Fascinating Food Finds in Japan

Kumajiru (Bear meat soup)

The kumajiru is a specialty of Osenkaku Ryokan at Takaragawa Hot Springs. Our server says there are many bears in the surrounding hills but they also dish out many bowls of kumajiru daily at Osenkaku so I don't know how that works out. Anyway, the soup was very tasty. It had thick chunks of bear meat, sweet potatoes and burdock.

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Kuzukiri

Tomo introduced me to this dessert at the Zara izakaya in Shibuya. The long,transparent noodles are made from the kuzu/kudzu plant and served in a bowl of iced water. It's smooth, has a chewy bite and gets a thin sweet coating when quickly dipped into the black sugar syrup. Simple and summery. We chased the kuzukiri to Nara, where it's a famous local product. We had a big bowl each in a little shop near Seikan-so Ryokan that specialises in kuzu products.

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Choco Banana

There were no fewer than 5 Choco Banana stalls in the grounds of the Asakusa Kannon during the Sanja Matsuri weekend. Phallic funfair food!

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Eki Bentos (Train Station Lunchbox)

Always prettily packaged, always delicious. We usually bought local or regional specialties. A memorable one was the one we bought in Takasaki,Gunma Prefecture. Takasaki Station sells many eki-bens in boxes that look like Daruma-san because Takasaki makes about 80% of those red dolls beloved by Japanese for their promise of wish fulfilment.

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Maido Cafes

We went to a maido (maido=French maid) cafe in Akihabara, the electronics district in Tokyo. The waitresses were dressed as French maids w/ platform Mary Janes, knee-high socks and lamb tails and lamb ears. More into subservient Lil Miss Muffets than overtly sexual Playboy bunnies here. There are other cos-play (costume play) cafes in the area and most are maido cafes because the French Maid is apparently the Ichiban fantasy of Japanese males. But there's one where you can ask the waitresses to dress up in any of the costumes available and the choice ranges from Santa's elf (!) to high school girl.

Read more about this Japanese phenomenon here:
www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/28/news/trmanga.php

The cafe we went to is called Cos-Cha (Costume Tea). There's a little 'classroom' area w/ desks and a chalkboard and you've to address the waitresses as 'Miss Angel'. Pictures weren't allowed but here's one of the shop sign.

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Eel Liver

We had this eel liver soup in Edogawa, an unagi specialty restaurant in Nara. It had a really really strange taste. Don't know how to describe it. I guess my palate will just label that taste henceforth as "EEL LIVER!".

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Hitsumabashi

Howie had the unagi hitsumabushi, a Nagoya specialty and a dish for which the restaurant is famous. It was quite a sight. He got a little wooden bucket of rice and thick slices of grilled and sauced unagi, layered ala lasagna. The waitress then tossed the contents w/ spring onions, chives and shredded nori. Howie ate 3/4 of the bucket (spooned into a little bowl) and had the rest drowned w/ soup that the waitress brings in towards the end of the meal in a teapot. My unajyu was a lot less exotic.

Yuba

We had a yuba kaiseki at Junsei restaurant in Kyoto. It was 3 pm so we were alone in the dining hall that overlooks the gorgeous iris-covered landscaped grounds. The copper pot in the photo is shallow and divided into 2 halves for Howie and myself. It's filled w/ soy milk and as it heats up, a layer of 'skin' forms on top. You gently skim it out w/ a small bamboo spatula and have it w/ the dipping sauce. I've had yuba a lot but never fresh off the pot like this. My grandma makes Kuah Kembang Tahu, an awesome soup w/ dried yuba ribbons and pork ribs. It's far less refined but far more yumms.

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Weird Rice Ball Drink

I bought this drink which is called 'Onigiri to Doozo' ('To Enjoy With A Rice Ball'). I read it and I understood it but somehow, this and the rice ball picture didn't really register. I just read some small label on the box that says it's a soy drink. So I was in for a rude shock when I took a sip. It tasted like fishy seaweed, tofu and rice! Think liquefied sushi. Don't spoil the enjoyment of your onigiri w/ this weird neither-sweet-nor-savoury soy stuff.

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Ayu

Ayu is a freshwater fish unique to Japan. It has an light, aromatic flavour that comes from the algae it feeds on. Rubbed w/ copious amounts of salt and grilled, the sight a plump ayu on a stick gets me salivating. It's a common summer treat.

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Funky Food Signs

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