All About the Food - Part I

Ah the food! We've tried so many new things in the last few weeks - some we've loved, others not so much, but it's been such a fun culinary adventure! Some of these I've already shared - conveyor belt sushi, ramen, pancakes, and more - but there have been so many others. And so, without further ado, allow me to present...

1. Matcha - finely ground powder of specifically grown and processed green tea. Specifically, to be classified as matcha the green tea plant must be shade-grown for about three weeks prior to harvest and the plant's stems and veins must be removed prior to processing. Ultimately, to our unrefined tea-palates, matcha tastes like green tea. It seems like you can find matcha everything here - matcha bread, matcha donuts, matcha shots added to your latte, and (below) matcha ice cream. Jason's verdict: "I'd get it again." My verdict: didn't love it. 

2. Taiyaki - literally, this translates to "baked sea bream" (a type of fish). Taiyaki is a fish-shaped cake filled with red bean paste made from sweetened azuki bean (most common), custard, chocolate, cheese, or sweet potato. When I saw these being sold by a local vendor, I decided we had to try them. Momiji manju is a dessert on my "must try" list for when we visit Miyajima and taiyaki are very similar, so I figured we'd want to be able to compare them later on!  The three filling varieties we tried were black bean paste, cheese (sort of like a cross between cream cheese and custard with maybe the slightest hint of cinnamon), and cheese and apple. The cake itself tasted like a pancake. We all found the texture of the bean paste to be a bit off putting. It tasted fine - mostly just sweet - but there is a significant amount of filling and texturally we just didn't love it. The cheese was also fine, but perhaps still a bit too much for us because we all agreed that the apple and cheese (which had slices of apple along with significantly less cheese filling) was our preference. Final verdict across the board - didn't love it, didn't hate it.

3. Onigiri - also sometimes referred to quite eloquently as "rice balls." While possibly the most simple snack imaginable, I don't know if we can return to the US unless someone can tell me where I can continue to purchase onigiri. The basics concept behind these delicious treats is white rice shaped into a triangle (or sometimes a cylinder), often (but not always) wrapped in nori (seaweed), and filled with awesomeness (pickled veggies, tuna, salmon, pork, beef, etc.) Those pictured below are what you can find in conbibi (Japanese convenience store), but onigiri aren't limited to convenience store snacking and can be found in restaurants in much fancier forms. They have become our go-to snack, and I'd say we eat one most days. We each have our own favorite filling - mine is tuna, Jason's is salmon, and Fiona loves the beef.

Here's the truely brilliant bit about origin sold in conbini - the packaging (note to self: I need to remember to discuss packaging at some point in another post - someone remind me!) Anyway, as you can see below, the package is clearly labeled with opening instructions 1, 2, and 3. This is because the rice is contained within a separate internal package that separates it from the nori and keeps the nori fresh and crisp. You start with the tab label "1" and pull it down...

Next ou slowly pull "2" away from the onigiri...

Repeat with "3" and enjoy!

A couple bites in and you make it to the filling. YUM! What a great snack! Who needs gold fish crackers when you can have this!

4. Corn-on-the-cob ice cream cone - yes, you read that correctly. Hokkaido, the region of Japan where we're living, is known for it's agriculture, and one of its regional specialties is corn on the cob. Nearly every street vendor sells it roasted, and it's plentiful in grocery stores as well - although it's not "packaged" the same way that it is in the States. More on that below. Anyway, we were pursuing the ice cream section of our local market and spotted this interesting option. When I picked it up, I could feel the individual corn kernels through the packaging. Suffice it to say I was intrigued.

Once we got it home and opened it up, it was obvious to us, although perhaps not from the picture, that it wasn't actually an ear of corn. Rather, the "cone" for the ice cream completely surrounded it and was shaped to mimic corn on the cob.

Inside the cone was ice cream. The most interesting (horrifying?) part? It was actually corn flavored! One bite was enough for me. Fiona ate about half of it before concluding, "it's not bad, but I'll try something different next time."

5. Rice cracker with wheat, barley, and black sesame seeds - this things are the second most amazing snack I've discovered since arriving in Japan. Jason and Fiona don't share my enthusiasm for them, but trust me when I say, I could easily eat an entire bag in one sitting.

On the tail of that series of pictures, I'm just going to go ahead and talk about packaging in this post because there are too many examples to pass up. Everything here is packaged to the EXTREME. Case in point, my favorite rice crackers...they come in an outer package in addition to being individually wrapped inside. Below, on the Japanese cheese plate you'll see that the cheese comes in an outer box as well as being individually wrapped inside the box. A bunch of bananas? Individual peppers? Prepackaged. It's awesome for a germaphobe like me, but was also one of the very first differences we noticed after a couple trips to the grocery store.

6. Cheese - Also owing to its agricultural heritage, Hokkaido boasts a massive dairy industry. Dairy products from Hokkaido carry a strong brand recognition across the country and are known for their quality. Anyone who knows our family knows we love a good cheese plate, so while Japan is not known for its cheese specifically, we decided to try out a Japanese cheese plate for dinner last night. From left to right you'll see: Hokkaido "smart cheese" (this is all I could make out with the help of my translation app, but I think it is a cheddar), Hokkaido "homemade milk" cheese (again, this was all the detail provided on the package, but the cheese was Brie/Camembert-like), and "powerful rich tasting mature cheddar." The consensus on these was edible, but nowhere near the deliciousness of  a Fruit Center cheese plate.

7. Peanut...cream? - This happened to us the morning after we arrived. I was incredibly tired and jet lagged and just wanted something familiar to eat. So you can imagine my excitement when I walked across the street to our local market and found peanut cream! I mean, it's probably just a loose translation indicating creamy peanut butter, right? It was shelved right next to the jam, so I thought let my hopes rise. Well, turns out it was shelved with the jam for a different reason...

...it is quite literally peanut jam. A little peanut-y and a lot sweet. Lucky for me, I was able to find this a week later. For the low, low price of $6.00. It's certainly not Teddy, but worth every penny nonetheless.

Other interesting grocery store finds:

These tubes are always found near the fresh fruit and the breakfast pastries. They are labeled "condensed milk," but a quick shake tells me the contents are much thinker than any condensed milk I've ever come across. I'm intrigued, but haven't tried it yet.

Next up: real corn-on-the-cob - the real stuff this time. I'll preface my mention of this corn by saying I've done no where near an exhaustive grocery store hunt for corn-on-the-cob, but this is the only form I've seen it in thus far. I'm pretty sure that it's cooked, but I begin to second guess myself every time I find it among the fresh vegetables. As I mentioned before, corn seems to be a popular summer snack here so maybe it makes sense that it's already cooked. In any case, we'll have to pick one up at some point to investigate further. Also, for all you dying to get your hands on some Hokkaido corn, just let me know. It's also available in this form as a soveigner in a fancy box!

Chocolate frosting filled animal crackers. I made the mistake of grabbing these when I was in a hurry picking up snacks for a hike and now Fiona's hooked. I thought I was getting just plain ol' animal crackers, but boy was she excited when she discovered my error!

And finally, a small selection of the other random flavored ice cream bars we've discovered (but not yet tried).

These next two are significantly less odd having now tried the "cheese" filled taiyaki. My guess is that they are less cheese-flavored and more cheese-cake like in taste. When Fiona first spotted them though, we were very perplexed.

Alright, there you have it - a brief summary of our tasting thus far. I've named this post 'Part I' because I can't help but think there will be more to come...