Category Archives: Food

Genghis Kahn Says Bite Me

For some mysterious reason, this Japanese version of Mongolian cuisine is known by the name of history’s fiercest warrior and pronounced “jingisu kon,” but in no way does that diminish the utter yum of sizzling meats & veggies dipped in a sauce that’s so good you’d die happy drowning in it. When you sit downContinueContinue reading “Genghis Kahn Says Bite Me”

It’s Plum-Flavored Potato Chip Season!

Pickled plum flavored potato chips If it’s February, it must be time for the shelves to be bursting with umeboshi-flavored goods, but think twice before you pop one in your mouth, expecting something sweet! Umeboshi are not for the weak. The über-sour, extra-salty pickled plums star in children’s lunches early and often as the redContinueContinue reading “It’s Plum-Flavored Potato Chip Season!”

Time For a Nice Bowl of Intestine Soup

Forget the Clearasil and dumpster the Oil of Olay. My friend Hiro tells me that all I have to do to have beautiful skin is eat lots of motsunabe. Apparently, Japanese women have eaten pig intestines for ages, chasing the perfect creamy complexion. On a cold winter night, the bubbling pot of motsunabe turned out toContinueContinue reading “Time For a Nice Bowl of Intestine Soup”

Pizza of…France?

And what could be more French than a pizza topped with five types of cheese, broccoli, red peppers, demiglace sauce and beef stew? You won’t need a glass of red to wash it down with, because apparently, wine has already been liberally added. The decorative squirts of cream cheese were a nice coup de grâce,ContinueContinue reading “Pizza of…France?”

Mitarashi Donut

On the left, observe that irresistible staple of Japanese festival snackdom, mitarashi dango: a skewer of gooey rice balls slathered in salty-sweet goodness. On the right, Mister Donut’s homage, the mitarashi donut: a ring of fried dough, dripping with that very same salty-sweet sauce. Sadly, they don’t come skewered three to a stick. •

I’ll Have the Eel Sundae with a Cherry on Top

Yep, it’s actually eel-flavored ice cream. With a handy packet of sanshō pepper on top for your take-out dining pleasure! At the Cup Ice Store you can buy individual servings of this and many other flavors that at best might be described as…interesting. Like this India Curry Ice Cream. Does it come in a naan cone?ContinueContinue reading “I’ll Have the Eel Sundae with a Cherry on Top”

Pizza of December

I didn’t think Shakey’s could top the red bean, marshmallow and squash dessert pizza, but their winter specials just might surpass that creation for sheer originality. When the most ordinary offering among them is called “Roast Chicken & Pineapple,” you know you’re in for some culinary surprises. This creation features burdock root and seaweed. IfContinueContinue reading “Pizza of December”

Streets Paved with Gyoza

Inside Namco Namja Town in Ikebukuro is a crooked little street lined with stands featuring the best potsticker dumplings from all over Japan. It looks like an old shitamachi lane, and the choices are dizzying. Regional specialties served with a squeeze of sudachi lime or mixed with shiso leaves are joined by more, hmm, experimentalContinueContinue reading “Streets Paved with Gyoza”

There’s a Fish Fin in My Drink

Finally it’s cold and rainy out, just the season for a swig of hot saké with a smoked, dried blowfish fin floating in it! Hirezake is such a wintertime favorite here in Japan that they sell these single-serving cans in vending machines. But nobody wants to encounter a nasty, soggy fish fin that’s been stewing in theContinueContinue reading “There’s a Fish Fin in My Drink”

Little Blobs of Heaven on a Stick

On the last night that the fall leaves were illuminated at Rikugi-en, we stumbled across the mitarashi dango stand. In a little hut beneath the maple trees, this man and his wife were dishing up skewers of rice cakes, roasted over charcoal and slathered with miso  sauce. Sometimes mitarashi dango – the traditional balls madeContinueContinue reading “Little Blobs of Heaven on a Stick”

The Godzilla of Toast

This “Maple Monbranc” Honey Toast is just what it looks like: a solid half loaf of white bread topped with ice cream, maple syrup, prolific extrusions of sweetened chestnut paste, whipped cream, half a candied chestnut and two sprigs of parsley. This is just one variety – you can order your slab of goodness toppedContinueContinue reading “The Godzilla of Toast”

No Seaweed, Extra Chili Peppers

In the battle for the hearts and minds of Japanese midnight noshers, Pizza Hut fights back with the Gorgeous Four, the Melting Camembert and the Super Korean Purokoki! This flyer landed in my mailbox yesterday, promising that with a single phone call, I could be dining on a pie topped with Korean BBQ beef andContinueContinue reading “No Seaweed, Extra Chili Peppers”

Pizza Taco

Sometimes “foreign food” is REALLY foreign in Japan. Like “Mayo Con Beef Tacos.” Or, even more mysterious, “Egg Feeling Tacos.” Basically: Anything in a folded tortilla? It’s a taco! A first I was puzzled by why “pizza” was mentioned – since it seems to be missing from the menu altogether – but I bet they’reContinueContinue reading “Pizza Taco”

The Most Expensive Bonito Guts I Ever Ate

The first course of kaiseki at Hamada-ya In case you didn’t immediately recognize the gourmet tidbits in the lovely dishes above, the one on the left is “Shrimp and udo plants dressed with salted and fermented bonito guts” and the one in the center is “Hairy crab and butterbur dressed with egg yolk and vinegar.”ContinueContinue reading “The Most Expensive Bonito Guts I Ever Ate”