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A Traditional Japanese Breakfast

What do Japanese people traditionally eat for breakfast in Japan?

Many Japanese these days eat a more western breakfast with eggs, toast, and coffee. However, if you’re at Japanese inn or hospital or something you may get something more traditional, like this.

Photo of Japanese Breakfast
Photo of Japanese Breakfast

So what’s in this photo:

  • White rice
  • Natto (a dish of fermented soybeans, hated by many, loved by some)
  • Kiwi
  • Kiriboshi Daikon (cut dried radish)
  • Miso soup
  • Pickled (shibazuke pickles)
  • Saba (mackerel)
  • Yogurt
  • Mugicha (barley tea)
  • Gobou (burdock root) and Renkon (lotus root) with Mayonnaise

Cook it up! Might be fun!

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Japanese Craft Beer: Ginga Kougen Beer from Iwate prefecture

Whenever I’m in Japan (or anywhere for that matter) I try to drink craft brews when I get the opportunity. Here’s one of my consistent favorites, Ginga Kougen Beer from Iwate Prefecture.

The deep blue bottle stands out. The beer is tasty and refreshing. You can find it outside of Iwate frequently. I recently found it in Osaka. Quality stuff. Highly recommended. Run, do not walk, to a big super market in Japan and grab it.

Ginga Kougen Beer from Iwate Prefecture

Ginga Kougen Beer has an English website where you can read up on some of the history. There, you’ll see that this beer was established in 1996, which was also the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kenji Miyazawa, a famous Japanese author. One of Kenji Miyazawa’s most famous works is called 銀河鉄道の夜 (Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru, Night on the Galactic Railroad), which is where this beer takes part of its name. According to the Ginga Kougen Beer official website, the actual name of the beer means means Galaxy (ginga) and Plateau (kougen). Galaxy indicates “dream and roman” (I think they mean romance) and plateau indicates “famous natural water.”

It’s not often that one gets the chance to visit Iwate if you do not live or work there. Iwate is far from Tokyo, and isn’t on the way to much. I have been lucky enough to visit a few times and always enjoyed myself. The most famous cultural site must be Hiraizumi and Chusonji Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The capital, Morioka, has famous noodle dishes such as wanko soba, jajamen, and morioka ramen (a cold noodle dish). If you find yourself in northern Japan, please try to fit in a visit to Iwate! Might be fun!

What’s your favorite Japanese Craft beer? Let me know in the comments!

Links:

Ginga Kougen Beer from Iwate Prefecture
Ginga Kougen Beer Label (Front)
Ginga Kougen Beer from Iwate Prefecture
Ginga Kougen Beer Label (Back)

Blowfish Sake on Fire – Fuguhire Zake

Back in 2007 I tried a hot sake with blowfish tale. With hindsight, I see that this might be called Fuguhire Zake.

Blowfish Sake

From what I remember, I did not find it delicious. I’ve never had it since. The restaurant that I had it at was a blowfish speciality store, so all of our dishes included blowfish.

Blowfish Sake on Fire
Flaming blowfish tail entering the hot sake

They brought out the sake in a full cup set inside of the square masu that you see in the picture. Then the set the blowfish on fire and dunked it into the sake. Adding the blowfish caused some of the sake to overflow from the cup into the sake. Nice presentation!

In terms of taste, I much prefer straight sake…

If you get a chance, try Hot Sake with Blowfish Tail! It might be fun!

Blowfish Sake in a Masu
Blowfish sake was a good experience. Wasn’t actually dangerous.

Links around the web:
Fuguhire Zake (Hot Sake with Blowfish Tail)

INSIDE THE DEADLIEST COCKTAIL IN THE WORLD

It was like this!

Whisky Chocolate from Taketsuru

On Valentine’s Day in Japan the custom is that girls give chocolate to the guys that they like. They may also give chocolate to the guys that they feel they must based on their formal relationships… Like to a male coworker on their team at work or something. If you’re guy who is really liked you might get lucky and receive some amazing homemade chocolate.

I like whisky. I also like Japanese whisky. This year I got some whisky chocolate from Taketsuru! It’s super dark chocolate, which I like, and has a nice infused whisky flavor.

Taketsuru Chocolate
Taketsuru Whisky Chocolate
Taketsuru Chocolate
It came in a non-standard small size wooden “masu” traditionally used for sake.
Taketsuru Chocolate
Taketsuru Chocolate Insert

The last image here is of the insert in the chocolate box. It explains that it uses high quality refined alcohol not diluted in water, with techniques passed down from Nikka Whisky’s blenders to get Taketsuru Pure Malt. It has 3% alcohol content.

Tasty! Also, apparantly Silsmaria is the first company to sell raw chocolate (nama chocolate).

The Valentine’s Day chocolate industry in Japan is totally over the top. I guess it’s fine, as everyone loves a reason to celebrate. The companies do come out with some interesting chocolate products, like this one. It really takes willpower to resist the urge to spend though!

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Fancy Bar in Tokyo: Gen Yamamoto

While I was living in Tokyo I hardly ever took the time to seek out the luxurious locales the city has to offer. Cause you know, money. Now that I’m not living there anymore when I go back I try to be a tourist and do something fancy. Tokyo has a lot of fancy bars. Here’s one of the coolest, Gen Yamamoto in Azabu Juban.

As of writing, you can chose to a four, six, or seven cocktail course. I would recommend going for the six or seven course, as if you’re coming here at all, it’s probably a special occasion and you’re going to want to make the most of the experience. The alcohol content of his cocktails is not too high, so don’t worry about passing out from too many drinks.

Note, this bar has only eight (8) seats. while it’s possible to slip in without a reservation, it’s difficult. Call ahead! The bar tender speaks English. The cocktail courses are fully selected by the bar tender, Gen Yamamoto.

The cocktails change with the season and what is available, but they are all delicious and interesting. Perhaps more importantly to readers of this blog, they all have a unique Japanese theme or twist. The recent cocktails are often listed on the bar’s website if you want to check it out. Gen speaks English, so he’ll be happy to tell you about each cocktail and the ingredients if you ask.

Gen Yamamoto cocktail
Gen Yamamoto cocktail

If you’re looking for a special place to have a quiet and interesting night over some drinks, I strongly recommend checking out Gen Yamamoto. Again, be sure to make a reservation well in advance.

Gen Yamamoto: http://www.genyamamoto.jp/bar_tokyo/English.html

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Yuba – The Film on Top

Do you like tofu? Have you tried yuba? Yuba is often translated to tofu skin, and it’s a thin film of slightly firm film that forms on top of tofu when it is slowly heated.

I can’t cook, but apparently it is possible to make yuba at home.

If you’re in Japan it may take a little hunting but you should be able to find several restaurants that serve yuba, and hopefully a tofu speciality shop that has yuba on te menu. I would 10/10 recommend you give it a try. Yuba is tasty, light, and healthy.

Granted, if you’re really really hungry, yuba isn’t going to fill you up. But it’s a great experience!

Yuba before cooking
Still in a totally liquid state and being slowly heated.
Yuba firming up
The film on top, which is the yuba, is starting to solidify.
Yuba being pulled off the top
Pulling off the yuba.
Yuba ready to dip and eat
Ready to dip! In soy sauce, or other things.
Yuba in soup
Yuba in soup

Warabi mochi in Kyoto

Ah, warabimochi. Read about warabimochi on Wikipedia. Is it one word or two? Does it have a hypen? These are the questions I have asked myself… and set aside because all I really want to do here is show you some photos and encourage you to try warabimochi the next time you are in Kyoto.

Warabimochi tastes best when it has been made the same day. If you buy it in a shop, the seller will usually warn you to eat it quickly. It’s softest when it’s fresh, and has that wonderful subtle flavor. The kinako is a fine powder and can catch in your throat if you’re not careful, so enjoy it with some nice hot green tea. The tea will also offset the sweet taste of the warabimochi. It’s a great traditional snack!

Warabi Mochi and Tea
Warabimochi in Kyoto
Warabi Mochi
The powder on top is called Kinako and is made from soybean flour.

Wondering where this particular warabimochi can be found? Here it is!

Rakusyou / http://rakusyou.co.jp/ / Closes at 10 – 5 pm / Walking distance from Yasaka Shrine. Map on their website.