Confession time - this series of posts is a bit hard to write as it's constantly making us peckish yet can’t really find any of the treats we’re talking about here. We’ve had to resort to stuffing our faces with just about anything we find to numb the pain. Anyway, back to the food…
In this post we’ll cover some traditionally Japanese foods that you can find in specialist shops or restaurants. They are well worth tracking down and visiting and if you haven’t been convinced that Japan the place to go to eat this is sure to push you over the line.
Okonomiyaki
Okonomiyaki is confusingly referred to as savoury pancake but in reality is closer to an omelette whose main ingredient (other than eggs) is cabbage. Weird, we know. Yet it makes sense. It makes. So. Much. Sense.
The base mix is typically topped with some form of meat – pork, beef, or seafood. Or vegetables of course, if you’re into that… It’s cooked over a teppan in Japan and in more authentic places, or I’m assuming in a regular pan when the special hot-plate isn’t available. Once it’s ready they put some mayo-based sauce over it and top it off with dried fish flakes (sounds gross but really goes well with the taste) and seaweed powder.
Come to think of it, this is actually something that can be easily made at home. Hmmm… We might give this one a go.
If you can’t be bothered with cooking it yourself, or you’re not anywhere near Japan, here are a couple of places in London and Sofia where you can try it:
Abeno, 47 Museum Street, WC1A 1LY Bloomsbury, London – really good quality, offering both authentic Okonomiyaki and ones inspired by western food (featuring bacon and cheese essentially)
Hamachi, 179 Rakovski Str, Sofia – they only have one type which is plain (meaning no extra meat) but it’s tasty. Note that they’ve listed it as an appetiser but in our experience the Okonomiyaki alone is enough to fill you up, so we recommend you order as a sharer.
Seafood
We have plenty of seafood in Europe, especially in the Mediterranean but it’s just not the at the same level. We didn’t try much of it in Japan but it was all so fresh in the fish markets and it looked really appetising. There were also some really weird looking things. For example, we had no idea that sea urchins can be had as is until we visited.
Here are some photos to indulge your eyes or to scare you off in case you’re not into seafood.
Mochi
There are no words to express how much we love mochi! These are (not overly) sweet rice balls typically with some filling in the centre like red beans paste or walnut paste. They are the perfect one or two bite sweet when you are just feeling a bit dessert-y but don’t want to stuff your face. Because they’re not too sweet, don’t contain wheat flour and haven’t been fried, they also give you the feeling they’re not as unhealthy as most desserts. They probably are unhealthy. But who cares, they’re awesome! Also they come in various colours making them fun to look at and to try.
Japan of course had its own take on the filling in some markets and this isn't something we've seen elsewhere, For now. We'll keep searching.
You can find them in most Asian shops in small boxes of 6-8 pieces and they taste pretty good. The only difference seems to be that they’re smaller in size than the ones we had in Japan.
One more thing – they sometimes come with ice-cream in the middle. An absolutely mind-blowing combination as it’s essentially little balls of ice-cream that you can eat directly with your hands. We asked around in Japan and they hadn’t heard of this so it’s possibly not very authentic.
Taiyaki
Another dessert where red beans paste fits in very well. Imagine a tiny waffle with a cute shape, such as fish or a lantern, with a sweet filling. Custard is the other type we’ve tried and we’ve seen chocolate ones, but that just feels wrong. Go for the red beans.
This is not that easy to find but China town areas are usually filled with various types of sweet shops so go for a stroll and you might get lucky.
Matcha
OK this one is getting more and more popular but we still have catching up to do. We see this most often in a latte, which is alright but we never really get to see the process of it being made. It’s delightful and so refreshing in its various forms, ranging from the obligatory iced drink to ice-cream and mochi.