Food Journeys in Japan: Part 1

Right at the beginning of summer, my family and I made our first trip to Japan. Not know any words other than Konichiwa, Moshi Moshi, and Arigatou, I knew we were going to be pretty handicapped. This was my first time being in a country where I didn't speak the language, and it was definitely a learning experience. The most valuable takeaway: Food is universal. Despite not knowing how to communicate, we were still able to discover great foods. All you need to do is point and use lots of hand gestures!

The first meal that I had was at the airport. Being the foodie that I am, the first thing that came to mind when I got off the plane was filling my belly. What was outside of the airport was of little importance at that moment. We walked around for a while to see what kind of foods the airport offered and I was pleasantly surprised. Every restaurant had a visual menu displayed in their window. Every single item that they offered was for show. This made things especially easy for the language-impaired. I knew what I would order and how much I was going to pay before I even went in. I don't know how any passerby could walk by without stopping, admiring, and drooling. I'm sure the other people in the airport could tell that I was a foreigner with all the excited squeals I made as I excitedly pointed to each and every item in the window like I had never seen food before.

After pulling my eyeballs away from the myriad of windows displays, we stumbled upon a small little restaurant that served homestyle food. Before we landed in Japan, I told myself that I wanted to eat authentic Japanese food, and I figured a place like this was the place to go. Although this restaurant did not have the massive window menu of lifesize foods, they offered a paper menu with images of each item. I scanned through them and found one that sounded appealing - blown rice topped with salmon roe, seaweed, fish, parsley, and these exciting little crunchy, crispy things.

To eat it, you pour the soup from the teapot (upper right hand corner of the tray) into the bowl and make a soupy rice mixture. The soup tasted like a basic seaweed soup and added the right amount of saltiness. The order came with pickled vegetables, seaweed, and tofu. After eating everything on the tray, I was pleased with our food selection. I had never seen anything like this in America whereas many of the items in the window displays were more typical Japanese fare that the States offers. During the rest of the trip, I was only able to eat this one more time, but if I had the chance to go back, it would definitely be near the top of the food list.

Considering that this was consumed within my first hour of landing in Japan, I knew I had lots to look forward to. More to come in the next post!

Dim Sum Delight

In my travels in China, we made a point to eat a lot of dim sum. Although Houston has some pretty good dim sum varieties, there are many items that aren't offered here in the States.

The first dim sum item worth mentioning is low sa bao, a steamed white bun with a runny, yolk-like filling. I've had a version in America that has a solid filling, but the uniqueness of this treat is the liquid-form of the egg-yolk center. It gets messy sometimes, but it's absolutely delicious and worth the mess.

The second item I'd like to feature is a Portuguese tart (poa taht). Similar to an egg custard tart, the top of this is torched like a creme brulee. When it's freshly torched, the top is extra crispy and the pastry is the perfect flakiness. Although I haven't had this tart in the south, the egg custard tart is sold in every dim sum restaurant I've ever been to.

This item is a very traditional dim sum food, but I decided to talk about it because I had never seen a restaurant go to the extreme and shape it into a fish! This turnip cake was not fried like it normally is, but was steamed. I personally like fried versions better, but the presentation was definitely interesting and worth mentioning.

If you're completely unfamiliar with the concept of dim sum, it's a Cantonese brunch tradition. In a literal translation, it means "to order to your heart's desire". At a genuine dim sum restaurant, a menu with about 40 items are listed for you to select from. Because portions are small, you typically order multiple items - or as many as your 'heart desires'. Once you are done with your selections, your waiter/ress collects your 'checklist' and brings your food out as it is completed.

At the dim sum restaurants I've dined at in the States, they typically push a heated cart around with already prepared items. Each cart will feature multiple items, but the items typically have something in common. For example, one cart might be all desserts, another might be all fried, the other might be steamed, one might have all buns, etc.

Most major cities have a Chinatown and I'm almost certain will have at least one dim sum restaurant. As more and more people begin to appreciate Asian cuisines, these types of restaurants have and will continue to thrive. Each time I go, I see more and more white American families taking a stab (with their two-handed chopstick techniques) at dim sum. I have yet to meet one person who does not enjoy dim sum, and I doubt that I ever will. With the vast variety of food offered, strong flavors, and rich culture the dining experience offers, I can't imagine it being anything less than an enjoyable experience.