Doh…not sure where i got that number.
120 is more like it
We just watched Tampopo for the first time. Speaking of ramen. Bizarre and terrific. Utterly.
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You can never have enough ramen while in Japan. Already looking forward to the Tokyo tour in May.
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Last time I was in Tokyo, I had either Ramen or seafood three meals a day for the entire time I was there. I was in heaven. And my wife said I was gross.
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When we went in ‘19 we ate ramen at least once every day. People ask me a lot whether the ramen here stands up to the ramen in Japan. I think the answer is: the good stuff here would be good in Japan too, it’s just more limited in style—there’s so many good varieties beyond tonkotsu to try over there.
My answer is basically the same for sushi too. There’s good sushi here, there’s bad sushi there, the biggest difference is how much you pay for it in each place. Good fish just costs more here. The quality of the cheap tuna is unreal in Japan.
The big culinary revelation for me in Japan was curry rice, which I’d never really had over here, but which I now make regularly at home.
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A good curry rice recipe would be appreciated.
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This guy’s version probably tastes amazing and better than mine. I just get the curry from the box (link goes to a five-pack) and pretty much follow the instructions on the back. But really, you can make it entirely your own in terms of meat and veggies. In the past I’ve used chicken thighs or stew pork, but since we’ve been cutting back on meat this year, I’ve done it straight vegetarian the past couple times.
Last night I chopped up an onion, some garlic, four carrots, three small white potatoes, a turnip, and some mushrooms. Sauté the onion/garlic/mushrooms for a few minutes (you can start the root veggies in the microwave at the same time to speed the cooking), add in the root veg, add 5 cups water. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer for about 15 minutes. Once the veggies are just about cooked, add in the curry blocks and keep stirring til they’re fully melted. At that point you might want to add more water, since the ratio on the box is a little thick for my taste. Ladle it over short-grain rice and have at it.
- The one non-negotiable add-on for me is fukujinzuke. Sweet, salty, crunchy, a perfect complement. Just spoon some onto your bowl and get a tiny bit in each bite.
- There are mild/medium/hot varieties of the boxed curry linked above. I recommend the hot, which really isn’t spicy at all. We’ve tried the milder ones and they’re just too bland for us.
- You can also make the curry from powder and thicken it with a roux. I used to do it that way, but the box is better and easier as far as I’m concerned.
- I also add peas to mine, which my wife doesn’t like, but I’m a big fan of. I just throw ‘em on top in my bowl and mix them in.
- There are a thousand different ways of doing it. You can follow the box like I do, you could make your own spice mix and roux and fancy it up, add any meat or vegetable you like (or fruit, some folks use apples or raisins), etc.
- I tried a few different places in Japan, a couple local restaurants, one place that did more of a soup curry than a stew, all delicious, but honest to god I probably liked the mega-chain fast food version best. They do the katsu (fried cutlet) curry and you can’t go wrong with that, ever.
- In Houston, Izakaya Wa is where we go when we’re craving katsu curry. I’m too lazy to fry things and they do it better than I can anyway.
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You can never go wrong with any concoction that has peas, curry, and rice.
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It’s the same with Korean food but I would say as a rule of thumb the average Koreatown food can’t touch the average food here and the selection with regional variations blows everything away Stateside. If anyone tries to claim differently they don’t know what they’re talking about, with all due respect.
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Thanks for the curry rice knowledge, that’s something I’ve never cooked at home but it’s on the future menu now.
As far as ramen goes, I haven’t eaten a bunch of it in America (maybe 4 times in SF/NYC) but the Ramen Tatsu Ya guys in Austin do a great job, I believe there’s one in Houston now.
The video on their site is a nice watch: About — Ramen Tatsu-ya
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I believe this. I’ve never been shot in the ass with any particular Korean place, aside from a good fried chicken joint. That said, there’s a nice (pricey) Korean place opening up down the block from me soon… excited to try it.
@Lefty, I live a few minutes away from the Houston Tatsu-ya and go there pretty regularly. It’s good stuff. That’s a good example of a place that’d more than hold its own in Japan (at least among the places I tried there).
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Vancouver BC.
I will be catching a boat out of Vancouver this summer for an Alaskan cruise. Will have a day coming and going to check it out. Any suggestions?
When we got married, my wife wouldn’t touch peas. But then I discovered that she had only ever had canned peas (or maybe some frozen peas that were then cooked to death by her mother). Fresh peas were a revelation to her. That was like my experience with spinach: all I had ever had was the atrocious canned stuff in school lunches. I think it was 6th or 7th grade before I learned that spinach could be eaten raw like lettuce, or gently wilted in soup, and didn’t have resemble the green slime I was familiar with.
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I was there 20 years ago and had the best bibimbap I’d ever had but I don’t remember the name of the place. I just remember it was heavenly and have never found any place since that compares.
The Cuban cigar store.
Skip Vancouver and take the ferry to Victoria.
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What @JimR said. Vancouver is great. Victoria is that x100. If the spouse is there, you’ll be the hero of the day. Don’t miss Butchart Gardens if at all possible but even just grabbing dinner at the Steamship Bar & Grill on the marina in Victoria is a win.
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There’s a Michelin star bibimbap spot close to my house that runs about $10 for a bowl and it’s pretty incredible. I generally don’t eat bibimbap often and save it for the truly special spots or when I’m in the birthplace of bibimbap Jeonju. The Korean food Americans know barely scratches the surface of some really mind blowing stuff.
I’d actually read that as Victoria, not Vancouver. I haven’t been to Vancouver.