I’m going to try to explain. With all the attention lavished recently on Tokyo cuisine, most people are missing the point. Japanese cuisine is great, and Japanese interpretations (Japan-poi) of foreign cuisines can be fantastic. But, Tokyo is far from the best place in Japan to eat. It’s expensive and often disappointing when you venture into non-budget busting restaurants. Kobe is better, and cheaper than Tokyo, fo example.
However, fo my money, the best place in Japan for food is Fukuoka. Because it’s in Kyushu, it starts with a big advantage. Kyushu is very warm, and already know throughout Japan for it great local foods and seafood – at reasonable prices. Fukuoka, meanwhile, is big enough to have added all the international cuisine you could want. These together make Fukuoka a fine dining Mecca.
So, I’ll have a look at various restaurants in the area. And, we’ll start with something fairly traditional. (Click on the image for an enlarged view).
This restaurant is called “Hira.” It’s a sort of upscale izakaya, or pub. These are really the best places to eat. Adventurous menus, good prices, great atmosphere.
The top dish is a sashimi/sushi plate. I would describe the whole picture, but the ingredients will change daily, depending on what’s fresh. There is maguro, salmon, eel and maybe buri on this plate. Very filling, and the price is 2000 yen – about $20 US.
The next dish down is abalone steak. Real abalone, not the pale imitations (or worse, pounded squid) that you often get in the US. Butter, lemon and garlic round this off, for a price of 2800 yen ($30 US).
Number 3 is black pork stewed in fish sauce – the sauce used after cooking toro. Black pork is something that is ust catching on overseas, and for good reason. It’s outstanding.
The price for this dish is a whopping 800 yen ($8 US).
The shop is located in Otemon, between Akasaka and Ohori Koen on the subway line. If you’re game at speaking Japanese, the number is 092-716-8660.
Zipangu is, as far as I know, the first sparkling sake. Shouchu has traditionally held the sparkling beverage market with chuhai. But, since shouchu is moving upmarket, it’s time for sake (or properly, nihonshu) to move down market.
It will be consumed tonight, and I will report back.
My wife has been feeding me gelatin desserts all week long, and telling me it’s good for my diet. The kanten diet is fairly well known in Japan, and extraordinarily healthy. Kanten, red seaweed also known as agar-agar, makes a gelatin that is low in calories, rich in protein and high in fiber. 80% fiber, in fact. It’s great at cleaning out the intestines, and has been tested and shown to aid in weight loss. After eating, the kanten triples in size, making you feel full and going on to clean out your digestive system and even blood. The dessert is commonly given to diabetics. And it’s completely natural.
This is just another reason why it’s easier to stay thin in Japan.
But we, especially we men, are human – and sometimes, well, lazy.
Especially when we live alone or have a hangover.
So, instant has it’s moments. And, as horrible as instant food is, it can be easily dressed up to taste fresh, simply by tossing in a few fresh ingredients. It’s amazing what a little sauted garlic added to instant anything will do. Throw in whatever fresh veggies you have, and you have a meal – and a not entirely unhealthy one.
Instant ramen, with the above garlic, or just with a sprinkling of sesame oil and pepper. Top it with a couple of leftover greens , onions whatever. Throw in some shredded cold cuts and voila.
The Kouchan blog is one of the best known food blogs in Japan. It started with one young and attractive male chef, and has grown to draw in huge numbers of contributors, mostly female. The recipes are all dishes that people like to make at home, and run the gamut from traditional, to fusion, to just kinds weird.
Maguro (blue or yellow fin tuna) and mizuna (a thin leafy vegetable that tastes like lettuce – you could substitute any light leafy green that can be eaten raw) are simply mixed here with oyster sauce for a very tasty dish.
Ingredients
Serves 4 (That is, four Japanese – so add more if you are hungry)
300 g/12 oz. Diced maguro or tuna, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 Bunch of mizuna or other green
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
1 Tablespoon Potato starch]
Half Tablespoon of Rice wine, or Chinese cooking wine
One Tablespoon of grated fresh ginger
One Tablespoon of sesame oil
Mix the cubes of maguro with sesame oil, salt and finally potato starch. Fry until the color changes and remove from the pan. Then add a little more oil and the ginger – cook until fragrant, and add the wine along with the maguro again. Cook a few minutes more and remove from heat. Finally, toss in the raw mizuna or leafy vegetable.
Amicolla is a Japanese collagen drink, supposed to be good for your skin. This restaurant owner may well be the first to make “dry curry” with it, which is what Japanese call curry fried rice.
The ingredients, minus the Amicolla, are (in order): egg, chopped green onion, rice (cooked), then red bell pepper, cooked bacon or pork, curry powder, vegetables (broccoli or whatever strikes you) and seasoning (to taste).
August 4, 2008
Posted in Traditional Japanese Foods 
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