Feasting My Way Through Japan

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Liking almost everything!  Maybe not quite everything -- but, wow, what pictures.  Japan is somewhere I would like to visit for the cuisine, the culture, and the natural beauty.

 

Thanks very much @rarerollingobject for sharing!

[rarerollingobject]

All I'm saying is..in the next few days, I'll be back in Japan for 2.5 weeks of solid eating, drinking and napping, so...brace thyself, Japan Dining thread!

[Alex]

Thanks for the heads-up, rro. I'm looking forward to it. And great timing (for me) -- I just finished reading Rice, Noodle, Fish: Deep Travels Through Japan's Food Culture. It's been nearly 30 years since I lived in Japan for a little while, in unagi country, and I still miss the food from time to time. People often are surprised when I tell them I enjoyed some of the best French cooking, ever, at a modest little place in Middle-of-Nowhere, Shizuoka-ken.

[buffy]

What fantastic news! Where will you be going on this trip?

[rarerollingobject]

@buffy - Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Koya-san, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Kurokawa/Mt Aso, and back to Tokyo.

 

That's if my planned travelling partner is still coming with; if I end up going alone, I might just stay in the big cities.

 

Good eating any which way.

[johnnyd]

Absolutely stunning shots - I really have to have some sushi today....

[Duvel]

23 hours ago, rarerollingobject said:

@buffy - Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Koya-san, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Kurokawa/Mt Aso, and back to Tokyo.

 

That's if my planned travelling partner is still coming with; if I end up going alone, I might just stay in the big cities.

 

Good eating any which way.

Koya-san is fantastic ... do you do a temple stay ? They sometimes offer hands on food preparation (zen-vegetarian, of course). I envy you !

[rarerollingobject]

OK, so, an excellent flight in to Tokyo. Qantas business class is leagues better than it used to be; sake and Japanese pork belly buns and yuzu-shy highballs with shochu, but more importantly, I even slept!!

 

I'm a pretty seasoned traveller and no drug, no flat bed, no jetlag, no time zone changes, no alcohol has ever worked for me - I've finally established what I need to do to be able to sleep on a plane, even a little bit; just watch that bloody 'Lion' movie, cry till I've exhausted myself in heaving, whole-body-wracking sobs, and promptly fall asleep with the general effort of emoting via external stimuli. The old cry like a baby, sleep like a baby routine..must remember that.

 

And I know this is not a makeup forum or anything, but if you're in the market for a new eyeliner, let me heartily recommend the Tom Ford Eye Defining Pen; how you can cry every skerrick of makeup off your face and lips but your eyliener stays put is clearly a secret between Tom Ford and god.

 

 

Anyway, Tokyo is heaven because within 20 minutes of arriving at my hotel, dumping my bags and setting out to roam the plains, I was eating this tuna sushi set (I know, I know; I promised to restrict myself to only two tuna meals while I am here, which feels like a very big sacrifice for me, but not as much as for the tuna), before being reunited with one my true love - Family Mart convenience store fried chicken. 

 

 

"Convenience store fried chicken?! WTF??", I hear you ask. And in any other country, that would indeed be a truly disgusting proposition. Japan is not like any other country. Believe.

 

Repairing for the evening in my hotel room's massage chair, with fried chicken, a bottle of sake, and Japanese food TV? Bliss.

[rarerollingobject]

On 17/03/2017 at 7:27 PM, Duvel said:

Koya-san is fantastic ... do you do a temple stay ? They sometimes offer hands on food preparation (zen-vegetarian, of course). I envy you !

 

Yes, I'm staying overnight in a temple. I didn't know there might be a chance to help with the food..I'll look into that! I'm obsessed with Koya gomae tofu.

[sartoric]

Well, I'm on board. Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos and amazing meals.

[kayb]

Ohhhhhh...I want to go back to Japan SO BADLY! It's been six years. I'm due.

 

Sushi at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo at 6 a.m., just after the boats come in, is the most memorable food experience I've ever had.

[rarerollingobject]

Went to Tsukiji for breakfast, @kayb!

 

After tearing myself away from my Beloved - the massage chair in my hotel room -

 

 

 

- I wandered off to the fish market for an uni donburi (raw sea urchin on a bowl of sushi rice) and some grilled crab.

 

 

Didn't stay all that long because I've been to the market many times before, so walked around to Hamarikyu Gardens to see if any cherry or plum blossoms were out yet; only these punters.

 

 

Caught a river boat to Asakusa and then slowly made my way back to the hotel for a giant, marathon nap and a simple dinner of tempura and cold soba with wasabi, green onion and dipping sauce.

 

 

Then I walked the streets for a bit before coming across this place, going in to which seemed like a perfectly terrible idea, so of course I did.

 

 

Since I am nothing if not an Everyday Lady, I spent a very fun hour here making them seriously regret their marketing choices.

Edited March 22, 2017 by rarerollingobject (log)

[rarerollingobject]

And; I can't post video directly on eG, so look at this very cool street-side rotating fish grill on my Instagram: 

 

[kayb]

Ohhhh. Jealous. I MUST go back soon.

 

If you are a fan of the massage chair, take a couple of days, get on the bullet train, go to Hanamaki (about three hours, as I recall, north into the mountains) and stay at the hot springs resorts. Wonderful baths outdoors in the hot springs, and then a massage to relax every cell in your body.

 

There was good food. I don't remember what it was. I was too relaxed.

 

 

[TicTac]

Love this thread.

 

I enjoy Japanese food, perhaps too much - so this allows me (and many others, I am sure) to live vicariously through your valiant gallivanting efforts.

[Beebs]

That uni donburi.... oh my goodness....I am salivating like you wouldn't believe. 

[chefmd]

2 hours ago, rarerollingobject said:

Went to Tsukiji for breakfast, @kayb!

 

After tearing myself away from my Beloved - the massage chair in my hotel room -

 

 

 

- I wandered off to the fish market for an uni donburi (raw sea urchin on a bowl of sushi rice) and some grilled crab.

 

 

Didn't stay all that long because I've been to the market many times before, so walked around to Hamarikyu Gardens to see if any cherry or plum blossoms were out yet; only these punters.

 

 

Caught a river boat to Asakusa and then slowly made my way back to the hotel for a giant, marathon nap and a simple dinner of tempura and cold soba with wasabi, green onion and dipping sauce.

 

 

Then I walked the streets for a bit before coming across this place, going in to which seemed like a perfectly terrible idea, so of course I did.

 

 

Since I am nothing if not an Everyday Lady, I spent a very fun hour here making them seriously regret their marketing choices.

 

I am concerned that there may not be enough uni for you in that bowl.  Or there may not be enough uni left in the ocean for me.  Not sure which concern is more concerning to me ;).  In other words, I am insanely jealous.  Will follow your culinary adventure with great pleasure!

[rarerollingobject]

Things I did yesterday; queued for sushi for 45 minutes with these legends, was complimented twice on my "polite waiting, amazing for a foreigner" (??), ate said sushi, accidentally ate a 200 year old clam and felt sick with guilt but not enough to NOT eat it.

 

 

 

 

 

In my defence, what happened was  I thought from the picture on the menu that they'd be scallops, so ordered them, much to the sushi chef's surprise.

They came and I knew straight away from the size and the texture that they weren't scallops, but shrugged and ate them anyway, mystified but not thinking too much of it.

It's only when I got the bill and paid, that I afterwards noticed that the two slices of clam alone were far more expensive than the whole rest of the sushi meal put together; out of curiosity as to what I'd eaten and why it was so luxe, I went back and asked and the chef kept saying "200 years, very old!" in Japanese and I assumed I was misunderstanding (I wasn't), so with a lot of Google Translate (the chef ultimately grabbed my phone and typed into the Translate app in Japanese and handed it back to me in English), I established that I'd just eaten something older than Sydney University...yikes.

 

Then I went to Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi and bought six Pierre Herme macarons, and ate them in bed like a goddamn rockstar.

Edited March 24, 2017 by rarerollingobject (log)

[rarerollingobject]

And today - after an excellent Japanese breakfast in my Tokyo hotel - grilled fish, onsen tamago egg, fresh soft tofu, potatoes and green beans simmered in dashi, pickles, fresh yoghurt, rice, seaweed and an iced matcha.

 

 

I hopped a train to Kyoto, eating en route a snack bag of dried scallops, an ekiben of gyudon (beef simmered in mirin, soy and sake) and beautifully rare steak. As well as a little packet of chicken fried with shiso and sour plum (ume) seasoning.

 

 

I've rented a house in Kyoto, because I wanted to do a bit of (simple) cooking, so after buying some wonderfully marbled beef, some rice, some pickles and some eggs, and a bit more fried chicken with this cute mini Kewpie mayonnaise, the house automatically drew me a bath into which I retired with a yuzu-shu and fresh sliced yuzu.

 

 

Could not be happier.

 

Edited March 24, 2017 by rarerollingobject (log)

[rarerollingobject]

I spent most of today at Kitano Tenmangu shrine in Kyoto, for their once-a-month antique and flea market. Lots of food, too!

 

I took video too: 

 

 

 

Sweet hot rice sake dosed with fresh ginger:

 

 

 

Crystallized ginger:

 

Anyway, I was very good about not buying anything, for the sake of luggage and the fact that I'm after some very specifically-shaped sake glasses, which will take up most of my weight allowance when I do find them.

 

And when I say 'anything', I mean apart from a beautiful abalone shell bowl, some wooden spoons, and a giant pack of crystallized ginger; all things designed to give Australian Customs a conniption, no doubt.

 

I then traipsed back to Kyoto Station to find Ramen Koji (Ramen Street), a hidden-away-in-a-corner-of-the-station cluster of branches of the most 15 or so famous ramen shops of Japan. I had the Iroha black ramen from Toyama, and a side of gyoza.

 

 

Here's a a walk around of the shops that I took: 

 

 

I stopped in then at Isetan to buy dinner; a snack of beautiful hotaru ika baby firefly squid, which you eat dipped in a dab of hot mustard; shiso leaves, massively marbled beef, uni and tuna.

 

 

So feeling that I'd been quite parsimonious because all I'd eaten all day had been the ramen and the gyoza, dinner was a pre snack of the squid, and then sushi rice, smeared with wasabi, wrapped in raw beef, topped with uni and folded into a shiso leaf and down the hatch. With some very nice sake, too.

 

 

Then a tuna donburi on sushi rice:

 

And dessert was a raw egg yolk that I'd cured in ponzu (citrusy soy sauce) all day, folded up carefully in a slice of wagyu, and lifted delicately, quiveringly to my lips.

 

So, as you can see, I'm not suffering here.  

 

Edited March 25, 2017 by rarerollingobject (log)

[cdh]

Like a rock star!  How long can you keep this up? I'm kinda craving a big green leafy salad just thinking about how rich everything looks so far...

[rarerollingobject]

2 hours ago, cdh said:

Like a rock star!  How long can you keep this up? I'm kinda craving a big green leafy salad just thinking about how rich everything looks so far...

 

You wouldn't complain if you were here in person..my wild-eating, thirsty-drinking, loose-moralled ways are what make me fun  

[Alex]

19 minutes ago, rarerollingobject said:

 

You wouldn't complain if you were here in person..my wild-eating, thirsty-drinking, loose-moralled ways are what make me fun  

 

OK, now I'm waiting for pictures of the last of that trio.

[rarerollingobject]

2 hours ago, Alex said:

 

OK, now I'm waiting for pictures of the last of that trio.

 

I'm fairly sure I was already pushing the bounds of decency and eG readers' patience with that in-the-bath shot.  

Edited March 25, 2017 by rarerollingobject (log)

[rarerollingobject]

A perfect day; it rained, so I had every excuse to be an even more terrible tourist than usual; got out of bed at 12pm and took myself out for one of the main reasons I'm in Kyoto; to try the coffee at Arabica in Higashiyama, one of the new generation Japanese espresso specialists. A beautiful cafe, and incredible coffee that I've been reading about for months. Yes, I had to queue for 40 minutes, because the Japanese are onto good coffee like a fat kid on a Smarty, but it's just outside one of the main temple areas, where lots of young Kyoto couples like to promenade, so it was perfect people-watching territory for one of my favourite things in Japan; young guys in kimono. If anything, I love them more than women's kimono. I made like a total creeper and took pictures of every one I saw. However, I dare not invoke the eG mods' wrath by attempting to post a slew of non food photos, so if you want to see them you can head over to my Insta at https://www.instagram.com/rarerollingobject/

 

But the coffee:

 

 

Then I went to find the most beautiful ramen shop in possibly the world; Ramen Muraji, in Gion. It's run totally by women, a rarity in the macho world of ramen-making. GET IT, GIRLS.  

 

Anyway, it actually WAS the best ramen I've ever tasted; thick, collagen-y chicken stock, so rich it makes your lips stick together, with a blanket of thinly-sliced lemons to cut the fat and a side of the crispiest fried chicken to cut the fat-cutting. 

 

 

Then I walked around in the rain for ages, and stopped in at a sake bar for a 4pm tipple, purely because the place was called Pass the Baton, and I was struck by the perfect design of its noren entry-way curtain. Anyway, the owner gave me like six free cups of sake so I got very drunk and forgot to take pictures.

 

 

And just some supermarket sushi for dinner; not bad for AUD$13!

 

A GREAT day. Full of all my favourite things; coffee, ramen, women living their best lives and smashing the patriarchy, sake and objectifying boyzzzz.