Gather Together

Nabe (鍋) is a winter favorite for a lot of people in Japan.

I think the word Nabe actually refers to the traditional clay pot that people would use to make these soup dishes. But now when people say "Let's do Nabe tonight!," it refers to this dish.

There are a lot of different soups we use for this dish. Some popular soups are Kimchi, Tomato, Soy Milk, and Collagen. It may sound bizarre but it's really good.

My friends and I ate Pork Broth Nabe (photo above) about a month ago...and we got together again for Kimchi Nabe (photo below) a week ago.

My favorite thing about Nabe is that it's just a lot of fun to eat with everyone! We all had a great time eating this yummy dish!

Popular Persimmons

Persimmons are one of my favorite fall fruits. I love the simple taste. Walking around Tokorozawa, you'll see a lot of persimmon trees in people's yards. 

And although I'm not the best person to start talking about Japanese literature...I do remember a very famous haiku that almost all Japanese people know or have at least heard of. It's by a famous haiku poet named Masaoka Shiki (正岡子規).

"Kaki kueba Kane ga naru nari Horyuji"

(柿食へば鐘がなるなり法隆寺)

This translates to something like "Bite into persimmon, a bell resounds, Horyuji." Shiki wrote this while he was in Nara during his travels, sitting in a tea room close to Horyuji while eating persimmon, which was said to be his favorite fruit. And although it's said that the sound of bell he refers to is actually from Todaiji, a different temple in Nara, this famous haiku composes a lovely fall scene and remains to be one of the most famous haiku in Japan.

Take a look at more beautiful skies all around the world here.

Maboroshi-ken Ramen

Maboroshi-ken (まぼろし軒) is a popular ramen shop in Tokorozawa. This dish is my favorite Tonkotsu-Shio Ramen (とんこつ塩ラーメン), which is ramen with broth made from pork bones and salt. Just the thing to fill your stomach after a long afternoon walk.

Maboroshi-ken just started their lunch hour. Until recently they were only open at night.

I don't know about everywhere else but in Japan there is a thing called Shime (締め pronounced She-meh). When people go out to eat and/or drink in Japan (which we call Nomikai (飲み会)) it can lead to a second stage which we call Nijikai (second party) where we all go karaoke, bowling, or just to another Izakaya. The bigger the event, the longer these after parties keep on going.

Anyways, the Shime comes at the very end of the night (i.e. early morning). And this is just speaking from experience but a lot of times this ends up being ramen, probably because ramen shops tend to be open in the middle of the night and you can be in and out of the shop quite quickly.

Eating ramen at 4am is probably not the greatest idea health-wise. But it's still very very tasty!

Maboroshi-ken is open everyday from 11:30am to 5pm and again from 5:30pm to 4am.

Favorite Fall Fruit

I forgot to post photos of when I when I went fruit u-picking, this time "Nashi (梨)!"

Nashi is what we call Japanese Pears, although they are more like apples. They are really crunchy and juicy, which is why I love them! 

Like the grapes, the Nashi were also wrapped to protect the fruit and we would have to rip the bottom of the bag open to look inside to see which one we wanted to pick (although there's really no need to actually "pick" any because all of them are well-made)!

The lady in the photo above told us that the Nashi this year were small compared to recent years. But they look pretty big to me! Yum!

Sushi Go Round

Sushi is still a favorite among us Japanese. There are two types of sushi restaurants, the one where a plate of sushi is placed on a conveyor belt (Kaiten-zushi 回転寿司) or one where a sushi cook directly serves you the sushi on a wooden board (Sushi-ya 寿司屋).

And although the later is typically more upscale, I love going to the former and choosing what to eat from the various sushi dishes that pass us by. This is at Kappa Zushi, a famous sushi chain restaurant in Japan.

You can see from the photos, mostly all the sushi are made up of fish or other seafood. But there are actually a couple of sushi plates that vegetarians can eat, too. I like eating the cucumber or ume (Japanese pickled plum) wrap and the fried egg sushi. Yummy!

If you can't find the sushi that you want to eat on the belt conveyor...you can also order what you want on a digital display. When you do, the Kappa Express (below) delivers the sushi directly to your table!

When you're ready to go, the staff comes to count how many plates of sushi you ate, calculates it all, and you pay the total amount at the register.

How many plates do you think you'll eat?

I'm Nuts for Chestnuts!

Tis the season for Japanese chestnuts!

Japanese chestnuts are called "Kuri (koo-ri)" here. My favorite dish is the ever popular "Kuri Gohan," which literally translates to "chestnut rice." It's simple but tasty, especially with a sprinkle of "Goma Shio (black sesame salt)!"

Under the Vines

This is a shot of the sky through the grapevines from my day at Kitada-en (posted here).

I'm pretty short so I could easily stand under the vines, but for anyone taller than 160cm (around 6'2"), they would definitely have to angle their necks to the side or crouch over. But it would be worth it. The Kyoho grapes were delicious!

Take a look at more beautiful skies all around the world here.

Vineyard Fun

This weekend I had fun grape-picking at Kitada-en, a local farm in Tokorozawa. Right now the Kyoho, Pione, and Beni-izu grapes are in season.

This was my first time at a Japanese U-pick farm so I was curious how it operated. I should of known everything would be all professional...the good grapes waiting to be picked were wrapped in white paper!

So what we'd do is, look inside the white paper and choose which grape we wanted, which isn't a hard choice at all, as most are waiting beautifully to be picked!

Then we'd take the scissors and snap the stem. Very easy, right? And don't forget, the longer the stem the longer the grapes stay fresh!

I think I'm going to make this an annual outing. I loved walking under the grapevines! And the grapes were really delicious! Yum!

Butter Me Up

They say when a Japanese person comes back from a trip overseas, ramen is the first thing they want to eat!

I'm not sure how accurate that is but I love ramen, too. This is the Miso Butter Ramen at one of my favorite ramen shops, Cho-chin Tei (ちょうちん亭). It takes a while to get through the Moyashi (beansprout) they pile on the ramen but it goes well with the miso taste. The butter also makes the soup a bit more creamy. Yum!


The owner of the shop always greets you with a big smile and a loud "Irasshai-ma-se!!!," which means "Welcome" or "Please come inside." I've been coming here since high school and I love that no matter how long it's been since the last visit, the staff always remember you and ask after you.

I also love that the girls get a small popsicle after finishing the ramen!

My Choice of Drink

Although the clothes stores have started selling corduroy and fur, it's still hot as ever in Tokorozawa. Not only Tokorozawa but everywhere in Japan, actually.

It's always so humid. Many people are suffering from heat exhaustion. Which is why it's important to take plenty of fluids this time of year!

When I plan on being outside for awhile, I always buy this drink at the convenience store. Kachiwari Lemon (かち割りレモン) is actually sold as a frozen drink. But since it's so hot outside it usually starts to melt right away and you can enjoy a cold drink to the very end!

bbbbblack

Spotted this coffee can sitting on the wall of someone's house.

I pour caffeine down my thoat everyday but I've never been a fan of drinking it black. Always end up making the 'ewwwww!' face.

I know, so nine-year-old of me...!

Flipping, Topping, and Eating

And here it is!

We usually put Okonomi-yaki sauce, mayonnaise, dried bonito flakes, and green seaweed seasoning (青のり) on top of the Okonomi-yaki. And it is very very good!

Oh, and since I don't eat either meat or fish, I usually get something like the Curry Mix (curry powder, potato, cheese, etc.) or Mochi Cheese Mix. You can even order your own mix and put in whatever you like, which is great for vegetarians!


And what's so much fun about Okonomi-yaki is that you get to make it by yourself. You have to use the spatulas to flip the Okonomi-yaki over, which can be quite disastrous without the right balance!


What's also interesting is the way we cut the Okonomi-yaki. You can see below that it's cut like a pizza, which is how we cut it in the Tokyo area. This is because we eat Okonomi-yaki as the main meal and usually we share with others.

In the Osaka area, on the other hand, they cut it in small squares because there they consider the Okonomi-yaki only a part of the whole meal and many eat it along with rice!


But whatever they put in it or how they cut it, Okonomi-yaki is a delicious meal you can enjoy with everyone!

In The Works

Have you ever had Okonomi-yaki?

It's very popular in Japan, and there are different ways of making it depending on the region. This is the bowl filled with various ingredients that the staff bring to you when you order. From the top is Beef/Green Onion (牛スジねぎ焼き), Pork/Kimchi (豚キムチ焼き), and Mochi/Cheese (もちチーズ焼き). I like how colorful every bowl looks!



And what we have to do is, although the bowl is close to over flowing, we need to mix everything until it looks like this, below. There is a flour mix in the bottom of the bowl and you need to mix it all up before grilling it on the pan.

This process takes some time, which I'm sure the store does on purpose, to make us all even more hungry!


Tune in tomorrow for the Okonomi-yaki after it's done!

Salad Udon

This is the Salad Udon they serve at the Koku Park food concession. It's a very popular menu during the summer.

Tokorozawa is actually known for their Udon, which is a thick noodle made from wheat flour. The reason for this is that the land in Tokorozawa was unsuitable for planting rice and so instead many people grew wheat. Thus the popularity of the udon grew.


This Salad Udon has tomato, cucumber, lettuce, seaweed, Japanese radish, mizuna (potherb mustard), soft seaweed, kamaboko (steamed fish paste), and katsuo-bushi (dried bonito) as toppings. All these are great for overcoming summer fatigue.

Good thing because all the seats are place outside!

I Heart Snow Cones

I was in snow cone heaven the other day at the pool.

We call them 'Kaki-gori' here, which literally translates to 'shaved ice.' This stand by the lazy river pool had snow cones in five different flavors. I got the Lemon flavor but there were also Strawberry, Melon, Mizore (colorless syrup), and Blue Hawaii.

Anybody want to join me?

Cha Cha Cha

I had lunch at Kiyomoto (清元), a restaurant inside Seibu Department Store, the other day.

This is their Cha-Soba (Greet Tea Soba) Set. The Cha-Soba is on the lower right. There's also the rice on the lower left, the Chawan-mushi (茶碗蒸し) on the upper left, and a slice of melon and pineapple for dessert on the upper right corner.

The food was really good and I liked how very Japanese the interior was!

Reflections

This is the acquarium outside of the restaurant, Tora-fugu Tei, which specializes in Tiger Pufferfish dishes. You can see the buildings on the other side of the street reflecting off the glass!

Although the pufferfish is known to be poisonous, it can be edible when prepared properly, and is a very popular cuisine here in Japan. I don't eat fish so I just watch them swim around from the street.

Have you ever seen a pufferfish before? They actually have a very cute face!


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