JaPancakes

Went to Denny's for breakfast with my wife. This month they're having a pancake buffet: YEA!
But...

...as you can see, it's only in the afternoon. That's right, on Planet Japan, pancakes are a high-calorie afternoon comestible enjoyed primarily by prim, single young "office ladies" and idle students. 

Breakfast? How about some fish, rice, or if you're feeling modern, a sandwich?

Alright, Denny's is pretty international. 
You can get eggs and "bacon" in the morning. 
French toast.
Non-French toast.
You can even get pancakes...

think you can finish all that?

Not one, but two pancakes...almost as bit as my hand! And served with an extra-large thimble of syrup (practically half-full).

Now, they're featuring something called and Eggslut...they say it's all the rage in LA. Soft-boiled egg on mashed potatoes with toast. Actually pretty good. 

GothBurger

Black is back.

It's the burger that goes with everything, and just in time for Halloween! Burger King in Japan brings back the KURO burgers: Diamond and Pearl. Burgers in a squid ink sauce between buns blackened with bamboo charcoal.

I'm hearing alot of negative comments about them, that they look gross. I think they look fun, and they taste quite good. They're as good as BK's regular burgers, but with the kind of charred taste as if they'd been cooked at a beach barbecue. And the ikasumi (squid ink) ads a nice little twist.

I've had it twice so far, and I'll probably have it a few more times before it disappears. But then again, I'm the same guy who just made an effort to eat fried bamboo worms in Takadanobaba. So maybe you shouldn't be too quick to follow my taste.

Adventurefood: What's the Buzz?

My family loves to try new and unusual foods. Our must recent challenge was presented to me by a student and fellow-foodie in Tokyo, and just in time for Halloween:

BUGS

I've been wanting to try some of these edible insects that I've been reading about for ages, but they weren't showing up prominently in Tokyo. But Nong Inlay, a Myanmar restaurant in Takadanobaba (between Ikebukuro & Shinjuku) has added a special addition to their regular menu featuring three bug-dishes a frog dish.

Clockwise from top left: kaiko (silkworm), kaeru (frog), takemushi (bamboo worm), kourogi (cricket).

The proprietors are earnest, and request that you eat what you order -- don't order it, take selfies, then throw it away -- don't waste the food, whether or not you consider it to be "food." I mean, if you really don't like it, they won't force-feed you. They just expect folks to take this seriously, and rightly so. Edible insects have the potential to solve a large chunk of world hunger problems.

The frog wasn't anything new to us, and crickets and beetles seemed a bit of a gamble for a first time. So we played it "safe" and ordered a plate of fried silkworms (we felt confident we'd be able to finish them). We ordered several other conventional dishes along with that including a delicious green tea salad, sauteed furikake, garbanzo bean tofu, an some noodles in a chicken broth. We weren't sure how our son would deal with Myanmar food, but anyone can eat chicken noodle soup.

C'mon! Just get over the stigma and give it an honest try. Land bugs aren't so different from sea critters like shrimp, crab, lobster and octopus. If you saw any of those creeping around the garden, they'd probably go on your squish-it list also.

first bite

second bite

tasty and approachable noodles

How many teenagers would actively petition to go eat something this weird? The trick to raising adventurous eaters is to be adventurous yourself. I know plenty of parents who try to force unfamiliar foods on their kids, chanting, "how do you know you don't like it if you don't try it" but would never venture anything like this. Constantly pursue new culinary challenges yourself with gusto and passion, and your kids are bound to follow suit.

My wife and I'd tried a Myanmar place in Tokyo years ago, and it was so awful that we crossed if off our list until now. But because of the food we had here, Myanmar food is back on our long-list of alternative foods.

Between the three of us we finished off the dishes, and begged for more furikake to take home (it was that good). We discussed the silkworms. My wife and son found them palatable, but bland and overpowered by the oil and spices. I thought they had a nice, starchy quality; somewhere between popcorn and potatoes. I thought they'd make a much better salad topping. Either way, not good enough to eat again, at least not at 900 yen a plate, but definitely a fun family food fling. The story and pictures were worth every yen of it, and like with any challenge it had a great bonding effect. It's another weird afternoon we'll never forget. 

Nong Inlay is in a old little cluster of restaurants and coffee shops across the street from Takadanobaba station. If you're driving, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding some coin parking around there. They're open for lunch and dinner and usually half-full of friendly Myanmarese families.

The staff don't speak much English that I could hear. The menus are in Japanese but well-illustrated with photographs so you can point and choose. If you're worried about spiciness, you can point and ask "karai?" meaning, "is this spicy?" Asking, "kodomo wa" means "what would you suggest for kids?" And after you're done, there are plenty of interesting shops nearby where you can walk-off those bug-calories.

Nong Inlay
03-5273-5774

Put that phone number into your GPS or Google map and you'll get good directions.

Popcorn War in Tokyo

It's the kind of weird boutiquery you'd expect from Japan, but this time it's coming from the States.
Not one but TWO gourmet popcorn shops in Tokyo, a ten minute walk from each other at that.
One is Garret's and the other is KuKuRuZa.

Garret's is better.
KuKuRuZa is faster.
This is because Garret's has cues of Space-Mountain-proportions that can take an hour or more, and KuKuRuZa has little-to-no cues.

The pride of Chicago, Garret's menu is pretty simple. They have three basic flavors. Cheese, butter, and caramel. Beyond that, you can get variations of the caramel with cashews, almonds, macadamia nuts, or pecans. You can also get what they call their Chicago mix: cheese and caramel. It's alot better than it sounds. I'm jonesing just thinking about it. #%&@! My mouth is watering! Yes, the Chicago Mix and all their other popcorn is really that good. The popcorn itself is stunningly crispy, and stays that way for several days. I'm not sure how they do it. I've never had popcorn even close to this good, every in my life. Just take my word for it, it's actually worth the wait. And go ahead and buy several different flavors. They'll keep alot longer than you'd think. We're nuts about it, and all of our friends, family and customers say the same.

Seattle's KuKuRuZa has twice as many flavors, but it's more popcorn rolled in powders so the flavors don't, sorry, pop like Garret's do. And the popcorn is a bit rubbery and tough; the texture is not quite as good as the best movie popcorn I've had. There were also too many un-popped kernels: eat carefully. What's more, the staff were markedly unenthusiastic, by Japanese standards. But it's not commensurately cheaper--the prices between KuKuRuZa and Garret's are about the same. My family thought they liked it at the time, but haven't given it a second thought since. One good thing about KuKuRuZa is their resealable bags.

Either brand makes for a great gift/omiyage. The bags and tins are pretty and decorative.

So I'd have to recommend Garret's well above KuKuRuZa, unless you're either in a big hurry to grab a flashy gift, or you're bored with Garret's flavors and want to try some of the more exotic flavors of KuKuRuZa like Jalapeno or Cinnamon Bun.

KuKuRuZa is alongside of Omotesando Hills, near Ben & Jerry's.
http://www.kukuruza.jp/

Garret's is across the street from Harajuku station near Shibuya. It's easy enough to find. Exit the station, cross the street, turn right, and go towards the intersection. It's next to Jangara Ramen, at the base of the foot bridge. Just look for a long line of people. They also have a place in Chiba, but I haven't been there, yet.
http://www.garrettpopcorn.com/japan-locations/

Now I'm wondering if Tokyo can support two gourmet popcorneries, or if war will break out. A battle for pop-ularity? I'd love to see them having at it with popcorn guns and carpet-popcorning. Troops commanded by their...kernels? (sorry, that was too corny). But I think Garret's would win it just on enthusiasm alone. Their staff seems to know they have a great product and they serve it with real pride.

Honorable mention: Tokyo Disneyland's Curry Popcorn.

Yokohama Ramen Museum

It's open again!
It's open again!
The Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum is finally open again!

If you're only in Tokyo for a few days, go to the ramen museum in Shin Yokohama.

It's not far from the glorious Yokohama station, itself a short ride from Tokyo. A few blocks from Shin Yokohama station is one of the weirdest, most interesting places in Kanto.
It closed down years ago, but as soon as I heard it had re-opened I grabbed my family and we trained it out there.


I'm not sure I'd call it a museum...maybe a theme restaurant / museum?
The ground floor houses a modest museum displaying the history of ramen in Japan and it's trappings. But it's that which lies below for which you should go.





The basement stairs are actually a time machine, taking you back to the year 1958 when ramen saw a boom period across Japan. There you'll find an amazing replica of an old, Japanese neighborhood consisting of a town square surrounded by dense little urban paths and filled with numerous ramen shops.







The Japanese fast-food equivalent of the American hamburger is a bowl of steaming ramen. While it's not the  healthiest meal, it's a good-sight better than tacos or burgers, and it's about as fast.

Now ramen shops are pervasive, ranging from sublime to awful, and like any fast food you learn to keep expectations low in touristy areas like theme parks and rest stops. You go do Disneyland for the rides, not the spaghetti, right? Not so here, where the museum showcases the best ramen Japan has to offer from Hokkaido to Okinawa; alot like EPCOT's World Showcase.


The shops rotate periodically, but the shop we found most interesting when we went in September was actually from Hollywood, CA. called Ikemen (a play on words, ikemen meaning handsome, and men meaning noodles).

The ramen is dipping style, where you take some noodles and dip them into the sauces. And in addition to great food, they have a great sense of humor, with menu items such as "Johnny Dip Ramen" and "Jurassic Pork."

Admission is about 300 yen for adults, 100 yen for kids.

It's the details that really complete an illusion and the detail the really sold me that I'd stepped back in time was a "public TV," mounted high on a post in the square so everyone could watch it (because hey, this is the 50's; who can afford their own TV???)

The secret to getting the most out of your visit, unless you plan on multiple visits, is to order the "mini" bowls of ramen at the various shops. These are half-sized servings. This way you don't fill up quite so quickly. We were able to sample three different shops this way and still have room for soft-serve ice cream at a nostalgic old "snack" bar (something between a coffee shop and a tavern).

We happened to get here in time to watch a TV station record a superhero scene in the square. TOO FUNNY!

The name of this shop translates out to "Fire Nation." As a fan of The Last Airbender, I entered cautiously.

...a WHAT booth??? How did the older generations ever survive without  iPhones?

Just enjoying a steam at the local sento bath-house.

Enjoying a frozen jelly, in the classic dagashiya style.

I took my dad here when he visited.
I took my wife here on one of our first dates.
I took every visitor here.
And everyone balked at the suggestion.
And everyone loved it.
And it was closed down before my son was old enough to experience it, which was a real bummer. But now I have been able to share this wonderful place with him, and he can't wait to go back.

And of course what night ramen would be complete without a few laps on an old slot car racetrack? Weird? Unrelated? Sure, but it was so much fun I'm not complaining.

For more information, follow this link to their English site or type Yokohama Ramen Museum into Google.

Smaller, Cuter, Better: Cupcakes

 It's almost unbearably cliche. Tiny, "demitasse" cupcakes in the Omotesando subway Echika.

Following the big cupcake boom back in the States, TABLES has taken the recently re-booted cupcake, miniaturized it, and is offering it in more flavors than you'll find for macaroons...and they're adorable! Just look at some of these:

Fig, orange, green tea, red velvet, pink berry, black vanilla, white chocolate...

one of my favorites was the gingerbread:

We stumbled across it changing trains in Omotesando, near Shibuya last month. The cakes were just the right size to make for a little pick-me-up treat. We actually ended up getting several. Luckily, there is a good coffee bar facing TABLES so we could have a good cuppa with the cup cakes. I took this picture from where we were sitting:

It's the kind of thing I'd have walked right past if I hadn't drifted into the kitchenware store behind it. Even after I saw it, I almost gave it a miss because at first glance it looked like any other confectioner. But now it's one of our Omotesando stops. If you're in Osaka, they're there, too.

Every flavor we've tried is top-notch. They're priced right. Easy to carry home.

...and they're just gorgeous to look at.

Here's a menu, but the items are always changing:

This is one of my killer holiday gifts this year. Everyone I've given them to loves them. 

Yes, I've got that American competitive gift-giving thing. 

My gift has to be the coolest thing you get.

Halloween in Japan 2013 Progress Report #1: Food

One of my favorite things about Japan is how it assimilates foreign culture without imitating it. Take, for example, my favorite holiday - Halloween. We first started seeing the earliest glimmerings of it's presence here 20 years ago. Now it's becoming firmly positioned in the Japanese pop-holiday pantheon. But in the same way England and North America have their own ways of expressing it, so does Japan and it's about as similar the the American Halloween as is Mexico's Dia De Los Muertos.

This year, we're seeing two new sweets in the stores. This one is an apple pie that looks like a jack-o-lantern. Light, flaky crust and cinnamon-sweet apple filling.

...and this is a steamed pumpkin cake.

It has the consistency of sponge cake, but with a Japanese Kabocha "pumpkin," a variety of Asian squash. Very tasty.

I'm looking forward to what other confections Japan comes up with in the Halloweens to come.

The Ongoing Adventures of my Tongue: Taco Rice

Japanese Mexican food.

It's called taco rice (タコライス takoraisu).


As weird as that might sound, it truly rocks! But if you ever visited Japan's distant island of Okinawa, especially in the armed forces, or spent more than a week anywhere in Japan, you're probably familiar with it and don't see it as weird at all.

The One-Minute Lunch

For such a tiny, remote island Okinawa offers some remarkably unusual, yet delicious food.

Approachable

That's the word I'm looking for. Alot of "unusual" food around the world, good or bad, can be very unfriendly to the less-adventurous diner. Okinawan food, maybe for it's simplicity, doesn't look all that different from Chinese. If the spartan marines are eating it, it can't be all that esoteric. But the MC of Okinawan food is the humble taco rice.

Legend has it that it was first whipped up in the '60's by a local chef trying to please the palates of US servicemen by making tacos, but substituting local rice for the tortilla shells - the only component which was difficult to obtain out there (if you think about it, everything else is pretty basic).

It's essentially taco-seasoned ground beef, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and whatever else served on a bed of steamed rice. It's as good as it sounds, and a notably healthy alternative.

It's so easy to make that you just read the recipe. But for the sake of bullet points, I'll elaborate with helpful Japanese shopping links:

• Brown the ground beef, drain the fat, return it to the skillet, and cook for a few more minutes with water and taco seasoning
  (chili pepper, onion, garlic, pepper, cayenne, and maybe cumin and paprika).
  You can do your own seasonings, or just use a package of taco seasoning like I do.
  
  
• Serve the beef over steamed rice.


• Here, I like the traditional Japanese "sushi rice" (uruchimai). Maybe that's just because it's what I'm accustomed to but I think the starchy, stickiness of this rice works best with the spicy beef and cheese; supporting it without overpowering it. Sometimes I mix in a little brown rice for substance and healthiness. But just about any rice will do, I guess.
• Here, I like shred the cheese directly on the hot taco meat (oh, grow up!) so it will melt better. Now we're almost talking NACHO rice, which mine usually ends up resembling if I have enough cheese...so much for the health benefits.
• Chop up some lettuce or cabbage, tomatoes (cherry tomatoes, if  you have them on hand)...add some guacamole, onions, olives...whatever turns you on.
• Taco sauce or salsa on top. If you're in Japan, the best salsa by far is the Daniel's Fire Roasted line imported from the US. If you're in the States, you may know of  better brands, but I doubt it.  Daniel's Fire Roasted Salsas are so good, I've stopped making my own. The black bean and corn is my family's favorite. I used to get them at Sony Plaza when I was lucky enough to find them in stock until I found them online. Now I order them by the case and go through about a jar a week.
  You can order them from Rakuten through this link (complete links at the bottom):

★6,000円以上ご購入で送料無料！4月30日9時59分まで★《ダニエルズファイヤーロースト》サルサ... 価格：698円（税込、送料別）



• After That? Serve with beer and a kick-ass action movie. Might I suggest From Paris with Love?

• OR if sounds like too much work, heat up a  package of ready-made taco rice meat.

You can even speed up the process further by smashing a couple of plain onigiri/rice balls on a plate, adding the ready-made beef, and microwaving it (remove beef from foil bag first, genius).

Taco rice is equally popular with kids, at least in Japan. Try it with your kids and see what they think. Lemme know.

Either way, I'd like to hype Daniel's a little more. It's a small company, so I want to make sure they get all the business they deserve lest they stop selling in Japan and I lose my favorite condiment.
Try them all; they're all great.

トマトソースにハーブと乾燥燻製唐辛子をブレンド。濃厚だけれどマイルドな味。【monoria】〈Da... 価格：698円（税込、送料別）

★6,000円以上ご購入で送料無料！4月30日9時59分まで★《ダニエルズファイヤーロースト》サルサ... 価格：698円（税込、送料別）

★6,000円以上ご購入で送料無料！4月30日9時59分まで★《ダニエルズファイヤーロースト》サルサ... 価格：698円（税込、送料別）

ハラペーニョの辛みが病みつきになる、米国で多くの賞を受賞した自慢のサルサ。【monoria】〈Da... 価格：698円（税込、送料別）

フレッシュハラペーニョの刺激的な辛さがたまらない、辛いのが好きな方におすすめ。【monoria】... 価格：698円（税込、送料別）