Japanese venues abroad; eats near DC

I feel the Japanness draining away, slowly. That's the way of things, I suppose. You come back home, you retain some connections, you keep up your language studies. If you're lucky, you work at a related job. You eat Japanese food. But it still slips away, by degrees.

One thing that has vexed me for some time is the lack of "Japanese things" around DC. Back when I lived in New York, I didn't venture into the city proper that often. Nor did I really have much reason to seek our Japanness. It's kind of ironic, though, that I now know Manhattan to be a hotbed of Japanese commercial activity. And not like "we sell some Japanese stuff" stores - I mean real chains from Japan, like Kinokuniya and Uniqlo. And Ippudo...mmmm.

Ok, so Japanese people are concentrated in NYC, and also in California and Hawaii. Fine.

You'd think DC would be a good market, though. There's a Japanese community, though everyone tells me it's not that large. Perhaps that's because a lot of the Japanese here are diplomats and representative office workers who are only here for a couple of years on a rotational basis. Still, that's a solid foundation. And Japanese is trendy, right? And DC is international, right? So why not open some J-stores in these parts?

I know not. I know that Kinokuniya has store locations in Washington state, Oregon, and Illinois. I know that Uniqlo has stores in Pennsylvania now; Connecticut, Massachusetts, and about 5 billion in New York and California. Neither one has a place near DC. Rage.

Though the selection pales to what you'll find in one of the aforementioned  metropolitan hubs, there are some decent Japanese restaurants around these parts. My go-to used to be Nichi Bei Kai in Columbia, MD, but they closed down for relocation and never relocated.

There's some high class fare in DC, like Sushi Taro. That's for the high rollers, though.

Despite the horrible name, my current favorite is Sushi King, also in Columbia, MD. I believe the staff are all Chinese, but their chefs can make some tasty American Japanese food.

The other day I tried out Yuzu, in Bethesda, MD, with Mint. The occasion was her birthday. Although it hasn't supplanted Sushi King at the top of my list, they had a pretty interesting menu, and at least the manager appeared to be Japanese. I'd bet the chef was as well.

We had to try the special corn tempura. It didn't look pretty, but it was surprisingly good. Beyond that, the spicy karage, sushi rolls, and chirashi were pleasant enough. Nothing to write home about, though. The sunomono had more seafood in it than I usually see, which was nice. But then again $8 is a little steep for sunomono.

Curry udon and green tea

When you return home after living abroad, there are things that you miss right away. Then there are the things that you may not realize that you miss; the sentiment has to sink in, like silt eventually forming little salty, tear-flavored deposits of emotional residue after journeying long enough through your veins. Where this residue ultimately comes to rest I have not yet worked out in the metaphor.

One thing I've been especially missing recently (only two or three years after leaving Japan) is an udon fast food chain that's quite widespread in Kansai (or at least Hyogo) - Nakau (なか卯) - a venue I've chronicled about before.

I'm jonesing for two items in particular - cheap curry udon, which if memory serves you can get for about 500 yen, or ~$5, and the complimentary cold green tea that would come with it. Try getting free green tea around here. Heck, try getting unsweetened cold green tea around here.

Thank you, Wikimedia Commons, for the eerily specific image of curry udon and green tea at Nakau.

There's also the matter of the song. Lots of stores have catchy little jingles that play at regular intervals inside so that customers will never forget. Yodobashi Camera has a good one. Nakau likewise has one that will be forever seared into my mind. And every time I think of curry udon, it plays.

いいね indeed, sir.

Tis even worthy of idolsong.

カレーうどん

これを食べることがちょっと寂しいけど・・・

お腹すいたから食べた。

美味しかった。

Another Cup Noodle Post

I was never really a big instant noodles fan before living in Japan (and I guess I'm still not), which is good because they're not so healthy. One thing I kind of miss, though, is curry flavor Cup Noodle. Not really a great meal replacement, but sometimes when I couldn't be bothered to eat nutritiously or prepare a proper dish, I'd just boil some water and have one of these on hand. Of course, I used to buy the off-brand for like 10 yen cheaper, so the little pieces of "meat" and potato weren't the greatest.

When Yoshie visited me last year, she brought a couple cups with her. And then she gave me a couple more to take back when I went over there in May. Just ate my last one the other day. I guess that'll be all the curry Cup Noodle I get for some time (to be fair I may be able to find them at some Japanese market for like $3 each, but I don't miss them that much).

Milk Seafood...? Ew..

Mos

You know, been really hankering for Mos Burger recently. Ah, that meat sauce...




There's one right near Hankyu Itami station that I used to stop by now and then. I could easily do two of these bad boys in a sitting.

Playing with food

Yesterday I attended a Japan America Society of Washington DC event on bento making. More specifically, the focus was on trying to make キャラ弁 , which are bentos in which people shape and design food into popular characters or designs. More art than cooking, I guess.

Anyway, there was a table full of food, some arts and crafts-style supplies, and two helpful J-women to guide us (one of them is actually from near Itami). 

First I had this idea to make an Abraham Lincoln rice ball, but it just turned out looking like some kind of spook.  After that I was pretty much out of ideas, so I just started putting food in my boxes without any kind of plan or pattern.

A food riff. 

Then a Pac Man-like thing happened. 

The class was small; there were maybe 8 or 9 people. There was only one other dude aside from me. Cooking can be pretty masculine, but in retrospect, making bento food into cute little characters and designs can only be so manly. After I finished, I had to go outside and do 200 push-ups and then eat 5 lbs of steak to rejuvenate my testosterone levels.

War and corn soup

I know nothing gives me a hankering for corn soup like some Stallone directing a war movie.

Every last one

(Aside: I'll be getting back into the groove this week, but still a lot to do to settle in. Stay tuned!)

A Handful

I have to keep reminding myself about the good points of going back to the States (and there are many). Here is one.

It's been a while, but I seem to recall blueberries being a lot cheaper than $3.75 for a handful. Seriously, that's like 10 cents per berry there. I'm going to enjoy eating them again.

Power Lunch Bars, Mmmmmm

No weekly highlights today, sorry folks. It''s been kind of a slow blogging week, but I gotta get the lead out.

I do have a little num-num for you (or for me), though.

No no, forget chocolate. Curry, man, curry!

Power Lunch bars, by House. I did a quick online search and they seem to be only available in Japan. Has anyone seen or tried these yet? I have to admit they don't look very appetizing, but I couldn't pass on something like this.

Here we go, pizza first...

...
...
...

Hmmm, ok, so you know those powdery drinks you used to have as a kid (or maybe you still do)? The flavor would be ok, but then you'd get to the bottom and there'd be like a little cache of powder that was way too sweet. That's what this reminded me of. The flavor was definitely pizza-ish, but the doughy-pasty filling was a bit too sweet and a bit too obviously used some kind of powered ingredient.

Do I dare try curry? Sure.

...
...
...

Ok, and one bite is enough of that! Too sweet. Seriously too sweet.

Good effort for creativity with these, but damn...I'd buy a desert bar over one of these lunch bars any day.

Even Brittany

This is definitely one of the worse Western celeb commercials I've seen. Who the hell is that woman with the laptop?

Old Japanese chocolate commercial

Man...the video looks old as you'd expect, but I think the music is what really dates it.

Learning from Burger King

Last week Tokyo Five briefly mentioned the new promotional Burger King sandwiches, which are available now exclusively in Japan (lucky us): the All Heavy Whopper and the Meat Monster Whopper. I don't think these are getting as much coverage in the blogosphere as McDonalds' Big America burgers (probably because there aren't a whole lot of Burger King locations in Japan). They've had some interesting offerings in the past, though.

Man, looking at these things I'm kinda glad there are no franchises in Kansai. If there were I might be tempted to try one out.

While these beastly burgers don't do most of us any good, I noticed a few interesting and useful kanji in the above advertisement that I thought I'd point out. Yay - real kanji in everyday life action!

At the top of the poster, kind of hiding a little behind the All Heavy, we can see a splatter mark containing the kanji 「増量 無料！」Let's break that down:

増量 (ぞうりょう) = weight increase
無料 (むりょう) = free

It's funny because they really are offering you free weight gain, though I assume in this case they're referring to the weight of the extra toppings. 無料 is an absolutely pivotal word to know and recognize. You definitely want to understand when you're being offered something for free!

Next let's look at the Meat Monster's splatter. It reads 「追加自由！」.

追加(ついか) = addition(al), supplement(al)
自由 (じゆう) = freedom

So I guess here they're saying you're being granted even more freedom to have it your way. Wow, what a swell company. 自由 is another one that you'll want to be familiar with. One place you'll see it is on the Shinkansen. 自由席 = unreserved seat


This lesson is brought to you by Burger King, apparently.

Just Eat It: A Kinkan Primer

Where I'm from in the United States, there is a wide variety of fruits available at most grocery stores, not to mention the exotic fare you can find in specialty and Asian markets. But as you might imagine, there are some fruits and vegetables common in Japanese supermarkets that you may see rarely or not at all back home. Take, for example, the kinkan (金柑).

Source: Wikimedia Commons

What is a kinkan?

Kinkans are the Asian variety of what you may know as kumquats. While they seem to have originated in China, they've since been spread to Japan and a number of other Asian countries and certain parts of the Middle East and U.S. As you might suspect, they're citrus fruits, and actually are more hardy than many of their relatives. Their flowers usually bloom in the fall and the fruits develop during the winter. In some countries (including Japan), they are a folk remedy for colds.

The first time I remember seeing these in a Japanese supermarket, I thought they must be dwarf oranges or something. I mean, in size order there were the grapefruits, oranges, mikan, and these things, and they all look similar. But they're so small; it doesn't look worth the trouble of peeling them for the amount of fruit you'd get. Luckily, that's not how they're eaten...

How to eat a kinkan

Just pop one in your mouth and chew. Seriously. While kinkans are also used to make marmalade and jam and in recent years have become increasingly used as drink garnishes or desert ingredients, traditionally they are eaten as is, like grapes. Alternatively, I have read that some people just eat the skin and discard the inner fruit, as counterintuitive as it might sound. Why? Because the skin is the sweetest and most aromatic part of the fruit. The inside is actually rather bitter or tart and sometimes described as "savory." Eating the skin and fruit together can be enjoyable due to the contrasting flavors. Just be careful about eating too many - I found them rather acidic, and my tongue was in a little bit of distress after eating 6 or 7 in one go. Oh, and watch out for seeds!

Nutritional Information

To the left is a little fact chart from NutritionData.com on kumquats, which for all intents and purposes are the same thing. As you can see, one kinkan contains a fair amount of Vitamin C, and small amount of Calcium, Iron, Vitamin A, and fiber. They also provide a little potassium. If you don't think your palate can handle enough of these to make a difference, fret not. As is the case with many fruits, a great deal of the nutritional value is found in the skin. That means if you like you can just eat the sweetest part of the kinkan and still enjoy most of the health benefits.

Kinkan juice is also loaded with about the same amount of acid and Vitamin C as lemon juice, so I would imagine it would make a suitable substitute. You know, if you want to squeeze something over your seafood but for some unimaginable reason have a kinkan but no lemons available.

According to some sources, kinkans also contain beta-carotene and Vitamin E, though I didn't see any indications of that on NurtitionData.com

Yay or Nay?

I only just tried these out recently, and I have to say I'm a little disappointed I never ate them before. While they're not my new favorite fruit or anything, and I don't plan on snacking on them regularly, I think they make a nice little treat or novelty on occasion. But that's just me. You may find you really enjoy them, and fruits are certainly a good and healthy snacking choice. Final words: Just eat it!

More Information

Although there isn't exactly a spate of information about kinkans on the internet (yet), they have been covered by some other bloggers (Japan Newbie and Heenai Heenai for two). And since they are a variety of kumquat, there's also a lot more information that can be found under that designation. Here are my sources for this article - feel free to check them out:

NuritionData.com
Wikipedia (キンカン)
Wikipedia (Kumquat)
Shoku-zukan

Go WEST! (and south a bit)

I spent the long weekend in Kyushu; not because of the disaster, but because I hadn't seen Yoshie in a while. By the way, power to the Village People, but I hate that song.

Although I read at one point that Japanese spinach is now radioactive and that Tokyo's water supply has been contaminated, on the whole the little news I read while away seemed positive. Supplies seem to be getting in to Tohoku as infrastructure is slowly rebuilt, and the immediate situation in Fukushima is improving with time. Japan will soon be making the transition from crunch time to long-term recovery. There are a lot of people who have been displaced by the disaster, and they'll need to be clothed, fed, and housed...not necessarily by the government, but for sure there will be many who are too old or too young to make their own way. All most of us can do it to continue to offer prayers and charitable contributions.

For those indirectly or minimally affected, the return to normalcy has already begun. And so long as we don't forget what's going on in northern Japan, that's important. Life must go on. 

As for me, I had an interesting time down south. While visiting a local mall, we were passing by one relatively unremarkable "party" store, when some familiar packaging caught my eye. Star Wars action figures! I have some of these packed away back home, for when they become worth something. Just wait and see. At first glance, a world of possibilities began to swirl through my mind. 8,000 yen for one of these things?! But my scheming was foiled just as quickly. All these figures were signed by the actors who played the respective characters, and some of them were special editions with the actors' portraits on the packaging. What the hell? This is the kind of thing you'd expect to see in a comic book store - not a random mall shop in Japan. I snapped off a couple photos before noticing the "no photos" sign. Oops.

Flies like a kite!

To my delight, they were also selling an R2-D2 trashcan, and this "Parasail Kite" Darth Vader. You know, from that scene in Star Wars where Darth Vadar parachutes out of the Death Star. Ah, I kid. Though maybe they've got that scene lined up for Star Wars in 3D. Keep squeezing, Lucas - think there may be a few more drops of blood left. The depressing thing is that I'm sure there are plenty of people who will pay to see the first three (chronological) movies with an added dimension (so would I if that dimension were plot). But this is quickly devolving into nerd rage. Maybe I need another blog for that.

We also visited the onsen at a hotel where Yoshie works part-time. Apparently some onsens use cannibalized sake-brewing barrels as tubs. They're quite luxurious, I assure you. Think the part I liked best was the fact that it wasn't one degree below scalding. It was hot, but comfortably so; though I suspect that's not due to the fact that the tub was a huge former barrel.

Yesterday evening we checked out the new Hankyu department store in Hakata (Fukuoka), since it's right next to the station and Yoshie hadn't been there yet. It was packed to the point of me getting annoyed at all the people for not having anything better to do but mill around a damn department store. I was a little distressed that we were delayed for lunch and wound up not arriving 'till about 3:00. But just about all the restaurants had queues 5-10 people deep! People had seriously been waiting like two hours just to try out new restaurants. We found a Mexican restaurant but quickly decided we didn't want to stand there for 30-40 minutes for the equivalent of $4 tacos, so we found a nearby Okinawan place where we only had to wait for 3 minutes. The portions were a little small, but the taco rice was good! Also, I discovered that plants can have eggs:

海のぶどう（sea grapes)

Oh, one last leak of nerdiness - I had the chance to watch some episodes of Firefly while Yoshie was at work, and damn...not perfect, but pretty damn good. Leave it to me to get into a half-finished, canceled TV show. At least they made a movie.

McD: Miami

I swear I don't eat fast good that often. But...I did it again. After seeing how popular my post about the Texas 2 Burger was, I decided that I owed it to you...nay, to myself to try the Miami Burger, as well. 

Let's get down to brass tacks. I've "talked" to some people online who have claimed to have received perfectly nice-looking burgers at McDonalds. I'd like to know where they're going. This time I went to a completely different restaurant. Several towns away, as a matter of fact. Yet my Miami Burger still looked like it was slapped together in 5 seconds (which it probably was). Above is a candid shot of the burger just kind of hanging out.

Here's a more intimate photo of what's under the hood. Looks like a dab of chili-type sauce on top of three nacho chips, a Kraft single, and some shredded lettuce. Fortunately it tasted a lot better than it looked. The chili-ish sauce plus the nachos gave me the sensation of eating a taco wrapped in a burger, which wasn't entirely unpleasant. Actually reminded me of a Taco Bell double-decker taco. I was really thirsty after eating it, though. So much so that although I was curious about the nutrition facts, I was too scared to look at them, fearing that I had just consumed about two days worth of sodium.

I think this one's finished now, but who knows...maybe it'll be back for Big America 3?

J-Dessert

Although I don't really have that much of a sweet tooth, I do appreciate a good dessert from time to time. In Japan, I find I'm partial to 杏仁豆腐 (almond jelly). While the recipe originated in China, the Japanese know how to make a mean, uh...cube.

Source: Wikipedia

What got me thinking about this topic, though, was yesterday's post by Orchid over at 1000 Things About Japan. She put into words something that I've been thinking for years. I've been aware of the fact that the Japanese don't much like sugar (which I suppose isn't a bad thing when you consider overall health). All I have to do is try to share a dessert with my girlfriend or bring some American candy into work to be reminded of that. Though sometimes I don't understand the big deal, as there are plenty of sweet things in Japan - ice cream, chocolate, lollipops, pretty much all the cereals and dried fruits...

Anyhow, now and then I'll be with a friend at a shopping center or supermarket and remark that a cake or pastry looks really good. Looks really good. My experience has informed me that Japanese pastries never taste as good as they look. And I think Orchid just gave me my "why." The (lack of) sugar doesn't just detract from the sweetness, but it causes a loss of moistness. Damn your disappointing, dry cakes, Japan!

Just another picture of the day 1/14/11: Cheese Cream

Seen at 7-11 for 62 yen (~75 cents). The label reads:

"Jun Hit Cheese is the cheese ice cream made with high quality cheese for the real cheese flavor lover. Savor this full-bodied ice cream with its smooth and mild flavors. Cheese lovers will relish the rich and lingering cheesy taste."

Texas 2

Not "Texas Burger 2," mind you.

Tokyo Five and In Sendai recently blogged about the comeback of the Big America burgers - limited time sandwiches like "Texas Burger" and "New York Burger." Well, apparently they were a hit, because round 2 is here. Right now the Texas Burger 2 is up. Mmmmmm....doesn't it look good?

Now I know there are people who get paid to make these pictures look good, but at what point does it become false advertising? Compare the above with this:

Mmmmm....doesn't that look...edible? I don't know where to begin. There was some chili in there, but it was hiding behind what looks like boiled ham, as opposed to the crispy bacon in the former picture. And yes, there was cheese. That was hiding, too. Honestly this thing wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. And it cost 700 yen and change, meaning I payed almost $10 for that thing plus some fries and 4-5 slips of soda. What a racket.

Now I know there are some who like Japanese portions, and would prefer to go to a McDonalds in Japan, where they can have a small, non-greasy burger. But if I'm going to pollute my body with this garbage, bring on the grease and bring on the beef! I'd pay less for more any day. Can always just, you know... not eat the whole thing...