Without a doubt one of the reasons and motivations behind my trip, apart from wanting to take a break and see the world, is food. Having the chance to try out local dishes, taste new flavours, discover new things as well as see markets, ingredients and just how people are around food, is something I really love. It was a big reason behind my move to Japan, and I indulged aplenty while there, and now that I’m travelling around South East Asia it’s still one of the things that gets me really excited and hyped when I arrive somewhere.

I’ve been meaning to write about Japanese food in more detail, for well over 6 months now, but lazyness and life got in the way. I’ll get round to it eventually. Looking at my trip so far though, and considering I finished work at the beginning of June, my own little food oddisey started in Japan. With two weeks to kill before I left for China, a friend of mine came over for a holiday and we indulged in all manners of Japanese culinary delights, which was a great way to leave the country.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: bun, China, eating, food, Japanese Food, Peking duck, pho soup, ramen, South East Asia, spring rolls, travelling, Vietnam

Had a good chuckle earlier today after reading this article in the New York Times I was linked to.

For those that don’t know, or can’t be bothered to read, the world-famous Michelin Guide, one of the things the French are most proud of, make no mistake, launched an Asian version of its guide for the first time last year. It chose Tokyo as the first city up for ‘inspection’ and came out with a stagerring amount of praise for the capital’s cuisine and its establishment, giving it more stars than both Paris and New York combined.

Which you’d think was good news for a city. But not for the Japanese it would seem, as the results were not just greeted with pleasure but also with a fair amount of discontent and disdain from some of the city’s top chefs it seems.

My favourite part as to be when chef Toshiya Kadowaki said his Nouveau Japonais dishes, which take inspiration from French cuisine, do not need a Gallic seal of approval. A lot of the disdain and refutal seems to either come from the belief that foreigners are not qualified to judge Japanese cuisine or that bragging, competition and awards go against the Japanese tendency to not stand out from the crowd, to fit in rather than stick out.

Which is all well and good, but when this comes from chefs in a coutry responsible for murdering foreign cuisine in new and unimaginable ways it’s a little funny… nah actually a lot funny.

Still que sera sera right, and whether or not they want to admit it, accept it or do whatever with it, the Japanese are responsible for some amazing cuisine and Tokyo definitely stands out as one of the major culinary centres for any self respecting foodie. It’s hardly surprising that Michelin chose to lavish that much praise on the city and its restaurants, as it is hardly surprising that some of the people reacted in the way they did.

No matter how good food can be in this city though, I still stand by my belief that some of the abberations Japan has come up with when it comes to interpreting foreign dishes is some of the most shocking stuff I’ve been unfortunate to see, smell or taste. Mentaiko spaghetti? Ughhhhh…

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written by Laurent \\ tags: food, Japan, Japanese Food, Random, society

I’ll start my long overdue ramblings on Japanese food dishes with grilled food, which includes many of my favourite dishes. Grilled food in Japan comes in a variety of sizes, shapes and origins. Most dishes are tasty, cheap and quick - a winning combination as far as I’m concerned.

Yakitori

Probably the most common grilled dish (literally meaning grilled bird or chicken) - yakitori are skewers of grilled chicken bits which are generally available from stalls located pretty much everywhere. And if you don’t know where the nearest one is you can just follow the smell of the smoke emanating from it.

I’ve not seen many yakitori stalls in the more central areas of Tokyo, though I remember someone mentioning that in Shinjuku there is a fairly famous back street filled with yakitori and other similar stalls. Yakitori are also served in dedicated restaurants and generally available in izakayas as well, where you eat them as snacks while drinking.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: grilled food, Japanese Food, yakiniku, yakitori

Some people come to Japan for the experience. Some come to discover a different culture and experience life in what is at times a different world. And some people, like myself, come for the food. Ok I didn’t just come for the food, but it was a big incentive let’s say.

I’ve always had a thing for Asian cooking - coming from a French/Italian background it’s fair to say that food has always played a big part in my life. I don’t just love eating good food, I also love cooking. And while I’ve spent the best part of my adult life mastering various dishes and food from my own background I’ve always wanted to try my hand at Asian food. I’ve just never really had the chance or incentive to do it. I can cook a mean stir fry and a more than decent Thai curry, but that’s about it really :sad: .

So living in Japan has been an absolute blast so far when it comes to food. Not only has the cooking been great, even if my sink-sized kitchen has been interfering with my attempts, but the eating has been truly next level. Japanese goes a lot deeper than what you see in Europe - and discovering its many pleasures and aspects has been excellent.

In Tokyo eating is incredibly cheap compared to London. I was having this discussion with a friend who’s been here a few years, where I was saying how cheap eating out in Tokyo is. Which he claimed wasn’t entirely true - eating out can be as expensive as London or any major city, but fast food or just grabbing some food is definitely ridiculously cheap. And fair enough, a dinner in a nice restaurant, will probably set you back a fair bit, though from my own experience so far I’ve found that a lot of restaurants are still a little cheaper when you consider quality and service.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: Japanese Food