Japan Series - Have you eaten?

In the old days, when Chinese people met each other they used to ask "Have you eaten?" Food is an important part of my life. One of my colleagues subsist on energy bars, day in, day out, and this kind of alternative sustenance bewilders me.

I like Japanese food so much that I can eat it almost everyday, except in the morning. I found that I had enough of Japanese food for breakfast. Instead, the chef at the hotel would cook me two poached eggs, and sometimes served them on two small toasted teacake-like bread.

For lunches and dinners, I tend to stick to Japanese food.

Shabu Shabu

A shabu-shabu meal near Bashamichi Station, Yokohama. This was a group dinner and the shabu-shabu was for four people (not all the meat was in the photo). We had a bottle of chilled saki "Dai Ginjo", which was delicious. The meat was supposed to be dipped into a raw egg but the thought of it made me squirm. So no raw egg for me. The restaurant is a traditional one; at the entrance we had to remove our shoes and walk on the tatami shoe-less. 

Tempura

This was a set meal that came with tempura, a few pieces of pickled vegetables, an egg custard, two other small dishes, the ubiquitous miso soup and some rice. This meal was eaten late one night after work, at about 9 pm, an hour before closing time. At the end of the meal, a mandarin sorbet was served. I really like the Japanese set meals - a variety of food at the right quantity. 

Another set meal, but this one on a larger scale. I had this meal one Sunday lunchtime on the 10th floor of the Soga building, Yokohama. The set meal came with soba noodles, either hot or cold.  I chose hot noodles, needless to say. The quantity on each plate is quite dinky, but the beauty is in the variety. My least favourite dish is the cold salad - I was not brought up to eat raw vegetables.

Unagi

Unagi - freshwater eel, is a delicacy in Japan. It is served as part of unadon, a donburi dish with sliced eel on a bed of rice. What I like about the rice is the sticky soya sauce that makes the rice so tasty. I was looking forward to this meal - every time I passed the poster advertising unagi it whetted my appetite. Alas, the eel was too dry. I need to find another restaurant that serves plump juicy unagi. 

Tonkatsu

This tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet) set is a bit more elaborate than the standard fare: there were a number of side dishes (pickled vegetables) in addition to the shredded cabbage. The meal was eaten at one of the restaurants located on the 8th floor of the Takashimaya department store, Yokohama. In haste, I poured the sauce over the cutlets when in fact I should have dipped the cutlets into the sauce. 

Sashimi

This plate of sashimi was part of a meal at my favourite sushi restaurant on the 8th floor of Takashimaya department store. I would sit at the counter and order sushi directly from the chef. A few of the chefs had come to recognize me and would hand me the English menu as well as ordering green tea for me. Most diners at this restaurant drink Shoju, and were either with other businessmen or their spouse. A lone female diner is a rare sight at such sushi bars.

Ramen

And now onto ramen. This is probably the simplest ramen I had. I was at Kawagoe, miles away from the shops, so popped into the art gallery restaurant to have a quick meal. There weren't many choices left at 3 pm, so I chose ramen instead of cold soba noodles. The portion was on the small side, but the broth and what little lean pork there was, were tasty. Service was with a smile. Payment was in cash.

Snow crab miso soup

I had this snow crab miso soup at Nagoya, at a sushi bar where diners choose their dishes on a touchscreen instead of ordering them from the sushi chef. It was probably the best miso soup I had. The crab meat was succulent and was easy to pick at because the shell was already cracked in the right places for the diner. The Japanese are masters in their craft. Elsewhere I had fish miso soup but none of them could beat this crab soup.

Chirasi

This is chirasi, best described as sushi rice salad. The ingredients are topped on sushi rice with no rolling or shaping involved. Although there seems little fuss, the chef who assembled this meal did it with an eye for the aesthetics, with careful arrangement of cucumber, lotus root and fish roe at the top. I have to confess that I did not much like the raw vegetables so I will stick with sushi next time.

Sushi

This is my favourite selection of sushi, at my favourtie sushi restaurant on the 8th floor of Takashimaya department store, Yokohama. At this restaurant, the hand towel is freshly prepared (not in a plastic bag), the ginger is dispensed by the sushi chef (not in a container), and the green tea is real green tea (unlike the green tea powder at some cheaper places). Above all, I feel welcomed.

Tempura

I ate this tempura dish at a restaurant specializing in tempura at Nagoya. Here, the tempura came with two kinds of grated daikon radish - condiments to put into the sauce into which the tempura pieces are dipped. I saw other diners forsaking the grated radish and dipped their tempura in salt. On the day, I had shrimp, squid, sweet potato and mushroom. There was not enough food to feed a starving child.

Green tea ice cream

It was a hot day at Nagoya. After a morning of wandering around the Shirotori Garden, I dropped by at the restaurant to have some food. Nothing much there, just a vending machine dispensing tickets for noodles and desserts. I had this green tea (matcha) ice cream that came with red beans and mochiko (mini snowballs made from sweet rice flour). The taste was sublime on a summer day.