What is ediable in Japan

With as many posts as I've written on the subject I might as well stop listing what sorts of awful foods there are here and make it easier, here's a list of some foods are actually good in Japan (Hint: they aren't really Japanese):



Tantanmen


Chinese food is in high abundance in Japan. There is pretty much a ramen shop on every street corner, and this is not a total exaggeration. It is one of the most popular things to eat. Some of these shops may be so small that customers have to eat standing up. This is the quintessential food for travelers as it's both good and cheap.


Tantanmen is a variety of ramen. It's broth is made of sesame seeds and hot oil. It's often topped off with some bak choi. The thicker base means that it can actually be deceivingly filling making it one of the best foods to find.

Curry, Naan and Indian food

Japanese love Indian food. While not quite as popular as Chinese it probably comes in second as one of the easiest foods to find. Luckily it is quite delicious. It's rather expensive though, a meal will cost $12-15 depending on what you get and where you go but often well worth it. You usually get a cup or 2 of curry in different flavors and dip your naan bread into it. It's usually a bit spicier than it's lesser cousin Curried Rice, though not always.





Curried Rice

This I believe is the Japanese equivalent of the "enchirido." It's Indian inspired but mostly Japanese and it found pretty much everywhere. Popular types include plain rice and curry on the side (It's always on the side for some reason, God forbid you pour it OVER the rice) or with Katsu (fried pork) over it. It's usually at least decent. The variety pictured here is from a chain called coco's curry. They serve curried rice with a number of toppings, in this case sausage. You can also choose your hotness level here. I went for an 8/10 which was enough to induce a hiccup fit and nose running. I could do hotter but I don't know how much I could finish.




Bou-kun Habenaro

These are easily the most delicious snack food ever invented. They are probably laced with crack because I can't stop eating them. They are flavored potato rings, that come in two flavors: Chili and Habenaro. Both are good. Chili is pictured.

Katsu

This has come up a lot. It's basically a fried pork patty. You see it in a variety of settings including on curried rice, in ramen, in sandwiches and by itself. By itself it is usually eaten with a type of BBQ sauce. There's not a whole lot to this, but it's fried meat which basically ensures that it'll be hard to mess up.


Note: In writing this I've pretty much decided that the only thing Japan can do right consistantly is spicy. I'm not sure I exactly understand why either.

Japanese Western Food

One of the things being in another country is you start looking for the familiar. I'd assume that this typically manifests itself as a craving for a particular food that is common in one's own country. In Japan this is simply filtered down into anything that was not scraped off the hull of a cruise ship.

The Japanese fancy themselves culinary savants. The is easily seen in shows like "Iron Chef." What you may not see is that Japanese have an obsession with food. Any normal conversation will at least touch on foods in some way. Japanese scientists have gone so far as to classify new tastes like Umami, Shibui, and Kokumi. Strange as this may be the Japanese seemingly have no sense of taste (perhaps this is why they obsess?). This is fairly obvious given that every meal will contain plain rice which is about as bland as you can get. The favored drinks are tea which tastes like hot water filtered through twigs and hay. Not just that but even the textures are gross. I've had to eat things here like shrimp and muscles in what appeared to be gelled fat, and one of the most awful things is "oden" a variety dish were everything is in amorphous blobs and is akin to chewing through a pack of condoms. It is in fact so bad that many deaths occur each year, primarily in elderly people caused by choking on these mucusy morsels. But in an effort to show their prowess they've taken it upon themselves to mimic western food, which unfortunately to the non-existent Japanese pallet something invariably gets lost in translation.

I don't have pictures for all of these so bear with me.

Spaghetti:

The Italian classic. This is wheat noodles in tomato sauce it should be easy right? Apparently not. For one let's just touch on the notion that Western food is considered somewhat chic. As a result something as simple as pasta goes for about $10 a plate. This may also be as little as 1/2 a cup of pasta, definitely not anything that will fill you up. At least the restaurants have some decent pastas even if they are woefully overpriced. The dorms seem to be another matter. At breakfast a choice is given for western food, this usually translates into the same thing with a piece of ham or just on one plate instead of 2 (I don't get it either). It can also mean getting spaghetti...for breakfast. I'm not sure where they got this information but needless to say it is quite the head-scratcher. However aside from temporal issues, it is actually possible to mess it up. For dinner occasioanlly you may find spaghetti as well (usually as a side) or at least what you think is spaghetti. It's actually noodles covered in ketchup. Yes noodles with ketchup, delicious. I know a couple of people who would do this but I also expect them to perish in their 30s among a pile of discarded pizza boxes clutching a bong.

For an even bigger slap to the face try noodles covered with mayonnaise. Maybe they should just stick to sea creatures.

Bread

Okay so the bread isn't always terrible. They have invented things like "Melon Pan" (It wants to sound french) that do taste quite good. Also are the sausage baguette type things you can find at most bakeries. Then there are the eyebrow raisers like bread covered in corn and mayonnaise. To this day I still have not the courage to try it.

Mexican

Mexican is very rare in Japan. I dare say that is is non-existent because my experience is something that may look the part but tastes very "unique." For example take this number:

It looks kinda like a burrito, however note that the sauce is pretty much a tomato sauce creating an authentic Mexican-Italian something-or-other. It is also served with an Italian dressing salad adorned with guacamole. Right....


This dish is the same thing. It looks like it's Mexican but the sauce tastes kinda sweet.

The McDonald's Mega Mac

Actually this is pretty damn American and not surprising as McDonald's tastes the same the world over. This was a special burger that was for a limited time - In the unlikely event that the Japanese get something right it is only for a limited-time. This is a common business practice here as a lot of foods are considered seasonal. So things like the awesome Sprite 3G disappear and will never be seen again. - but was so popular it became a regular item. It's just a really big, Big Mac. It's got 4 patties and it's pretty delicious as far a McDonald's goes. Definitely has that American arm tingling feel to it.

DSi

The story starts on the First of October. Nintendo has planned a press meeting but some of the contents are leaked 2 days early by a Japanese newspaper, the article details the unvieling of a new DS. Nintendo of course reconfirms this articles with more indepth details and as such the DSi is born and set to release on the first of November.

The DSi is at its core only an upgrade to to the DS Lite but it includes features like bigger screens, lighter weight, better sound, the ability to play AAC music, digital camera and the ability to download software. This may not make for a large release crowd but Japan is the land of DS, DS Lite accessories can be found even in 100yen ($1) stores.

October passes and not another word is spoken about it. Then suddenly on the 22th a flood of advertisesments appears out of the blue. It is on this day that stores start taking pre-orders.

Of course being so sudden this isn't apparent. I actually find out from a message board that this is in fact, taking place and set out to find one. Unfortunately it becomes some what of a mess, stores do not actively announce whether or not they are taking them and even among stores of the same chain they may or may not. I set off to Akihabara but come back with nothing, apparently not everyone even knows it exists. The week passes and still no word of preorders. By the 28th preorders, where ever they had existed are pretty much over as I found out later from people who had managed to get one. This of course leaves me in an interesting predicament, I am now forced to camp for one.

Even when camping it becomes interesting because you don't know where and where not to camp. As it turns out most stores were taking preorders only but apparently they themselves didn't really know, or at least the clerks. Walking around on Halloween I hit a stroke of luck and find a sign that announces that people should line up here for the 10:00am opening. And so begins the final day.

I had originally anticipated taking the first train only to be made aware that dorm residents can't actually leave before 6:00am. Biding my time for a little while I take the 6:00am train to Akihabara in hopes of getting in line. Thankfully, it's not bad and I secure myself as 4th in line outside Ishimaru Game and Hobby. At this time Akihabara is a ghost town and looks strangely awkward like Laser Quest with the lights on. Usually brimming with people and shops it is a mass of concrete and metal shutters. People will not arrive in numbers until 10:00am.

The line is pretty interesting. The men in front of me are all young salarymen, in their early 20s dressed up in business suits. It appears as if they plan to go into work late after picking up their DSs. The two at the front have constructed a makeshift fort out of cardboard boxes and one of them offers me a flattened box to sit on.

It is quite cold outside. Not blistering but I only have a light jacket on. The box helps insulate me from the cold pavement. The man sitting next to me speaks some English and converses with me a little. Slowly a few more patrons fill in the line, this time they look more like the geekish otakus one would think of in this type of situation. The men at the front a nice and decide to pass down some snacks they have purchased at the local convenience store. More people trickle in. More look like otaku, but there is even a guy who looks to be in his 60s dropped off by a guy on a motorcycle.

I am bother with intestinal cramping of which I can trace back to at least 2 days ago. Japanese food makes for random diarrea, the worst of which is the stealthy time that hits you on the train. In the morning one can often note the line to use the sitting/squatting toilets at stations during rush hour, many brave souls have probably not been so fortunate as to aquire one. Luckly, I had taken medicine for just such an instance which would last for another 40 hours however the movement in one's colon is still unsettling. I excuse myself to at least relieve myself of liquids, but of couse have forgotten that toilets are often well hidden in a sea of buildings most of which have not opened yet. As I scurry about in a groggy daze I find that after 2 fruitless laps around the block that I will not find suitable facilities. Shambling back the the train station I am fortunate that as my transfer station I am able to gain entry. I then hurry myself back to my position.

The line has now moved. It appears that misunderstanding has taken place over where the line was to start. The campers have now re-arranged themselves using the new system. Luckily my friend in line has moved my stuff and saved my position in line and I express my thanks to him. As 10:00am approaches the clanking of metal shutters becomes perceptive and the morning sun has angled itself into the alleyway. We are then given tickets to reserve our specific system with a choice of black or white. I choose a black one. We are then escorted into the building to the second floor where we are rung up at the register. 18900yen.