Chicken Heart for the soul...

When I got back to Tokyo, the handy 7-11 store across the corner of my apartment was GONE! You see as a Gaijin, 7-11 can come in really handy.

TOP 3 reasons why I need 7-11:
3 - Prepaid cards for my Softbank phone. Then again you can get this in any convenient store.
2 - Precooked food for the lazy chef. Again, its not hard to find elsewhere.
1 - This is my top 1 reason. Most ATMs dont accept cards from foreign banks. But all 7-11 ATMs do!!!

Not all was lost though. Not far down I found another 7-11.

Anyway... Im babbling...

My point, that 7-11 store was replaced by a Tori (chicken) restaurant. Ive been wanting to try it out but never got the chance to (as is always the case with restos close by your home). This trip, my colleagues and I finally passed by. Tried CHICKEN HEART yakitori for the first time! Texture was tough but meat was juicy. I'd say its a cross between dark meat chicken and liver. Not my fave but not bad at all. :)

*Picture of Chicken Heart Yakitori
** With phone cams, you rarely get a good shot, but you more often than not get the shot.

My Overall Rating of the Resto: 3 out of 5
Taste: 4/5 (a little on the salty side, but I like salty. definitely tastey though.)
Portion Size: 2/5 (really really small portions. Only dishes that were ok with quantity was the tsukune (chicken meatball, yakitori style) and rice dishes (bento style))
Environment: 4/5 (new and clean especially for a yakitori place. nothing impressive though)
Service: 4/5 (not bad but not execptional either)
Price: 1/5 (too expensive for yakitori, especially considering the portion size)

Restaurant: Gosh, I wish I knew the name... Tori Restaurant 2 blocks between the Ningyocho Station (exit beside AM/PM) and Bureau Ningyocho Nihombashi.

Took me one hour to figure out the rice cooker

So... Ive been coming back and forth for almost a year now, each time staying in a fully equipped apartment (man, can this spoil a lady!). The past 100 visits, I lived on Freshness burger down the road, or Pepper Lunch, that awesome revolving sushi place, or any of the million restaurants in every corner (again... man, can this spoil a lady!).

This trip, I've decided to become domesticated. I am getting married to a man who loves to eat soon - oh, the pressure is on!!! Plus, I find some fulfillment in learning to do something new. Back home, Id never really get the opportunity to cook (again... man, can this spoil a lady!). So, I have jumped at the opportunity to better myself. I am pleasantly surprised at what, even a a girl like me can do around the kitchen.

Around the corner from my apartment is an old lady that sells fruits and veggies. Its not always complete, but is extremely convenient and cheap. Ok... not cheap-CHEAP. But cheaper. 3 pieces of garlic = Y50. 3 tiny tiny avocados = Y100. 3 large onions = Y150 (i think?). apples/pears/etc... = Y400 or more (exagg! stay away from the fruits). Ill pass by tomorrow and get the prices. Note: 1 Yen = Pesos 0.5 = USD 0.01. Down Ningyocho-dori ("dori" means main road, "chome" means small street), there are a few small stores that sell a humble selection of raw fish, condiments, that kinda thing... With everything close by, its easy to stop for ingredients after work.

I must say though, I am very limited here. 1) I have no idea whats in the bottles: soy sauce? soba sauce? yakitori sauce? Ive been lucky with my guesses so far. 2) Who can tell whats what when everything in Japanese? I almost bought ham thinking it was chicken. Thank God for my limited Japanese ("Nan-de?" means what is that?). 3) Cooking for one is tough. I have too much raw ingredients that rot easily. Dont wanna eat the same thing every day, right? Lastly, not all ingredients are easily available (I want rosemary, and basil, and...)

I'm proud to say that I've made do with what I have and made some decent and some good dishes.

the tiny but complete kitchen I finally used

First few brainless dishes: Had to test the kitchen -- how to turn the stove on? How to chop? How to wash dishes? How to cook rice? man that rice cooker is hard to figure out! Most appliances in my apartment come with an English user manual. But NOT the rice cooker! First, I lived on rice with canned goods, Then I had to do the omelette with bread, had cheese, tomatoes, and spam. Awesome stuff. Then I did a few varieties of pasta, mostly used fresh mushrooms. Then I got confident and did adobong kangkong! I missed pinoy food. It was not bad for a first time. I wish I had a picture.

Second actual dish: Potato salad and pan-fried fish (the fish resembles salmon, but I dont think it is. Again, another con of not knowing Nihonggo). For the salad, I used local Japanese mayo, put some potatoes, chopped eggs, onions, a little avocado, seasoning, etc... I wanted to have it with grilled steak or chicken, but I couldnt find any nearby. So I settled for pan-fried fish with a little seasoning.

Third actual dish: Veggie-delight! Since Im going home soon, I figured I ought to use up all my leftover raw ingredients. Because of the friendly veggie vendor next door -- Ive got tons of veggies! Made boiled okra dipped in soy sauce and vinegar (this dish reminds me of home) and Stir-fried red bell peppers and onions/onion leaks. Again, I wish I had chicken to go with that. This dish turned out pretty yummy.

Non-Japanese Food in Tokyo

All food in Tokyo is good because its fresh. But most non-Japanese food does not taste authentic. Stick to the Japanese cuisine to get the best of your experience!


CHINESE FOOD - For some reason, I was craving for XIAO LUNG PAO when we came upon this restaurant at Roponggi Hills. They had all sorts of dishes -- all was pretty good but not awesome. If you've had first class Chinese dining in Hong Kong, then stick to Japanese food in Japan.

ITALIAN FOOD - I have tried only two Italian restaurants that serve authentic Italian food, both with Italian chefs (obviously). One was in a rooftop in Shinjuku and one in an underground restaurant in Higashi-Ginza. Other than that, I would classify all other Italian dishes Ive tried in Tokyo as Japa-lian (hehe). Its got its own distinct flavor enough to be its own cuisine! Most Ive tried have the following ingredients: butter (tons and tons), garlic (pretty standard), clam based sauce (kinda like vongole but richer and creamier tasting), fungi mushrooms (those really tiny shrooms).... If you've eaten in UCC Manila, the pasta tastes something like that. Dont get me wrong, its not bad -- its just different.

Tokyo Festivals and Food

Japanese festivals are very popular, they have one almost every weekend and for every occasion. Usually, they are held during the weekend by parks and temples and have a string of stalls that sell food, drinks and hold kiddie games.

Every festival offers similar food. Frequent dishes include okonomikayi (a japanese pancake), takoyaki (fried octopus balls), yakisoba (fried noodles), and fried potatoes.

OKONOMIYAKI

A Japanese pancake with all sorts of ingredients. Unlike a western pancake, this tastes more of ingredients than flour. If Im not mistaken, its originally from Osaka but its easy to find over Tokyo, especially at festivals such as this one. This picture was taken at a small festival right by Ueno park. Personally, Im not really fond of it. Its got this funky acquired taste, I still havent put a finger to what exactly it is. Maybe its the ginger, or the sauce (similar to Worcestersire but sweeter), or the fish flakes that move that they sprinkle on top...

YAKISOBA

Yakisoba is Japanese fried noodles made from wheat flour (similar to that found in ramen) and fried with a whole array of ingredients. From what I remember, there are veggies (usually cabbage, onions and carrots), pork bits, sauce for flavoring and ginger (again with the ginger!). My first experience of yakisoba was instant noodles - the type that cooks in hot water? I learned to actually like it, a reminder of my simpler days as a backpacker. This... tastes nothing like it. It almost tastes like chinese noodles, but with ginger. You know how I feel about ginger. So again, me and the traditional yakisoba dont go.

TAKOYAKI

Takoyaki is fried octopus balls - to me it actually tastes very similar to okonomiyaki. ITs got the octopus, and a variety of veggies, then topped with the funky fish flakes and japanese sweet sauce. Again... its got the ginger thing going on that Im not so fond of. Out of all the dishes, no matter which version I try, this one I cant seem eat and at all.

FRIED-O POTATO-O

Like my Japanese friend says -- say it like your retarded. Fried-o potato-o is usually what I go for in these festivals. I know it sounds boring, but they dont make it with the ginger I cant seem to dig! Usually the potato is fried with garlic and lathered with butter and salt. This picture above is cut, deep fried and sprinkled with your powedered flavoring of choice (mayo, wasabi, cheese, etc...)

Most festivals also have simple games. Y300-500 will earn you a small toy, if your lucky.


In this game, you are given a round hoop covered in paper. The challenge is to catch as many fish as you can without destroying the paper. Pretty innovative, dont you think?


This other one is just about catching any toy of your choice. There's actually no challenge to it as you can try as many times as possible, but i can imagine why kids would get excited!

Tokyo Sushi

Tokyo has awesome food in every corner! Yakitori, yakiniku, yakisoba, or whatever it may be, the quality is always first class. Even convenient store food aint bad, well at least for convenient store food.

My personal favorite is Japanese sushi! It's probably one of the easiest dishes you can make. But nothing I have tried compares to how they make it in Tokyo! The combination of sticky Japanese rice cooked to perfection(rice here is awesome by the way!), fresh seafood, and grated wasabi -- YUM YUM YUM! You gotta note though that authentic sushi is just seafood, rice, wasabi, and sometimes seeweed wrap (nori). You dont get crazy maki or anything like that. Over here, its all about the fresh catch.

For sushi, you can never go wrong with Tsukiji. They bring in seafood right out of the boat to this fish market so its always fresh. Plus, for a fish market, the place is pretty clean. You dont get any funky odors, if you didnt know you wouldnt have guessed it was a wet market.

TSUKIJI WET MARKET

Fresh goods for sale

Fish wrapped and ready to go

Dining at Tsukiji - approx Y1000/lunch set

OTHER JAPANESE DISHES

SEARED SALMON SUSHI with SALMON ROE - Yummmmmmmmmmmmmy! This is one of my faves. This dish is made of seared salmon that melts in your mouth and fresh roe that pops when you eat it. Its still got the salmon skin, that is cooked till it's just crunchy enough to eat. Had this at a yakitori resto at Akihabara. But its easy to find at any yakitori house.


UNI SUSHI - I obviously dont mind the raw stuff. Not many people can handle the uni, and quite honestly, every now and then you get a bad batch that just makes you feel all feverish. This one was taken at a revoloving sushi resto at Tsukiji.


TORO SUSHI - fatty tuna sushi. This is absolutely fantastic. Much better than the regular tuna (or "maguro" in Japanese) but also more expensive. This one was at a fancy restaurant in Ginza, somewhere near the JR tracks.

RAW COW LIVER - I have to admit, I was a little hesitant to try this. Im not fond of liver at all! But... being a sushi lover, I couldnt miss the opportunity. Its dipped in sesame oil and eaten raw. Surprisingly, once you get over the texture, its quite yummy!

FUGU - puffer sushi! This is a must try for the dare devils... The fish has some toxic organs that can kill if cut the wrong way. We tried this dish at an upscale Ginza restaurant, I reckoned it would be safer. Tastewise, its nothing extravagant. This dish was raw but prepared with veggies and ponzu sauce. The texture is quite rubbery and flat, similar to squid. But the experience is quite thrilling.

MORE SASHIMI / SUSHI

Awesome selection of sashimi, including salmon, scallops, octopus, yellow tail, sardines... everything fresh! This was at a yakitori outdoor resto just a few stations west of Shibuya.

Typical Japanese sushi platter, unagi ("eel), tuna ("maguro"), ebi ("shrimp"), salmon, salmon roe.. among others