Anyways, some of us went out to this okonomiyaki place for dinner last week. We didn't want to spend money on travel, so we decided to walk there; I think it took us around half an hour. Okonomiyaki can best be described as Japanese pancakes, except they're not sweet; the batter is instead mixed with pieces of meat/seafood, etc., basically anything you want to put in it, even noodles. It usually has a lot of cabbage, and is almost always topped with okonomiyaki sauce, kind of like worcestershire sauce but thicker and sweeter--wiki, seaweed flakes, bonito flakes, pickled ginger and mayonnaise. My dad and I made them a few times when I was in high school (I got first prize for tastiest cooked Japanese food! Me!).
I really liked the setting of the restaurant; we had this huge booth and you have to leave your shoes outside, so your barefoot inside, but sitting on comfortable cushions placed on benches. Most of the table consists of the cooking area, because they cook it right in front of you!
I took as many pictures as I could while she was making it.
Flipping it to cook both sides:
A closer look:
Cutting it up so that it's easier for us to eat it:
The one in the middle was made of noodles, topped with an egg. Overall it was pretty good. I took a video of her making it:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151082380841733
Overall it was a nice experience though, definitely want to come back :)
I forgot to take a picture, but after we were finished, they made crepes for us! And since it was a part of their service, it was free! Instead of the typical chocolate and/or fruit, they filled it with mochi; it was really good, especially since it was freshly cooked in front of us :) Here's the link to that video (it's kind of long)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151082401646733
A few of us after returning from the okonomiyaki place; we sat on the steps outside our dorm till 2am chatting :)
So you know that Sushiro place I talked about last time? I went to the same place again, I couldn't resist! It's soooo goooooood. This time I ate 7 plates instead of 6, so it came to around 9$ (still pretty cheap for kaiten sushi!)
This had basil and cheese on it, it was freakin AMAZING:
Ok. So I finally tried the infamously disgusting Natto (fermented soy bean). Most foreigners do NOT like this; I have heard sooo much about how it looks, smells and tastes gross, so I've been scared to try it for a long time. There are also quite a few Japanese people who don't like it, however healthy it is. But I finally mustered up the courage this time, especially since it was in sushi so I wasn't eating straight up natto. I was expecting the worst when I put it in my mouth, so it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But the texture and weird taste still got to me. I didn't absolutely hate it, but I definitely didn't enjoy it either. My friend who tried it with me said it was his first and last time haha.
After coming back I was craving ice-cream, so Shiho and I went to the nearby convenience store and bought some. It was a beautiful night, so we sat outside the dorm on the steps again and looked at the stars (usually I never seem them!)
In Japan it's common to cut fruit in cute, pretty ways; in general the appearance of food here is equally, if not more so important than the taste. Here's Toshi peeling a pear with a knife:
Last weekend we were hit by a typhoon, and Monday morning classes were scheduled to be canceled. All of us Americans were excited and hoping we wouldn't have to go to school on Monday. But the typhoon barely hit us, so we just had heavy rain and wind all evening, and to our disappointment it all cleared up by Sunday. On Saturday though one of our dorm-mates cooked a Korean dinner for everyone. You'll probably be surprised to hear that I helped cook! Although I would say I was most useful with cleaning the kitchen and dishes :P
These kind of tasted like thick, tiny dosas ( a popular South Indian dish)
She put chilies in them :D You dip them in soy sauce and eat them:
I made everyone pose before we started eating haha:
This was the main dish; chicken, potatoes, carrots, etc. in a broth. I downed it with apple juice :)
For dessert my friend gave me half of her ice-cream surrounded by wafer thing, and it was so delicious oh my god.
A closer look at it's deliciousness:
Another day eating ice-cream again. Our whole dorm eats ice-cream literally an average of 3 times a day, not even exaggerating. Those of you who know me probably won't believe me, but I eat it pretty rarely compared to the rest of my dorm. In this picture I'm eating macha ice-cream or green tea flavored ice cream, which is usually not very sweet but was sweet enough for me this time.
Another night my friend made Nabe for me! It's basically hot pot where you can put whatever meat, vegetables and noodles you want and cook it together. It's usually eaten in the winter when it's cold, and it's like a family or bonding meal because everyone sits around the table and eats from the one pot. It's better to eat it fresh because it gets soggy really quickly.
Here's him cooking it:
And us enjoying it after the rice I made was done! I was so full afterwards....
That's it for this week! This last picture is kind of random, but worth sharing. It's blueberry ice-cream flavored oreos...............When I told my friend that you don't get this in America, she was shocked. It's a pretty common flavor here.
I've quickly learnt that the Japanese enjoy a wide variety of flavors for snacks.Take KitKat for example: apart from the expected green tea flavor, there's also strawberry, raspberry, orange, melon, vanilla ice cream, pear, tea, soy sauce, soy bean, pumpkin cheesecake, sweet potato and sesame, cookies and cream, apple, european cheese, banana, coke, lemonade, calpis (remember this?), chili, wasabi, ginger ale, and the list goes on and on: http://pinterest.com/kalvin74/kit-kat-flavours-from-japan/
Anyways, KitKat is very popular here especially among students; they frequently eat it during exams, which also means they frequently gift it to friends during exams. Know why? Let me explain: They see KitKat as the cute, short form for "Kitto Katsu" which translates to "I/You will surely win" or "certain victory". Isn't that interesting?? It's their good luck charm to pass their entrance exams!
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