Japanese Food! Comments, suggestions, feedback!

[Evangelion Xgouki]

Man, this thread is making me miss home . Back in Hawaii you could find good Japanese food all over the place. And in most supermarkets there was no 'asian' asile cause those products were everywhere inside

[Alchemist007]

I actually like Nissin's ramen...well just the curry flavor
But these korean kind (Samyung I think) are like 2-3x thicker!

[Circular Logic]

Originally Posted by aohige

Japanese style Tonkatsu (battered deep fried pork) Curry rice >>>>>>>>>> life of a newborn baby >>>>>>>>>>> everything else in life

Someone who sees the light! I've travelled around many cities comparing katsu curries

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Be aware that package ramen is cheap but is a mere shadow of fresh ramen from a restaurant.

I tell people to use the package ramen and throw out the spice package (too much crap in it). Get a decent selection of your own japanese spices and add proper amounts to the broth. In a pinch, yeah use the packet but you only really need about 1/3 to half of the spice contents.
Supplement the ramen with veggie bits and fishcake, sliced boiled egg, or sliced beef.

you shouldn't, keep the spice package and use it later on for other type of foods such as in Kimichi Jjigae. Though it isn't healthy so it shouldn't done frequently.

Originally Posted by aohige

Japanese style Tonkatsu (battered deep fried pork) Curry rice >>>>>>>>>> life of a newborn baby >>>>>>>>>>> everything else in life

That sounds really nice, I love both Tonkatsu and Curry that combo seems near perfect.

[Nosauz]

I dunno my only gripe with tonkatsu its just a complete bitch to make. Don't get me wrong, I loved fried and crispy as much as the next asian but man with out a fryer doing fried food in general is a pain. The same goes for Tempura which i also love but find it a complete chore to make. Curry Rice on the other hand is probably one of the best boxed product that I have ever had, and of course it would be better made from scratch but really when it comes down to convenience man curry rocks. I just find that most restuarants don't have great food quality at least compared to when I prepare food at home, and honestly if I had a kitchen the size of resturaunt I'd probably never eat out.

Any ideas on other preparation methods for tonkatsu? personally I've tried baking it, but the pork comes out dried and not delciious, even with a fattier pork chop.

[Evangelion Xgouki]

I'll have to agree with you on the tonkatsu cooking -_-. I tend to use a wook when I make mine with an assembly line on the counter for making it all . What I don't like is how fast the oil can get dirty with all the panko gathering and burning at the bottom which requires either them to be scooped up or having to change out the oil and reheat it completely .

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Evangelion Xgouki

Man, this thread is making me miss home . Back in Hawaii you could find good Japanese food all over the place. And in most supermarkets there was no 'asian' asile cause those products were everywhere inside

We have several asia-marts here (Uwajimaya, Anzen, H-mart, etc) and it makes the 'big box' grocery stores (Kroger, Safeway, etc) look like complete douche bags to charge, say, $6 for a bottle of mirin when I can get the same exact bottle for $3 at Uwajimaya.

Between the asia-marts, costco, and local "hippy green groceries" we barely walk into big box groceries anymore (and usually end up pissed off when we do).

[Nosauz]

Originally Posted by Vexx

We have several asia-marts here (Uwajimaya, Anzen, H-mart, etc) and it makes the 'big box' grocery stores (Kroger, Safeway, etc) look like complete douche bags to charge, say, $6 for a bottle of mirin when I can get the same exact bottle for $3 at Uwajimaya.

Between the asia-marts, costco, and local "hippy green groceries" we barely walk into big box groceries anymore (and usually end up pissed off when we do).

Actually most asian super markets charge more than what costco charges so for produce I usually go to the farmer's market. Plus the one thing I love about asian cooking is that it doesn't really require you to have certain things for dishes, it all about seasonal cooking. I think the only thing that I really purchase at asian markets are noodles, tofu, frozen dumplings, the occasional carton of seasame oil, Lichi, seasonings like hot sauce, pickled vegetables and the ocassional bottle of kimchi which then i use the left over brine to pickle more, oh yea and saracha. But yea if its not bulk price and is retail I tend to squirm over price, and farmers markets are probably the best way to get fresh execellent high quality produce at very cheap prices. Costco is also my friend since they stock things like Kimmokan Soy suace.

[Bane Rieko]

I've had authentic pocky, sushi, and sukiyaki. I loved them all!

I've also tried to make rice balls. They tasted great.... but they were more like rice mountains than the triangle like balls they're supposed to be.

We have a Japanese steak house, a sushi buffet, and an authentic Japanese lunch restaurant here where I live. I want to go back to the lunch restaurant and try their bento boxes and their different ramen dishes. I want really big authentic ramen!

[Ryuou]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Just a warning - you can find *packaged* taiyaki at import grocery stores. Don't bother with them, they taste terrible compared to the real thing.

Your best bet is hitting some asian/japanese festival where a live taiyaki stand is in operation - fresh taiyaki is best. If they have more than one filling available try one of each though most like the traditional sweet red bean filling.

Same goes for takoyaki (octopus "balls" - kind of like hushpuppies in design) -- they're best hot off the grill.

Yeah I've gotten some from vending machines and they weren't really that great.

Although I risk getting thrown into a fit of homesickness, I guess I'll go ahead and post in here.

My fav drink - Mitsuwa Cider

My fav snack/candy - Milky (no hatin')

My fav food - is a little trickier. If I was forced to pick one, I'd have to say sushi. Within that it would be salmon and toro (tuna), but I've unfortunately only been up to chuutoro I think. I can't afford the expensive stuff.

How about we come up with our favorite Japanese food/drink combos. Probably my top one would be Ocha at a kaitenzushi. I like ocha (hot) in general, but for some reason just being at a kaitenzushi (key) eating sushi makes it so much better.

[Alchemist007]

Just had the Nissin (Top Ramen) curry noodles then the Samyung ramen with the curry flavoring. So much more kickass, the Samyung raw noodles are definitely superior.

[WhiteWings]

I'm kinda sad that despite the incredibly long history Japan seem to have a fairly low number of foods that are pure Japanese.

I mean food that haven't been brought unchanged from overseas or food modified and evolved into more Japanese.

I mean what food can be named that are completely 100% Japanese without any outside influence or source at one point or another?



I'm getting hungry thinking about Japanese food... If for some reason there are pure 100% Japanese food that I missed I'd love to know about it.

[Tri-ring]

Originally Posted by WhiteWings

I'm kinda sad that despite the incredibly long history Japan seem to have a fairly low number of foods that are pure Japanese.

I mean food that haven't been brought unchanged from overseas or food modified and evolved into more Japanese.

I mean what food can be named that are completely 100% Japanese without any outside influence or source at one point or another?



I'm getting hungry thinking about Japanese food... If for some reason there are pure 100% Japanese food that I missed I'd love to know about it.

Pretty stupid rant if you ask me since most of the dishes around the world are influnced by other origin and are fairly new compared to Human history.
French recipe were heavily influnced by Italian recipe when the French royal family tied wedlock with the Medici family and further evolved their method of serving dish by dish adopted from the Russians in the 19th century.
Italian tomato dishes did not exist till 200 years after Columbus historic voyage to the Americas, German Potato recipe did not evolve until the 17~18th century and Korean Hot spicy food did not exist till the 17~18 th century either.
Ketchup is said to be adopted by the British from a Thai sauce in the 17~18th century.
Mayonnaise is also a farily new sauce invented around the 17th century by the French(one theory).
So you see before the 17th century most dishes were just plain grilled/boiled meat or fish which you cannot claim of it's "originality".
Same with the Chinese although they did have alot more variety on their plate then most other society of that time.

[Vexx]

Actually.. what you say is pretty much true for ANY food from any region in the world --- all cultures mingle. Italy has pasta because Marco Polo and many others ventured the trade routes to China.

edit: Oops, tri-ring beat me and in a much more examplirific way ...

[KimmyChan]

I love ramen and sushi, also Pocky and melon bread ^__^

[Nosauz]

Originally Posted by Tri-ring

Pretty stupid rant if you ask me since most of the dishes around the world are influnced by other origin and are fairly new compared to Human history.
French recipe were heavily influnced by Italian recipe when the French royal family tied wedlock with the Medici family and further evolved their method of serving dish by dish adopted from the Russians in the 19th century.
Italian tomato dishes did not exist till 200 years after Columbus historic voyage to the Americas, German Potato recipe did not evolve until the 17~18th century and Korean Hot spicy food did not exist till the 17~18 th century either.
Ketchup is said to be adopted by the British from a Thai sauce in the 17~18th century.
Mayonnaise is also a farily new sauce invented around the 17th century by the French(one theory).
So you see before the 17th century most dishes were just plain grilled/boiled meat or fish which you cannot claim of it's "originality".
Same with the Chinese although they did have alot more variety on their plate then most other society of that time.

This is not quite true countries rich in spices already had natural flavors probably the first really "cooking" may have been fireraosting but eventually and not in 17th 18th century for sure did people start to cook. Kimchi is far older than the 17-18th century and actually in chinese historical text which some times carry recipes, speak or taro as a delicacy that the emperor would have imported from far away regions. Of course modern cooking has exploded but still methods of cooking have not just been developed the last 3 centuries of human history that also goes for spicy food in korea.

On the note of originals, well when it comes down to it there are very few original dishes left, as the world changed, spices infused the west but the east had always seemed like a treasure trove, but when you look at the history of sushi it was merely a process to preserve fish with over abundant rice. Anyway spagetti and meatballs is my favorite example of original yet shares similarities to its progenitor. In italy you would never serve these two together and marinara or pasta sauce never had meat balls in it, but in the bustling times of new york immigrant workers helped to create the american cuisine by combing the two because meat was fairly cheap and sauce abundant. Also if you really want some good food history check out No reservations or even just alton brown and Good Eats.

[Tri-ring]

Sorry but Kimuchi(as we know it today) can not be older than 17th century since red pepper native to the new world did not come around to Asia until the 17th century.

Nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, black pepper and other spices were all know in Europe around ancient time but logistics prevented them to be used in large quantity until fairly recent time. The price of pepper for example was the same as price of gold in weight in Europe up until the 17~18th century.

Chinese cuisines as we know it today did not emerge until the Qing Dynasty again because of limitation in logistics.

The most commonly used flavoring for cooking from acient time were salt, herbs, garlic, vingar,wine and vegetable oil.
Method of fermentation was well know to the Asian nations creating various types of fish sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce and Miso but the amount of usage was small since salt was an expensive item in those days.

[Nosauz]

it may not have been classic kimchi but pickling dates way further back than the 17th century, considering the brine could be reused. Just because of "logistics" doesn't really mean much because people had to survive and I'll tell you even if certain spices couldn't be used people would eat, and dishes created were to emulate what they ate but in a more replicable fashion. Again the emphasis of seasonality is most brought out in ancient cooking.

[asgard_shill]

I miss me some green tea ice cream. You can get it in the states, but you either have to live on a coast or luck into a Japanese restaurant supply house. And neither option is open to me out here in the freaking desert.

[dragon300zx]

Originally Posted by Lord Raiden

HAHAHA!!! No.... T_T The closest thing is Ron of Japan's in Chicago. All we have around here is Chinese and Korean restaurants. I live in the great cold northern state of Michigan and for some reason Japanese avoid this place unless they're here to work for Denso.

BTW, your suggestions sound really good. I'll have to try and remember to ask him about those and hopefully get to try some. Oh, and I'd seriously love to chow down on some authentic Japanese Ramen.

Huh where do you live B.F.E.? There are not as many japanese restaurants in michigan as chinese (they have a harder time staying in business) but there are plenty of them still, especially where I live.