外人住宅

It sounds a bit pretentious but sometimes you just feel better (than everyone else) when you eat at a local restaurant versus a chain.  Exceptions include Yoshinoya, Sukiya and Coco Curry because they're freaking delicious, stumbling distance from my new apartment, and open 24 hours.  That combo is, without any hyperbole, more amazing than the birth of your first child.  

Well I just had lunch in an old western style house that was converted into a restaurant, Sans Souchi. Pretty cool idea, no? They are scattered all over Okinawa and called Gaijin Juutaku (Foreigner Housing).  In this restaurant, the living room was a lounge area, where you pay, and where the food is cooked. Most people are seated in one of the bedrooms, which is where we ate.  

This particular restaurant specialized in Udon and Oyako, but had some good looking dessert too.  I got the udon with plum (ume).

Iphone 5S camera is pretty good, no?

Navigating the residential roads to find this place was a challenge, but kind of cool and rewarding.  I'll definitely be going back.  

Curry

Dude, I love me some curry.  Japanese curry on these cold 60 degree winter nights just hits the spot.  What better place to get it than Curry House Coco Ichibanya...

Well the thing about that is I've grown cheaper in my years and discovered that Coco Curry is expensive when compared to other quick Japanese restaurants like Yoshinoya/Sukiya.  Some good spicy curry at Coco Ichibanya will run you about 800 yen (add another couple hundred yen if you want some nan bread with that).  Well worth it, but I'll let you in on some insider secrets.

Roam the grocery stores, like San-A, at off hours like 3 or 8 pm and you can find all kinds of cheap crap.  The deli section usually has a hodgepodge of Japanese food like curry, sushi, onigiri, donburi, etc.  All that fresh food won't last more than a few hours, so after the lunch/dinner rush stuff get's marked down 10-50%.  Any money saved on food is more money put towards fake beer, and I like that kind of math.

Is Coco Curry better?  Yeah, probably.  Is 800 yen for curry, a tall beer, and some KFC a better deal? You better believe it!

Okinawa Restaurants.

Japan freaking loves to eat.  Why?  I have no idea, but you'll see, especially city side, around 300 restaurants in any given direction.  I'm still trying to figure out how any of these places make money with such a saturated market and food so reasonable priced (~500 yen for a decent lunch).  Well, more than one person has said Okinawa has more restaurants per capita than any other place in Japan, which explains why I'm drowning in food here.

Which would also help explain why I see the Japanese people are a little on the heavier side. Like, 105lbs instead of 95.  Not a huge difference, but definitely a deal breaker.

Fattys aside, the food is pretty good here in Oki.  The yushidofu was pretty tasty the other day.

Its a warm and gooey tofu, and yes I know that doesn't sound all that great but its as smooth as butter (without the guilt of eating, you know, butter).  The big bowl above is the yushidofu in a miso base and the stuff to the left tastes just like thanksgiving stuffing despite being a byproduct of the tofu making process.

The biggest deal in the picture above is the 'to-go' bag.  Getting a doggy bag on the main islands is unheard of, for some unknown reason, but its fair game in Okinawa.  Maybe the island is small enough and everyone drives here so it's easier to take food home...?  Or they don't realize that to-go sushi is not a good idea..?  Whatever the reason, it is awesome to not have to eat everything on my plate.  Now I have room for more important things, like beer and awamori.

Yoshinoya!

If I could only have one word to describe Yoshinoya it would be 'dudethisplaceissomoney!".  

I really hated typical fast food in America because it was such an unpleasant experience.  There was no denying it was bad for you, the staff were never paid enough to give a crap, and no matter how good it tasted during it just tasted like regret afterwards.

Yoshinoya is the epitome of what fast food should be.  First and foremost because of speed.  You can order and start eating within 90 seconds - not a joke, I timed it. What makes it more amazing is there are never more than 3 people working, and that is for lunch rush.

There are all the free amenities you'd expect from a Japanese restaurant.  Free tea, shichimi, and ginger and the ones in Okinawa have drive-thru!  You eat out of real bowls, drink from real cups and can you say open 24 hours? 
The only thing that would make them better is if they served beer....oh, they totally serve beer! Yoshinoya can be both the cause of and solution to your hangover! (much like alcohol is the cause of and solution to all of life's problems).

Jeez Jon Evans, what would one have to pay for such an awesome experience?  I'm glad you asked. 

390 yen mofos!  

The metal dealie is for straining your egg in case you only wanted to add the white or yolk to your food.  Pretty thoughful.  Don't forget your free tsuyudaku (more secret sauce).

New Stuff

Wow the past 2 weeks have flown by in Okinawa.  Now that I'm somewhat settled in I can really start trying new things.  This place is surprisingly different from mainland Japan, in both good and bad ways, so it should be pretty easy to find new places to go and things to do and eat.  Mostly eat I guess. It's not really a rule, more of a guidline, but I'd like to try something new every day and see how long I can keep at it...

Day 1:  Today is a twofer. First up, ニンニクの茎 - garlic branches.  As in the stems that garlic grows on. You get used to eating a lot of garbage parts of food in Japan. I spent less than 400 yen on the meal below and I'm pretty sure I got my money's worth. The garlic stems are those green little stalks mixed in with the other vegetables and they kind of tasted like bamboo shoots. Not too bad I guess.

Normally food isn't THAT cheap in Japan, but grocery stores start discounting the "old" lunch Bento around 3ish so I got it for half price.  

The Orion Southern Star on the other hand was a little disappointing. The can says it's a "liqueur" and it was very affordable (~148yen), so I don't think it's real beer. At least, I hope it isn't real beer because it had the bite of happoshu. Not awful, just not as good as all the dancing in the commercials would have me believe. Better stick with REAL Orion.

Oh yeah, that's the stuff

Okinawan Food

Everything Japan does is usually full throttle, so I guess I should have expected Okinawan food to be as prevalent as it is.  Okinawa has a lot of claims to fame and they can all be found within arms reach. I've only had a handful thus far, but I've been pretty happy with the selection.  Like the mainland, every different prefecture has something they do different but okinawa does many things, way different.

Goya chanpuru is pretty well known and is in the top middle of the picture above.  The goya is the green bitter melon and it is mixed in stir fry.  I can't really compare it to anything because it doesn't taste like any food I've ever had.  Really bitter is all I can say, but it works really well mixed together with all the other ingredients.

I'm putting Koregusu on everything here!  It is hot peppers mixed with awamori (okinawan alcohol with an acquired taste). You then pour the spicy alcohol on your okinawan soba and taste the magic. I'm not sure how much alcohol is actually in the mixture, but it has quite a spicy kick so have a beer ready. It tastes WAY better than the awamori with the pit viper in it, Habushu. Habushu may be a story for another time but lets just say some places give free samples, it tastes like bitter whiskey, it is supposed to be good for your health (yeah right) and its pretty disturbing how they make it.

The good stuff, Koregusu ( コーレーグース) 

Stay tuned.

Japanese TV

Well, it already happened.  I have been in Okinawa for only a week and already want to throw myself off a building when I catch a glimpse of a television, and Buddha help me if a variety show is on.  I honestly can't believe Japanese television is not considered torture by the UN.  I truly believe that Japan's television programs (and lack of any real swear words) are causing the large suicide rate in this country.  It is, dare I say it, almost as bad as Fox News.

I could rant for days but this guy did it for me, and with much more linguistic color.  It's poetic how well this man can describe our shared distaste for this crude excuse for entertainment.  

There is the distinct possibility that there is a language/cultural barrier and that one day I'll just 'get it', but until then I will be confounded by why every punchline to a half joke is written in bold letters across the screen; why all variety shows hire the sound guy from Nickelodeon; why anyone cares about the so called celebrities on these shows; and what in the eff is up with all the effing food!  It's JUST food!

Just 2 days ago I saw Japanese "celebrities" sing all the "greatest" "hits" from the past decades (did you see how many quote marks I used?).  Yesterday was the usual walking aimlessly down streets and trying mildly interesting food and wait for it.....OISHII!  The 'best' thing on so far was watching 2 teams play a Japanese form of Lingo.

At least the commercials are unintentionally hilarious.  

I need to stop eating with the TV on...

Japanese Food

Japan and I have always had our disagreements when it comes to food.  It is delicious and healthy, but since its hard to fight thousands of years of tradition (did I say hard, I meant impossible), I have let  my vegetarianism slide a little in Japan for the sake of convenience and my sanity. To give you some idea of what I have to deal with, products still advertise, in bold letters, that they cook with lard.

But once you get passed the fact that meat is in everything, you'll see that it is only in small quantities and Japanese food is very vegetable heavy.  If you order curry or even a steak in Japan, the meat is generally just a small portion of your dinner (an issue many American visitors complain about).  Friendly note; a hanburg steak (ハンバーグステーキ) is not a steak, its a hamburger patty.

Speaking of veggie heavy, the vegetables actually taste like vegetables!  Vegetables in Japan are tasty and satisfying.  The first time I ate a tomato in Japan was a life changing experience.  I think this has to do with Japan using less chemicals to grow food (at least the food they have imported uses less chemicals; Japan only grows about 20% of its own food), but veggies are considerably more expensive as a result.  Japanese cooking is all about bringing out the natural flavor of the food, not covering it in sauce or spices, so it really helps that the ingredients taste like they're supposed to.

Unless I'm doing the dishes, I don't have a problem with home cooked Japanese food.  Since a lot of Japanese food has to do with presentation, a TON of dishes are used, but it looks pretty.  Even when you're not eating at a tapas style restaurant, which is also really popular in Japan, meals still tend to have many plates instead of just one large one.

Now for the gross stuff.  Yakiniku places (korean bbq style restaurants where you cook your own meat) often have Horumon on the menu.  Horumon (ホルモン) are cow and pig entrails and the Japanese word is actually derived from the words 'throw away' and 'thing'.  Other garbage parts of the animals include chicken hearts, which are common at Torikizoku.  For some reason, I'm more okay with these animal parts than with katsuobushi, かつお節.  Katsuobushi is dried bonito fish skin flakes that dance around on your food when your food is hot....and they put this stuff on EVERYTHING... 

However, Japan has Caesar Salad Doritos and Ham and Cheese flavored Pretz, so all aforementioned problems are forgiven. 

Japan's creativity for eating disgusting parts of animals is only exceeded by their creativity in combining foods, that are individually delicious, into works of food art.

What's the Color of Eggplant?

To all you 'mericans out there, Japan is a strange and beautiful place.  Many things that are "normal" in Japan are not normal in America or anywhere else, which is a big reason I love Japan.  It works the other way too.  Truck nuts and fat chicks??  Not normal in Japan. 

This sounded so stupid the first time I heard it, but it also kind of freaked me out.  I had just downed half a bottle of Rum Chata, and I was hiccuping like crazy when a certain Japanese lady asked me, whats the color of an eggplant?...what the hell does that have to do with anything??  ....WOAH, my hiccups stopped!  I've NEVER heard this before, but apparently its one of those Japanese wives' tales (like drinking from the wrong side of the glass, or being scared).  I can't really speak for the validity of this, because I've only tested it once, but it worked for me.  Next time someone has the hiccups, ask them "なすの色は何色？" 

Rikimaru is awesome...but whats the color of that Eggplant over there??

Kakigoori - かき氷

Holy crap, it is the end of September and Japan is still hot. August is the worst but Japan seems to be hot and humid throughout the entire summer.  It doesn't help that stores and train stations are cutting down on energy use by using less AC.

If your like me, a gross sweaty gaijin, you will be ベタベタ(sticky) just minutes after taking an ice cold shower. But there are a few ways to battle the heat that I am picking up from the nihonjin that seem to have a much easier time than my gaijin counterparts.

1) uchiwa.- These are cheap plastic fans that you can get free just by finding the right street corner.  On any given day, dozens of unfortunate Japanese folks stand in the blistering heat and hand out fans and tissues to passers by.  The fans and packs of tissues are supposed to be a means of advertisement, but I don't even look at what they say anymore.  Nevertheless a free disposable fan is much appreciated on a hot humid day.

2) wash cloth- its kind of ojiisan-poi, but I would strongly recommend carrying around a wash cloth with you at all times during the summer.  You can pick them up anywhere for about 100yen, and it helps to mop the sweat from your face.  Seriously, I sweat more in Japan than I do anywhere else, but the kakigoori makes it worth it.  Which brings me to...

3) kakigoori - Shaved ice.  Damn I love this stuff.  It is not too different from what you can find in America (its just shaved ice and syrup) but the flavors are certainly Japanese and they sell it everywhere in the summer.  Green tea is alright but I'm a sucker for イチゴミルク (strawberry milk).

Dericious

4) be Japanese.  Lastly, it really helps to be Japanese.  The only Japanese people I see that actually sweat are old (in their 50's).  Everyone claims to be hot (I guarantee you'll hear 'atsui' more than 100 times a day) but you don't really see them sweat.  Since I'm not Japanese, I utilize the shower option at the internet cafes and use free cologne at Loft because Japan is a hot sticky mess that is unforgiving to gaijin.  That being said, I freakin love this country. 

和牛

I'm thinking of a Japanese food. Beef in particular. It involves a cow that is fed a diet of beer and sake . This cow receives massages everyday so that its meat is tender and comes out in a nice marble pattern. What am I thinking of??

If you said Kobe Beef, I can't blame you. This is the most popular type of 和牛 (Wagyu, Japanese Beef) in America, but is by no means the only type of Japanese beef that receives this special massage and beer treatment. Also, Kobe Beef is pronounced Koh Bay, not Koh Bee

Not Beef

Yonezawa, Matsusaka, Mishima and Sanda are also famous Japanese beef brands, they are just not as well known in America. I haven't eaten any meat for some time now, so I have never tried these, but I don't think I would even want to. Not because of a moral objection, (because frankly these cows have a better life than I do) but a health and money conscious objection.

It is important to know that these meats, while insanely expensive, are not at all healthy. They are famous for their high fat-meat ratio. That marble pattern in the beef is a whole lot of fat, though it may not be possible to ingest enough to be unhealthy because you would go bankrupt before that would ever happen. Seriously, about 200 grams of this stuff is around 2万円. That's 8oz for $200 for you western folk.

Sure, you can justify that price if you really want to give this stuff a try....OR you could purchase chu-hais and beer for all your friends and not be a selfish jerk...just sayin'

Women and Sushi

I’ve mentioned before how ‘tradition’ is a viable excuse in Japan, and it has popped up again in a recent outrage. Let me start by saying that I honestly don’t think this problem is nearly as big as
the news is making it. News on Japan has been wrong before. Plus, on slow news days, they like to make up confrontation. (link to Cracked news article). It is quite possible that there is only 1 offended chef in the story I’m about to share.

Basically, there is a new restaurant in Tokyo that has managed to combine 2 of Japan’s greatest services: sushi, and paying people to talk to you. This sushi bar is staffed entirely by women who both make sushi and converse with the customers. Its like a hooters that serves sushi – how is that a problem??

I see no problem here

The problem is that sushi making in Japan is traditionally a man’s job. Its tradition, enough said!
What I like most about this situation is that people actually feel like they can say that in Japan.
Even when I participated in the Taiko Matsuri I was told that women are not allowed to ride on the ‘float’, because they are ‘unclean’. This was the one instance where I saw gaijin come out on top. Take that women of Japan!! Oh wait, this is kinda sad.

If you thought this was going to be a post about Nyotaimori (女体盛り), I appologize, but I will get to that post as soon as I do the 'research'.

Chopsticks Etiquette, Mostly 嫌い橋

First off, learn how to use chopsticks. It takes approximately 5 seconds to learn.

Now you know

Done? Now that you’ve learned, here are some rules that go along with them.

Most of these are common sense, and things like ‘don’t stick chopsticks in your nose or in your mouth (銜え箸) and then make walrus sounds’ are not mentioned. The key ones are:

Don’t stab and leave your chopsticks sticking out of your rice, because it is considered rude and resembles the incense placed in sand at a funeral.

Don’t pass food to other peoples chopsticks using your own because this also relates to dead people according to the link above.

Don’t use your chopsticks to pull bowls/plates closer to you. (寄せ箸)

If you remember those, you should be solid. Keep in mind, these are really only rules you should follow when drinking with coworkers/a boss or when you’re trying to impress your Japanese significant other’s family. When eating with friends, especially when you’re just a dumb foreigner, you can let these rules go a bit. My Japanese friends stir their drinks, ‘bridge’, and lick their chopsticks all the time. Who cares?? Old people, that’s who.

There is only one downside to being able to use chopsticks in Japan is you have to hear 'good chopstick skills!' (お箸上手!) every 5 minutes. Apparently, white people are not expected to be able to handle this skill, and Japanese will compliment you on it every chance they get. Its nice to hear at first but is kind of an insult when you think about it. You’re not getting complimented on your good hashi skills, your getting complimented on actually being able to use them even though you have the handicap of being foreign.

レストラン

If you’ve ever been to Japan, you’ll almost immediately notice hundreds of familiar stores/restaurants from America. Subway, McDonalds, Cold Stone, KFC, Baskin Robins, Burger King, Dennys, Pizza Hut and now Aunt Annie’s Pretzels to name a few. Even Mister Donuts, now considered a staple of Japan, was once a Boston based company. I’m a little confused about AM/PM. The first time I saw them was in Japan but I’ve actually found them in Vegas and DC. Krispy Cream used to be popular in Japan, but those gross donuts finally fizzled out a few years ago.

Despite the name being extremely familiar, the store itself will likely be worlds different. And by ‘different’, I of course mean ‘better’. I know I’ve already mentioned how fantastic conbinis are in Japan, but Subway and cold stone blow America away too.

First of all, Subway in Japan has variety. There are many ‘set’ options, as well as many more types of subs. I particularly appreciate how there is more than one vegetarian sub on the menu (holy crap, did japan just beat America at vegetarianism too?). Avocado shrimp, avocado veggie, egg, herb dog, Cajun chickin are just a few of the sub choices. And you can get freakin French fries with your meal!! Also soup…but freakin French fries, hell yeah!! You can even get different types of seasoning for your fries if you’re feeling frisky. Lets not forget that you can wash this all down with a melon soda…this is making me hungry.

As for cold stone in Japan, the first thing you’ll notice is a lack of morbidly obese kids and their parents who walked a whole 10 feet today so they decided to treat themselves to a 3000 calorie shake. Cold stone in Japan is a bit expensive, but well worth hearing the employees sing in Japanese. The cold stone I found in Roppongi is a bit off the beaten path, but worth a trip, check it out. There are others throughout Tokyo and other big cities in Japan as well.

I know it sounds pretty weak to go to a foreign country only to go to the same restaurants you’d normally go to, but they are most certainly not the same thing. You can get a lot of insight into Japanese culture if you really soak in all the differences.

日本 Stuff

Name 3 things that are Japanese....GO!

...odds are, you mentioned Sake (お酒). You probably also mentioned kimchi and Jackie Chan, you freakin' racist!

Like other wine, there are TONS of different types of sake. The kind of sake varies depending on type of rice used, how it is milled, weather conditions, and hundreds of other factors. I am just now learning the names of a few types that I like.

Also like other wine, there are many different pairing options depending on your dish. A recent article describes a new trend of pairing sake with all kinds of food, including western cuisine. Unfortunately, if you have ordered Sake at a Japanese restaurant in America, they likely brought you some generic warm bottle of decent sake. This is often misleading though because you have many choices of sake.

Or you can just take what's in the vending machine!

If you are unfamiliar with Sake, or only had it in a Japanese steakhouse, allow me to recommend Nigorizake. Nigori (濁り) type sake is the easiest to spot because it is cloudy. It is also quite sweet and easy to drink. I prefer this type cold, not hot. If you don't like this type, sake is probably not for you. If you love this stuff, branch out and try the more dry or fruitier types to see what works best for you. There are so many types that it would be near impossible to dislike them all.

The sake to the left is Daiginjo, not Nigori, but still very very tasty. When I first started taking sake drinking seriously (for reasons other than just getting hammered) I bought these convenient little bottles so I didn't have to commit to something that I might not like.

マクド

Japanese McDonald's are going to start banning smoking. Go ahead and let that sink in for a second. Is it just me or does that sound absolutely retarded? Cause you certainly wouldn't want the mild inconvenience of smoking while your sipping your 4000 calorie milkshake, right??

For some reason, Japan has been moving in the anti-smoking direction recently...and I don't see the point. Japan even recently imposed its largest tax hike on cigarettes. So much for 300 yen per pack (about $3.70). Its now up to about 440 yen per pack (about $5.40).

For the most part, smoking establishments have decent ventilation or even a separate section separated by a glass door. And in case you haven't done your research or even seen an episode of Penn & Teller's Bull Shit, it hasn't been proven that second hand smoke is harmful. Just let this guy give you the short version. Nevertheless, I find it extremely hypocritical that Makudo would start banning smoking. Being only 24, I can vaguely remember a time in America where smoking was still cool to do indoors, but I always thought Japan would stick to its guns.

Speaking of McDonald's, I usually enjoy all the specialized foods the Japanese McDonald's has to offer, but it tends to be lost on the gaijin crowd. Foreigners (basically, Americans) tend to look at the menu items in a mixture of surprise and disgust. I can only respond with two words..."Screw you." Seriously, its hard to talk about how gross a teriyaki or shrimp burger are when you come from a country that eats Chitterlings, Turducken, and Deep Fried Twinkies. And KFC just came out with a damn "sandwich" that's just two pieces of chicken, bacon and cheese! Congratulations on developing a 3000 calorie sandwich without a single friggin vitamin.


I honestly wish McDonalds in America was more like the Makudo in Japan - because then I might actually go...