Yummylicious Japanese Food

Considering that Japanese food is my one of my favourites (or currently on top of that list), it’s natural I should come up with a list of some of the must-try Japanese dishes! These are a few of the various snacks/dishes that I’ve tried and loved every single bite of it. ^_^

TAKOYAKI

Takoyaki, which literally means “fried octopus”, is one of my favourite (and popular) Japanese street food. It’s a dumpling ball with a soft outer layer of batter, and inside is filled with diced octopus, tenkasu (tenpura scraps), red pickled ginger, konnyaku, dried shrimps and green onion. Not only that, it’s served with a topping of mayonnaise, chopped aonori (green laver, or seaweed) and shaved katsuobushi (dried skipjack tuna). When eaten freshly cooked, it melts in the mouth and the combination of all the ingriedients in the takoyaki really creates a dynamic flavour!

CHAWANMUSHI

I’ve eaten chawanmushi for years and still never stop loving it! Meaning “steamed in a tea bowl”, it is an egg custard dish served as an appetizer, what’s so special about chawanmushi is that it’s steamed in a Japanese teacup-like bowl. The trick to making chawanmushi is to allow the egg to be steamed until it just barely sets, giving the custard a soft, silky texture. The custard is made from a mixture of egg, soy sauce, dashi (traditional Japanese cooking stock) and mirin (think of it as a Japanese version of the salt and pepper you find on diner tables). The custard is also steamed with sliced shitake mushroom, kamaboko (like those cute pink and white Japanese fish cakes) and shrimp. Really, really delicious. Seriously!

 
SUKIYAKI

You don’t know sukiyaki if you haven’t tried Japanese food! Sukiyaki is a steamboat dish, Japanese style (called nabemono). It may sound like an ordinary steamboat, but its preparation method is unique. The essential ingredient in the soup is mirin (which I bet you don’t put in your chicken soup!), and various types of raw food (tofu, shitake and enokitake mushrooms, leafy vegies and most important of all – beef) are cooked in the skillet. When the food’s cooked, it’s commonly dipped in a bowl of raw, beaten eggs (though I haven’t tried that). One thing I love about sukiyaki is that my mom always cooks it at home! xD My mom alters her sukiyaki by boiling the eggs in the soup itself, and replacing the beef with salmon, which isn’t a bad choice! xD

UNADON

I’m sure you come across unagi in the sushi you find in Japanese restaurants, but there’s more to that unagi sushi! Unagi, which is a Japanese eel, is also eaten as a donburi dish (rice and various dishes served in one large rice bowl), called unadon. The name “unadon” is taken from the words Unagi no Kabayaki (grilled eel) and donburi. Unadon is served with the usual Japanese rice with the unagi on top. It may just be rice and unagi, but the unagi is specially grilled with a sweet sauce that is simply scrumptious. Don’t be put off by the fact that it’s eel (as lots of people do when I introduce unagi to them), because you won’t know unless you taste it!

YAKITORI 

Yakitori, if you translate into English, literally means ‘grilled bird’, but it’s actually a Japanese dish of chicken meat skewered onto sticks! Chicken meat is cut into bite-size pieces, skewered onto a thin, bamboo skewer and barbecued over charcoal and smoke. (Think Malaysian satay, or shish kebab). Yakitori can be eaten just like that, or with tare sauce (sweetened sauce marinade) which is brushed onto the yakitori during grilling, and also as a dip. The tare sauce is made up of mirin, sweet sake, soy sauce and sugar. The smoke flavour in the meat is mouth-watering, and a fun snack to munch on!

ONIGIRI 

I’m sure any anime otaku knows what an onigiri is! Onigiri is a popular snack of Japanese rice formed into a triangle shape (sometimes oval), and wrapped in nori (edible Japanese seaweed). Traditionally, onigiri is filled with umeboshi (pickled ume fruit), salted salmon or katsuobushi. Various fillings are used, like fish and pickles. Onigiri is popular because it’s convenient, tasty and simple. It’s very commercialised too! Some people think it’s too cute to be eaten, too. Lol!

Tips On Being Jun’s Girlfriend

How To Be Jun-kun’s Girlfriend
…according to Arashi xD

…According to Aiba-chan:
Listen properly to what Matsumoto-san has to say!
“In Matsumoto-san’s case, it would be best if it’s someone who can stay with him during eating even if it takes a long time. In those instances, it’s necessary to listen properly to what he says. If you sit there clueless and then stop listening, and when he asks things like “So, what do you think about that?” he’ll suddenly kick you to the curb *bitter laugh*. Now that I think about it, he once spilled red wine on my white pants. That time I lost. When you eat with Matsumoto-san, I suggest you don’t wear any white clothes.”

…According to Nino-chan:
Be aware of style!
“In any case, Matsumoto-san is stylish. He changes his hairstyle often, and he likes clothes so it seems he goes shopping often as well. Since I have no interest in style I’m not really sure, but I believe he definitely matches various types of clothes and wears it well. Even at home, he has quite a lot of clothes. Since that’s the type of person he is, wouldn’t it be natural he comes to like someone who is just naturally-aware of style? There might even be instances where he goes to buy clothes during a date, so it’s definitely an advantage if it’s someone that likes clothes.”

…According to Ohno-kun:
Become his manager for a day!
“MatsuJun really likes it when you do something he wants you to do, before he asks. In other words someone who can sense things, someone who can examine a situation and figure things out, that’s how you can grab his heart, I think. On the flip side, it’s someone who’s just naturally aware of herself. Specifically, what can you do to please him? That’s not only too hard but I can’t really explain it…If you become his manager for a day I believe you’ll probably be able to learn the points on when to be ‘aware’ of things!”

…According to Sho-kun:
Be able to read and recognize a list of movie stars!
“Since MatsuJun watches movies frequently. Even the day we went to Osaka for the C1000 event, he said he woke up early and went to watch a movie. I believe he likes [movies] quite a lot. He’ll definitely enjoy it if you say things like “so and so was a good piece” or “So and so actor’s acting is great.” That and it seems he’s quite into pasta. Since he says, “My neapolitan is really good,” if you’re someone who can’t eat neapolitan I hope you definitely overcome that!”

…and according to Jun-kun!
Someone who can read the air and act accordingly
“When we’re together, I’m interested in how that person goes about things. I believe to be able to read the air a person needs a sense for it, and I think at that point that person’s true character comes out. For example if we’re all eating together, once the plates are empty, it’s not about cleaning that up but it’s the timing of when to clean it up that I find important. If that sense is the same as me, then I feel like it’s someone I can date a long time.”

I am… very blur. I think I have a short attention span and selective memory (hence the fact that Aiba and I can be such good friends XD), so, erm, not good. But I’m fashionably-aware! XDDDD But I just don’t like the idea of having a boyfriend whose wardrobe dwarfs mine. That’s… wrong!