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g8trfoodie · 8 years ago

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Asian Food Tour 2016 (Osaka, Japan)

Nearing the end of our honeymoon or really a glorified food tour, we saved the best for last. Since birth, my fascination with everything Japanese has been quite intense. Throughout the years, I’ve collected Japanese toys, memorabilia, and seen a wide variety of Japanese movies and animation. There was also a time while I was in college that I ate nothing but Japanese food like sushi, sashimi, and a variety of ramen. As you can see, I love the Japanese culture. I was fascinated by the concept that beauty lies not in perfect symmetry, but in the handmade, asymmetrical ways of nature. From Japanese architecture to how food is plated, there’s an appreciation for imperfection. The standard of beauty in visual art is rarely associated with polished images and balanced shapes, but in an honest and simple reflection of reality.

When it comes to food, the Japanese are among the most enthusiastic and passionate of any race. Ask any Japanese person about a recent trip within Japan and the conversation almost always includes talk of the local food. In fact, for many Japanese travelling outside of their hometowns, food is often one of the primary motivators for travelling.

For this reason many towns and cities in Japan are known first and foremost for their local speciality, whether it be a type of sweet, fish, noodle, seaweed or tofu etc. Such is the Japanese passion for food that you can turn on your TV at almost any time of the day or night and almost undoubtedly catch a show about food.

Careful preparation and meticulous presentation are crucial elements of Japanese cuisine. Food is an art form and even the simplest dishes are often prepared by chefs who have trained for many years.

1. Dotonburi, Osaka

One of my favorite things we did in Japan involved just one street. Yes, I realize there are millions of people living in Japan, hundreds of temples and shrines, parks and gardens, sky towers with incredible views, centuries old fish markets, Michelin-star restaurants, tons of izakayas. You name it. Japan has it. But for me, the star of the show was one single street in Osaka: Dotonbori.

Osaka is called the "Kitchen of Japan" for obvious reasons. Osaka pretty much holds the trophy for the origin of most foods in Japan. Food items like, Takoyaki (balls of batter filled with octopus pieces), Okonomiyaki (Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients), Yakiniku (Japanese BBQ), and many more. The best place in Osaka to find all those items readily available and sold on the street is Dotonburi. Dotonburi is the busiest spot in Osaka. Dotonburi is so crowded it seems like 70% of the population of Osaka are usually hanging around the area at one time.

If no one has told you, Dotonbori is a foodie’s dream. With food prices cheaper than Tokyo and a selection that is second to none, Dotonbori is full of eclectic choices that range from seafood side vendors, to traditional sushi, thousands of ramen joints and teppanyaki on each corner street.

The Iconic Glico Man of Dotonburi

The busiest Dotonburi River

Takoyaki is its giant piece of octopus inside a delicately cooked batter ball dumplings covered with an array of toppings like shaved bonito flakes, scallions, Japanese mayo, and more. It may be just a little bit difficult to eat in one single shot as the octopus is super hot but we all know that it is part of fun.

One of the coolest and exciting aspects of this snack is watching it being created from scratch. The chef creates this magical concoction pours it into the pan, place octopus in the small round holes and lets them fry away. This snack takes considerable skill to made efficiently and effectively. If the chef does not let the bottom half of the batter fry properly before stirring it will become a mash of half-cooked dough. Moreover, if the chef lets the batter fry too long it will stick to the pan and, again, will become a mash of half-cooked dough.

There is nothing like molten hot half-cooked batter scolding your tongue and roof of your mouth to get your food jollies going! Before you rip into this snack be sure to remember that this ball of joy is not fully cooked on the inside and will burn the hell out of you.

Our Takoyaki was topped with shaved bonito flakes, Japanese mayo, wasabi flakes, and takoyaki sweet sauce. Part of the reason it was so good was that it was completely fresh, taken right off the griddle, seasoned, and served.

Charcoal Grilled King Crab

Konidoraku honten Osaka is one of the symbol of Osaka. The giant mechanical crab outside the restaurant will welcome you. When we think about crab restaurant, just come up with Kanidoraku.It is most popular crab restaurant in Osaka.

Due to the overwhelming line outside of the restaurant, we decided to just have a sample from the outside grill. The crab legs were split in half and grilled on an open flame. The chef carefully turns the crabs over to prevent it from burning but keeping it longer to start caramelizing to provide that seafood sweetness.

Gyoza are dumplings filled with ground meat and vegetables and wrapped in a thin dough. Also known as pot stickers, gyoza originated in China (where they are called jiaozi), but have become a very popular dish in Japan. The typical gyoza filling consists of ground pork, nira chives, green onion, cabbage, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil, but some creative gyoza shops have also come up with a range of other fillings.

Aki gyoza are by far the most common type of gyoza. They are pan fried in a hot skillet before a mixture of water and cornstarch is poured in and everything is covered for a few minutes. The water and cornstarch mixture helps to steam the gyoza, making them soft and juicy while creating a thin crispy bottom on the individual gyoza. Yaki gyoza are typically served with the crispy bottom side up. Hanetsuki gyoza ("gyoza with wings") is the term used when the individual gyoza pieces are all connected by the thin crispy bottom.

Grilled Buttered Japanese Scallops

By far one of my favorite dishes all over Japan. I have a lot of favorite foods, but when it comes to seafood, one of my absolute favorite things from the ocean are scallops. These gigantic mollusks are cooked in there shell with all the innards totally intact.

The scallop was first popped open, cleaned, then put back into half of its shell, and then set on the grill. It was seasoned with a dab of butter, and a spray of some soy sauce (I think, or something in a spray bottle), and it sizzled in its own scallop juices and butter for just a minute until cooked.

The scallop was unbelievably delicious.The meat was firm yet soft and silky, and it had a natural sweetness to it, with a faint soy sauce and roasted butter aroma and flavor.

World's Second Best Freshly Baked Melon-Pan Ice Cream

This amazing creation of melonpan ice cream has taken Osaka (and in fact the whole Japan) by storm. Tracie was so excited to try this out because she has an ultimate weakness for freshly baked sweet breads and ice cream.

Basically what they do is serve up a crispy, hot melonpan, which is a popular sweet bun in Japan with a crispy layer on top that resembles a melon (also known in some places as 'pineapple bun'). Do not be misled by the name, as it is not melon-flavored. They cut it open, and add a slice of vanilla ice cream and a dab of chocolate syrup inside as a 'stuffing' almost and serve it with a small pastry that looks like a mini piece of toast. The combination is so so delicious! Contrast of the hot melonpan's crispiness with the cold, soft ice cream. Gets even better when the bread soaks up the melting ice cream, even though it gets a bit messy!

Tracie came back on our last night in Osaka just to be disappointed at the sight of an empty line and a closed up van. I will use this picture to convince her to come back to Osaka and complete her unfinished business.

Kobe Beef

Since Kobe Prefecture is only 21 miles away from Osaka, Kobe beef is sold all over Dotonburi. There are numerous restaurants and vendors that carry the one of the most prized cattle in Japan. On our first night in Japan, we sure didn’t wait too long to taste this famous meat.

The chefs showcased their cooking and knife skills by preparing and cooking the beef right in front of their customers. Both of us were watching quietly while my tummy was waiting impatiently to taste the wonderful meat. They cooked it perfectly and also made the extra effort to cut them into even bite-sized pieces and seared the meat carefully on all sides. The meat was then served on top of grilled onions.

Below is a copy of the information about the cattle that our delicious Kobe beef came from. In order to be classified as Kobe Beef, the cattle has to be graded and approved by the Japanese government.

Yakitori are grilled chicken skewers made from bite sized pieces of meat from all different parts of the chicken, such as the breasts, thighs, skin, liver and other innards. Usually made to order and cooked over charcoal, yakitori is a popular, inexpensive dish commonly enjoyed together with a glass of beer. The best yakitori is served at specialty restaurants, known as yakitori-ya, but it can also be found at many other types of restaurants across Japan, such as izakaya, and in this case, street food stands.

Kushikatsu Daruma

Gourmet and chicken nuggets don’t really go together, right? But leave it up to Japan to make everything better quality, including chicken nuggets, or rather gourmet deep fried skewers of ingredients better known as kushikatsu.

Kushikatsu, deep fried things on skewers, wasn’t something I was all that excited about trying in Osaka, but I should have known it would be some of the best deep fried things on skewers I’ve had in a while.

Tempura is another famous deep fried Japanese food. But unlike tempura, kushikatsu is more of a snacking street food style of food, much less delicate and not as refined in quality as tempura. Kushikatsu is the type of Osaka snack food that you go to eat and socialize, drink beer, and enjoy some tasty junk food style deep fried skewers.

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