Food In Japan

Here is a photo journal of our food experiences in Japan thus far: 

Okonomiyaki: prepared much like a pancake with flour, eggs, cabbage, meat, seafood, and so on. The ingredients are blended in a bowl and then cooked on a griddle

My okonomiyaki on the left contained pork, beef, kimchee, fried egg, and green onions

Nick's okonomiyaki on the right consisted of pork, beef, cuttlefish, and shrimp

Takoyaki: ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a batter and cooked in a special takoyaki pan. It is filled with minced or diced octopus (tako), tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion served with Bonito fish flakes

 Deep fried chicken and potatoes

 Pictured left: Chinese dumplings stuffed with pork

Pictured right: Deep fried soy (tofu) with green onions and radish

Pictured left: Seafood salad with lettuce, lemons, shrimp, squid, salmon, and olives

Pictured right: Salad with lettuce, ham, hardboiled egg, tomatoes, corn, and croutons

Pictured left: Fried shrimp, quail eggs, renkon (lotus root) etc.

Pictured right: seafood rice with shrimp and smoked salmon (the yellow stuff is grated egg)

 Pictured left: Yakisoba noodles (similar to chow mein) 

Pictured right: chicken dish with sprouts and green onions

 Shrimp Tempura, served with rice, miso soup, tartar sauce, green tea, and some pickled vegetables

 Shaved ice with strawberry syrup, most are served with condensed milk and sometimes the Japanese sweet bean curd

 Sushi at home: Crab, Tuna, Salmon, Shrimp, Scrambled eggs, and Salmon Eggs

 Sushi in a restaurant (kindly hosted by Nick's professors). This ship platter includes (starting from the right to the left): wasabi, eel with plum, Bonito, Yellowtail, Tuna, Steak, Snapper, Squid, Sea Urchin, a miscellaneous mollusk, and Abalone

 Pictured left: raw horse meat; apparently some horse in Japan are raised solely to be eaten by humans (Nick's professors love it). Pictured right: more sushi hosted by Nicks professors; Cooked eel, Sea Urchin, Yellowtail, and Squid

Myself, Nick, Sensei Kauai, Sensei Toyoda, and the restaurant owner

One quick sidenote: I am surprised by how many things they eat raw in this country. They eat shellfish raw including shrimp and other things like scallops, squid and octopus etc.  They also eat raw meats including pork. These things are unheard of in America but people in Japan eat it all the time. I have not allowed myself to try any of these things, I am sticking to only raw fish (although I did try the raw horse). 

 

Pictured left: cabbage salad with a sesame dressing, seafood fried rice, and pork cutlet

Pictured right: Stir fried Udon noodles with steak, rice, miso soup, beans

Japanese version of Mexican nachos (we were desperate for something not Japanese)

 I'm making sure we get our salmon fix while we are here since it is so cheap. These are some home made dishes I prepared. Pictured left: broccoli, rice, and salmon cooked in a soy sauce and sesame oil reduction with green onions and garlic. 

Pictured right: rice, mixed potato pancake, and garlic pepper salmon

 Dried fish products found in the store

One of my home made concoctions: yakisoba noodles, garlic, onions, cabbage, green onions, miso broth, and thin slices of pork

 

We are enjoying our Japanese food experiences but it is very repetitive. We both miss pizza the most but we will wait until we return home to fill that craving because the pizza here (advertisements pictured above) are quite different (primarily seafood toppings) and quite expensive, a large is upwards of 3000 yen ($30).