Norio

Tenkasu is also great in Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki.

I usually get thin 8 slice, with my American sandwich tastes, but 4 slice is marvelous for the best French bread EVER. ← I used to get 8-slice when I lived in Japan, for frugality's sake. And sometimes "pan no mimi" if I was really broke.

This was my introduction to shio yakisoba, at an izakaya in Shinjuku. Very tasty. I think I prefer it to the "sauce" kind.

Grape drink! Dave Chappelle's favorite.

Cold french fries.

How about Hawaiian Plate Lunch style? You know, something with "two scoop rice, one scoop mac salad?"

Try this one: Lonely Planet World Food: Japan. I think it's just what you're looking for.

Apparently, because it has "achieved its goal of spreading the culture of curry and vitalizing the local economy."

Anyone interested in the Yokohama Curry Museum should check it out soon. It will be shutting down on 31 March 2007. Luckily, I was able to visit the museum on my trip to Japan last month. I tried as many kinds of curries as I could, since I knew I wouldn't get another chance. Here's a Kurobuta Katsu Curry (with a Pepsi!) from one of the restaurants in the museum, Semba Karii. The curry gets its black color from squid ink. I didn't notice much squid flavor though. Next we have the Beef Curry from the Yokohama French Curry shop. It was rich and tasty, but not very spicy. Curry Pan from King Delhi. I've never been a fan of Curry Pan, but I've never had one fresh-from-the-fryer until this one. It was outstanding. Okinawa Kakuni Curry from Ryukyu Karii. This had a nice sweetness to it, with a hint of some kind of liquor. Anyone interested in going should take at least one other curry lover to share dishes, and try as many different curries as possible. I would have tried more dishes, but I was eating alone. I think all the restaurants offer a "tameshi" (sample) size, smaller and a little cheaper than the usual serving size.

Another donburi. The Ebi Tendon from Daikokuya in Asakusa. It had four very large shrimp tempura. A close up.

I broke it. Forgot to get a picture before digging in.

Here's a donburi I had at the Matsuya fast food chain in Asakusa. It's a Bibin-don, sort of a simplified version of Korean bibimbap. It's mostly yakiniku, kimchi, and egg over rice. Cheap and very tasty.

Some more onigiri. These are from a combini in Mitaka. Dry Curry. Sake Toro.

Here are some onigiri from a recent (1/18/07-1/27/07) trip to Japan. From an "onigiri cafe," in Ueno, I think. Kombu and Ume. Aotogarashi miso (?) and Sake.

How about mini Scotch eggs? Or atop chawan-size bibimbap or loco moco?

I'd say you're on the right track as far as the sauce goes. What I do is saute some onions in a 8 inch nonstick frypan, add sauce, top sliced tonkatsu, then add beaten egg around the edges. I cover the pan and let it simmer until the eggs are set. Then I carefully slide the whole thing onto the top of a large bowl of rice (donburi). The egg tends to hold everything together, so you get something that stays in one piece, and fits neatly on top of the rice. I believe this is pretty much the standard way of making it. You could try using a bigger pan if you want to make more than one serving at a time, but you won't get the same presentation effect.

Haven't done this in a while, but I used to get maguro from a local Korean store, and would have it with kochujang (jazzed up with shoyu, green onion, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and vinegar). I would put some rice in a square of kim (Korean seasoned nori), top it with the maguro and kochujang, and make sort of a temaki. I think I'm going to have to stop by the Korean store on my way home tomorrow!

I remember seeing these on my last trip to Japan. The food looks good, but I'm not sure about the name. It reminds me of when I found out what was in those cans of "new corned beef."

My favorite is just with shoyu. I've also had a sort of tofu salad, with chopped tomato, green onion, canned tuna, and a dressing of shoyu and sesame oil.

Hana yori dango.

Hey, I finally figured out how to post a picture! My Meatloaf Curry Loco Moco with Green Peas

Yep, that sounds close to what I made. Just put a fried egg on top, and you've got a curry loco moco!

Happy Curry Day! I made a Meatloaf Curry Loco Moco. I'd been thinking about doing something with eggs, or maybe meatballs, when it hit me. I could just make a Loco Moco and substitute curry sauce for the usual brown gravy. I had some leftover meatloaf, so I used a slice of that instead of a hamburger patty. The sauce was made with Java Curry roux. It was not too bad. Would've been better with my favorite roux (S&B Golden! ) and a proper hamburger (or "hamburg") patty. No photos to post yet. Still don't have a good digital camera.

My dad used to make salmon kasuzuke. He would cook it in our toaster oven.

Here in the Sacramento, CA area, we've had a couple L & L 's open up, with another one coming soon. I think it's a good thing. I hear there's at least one other "Hawaiian BBQ" (not L & L) place coming to the area. Just a couple of years ago, we had no Hawaiian restaurants at all. I recently found a place called "Mama's Korean BBQ," which I suspect has some Local style influence. Their plates all come with "two scoop rice," and they have Meat Jeon on the menu (which I haven't seen in any other Korean places around town).