 Taiyaki, fish shaped pancake with bean jam filling, is very popular sweets you can find in Japan and one of my most favorite traditional Japanese sweets. The bean jam filling is called An or Anko, which I'm addicted to, and it's used in many other traditional Japanese sweets such as Dorayaki (disk shaped pancakes sandwich with Anko in between). Although Anko is the most popular filling for taiyaki, you can find other fillings like custard, chocolate cream and matcha cream. But I want you to try the Anko one. In western countries, beans are supposed to be savory but sweet beans are good too !
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 Yes and no depending on what you choose. Japanese food is acknowledged as a very healthy food but some contains a lot of sugar. Let me give you a few examples. To make the most famous and popular Japanese food Sushi, you need to make sushi rice. To make sushi rice you need to make sushi vinegar and a lot of sugar is added in the vinegar. So sushi is combination of carb (rice) and carb (sugar) with a little bit of protein(fish). Another example is teriyaki. Teriyaki sauce often contains a lot of carb, either sugar or honey, and sometimes thickened with starch which is another carb. So sugar is the reason those two dishes became very popular outside of Japan. People are addicted to them because of the sugar. But I think sugar itself is not a bad thing. It's us eating too much of it. Eating sushi once in two weeks won't hurt you but eating it every other day... you can guess the result.
Good news is, there are a lot of very healthy Japanese food too ! Nabe (Japanese hot pot) would be a very good example. Loads of vegetables and as much protein as you like, with less carb. Several years ago I lost nearly 20kg by replacing food that contains a lot of carb with Nabe. Conclusion : Choose how much/how often of what to eat carefully !  I sometimes get this question from my guests because you don't see any grocery store or supermarket when explore Tokyo. This is just because where tourist explore is not a residential area. Shinjuku and Shibuya are very busy shopping area, Imperial palace is right next to Nihonbashi financial district and Marunouchi business district, Tsukiji fish market is sitting next to Ginza district which is also shopping area, and not many people live IN the area, but AROUND. When tourist visit those places, they just take metro and pass residential area in between where you can find grocery stores on trains. Asakusa area though is a nice combination of commercial area and residential area. It's a very touristy place with Kaminarimon gate and Sensoji temple but it's not strictly touristy. People still have their life there. You can find a grocery store right across the street in front of Kaminarimon gate and there is a supermarket in the middle of the chessboard like shopping area near Sensoji temple. So there ARE grocery stores and supermarkets in Tokyo but you just don't see them !
 Many of my guests are surprised at how people behave on trains in Japan. No eating, no drinking, very VERY quiet, almost complete silence. People are either sleeping or looking down their iPhone. And the answer to the question depends on the situation. If you have something that creates big noise and strong smell on a crowded train, that is definitely a big no no but when it's a piece of chocolate or candy, it's fine. I sometimes see someone eating onigiri rice balls for breakfast on a rather empty train very early in the morning. I personally think it's ok as far as they don't make big noise or smell but I wouldn't do that myself because some people may not think it's ok. There is no sign that says "no eating/no drinking" but people just care about others and try not to make other people uncomfortable. So the best you can do is, don't do when you are not sure !
By the way, this unwritten "no eating/no drinking" rule only applies to local trains. I will write about the rule on Shinkansen bullet trains some other day !  When you travel to Japan, you see many plastic food samples at restaurants and food stalls here and there. These are so real and very helpful for those who don't speak or read Japanese language. There is no record that shows origin of it but it's said it started sometime around 1920s to help customers at a restaurant to order easily and quickly. If you go to Kappabashi kitchen street where you can find EVERYTHING that relates to food industry, you can find two plastic food sample shops. The samples are very expensive, all hand made and often made to order, but they do little inexpensive off-the-shelf things too such as slice of bacon book marker, sushi magnet, soft serve key ring etc that makes great souvenir !
 "Itadakimasu" is the phrase Japanese people say when we start to eat. It literally means "I'm going to eat" but it also means appreciation for the food, for the chef, for farmer and fisherman, rain, sun, river... everything that relates to the food you are going to eat. So it's a broader term for "Bon appetit". You don't need to say it loud and clear, you sort of chant it to yourself. It's sometimes difficult to remember for non-Japanese-speaking people so here is how to remember. "It's a ducky mouse !". Say this as smooth as possible and it will sound like Itadakimasu !
 There are many dishes Japanese people eat over year end/new year and Ozoni is one of them. Mochi sticky rice cake in savory broth with variety of vegetables. Every region has their favorite broth and it can be miso flavor or soy sauce flavor. One thing you need to be careful when you eat this dish. Every year, there at some people who choke on the mochi and carried to hospital !
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AuthorHi ! I'm Yoshimi, the owner of TOKYO KITCHEN ! Archives
December 2019
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