The Joys of Osakan Food

Happy Australia Day to all those back home,

Hope your in the midst of enjoying your long weekend, either lounging around or out and about.

Well a continuation of my excellent adventures in Osaka has come to my favourite topic ... FOOD. I LOVE IT, and Osaka is a food lovers paradise ... as I mentioned before, they have a great giant touristy street just full of food.

Now we all know the typical Japanese foods that you can get at any restaurant in Melb. Things like sushi (did you know that they don't actually have many of the fillings we have back and home - I love chicken teriyaki too ... but they have a lot more raw stuff and not only fish), sashimi (lots of raw seafood without the rice), tempura (they have some great mushrooms that they do tempura style ... and this little chilli looking thing), yakitori (although its not just the chicken breast/thigh bits they grill here, its also thing delectible chicken areas such as the crunchy tendon bits, chicken skin, chicken liver, intestines ... uuuhhh - they all look the same smeared in the teriyaki sauce too - you can also have them sweet - teriyaki, or salty), Gyoza (which is not originally Japanese but really Chinese like chaahan - fried rice and ramen - noodles).

So I'll try to indulge you with some Japanese cuisine that you may have not seen too often. Our first real Osakan dish was first invented in Osaka ... and is copied all over Japan. Its called Takoyaki - fried octopus balls. As the name suggests, their little balls about the size of a golf ball, and generally contain a batter that is made, cabbage, some sort of seasoning and a piece of octopus. It requires a special pan with round moulds. Once finish, you whack some mayo, a brown sweet sauce (generally used on okonomiyaki - the pancake things) and fish shavings known as katsuobushi. I'm not a great big fan ... don't get me wrong, its not that it taste bad or anything, I just don't find anything special about it, but the Japanese go crazy for it.



In Osaka you can try different types and not just the normal Takoyaki. We had three types on this occasion. The yellow looking is actually made from egg for the outer case. You then dip the whole thing into the soup and down she goes - I loved this one the most. The boat shaped container next door is the actual original Takoyaki.

Our next stop was another Osakan delight known as Kushi-katsu (incidentally katsu just basically means deep fried cutlets of meat in Japanese - so there will be dishes you've heard like katsu don or katsu curry - I always thought it only meant deep fried pork!). But basically these are small establishment with the goodies waiting to be fried within eyes view and a bowl of batter and deep fryer next to the cook. You can get a range of things deep fried like, prawns, asparagus, mushrooms, eggs, strips of beef, pork or chicken, cheese, peppers, squid, octopus. I guess because Japan doesn't have a brunswick St to get all the greasy food after a late night of drinking - kushi katsu is a fair replacement.

Here's a plate of our fried delights - Mmm Oishi desu ne!

On our travels we also found strange flavours of our favourite foods like Popcorn. One such place looked like an American set-up but have suck dericious flavours such as wasabi, fish, plum, etc - can't really remember many. Thankfully they did have some normal flavours like caramel.

How did I know the popcorn place was an American franchise - Mmmm - not sure really



Now, theme parks and fairs are notorious for having bad and expensive food - universal studios was not exception. So you'd normally expect things like hot dogs, hamburgers, hot chips, dimmis (i miss my dimmis), but we're in Japan. Above is a Katsu dog (remember I told you what katsu meant). So a Japanese variation of a hot dog - its a crumb piece of pork in a roll - gotta say it wasn't too bad - but I was also really hungry at this point.



More Universal studio food, this place showed pictures of massive great whopping burgers. Little did I know that you had to actually create it yourself. So after you order, they give you your bun with the meat inside and you then put whatever you want inside at a salad bar. There was curry mash - that yellow stuff.



This was my giant coke to go with my burger ... it was like 1.5litres. I felt some diabetes coming on after i finished it. Although, they did half fill it with ice.


One thing that Matt heard was very good and needed to try was called Kitsune udon. Udon as most of you would know is a thick wheat noodle. So we went to this restaurant that was famous for it and waited in line for about 20mins. The wait did not disappoint. Kitsune udon or fox udon (no idea) is udon sitting in a soup with pieces of sweet deep fried tofu called aburaage. It was dericious!

My kitsune Udon - great on a cold cold

We also had to embark on the popular Okonomiyaki - commonly referred to as Japanese pancake. Interesting fact - okonomi means "what you like" and yaki means "grilled" or "cooked" so okonomiyaki means "cook what you like, the way you like". Hiroshima is actually the famous region for this dish but Osaka's style is the most common method found throughout Japan and other countries. So going on the meaning of Okonomiyaki - in Osaka, they have okonomiyaki restaurants where you make your own, you basically order what filling you want, like pork, beef, seafood, etc and they bring out the batter for you ready to cook.

Here's the menu at this particular Japan okonomiyaki restaurant.

Here we are in the action of cooking okonomiyaki. Believe it or not, I had never eaten okonomiyaki before I came to Japan. The fact that it never had meat and was a big chunk of cabbage was never appealing to me. But they contain meat in Japan ... love it!


Below is a clip of us finishing off the making of the okonomiyaki.

Osaka also has its own unique type of sushi called Oshizushi. It uses cooked cooked fish, seasoned and pressed firmed into rice to make little boxes. You can see a selection of these above, quite interesting and something different.



I know these aren't Japanese, but these egg tarts were awesome! They were hot, the pastry was flaky and crisp and the custard was sweet ... heaven! It was the first time that Holly and Matt has ever had one like this and they are eternally grateful to me. Needless to say we visited this establishment a number of times ... its on Dotonbori for reference.



This place was called the Shochu (distilled alcoholic beverage) Authority, it claims to contain shochu from all regions in Japan. They had some pretty cool looking bottles too. There are many different types of shochu including rice, barley, brown sugar, etc.



These were little Doraemon pastry type things, sorta taste like a waffle. You usually finds street vendors selling these at festivals and they come in all sorts of designs, I even saw a pikachu one.



On my journeys one day I discovered a tank full of turtles, unfortunately they were right outside a restaurant. This pic shows about 5 turtles, later in the day I returned and there was only one lonesome turtle left. Hmm, they like turtles in Osaka!


On our trip to Kobe, we could leave with having some sort of beef from there. Kobe used to be the biggest port city in Japan, until is was rocked by a big earthquake in 1995. Kobe is famous for Kobe beef. Kobe beef is from the breed of wagyu cattle, raised according to strict tradition. These practices may include a diet of beer and sake, and daily massages to relieve muscle stiffness, so that it results in more tender meat. Wagyu doesn't actually mean the type of beef but really "Japanese cattle". This cattle is apparently bred so that their meat is especially marbled and fatty, creating a more tender beef. Kobe beef was a little too expensive (about 10,000 Yen or $100 a piece) so we had yaki niku (grilled meat) which is still beef from Kobe and still tasted fantastic. The smells are awesome from these places.



We started off with some salad and grilled tongue ... I know, I know ... I though eeewww at the start too, but it wasn't too bad. just grilled it and whack on some lemon, tastes good.


This is the marbled beef I'm talking about. The meat was dericiously tender and juicy. Ooohhh, how I love meat!


Our final meal on our trip was Nabe (basically japanese steamboat). We had a seafood one and boy, did they give is alot.

This was after we had devoured most of it. Look how big those scallops are!

This was the nabe cooking.

This is a tank full of all sorts of sea living goodies, you'll notice the common crayfish, flounder, a moray eel and the famous Fugu ... the poisoness fish. I didn't get to try it but in Osaka, but I will, before I leave. Its meant to be expensive and not taste that great but its something you gotta try. Hopefully, I'll live to tell the tale afterwards.

Hope all are well back home.

Seijin no Hi - Coming of the Age Day

Hi all,

Just little side story from my Osaka trip.

Recently, the Japanese celebrated the Seijin no Hi - which is Coming of the Age Day. It occurs on the second Monday in January and is when the young people of Japan turn 20 years of age in the current school year (April of the current year to the following March). Its basically when young adults officially become adults and can start indulging in all those fun things like drinking, smoking and driving LEGALLY. The Japanese call it the age of Majority.

There can be ceremonies set up in government offices to commemorate this occasion. Many young girls dress up in kimono with furisode (long sleeves that drape down). I did see some girls dress this way, but at the time had no idea what for ... now I do.

So during the day the attend ceremonies and at night they celebrate in the ancient Japanese tradition of "Karaoke" ...

The other great thing was, I got a public holiday and long weekend for it!!! YEAH!

Later

A Japanese New Year

Minasan Konbanwa,

Well spending my first New Years in Japan certainly didn't turn out to be what I had imagined. Sure I wasn't in Tokyo where lots of the partying may have occurred, but upon hearing that Osaka was a party city in itself, I would have thought there may have been a more celebratory atmosphere.

My fellow companions (Holly and Matthew) on the Osaka trip, had discussed several options of how best to welcome in the New Year. Admittedly, most of them involved Karaoke. However, there were some other interesting options like heading to the food hub of Dotonbori or be outside in Umeda. Ultimately, because the night was blistering cold and windy, we decided to spend it indoors at the Umeda Sky tower. We thought that the sky tower would provide the best view of any fireworks that may have occurred and plus there was also a band that was meant to be providing the entertainment.

This is a picture of the Umeda Sky Building from the bottom.

Inside the building, they had re-created how Osakan streets and stores would have looked back in the day. Of course, they were all closed on this night.

This was a model of a villiage. Kind of reminds me of Gulliver's travels, Japanese style

This was a model of the Umeda Sky Building with the Floating Garden Observatory at the top.

The view of Osaka from the top of the Floating Garden Observatory.

Another view of the city. I have to mention that it was extraordinarily windy on this night and Holly, who is terrified by heights, had to retreat inside after being afraid of being blown away.

Below is a video from the Floating Garden over Osaka city.

After wandering the building for several hours waiting for the big countdown, the moment finally came. The boy band (Yes, boy band), had been on show for about an hour already, didn't catch their names. They were singing in Japanese, but I've discovered that all boy bands no matter what the language, still sounds like a boy bands. So think of Backstreet boys, Boyzone, etc. Coincidentally, they did sing in English and it wasn't half bad.

The boy band started the countdown, with the familiar cry of "JU, KYU, HACHI, NANA, ROKU, GO", we're getting close (why I thought they would count in English is beyond me). "YON, SAN, NI". I'm preparing myself for the huge celebration and release of euphoria, people screaming, hugging, kissing. Alcohol spilling, Champagne bottles popping .... "ICHI" ...... well, watch for yourselves.

As you saw yourself, the Japanese went crazy .... clapping their hands ... and then just looked at each other. I mean maybe we were in a upper class area, and they were too prim and proper to let their hair down ... but I can't help but feel somewhat disappointed.

Well, we then went to cheer ourselves up and sang Karaoke till the early morning.

Happy 2008 kids.

The Streets of Dotonbori

Heya Kids,

The continuation of my Osaka trip continues. Osaka is known as the place to go if you want to eat lots of food. The post on all the food I ate, will be separate but let me tell you about our favourite location in Osaka ... the street known as "Dotonbori".

The neon lit sign to let you know where you were in case you got

lost amongst the abundance of restaurants in Dotonbori.

Dotonbori is a street located in the Namba district of Osaka (north area). Its streets are basically lined with restaurant after restaurant, with the odd souvenir shop wedged in between the restaurants. It is really a food lovers paradise. There is a Japanese word, "Kuidaore", which has an a significant attachment with Dotonbori. Roughly translated, it means "to ruin oneself by extravagance of food" ... sounds fun. I spent a week in Osaka and still wanted to try different things there as well as re-trying some of the better things we had. The street is a popular tourist destination which makes it packed all the time. People come to see all the lights and big advertising on top of some of the restaurants.

This is the main hub of Dotonbori. This way leads over the

Dotonbori Canal and into the undercover shopping area of Shinsaibashi.

A view over the Dotonbori Canal. I have been told that many

singles congregate here in hopes of finding their one and only love.

Nice way of saying its a pick-up hangout.

I didn't know it at the time, but this is quite a famous billboard in Osaka and is a must photo point or tourists. I just thought it was for some athletics thing. Turns out that its a advertising board for a Japanese confectionery company called "Glico", based in Osaka. Glico manufactures the traditional Glico caramel candy (??? never had it before) as well as the world famous Asian treat, chocolate on a stick "Pocky" (I was never really into Pocky until I got to Japan).

As I mentioned Dotonbori is famous for its advertising about restaurants.

This place sells "Takoyaki" (japanese octopus dumplings).

"Fugu" or blowfish/pufferfish - only a master chef with a licence can prepare and sell this fish to you, however, a number of people still die each year from eating improperly prepared fugu. You may remember from the Simpson's episode when Homer is at a japanese restaurant and utters "FUGU ME!". I have yet to try, but I want to. Apparently it doesn't taste that great and is very expensive. Glutton for punishment I guess.

I think this place sells Duck!

This is the famous crab restaurant known as Kani Doraku

The back of the crab restaurant. What drink should I have while I'm eating my crab. Somethings telling me that Asahi Super Dry goes really well with crab.

Mmmm, large oversize beer!

This is the famous mechanical drum playing clown, known as Kuidaore Ningyo. It was installed in 1950. It stands outside what it proclaims to be the largest restaurant in the world. The restaurant has eight levels and serves a different Osakan cuisine on each level. Unfortunately, I didn't get to try anything from there.

There's even advertising for JetStar on Dotonbori

This was a photo down "Shinsaibashi". Long strip with shops, more restaurants and many pachinko (Japanese form of gambling, kinda like pokies) and amusement centers.


Finally, a little video while I was walking down Dotonbori. This is if you never get to go.




Next up, New Year's eve in Japan

Later

Osaka - The beginning

Minasan, Akemashite omodeto gozaimasu
Happy New Year kids,

Hope 2008 has treated you all well so far. Well, my next few posts will cover my past week partying and eating in Osaka. Before I talk about Osaka though, I must tell you a little side story before I left.

Well, figuring that my Japanese was still too crap to even book a taxi to take me to the train station, I decided to enlist the help of my supervisor (sensei I call him) at the BOE (Board of Education) instead, plus I needed to give him the Christmas present that Sarah had sent him. As per Asian tradition, all the staff were busily cleaning before the New Year arrives, when I strolled in. I gave him the present and he was so pleased that he offered to drive me to the strain station ... beauty, problem solved. He then proceeded to ask me how long I would be in Osaka for, told him that I would be there for a week. He then looked at me, and with an uncomfortable laugh, he said "Osaka is very dangerous". Now, I had read that indeed Osaka is the where the Yakuza now mainly congregate. But "NO", his reason for it being dangerous was because there were many "Gay Bars" in Osaka. Mmmm, I thought ok ... so how would that be dangerous to me, not to mention how my sensei knew of this very interesting fact??? Dangerous gay bars - will the people in the gay bars try to rob me? Will they want to drag me in and do nasty things to me? Will they charge me lots of money to have them sit next to me and wipe my beer glass (thats what they do in hostess bars)? or will there be transsexual bars where the women are actually men??? So with that last thought, off I went to Osaka.

Firstly, the night bus to get to Osaka ... about a 10hr trip with little expectation of much sleep. We (I should mention that I was taking this trip with Holly and Matthew - fellow JET ALTs) were the last stop to be picked up. Such was the amount of people heading off to Osaka, that there needed to be three night buses. I got lucky number three. Fortunate enough to get to seats to myself, however the trade-off was that it was next to the toilet ... and any dreams of getting some decent shut eye were dashed with passengers frequenting the dunny to relieve themselves ... ehh, about everyone hour. Luckily the toilet didn't smell enough to make me pass out, which wouldn't have been so bad as I would have got some sleep at least.

We arrived at about 9.30 in the morning, a little sleep deprived, except for Holly, who apparently slept like a baby. Had nothing to do with the several sleeping tablets she took before getting on the bus. Regardless, we were excited to finally be in Osaka and ready to explore.

After checking into our hotel, our first destination was the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, which holds of one the largest fish tanks in the world and houses a whale shark (wikipedia said it housed 3 whale sharks, I only saw one ... the others must have been in the sushi bar next door!).

This is a typical hotel room in Japan, just like a small hole in the wall. It was comfy and cheap though.

This is the entrance leading up to the Aquarium

On this day that we were visiting the Aquarium (and prolly throughout the winter season), they were putting on special penguin parades with the Emperor penguins (for those who aren't in the know about penguin species, these are the great big penguins, maybe about half my size - also watch "March of the penguins"). They were paraded to the adoring Japanese, photo snap happy, crowd 3 times a day. We happen to get there just as a parade was about to start.

This was the crowd that were waiting for the penguins to march by, hoping to catch a glimpse of these wild animals. The Aquarium wall is also in the background

Here are the penguins. Poor buggers waiting to have the whips cracked on them to march from one holding area to the next.

Next is a clip of the penguins, doing some parading. If you do not like animals being paraded around inhumanely just for the entertainment of humans, please look away now!

Now, I've never been into an aquarium before, so not sure if the layout is the same as in all of them. But the one in Osaka is split into different ocean zones around the world, displaying the different types of sea dwelling creatures that live there. I can't remember the different zones, so you'll just have to look at my pictures at random.

The entrance into the aquarium itself.

A pacific whitesided dolphin at play. I'm glad to report that no animals were harmed in the making of this blog, especially the dolphins!

The Emperor penguins in their rightful enclosure. Believe it or not, they actually created snow falling, so these guys could feel more at home.

Now this was really odd. These guys just swam inn the same spot, staring upwards. Its like one of this things were if you see a group of people looking up, you also look up. "Steve, do you see it?", "No, I can't it Fred", "Dah, guys, what are we looking for again?" - maybe what the fish were saying to each other.

These guys are the Porcupine fish (not to be confused with pufferfish, apparently). I tried really hard to make these guys angry, so the would blow up into a ball. Just didn't happen.

This is the oddly shaped Sun fish. Looks like its had half its body eaten! No Japanese jokes here!

The main attraction at the Kaiyukan - The Whale Shark! You can see a clip of the whale shark by clicking on this

These here are spider crabs. These things are seriously BIG! They can grow to a leg span of 4m and weigh 20kgs. These ones here weren't that big but still big enough.

This is ones of the many fluorescent jellyfish. Strange but pretty cool looking.

This was a Ferris wheel nearby, so what better to check out the whole city and bay of Osaka than to get on something that can take you up really high.

View of Osaka from the highest point on the Ferris wheel.

Enjoy