Japanese "street foods"

[buffy]

I like the 'squid on a stick' as I like to call it.

Miyajima, in Hiroshima, is the home of 'momiji manju'. Basically taiyaki in the shape of a maple leaf. Always great fresh off the grill. As well as the red and white bean paste you can get a variety of flavors including chocolate, custard, strawberry and cheese.

There are also many vendors selling Hiroshima's other delicacy on the street, oysters. Grilled on the half shell over charcoal. Too bad I am allergic to them because they sure look good.

Momiji Manju

[torakris]

There are also many vendors selling Hiroshima's other delicacy on the street, oysters. Grilled on the half shell over charcoal. Too bad I am allergic to them because they sure look good.

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grilled oysters on the street??

I have got to get myself to Hiroshima on of these days....

[Cadbury]

I like the 'squid on a stick' as I like to call it.

Miyajima, in Hiroshima, is the home of 'momiji manju'. Basically taiyaki in the shape of a maple leaf. Always great fresh off the grill. As well as the red and white bean paste you can get a variety of flavors including chocolate, custard, strawberry and cheese.

There are also many vendors selling Hiroshima's other delicacy on the street, oysters. Grilled on the half shell over charcoal. Too bad I am allergic to them because they sure look good.

Momiji Manju

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I've been to Miyajima a few times and love to watch the the whole proces of making momiji manju. Some of the vendors have huge windows so you can see the production line. I like the chocolate ones.

The oysters were in short supply on our last visit thanks to a severe storm.

[fenyx66]

I went to the Tatabayashi Daruma Matsuri last night and especially took a lot of pictures of the food. Enjoy! (Note, these were taken with my cell phone, so the quality isn't so good, but nevertheless, Enjoy!)

Yakimanju

Takoyaki 1

More Takoyaki

These were potatoes that have been steamed and then battered and then deep fried, served with lots of butter and salt.

Hiroshimayaki, these were really beautiful so I took 4 pictures and my friend stood in the long line and bought one, I bet it was delicious. There's always they next matsuri though.

Close up

Another one of the hiroshimayaki

not food, just Daruma

[Domestic Goddess]

Here in Korea, they have the oden and takoyaki too. Oh and I forgot roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes. I always buy roasted chest nuts and takoyaki balls. I tease my hubby and tell him I'm eating octopus balls. LOL

[JasonWV]

What is hiroshimayaki?

[Hiroyuki]

What is hiroshimayaki?

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Hiroshimayaki is a type of okonomiyaki. In Japan, we have two types of okonomiyaki, Osaka style and Hiroshima style.

Wikipedia page on okonomiyaki

[nakji]

I went to a matsuri in Hon Kawagoe, outside of Tokyo, last weekend, and in between snapping pictures of the incredible shrines making the procession around the historic streets, we managed to get some pictures of all the yummy food on offer. I would have eaten even more, but for a delicate stomach resulting from overindulgence in some really fine Japanese wheat beer the night before.

Takoyaki, with extra tentacles:

Okonomiyaki:

Is it Osaka or Hiroshima style?

Formed "steak" with cornbread. Not all that great, actually.

Karaage - this did more for my hangover than anything else all day. So light! So gingery! Succulent!

Butter Potatoes - Please, sir - I don't think you gave me enough butter. Can I have some more?

And finally, for dessert....

Mmmm, bananas....what hangover?

[yunnermeier]

Wow, great piactures Nakji!

You can actually see tako in the takoyaki! (I only got little bits of octopus in my takoyaki- never ever as much as that!) And that picture with the egg on top makes me hungry.

I wish I could go back to Japan.

[helenjp]

I've NEVER seen that much octopus in a takoyaki! The cornbread is a first too.

[milgwimper]

that was a lot of butter! I have never seen such huge slices of octopus in a takoyaki before! Wish I could be there to nosh!

[Hiroyuki]

Is it Osaka or Hiroshima style?

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The kanji read Hiroshima yaki. I've never seen Hiroshima yaki of that shape, though.

Images of Hiroshima yaki

Butter potatoes: Was it really butter? It looks like margrine to me.

[rykomatsu]

You can actually see tako in the takoyaki! (I only got little bits of octopus in my takoyaki- never ever as much as that!) And that picture with the egg on top makes me hungry.

There's one place in Wajima city on Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture that has takoyaki that's almost as impressive (though not quite) as that....this was 10 years ago so I'm not even sure if it's still even around.

Those okonomiyaki are HUGE...and look so good with the egg on top!

[v. gautam]

What does the "ordinary" butter in Japan taste like?

For example, as a benchmark, let us for argument's sake suppose that "ordinary" butter in the US, e.g. Land o' Lakes @$2-3/lb is pretty neutral to tasteless, however one might choose to describe the flavor. In contrast, Cabot cultured butter, @$11-13/lb is excellent. In the UK, ordinary butter seems to be far more flavorful than the US variety, and not expensive. I don't know anything about the continent.

Am curious to know what run-of- the mill butters in Japan (such as the one gracing the potatoes shown) taste like? For that matter, what types of potatoes are best liked in Japan? Thanks much.

Edited October 29, 2007 by v. gautam (log)

[torakris]

Is it Osaka or Hiroshima style?

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The kanji read Hiroshima yaki. I've never seen Hiroshima yaki of that shape, though.

Images of Hiroshima yaki

Butter potatoes: Was it really butter? It looks like margrine to me.

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I too noticed the Hiroshima yaki sign but have never seen them rolled like that before, interesting!

Those tako yaki are also incredible, again I have never seen that much octopus in them before.

There is no way that is real butter, that much alone would cost about 300 yen!

[nakji]

Oh yeah, that was totally margarine.

My favourite butter is 'Snow Brand Fermented Butter" - it's one of the few in my super market that is visibly salted. The rest seem to be unsalted, so I'd guess that most people here prefer a mild butter.

[GlorifiedRice]

Nikuman!

Are all steamed buns eaten as snacks?

Or lunch?

[Hiroyuki]

What does the "ordinary" butter in Japan taste like?

For example, as a benchmark, let us for argument's sake suppose that "ordinary" butter in the US, e.g. Land o' Lakes @$2-3/lb is pretty neutral to tasteless, however one might choose to describe the flavor. In contrast, Cabot cultured butter, @$11-13/lb is excellent. In the UK, ordinary butter seems to be far more flavorful than the US variety, and not expensive. I don't know anything about the continent.

Am curious to know what run-of- the mill butters in Japan (such as the one gracing the potatoes shown) taste like? For that matter, what types of potatoes are best liked in Japan? Thanks much.

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I can't answer your butter question. As for potatoes, Danshaku and May Queen are two major varieties in Japan.

[Hiroyuki]

Nikuman!

Are all steamed buns eaten as snacks?

Or lunch?

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I think they are more often eaten as snacks, but you can eat them for a quick, lazy meal (not just for a lunch meal).

[helenjp]

...or you can serve HALF a nikuman for a meal, like somebody I know!

Butter: I think it is better than it used to be. There was a time when butter here was very obviously older than the production date suggested. If I can get it, I like Yotsuba butter.

There are a lot of new potato cultivars being trotted out onto the market recently, but only a few of them seem to have a noticeably different texture or flavor.

Getting back to street foods, maybe I'm not hanging out on the streets late at night enough these days, but I think there are fewer and fewer yatai out there. Near my local station, there are takoyaki occasionally, and yakitori and oden most of the time.

We used to joke that the "tako" in takoyaki was the "tako" (idiot) who bought it and was "cooked" (cheated), despite the absence of "tako" (octopus) in the takoyaki!

[smallworld]

Is it Osaka or Hiroshima style?

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The kanji read Hiroshima yaki. I've never seen Hiroshima yaki of that shape, though.

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Yatai Hiroshima-yaki is about as authentic as what we call "Osaka-yaki" here in Tokyo (as in: not authentic at all). The hiroshima-yaki sold as a street food here is made with a thin crepe-like batter, and is folded or rolled just as shown. I've seen the egg both on the inside and the outside, but the Hiroshima-yaki in the picture looks pretty standard.

Having eaten the real thing in Hiroshima, Tokyo's street food version is a pretty poor substitute. But if you can find a stall that doesn't cook the batter until it's as hard as cardboard (and that's a big if) it can be pretty good.

So what does yatai Hiroshima-yaki look like in other parts of Japan?

Getting back to street foods, maybe I'm not hanging out on the streets late at night enough these days, but I think there are fewer and fewer yatai out there. Near my local station, there are takoyaki occasionally, and yakitori and oden most of the time.

Helen, I've noticed that too. Pretty much the only time I see yatai now are at festivals. The only exception is yaki-imo-- the trucks abound around here, but I never buy from them (a local market has cheaper and better ones).

[Domestic Goddess]

I adore the pic of the eggs on top of the Yatai Hiroshima-yaki rolls. I could probably eat two of them. And what takoyaki balls! Now that's a takoyaki (with humungous tentacles)!

[Hiroyuki]

Getting back to street foods, maybe I'm not hanging out on the streets late at night enough these days, but I think there are fewer and fewer yatai out there. Near my local station, there are takoyaki occasionally, and yakitori and oden most of the time.

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I think this is due to the popularity of konbini. Konbini are everywhere in Japan, even in my rural city, offering everything from onigiri to ramen.

I wonder if yonaki soba (= ramen) stands still survive in Tokyo.

[SheenaGreena]

the colors in the banana photo are absolutely brilliant.

I might use it as my desktop photo (:

[torakris]

I wonder if yonaki soba (= ramen) stands still survive in Tokyo.

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I am not sure about Tokyo, but at the little station by my house (not far from Tokyo and not the larger station in my area) there is still at least one stand. The old man is often cleaning it up at 5:30am when I am dropping my husband off at the station.