers by providing a printed guide showing the "correct"way to eat their eel.According to the guide there are 4steps.

1:divide the donburi into 4quarters,transferring one quarter to your chawan(small bowl) and eating just so.
2:transfer the 2nd quarter adding finely chopped spring onions and shredded nori(sea laver).
3:transfer the 3rd quarter adding the restaurant's special dashi(soup stock).
4:help yourself according to your own taste.

Usually Japanese people love to follow rules which claim to be "the right way"so they happily follow guides suggestions.
But I am an exception,I decided to skip the first 3steps and so straight to eat as you like.

Kama-meshi

Kama-meshi is a very important,but not well-known food of japan.It's named for the kama,Japanese iron rice cooking pot which was used before 1950's in every household and restaurant.
Meshi means rice and meals but this word is a little bit old-style Japanese.Nowadays,usually men say meshi but it means meals and casual Japanese.

 portable kama

Since it's replacement by the electric rice cooker it has become a cultural icon.Reminding Japanese people of their connection to  an ancient culture.The electric rice cooker is so convenient,cooking the rice and keeping it warm at the push of a button, so it's wide spread adoption was inevitable.
But kama-meshi is revered by modern Japanese,who claim it gives a special flavor to the rice and are able to bask in warm memories of their childhood and cultural roots.

Anyway,I went to yakitori restaurant so I ordered " Tori(chicken)kama-meshi " which is a chicken,shimeji mushroom and carrot version.The flavoring ingredients are placed in the kama with row rice and dashi(soup stock)and slow cooked for 30 min.
After ordering the kama-meshi is brought to the table and cooks before the guests eyes.
As we wait patiently we must never take off lid even for a second , otherwise the dish will be spoiled resulting in hard  under cooked rice and the offender will be scolded.

After 30min has passed the lid is lifted,the aroma is savoured and the contents are well-mixed before serving.

Yakitori

Yakitori means skewered chicken-grilled  over charcoal.
Yakitori restaurant is popular with all Japanese people,it doesn't matter what age or gender.

Usually people go to a yakitori restaurant after their job with coworkers or friends but also it's normal to ho there with family.
In general,yakitori restaurant is not  big,most of them are very small, space is limited, so it the restaurant is busy,it can be a little bit noisy.

There are 2types of seat,one is at the table and the other is at the counter.Yakitori goes well compatible with sake(rice wine),so men often come here alone, so count er suits that kind of customer.

This is a counter  seat,with a lone customer enjoy his yakitori and sake or beer

Yakitori is a well-known food of Japan,because of course it's tasty and easy to eat,It is nor necessary to use chopsticks  because the skewer is thin and small so we just pick up the skewer and bite off the grilled chicken directly.It's not considered rude!

Yakitori is grilled over charcoal not in a pan,so it's very healthy because during the grilling also a lot of fat is released from the chicken.
We have 2choices in flavor for yakitori, tare(special yakitori shoyu sauce) or shio(salt).

It's also de rigueur that there are various other foods and alcohol on the menu ,of course it depends on the restaurant ,but they have at least 100 choices of food and alcohol.

The menu of choices

I will show you some food that I ordered!!!

Japanese pickles

This is pickled cucumber.
Usually Japanese pickles are made from
cucumber or eggplant.

smoked duck

negima

negi means spring onions and
ma means between.
This is skewered  spring onions between chicken  with tare(special sauce)

sasami

white breast meat with shio (salt)


tsukune

minced chicken with various seasonings.
usually round shaped.

deep fried chicken with ponzu sauce

ponzu sauce : a sauce containing soy sauce and vinegar or citrus juice




tebasaki

chicken wings.
we can choose deep fried or grilled.
this is the grilled type. shio(salt) flavor.









After drinking alcohole,usually Japanese people order rice meals as their last food.
Of course I ate special Japanese rice meal!!!
Next time I will show you and tell you about kamameshi.

Do you want to eat yakitori and want to drink sake???



Goemon

Today I'd like to introduce "Goemon",a very popular Japanese-style spaghetti chain restaurant.The restaurant chain is named after "Goemon"a well-known thief from the late Sengoku period(1594) who was finally captured in Kyoto and executed by being boiled alive in a cauldron. Not many details are known about his life and exploits but there are  documents that prove he existed.

If you are a big fan of Samurai drama or Kabuki,you may have heard his name as he often appears as a character.

The name is very apt Goemon having suffered the same fate as the spaghetti being boiled in a pot.It may seem strange to see everyone eating spaghetti with chopsticks,but this is a Japanese spaghetti restaurant so there are no forks available for customers.

My favorite is mentaiko (salted cod roe)with tsukemono (Japanese pickles)and thinly sliced pork,sprinkled with sesame seeds,fine strips of nori(sea laver) and finely chopped spring onions.I usually order this one!!!
Most of spaghetti in this restaurant Japanese style but of course you can eat Carbonara and  Bolognese etc with chopsticks.

You can see plastic replicas of the dishes available in the restaurants front window like this.
When I was taking this photo,the staff were starring at me as though I was a spy from another restaurant,but actually I'm just a big Goemon fan!!!