Category Archives: Food

Mostly About Japanese Food

Featured Recipe: Japanese Nabe

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Japanese Nabe (also known as Japanese Nabemono is kind of like an awesome soup or stew, and everything is cooked in the same pot. There are a variety of ways to prepare nabe, but I’ll give you one you can try out.

Items you’ll need:

  • 12 small chicken meatballs or 2 cubed chicken breast
  • 8 large prawns
  • 1 large carrot cut into 2cm diagonal pieces
  • Half of a shredded Chinese napa cabbage
  • 4 – 6 whole shiitake mushrooms
  • 3 leeks cut into 2cm diagonal pieces
  • 1 large piece of tofu cut into 2cm cubes
  • 200g udon noodles (pre-cooked)

Soup stock:

  • 3 cups kombu and bonito stock
  • ½ cup tsuyu (Japanese noodle dipping sauce)
  • 4 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 4 tablespoons sake

Cooking instructions:

  1. In a large hot pot, add all of the soup ingredients and allow it to boil.
  2. Add chicken and boil for 2 minutes.
  3. Add carrots and shiitake then boil for another 2 minutes.
  4. Add shrimp, Chinese napa, leeks and tofu to boil for an additional 2 minutes.
  5. Serve in small bowls with rice on the side. When main ingredients are eaten, add the udon at the end with the rest of the soup.
Chicken Nabe

Chicken Nabe

Street Food in Japan

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If you’re looking for an exciting Japanese experience while saving some money, make sure to check out the street food in Japan. I’ll talk mostly about the Tokyo area because that’s where most people visit.

There are a lot of street food vendors around the city, but of course, most of them move around.  I’ll tell you where they usually are, but I can’t guarantee 100% they will be there. The weekends are your best bet to catch them.

japanese street food vendors

japanese street food vendors

Ramen – lots of vendors around the city. One of the more popular ones is in front of Shinjuku West Exit. This is a highly recommended ramen chain –it has a huge following and you can expect to stand in a long line during lunch time and dinner time. Visit the site here.

Takoyaki – fried octopus balls with special sauce and bonito flakes. Famous from Osaka, it`s also widely enjoyed in Tokyo.  Especially during weekends, Yoyogi Park will have a few vendors.

Yakisoba – Fried noodles with meat, nori (dried seafood flakes) and sometimes with pickled ginger is found during festivals, or you can also find vendors in Yoyogi on weekends.

Yakitori – skewered chicken with a variety of sauces. They are usually found in streets during festivals, sometimes Yoyogi park, or just order them from Izakaya (like “EN”)

Okonomiyaki – fried pancake type food (see it here). I think it kind of tastes similar to Takoyaki. There are restaurants throughout Shinjuku, like this one in Kabukicho.

Crepe – Although crepe are not Japanese, there are modern Japanese versions of crepe. They are not healthy and usually strange ingredient combinations, but they are most definitely a Tokyo thing.   You can find them everywhere, especially Harajuku Takeshita Street (across from the Harajuku station Takeshita Exit. (Harajuku and Yoyogi are walking distance, so if you would like to see Yoyogi Park from Harajuku station, just take the “Omotesando Exit” instead of Takeshita.)

Street food in Japan seems to be the cleanest atmosphere when I compare it to other countries I’ve visited. Ramen and Yakisoba are my favorites.

random street food in japan

random street food in japan

Featured Recipe: Onigiri (Japanese rice ball)

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The Japanese rice ball (Onigiri), which is shaped like a triangle instead of being complete round, is a handy snack that you eat any time and take almost anywhere.

To make onigiri you will need the following:

  • 3 cups freshly cooked rice
  • Sea salt
  • 2 sheets of Nori (dry seaweed sheets) cut into strips approximately 5cm wide and 10cm long
  • Black and white sesame mix
  • Small bowl of water

For the onigiri filling:

  • 3 Umeboshi
  • 1 grilled salmon (shredded)
  • 3 tablespoons bonito mixture (mix bonito flakes with a little soy sauce)
  • 1 small cup of mixed tuna with mayo

Instructions to make onigiri

  1. In a small rice bowl, add a little salt and a scoop of rice.
  2. Make a hole in the middle with your thumb and place one umbeboshi inside.
  3. Cover with a little more rice.
  4. Wet your palms with a little water and add a little salt.
  5. Place all of the rice in your hand and gently roll into a ball.
  6. Shape the ball into a triangle with rounded edges and place a strip of nori on top or sprinkle with sesame mix.
  7. Follow these steps for all of the other fillings.
  8. Optional:  You can also evenly mix the rice with salmon or bonito mixture and shape into a triangle without nori.
Japanese Onigiri

Japanese Onigiri

Featured Recipe: Japanese Karage

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Here’s a step by step tutorial on how to make Karage (Japanese Fried Chicken)

You will need the following:

  • 10 boneless chicken thighs
  • ½ cup potato starch
  • Oil for deep frying
  • Lettuce leaves for garnish

Ingredients to make the marinade:

  • 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
  • 4 tablespoons sake
  • 4 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Karage cooking instructions:

  1. Cube the thighs into bite-size portions.
  2. Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl with the chicken. Mix well and let it sit for approximately 30 minutes.
  3. Heat cooking oil to approximately 170°C/340°F.
  4. Coat the chicken with potato starch and place in the deep fryer.
  5. Fry for approximately 4 minutes, until they are crispy and golden brown.
  6. Drain well and serve with lettuce.
Japanese Karage Fried Chicken

Japanese Karage Fried Chicken

170% Coffee – No WAY!

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Me and a (gaijin) friend of mine were heading to play some darts at Cybac and he handed me a can of coffee. The can said – Coffee 170%! No way can they fit 170% coffee inside a can that’s not 70% bigger! After some deciphering we decided it means +70% of the normal amount of coffee beans were used to make this delicious beverage. I’ve had conversations at a cafe while drinking hot coffee, but this is my first canned coffee conversation.

170 Percent Canned Coffee in Japan

170 Percent Coffee? I'm sold!


By the way… for those of you that order coffee online you can free shipping on most orders and get $5 off at ROASTe by entering a coupon code BLOGME5.

Cheapest Ramen Shop I Found in Japan

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I love ramen, all varieties. Good ramen comes at a price though, usually 500 Yen or more, so I was excited to try out the 280 Yen ramen at the Hakata Kinryu restaurant. The price was good, but the taste was just average. And what’s with the corn in the ramen? I guess it’s not as strange as ice cream, but it not that tasty and hard to grab with the chopsticks. After my 2nd trip to this store I decided I’ll stick with the good stuff from the because it’s worth it.

If you’re serious about ramen, I recommend checking out these sits
Ramen reviews
Ramen Adventures
Ramen Walker

Hakata Kinryu in Japan

The restaurant entrance

Hakata Kinryu Ramen

I had to add some extra ingredients

Hakata Kinryu Ramen Menu

The menu of cheap ramen! You can click the pic for a bigger picture.

Takoyaki on a Chopstick

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Walking downtown I saw a vendor selling Takoyaki on a stick for 200 yen. I thought wow! I could really use some takoyaki right about now! And I decided to grab some of these tasty octopus treats at a great value! It’s strange to have a piece of wood go through the takoyaki because there’s supposed to be some octopus in the middle. The presentation and the vendor’s friendliness helped secure the sale. The value was good, but it turned out the food wasn’t.  So I’ll be sticking to the freshly made takoyaki in a box for now on. Take a look at the difference. The 2nd picture is from a summer festival.

takoyaki on a stick

Takoyaki on a stick with what I'd consider great presentation and a lot of mayo!

Takoyaki in a box at a Japanese summer festival

Fresh takoyaki in a box at a Japanese summer festival

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