Japan Archives - Page 2 of 2

M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Okonomimura’: The Okonomiyaki Village

August 29, 2023January 31, 2024Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

Picture this. You’ve grown ravenous, bordering on feral, from the previous night’s drinking festivities in Hiroshima. 13 Sapporo draft beerus is the limit, you’ve tested it thrice over, just to make sure. You stumble outside of your hotel right off Hondori Shopping Street to a pitch black night sky and take a deep breath (like Frank in the ending scene of Nicholas Winding Refn’s ‘Pusher’). You put your head down and veer down a back alley, only to be confronted by a gaggle of grotesque monsters in red robes.

A robe slips off one of them. Only this time they aren’t the village elders attempting to create a bizarro-world 19th century enclave to protect you from the outside world. They are hulking, menacing, behemoth…grilled wheat flour pancakes stuffed silly with cabbage, yakisoba noodles, and seafood, topped with a fistful of green scallions, Japanese mayonnaise (for some), and descendent of Worcestershire sauce.

[The screen cuts to black]

21 Days of Ramen in Osaka: My Summer Love Story

August 25, 2023July 16, 2024Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

I genuinely believe Osaka is the single greatest city on earth for eating. “Japan’s Kitchen” as it’s aptly named, even birthed one of my favorite phrases ever, ‘kuidaore’ – literally translating to “Eat until you go broke.” Based on this alone, you know you are in for a hell of a ride the second you step off your respective plane, train, or automobile, and into ANY pocket of the city. Osaka epitomizes this mantra to the nth degree. And, at the heart of it are its estimated 2500-plus ramen shops or roughly 10% of all ramen joints in Japan.

Here are 21 of my favorite ramens that I downed during my three months in Osaka (Arthur Miller would be proud).

Taiho Ramen-Kiyamachi: a Late-Night, Kurobuta Ramen Institution in Kyoto

August 16, 2023August 25, 2023Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

If you’ve read my guide on 21 days of ramen in Osaka, then you already know that I’m the self-proclaimed Tyrone Biggums of ramen. Except, instead of white shiny rocks of ‘kryptonite’, my addiction is fatty, smoky char siu and shoyu (soy sauce) ramen broths. And I can’t get enough of it.

I hate to admit it but I wasn’t particularly sold on Kyoto at first. I know. That’s crazy of me. I chalk it up to the fact that I first arrived right during the hectic and overpriced ‘Golden Week’, where families from across Japan flood the streets, shops, and restaurants, and every shrine or temple feels as if you were the 3,000th visitor of the day. I only really warmed up to Kyoto during my second stint there where I was finally able to ease into a comfortable, workable, predictable routine (this Big Body likes predictability).

But there was one constant that remained through the thick and thin – from my first tumultuous moments getting muscled to the back of the line by a horde of Eastern European tourists at Family Mart to my solo treks up Fushimi Inari at night and serene runs along the Kamogawa River – ‘Taiho Ramen – Kiyamachi’ – a vibrant, late-night hole-in-the-wall ramen shop serving up a rich, thick shoyu-based broth that is packed to the brim with Kagoshima Berkshire char siu (pork).

Dream a Little, I’ll Dream on Taiga: Italian Cuisine With Japanese Precision

August 12, 2023August 25, 2023Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

Dream on, dream on. I dream on. Dream a little, I’ll dream on Taiga… I had been forewarned (whatever the positive of forewarning is though) that Italian-Japanese fusion cuisine was an actual thing in Japan. And that it was all the rage. At first, I was afraid, I was petrified. I was skeptical. I didn’t believe it.

However, after learning that Japanese-Italian cuisine, commonly referred to as ‘Itameshi’, had a cultural and recent-historical significance behind it, I warmed up to the idea and now I can’t live without it by my side. I’m not exactly sure why I was hesitant about Italian cuisine when I had learned very quickly during my three-month stint in Japan that they are/were renowned for absorbing the best parts of every other cuisine in the world and refining it/turning it into a science.

Takoyaki Umaiya: 60 Years of Minimalist Octopus Ball Bliss (Sans-Mayo)

August 11, 2023August 25, 2023Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

I loathe mayonnaise. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a thousand more times. Mayonnaise is my kryptonite. So you can imagine I was crippled with dejection and bouts of FOMO after landing in Osaka and realizing that most major Kansai-region specialties, namely takoyaki and okonomiyaki, are topped and/or coated in this globby, abominable mixture.

However, my heart fluttered, my palms began to sweat, and I jumped up and down while shrieking with excitement like Buddy the Elf when he heard that mall-Santa was coming the next day when I learned of ‘Takoyaki Umaiya’ – the second oldest takoyaki shop in Japan (established in 1953), serving up grilled, golden brown octopus balls sans-mayo.

Doing the Neigh Neigh at a Horse Meat Restaurant in Osaka

August 8, 2023September 4, 2023Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

As the dirty South rapper turned murderer ‘Silentó’ of the viral tune and dance craze once sang, “Now watch me whip, whip, watch me nae nae.” As I bounced down the streets of Osaka blaring this banger in my headphones while doing a bit of the stanky leg for good measure, I passed by a restaurant I thought was a popular duck and soba noodle spot. I popped my head into the restaurant, added my name to the registry for the night, and embarked on my daily constitutional (a 5km run around Osaka Castle).

After working up an appetite of one thousand American pygmy shrews (absolutely voracious eaters those little guys are), I returned to the restaurant and took my rightful spot at the bar – overlooking the kitchen. I must have been disoriented from my run and not capable of putting 2+2 together as I saw a Kanji character that I knew all too well. However, it didn’t register and I placed an order for their signature assorted sashimi platter.

Upon arrival, there was something different about it. I couldn’t quite place it. The texture was something I had never seen before. It was such a pinkish hue that even inspector Jacques Clouseau would struggle to solve the mystery behind its coloring. I suddenly caught a laminated placard with a diagram of a horse out of the corner of my eye and I put it all together. “Now watch me whip, whip, watch me neigh neigh,” I whispered under my breath as readied my chopsticks and took my first bite.

Gyudon Life: Why I’m a Yoshinoya Ride or Die For Life

July 9, 2023November 26, 2024Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

I really can’t express just how happy Yoshinoya in Japan makes me but I’ll try.

Maybe it is because I have fond memories of patronizing this fast food gyudon (beef and rice bowl) chain my first Chinese New Year in Beijing when it was the only thing open (that and KFC). Maybe it is because it is there for me while working odd hours with clients in the U.S., leaving me a rather rushed eating window between 11 PM and 12 AM some nights. Maybe it is because they just make a high-quality, bang-for-your-buck, hearty meal that is delivered with enthusiastic service and care.

I am a Yoshinoya ride or die. For life. My last three months living in Osaka, Japan have solidified this ten times over. I have eaten at Yoshinoya, at minimum, bi-weekly (sometimes tri-weekly) for the last three months. I know it well and it will always have a special place in my heart and belly.

If you are a Sukiya or Matsuya (competing gyudon chains in Japan), consider this an open invitation for hand-to-hand combat.

If you are unfamiliar with exactly what Yoshinoya is or what you can expect when walking through the doors here or are curious exactly what makes this fast food chain one of my most frequented (possibly most frequented) spots in all of Japan – read on!

A Mouth-Watering Beef Katsu Sando in Osaka You Needed Yesterday

July 4, 2023July 16, 2024Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

If you read my previous post on ‘Custard Nakamura’, a popular Japanese bakery in the heart of Bangkok, then you already know my feelings towards Japanese sandwiches – I may love them more than some members of my immediate family. So you can guess that after landing in Osaka for a three-month stint, one of the first things I did was research local sandwich shops in my area (not “hot local singles in my area”).

Cue ‘Kitashinchi Sand’, a late-night specialty sandwich shop located just a five-minute walk to the south from Osaka Station. What could possibly go wrong when you combine high-quality beef and bread? Absolutely nothing. Say “Hello” to your new best friend – the beef katsu sando. Oh, and I was such a glutton that I also knocked back several Menchi sandos (ground meat cutlet sandwiches) for good measure.

Delay no more! Let’s dig in.

The Deep-Fried Beef Cutlet Dilemma: Is Gyukatsu Motomura Worth the Line?

June 25, 2023July 16, 2024Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

Having posted up in Osaka, Japan for the last two months (with one more to go), a popular restaurant my friends raved about and kept recommending was ‘Gyukatsu Motomura’ – a deep-fried beef cutlet (similar to Tonkatsu) haunt where patrons cook their rare beef over a hot stone and slather it in soy sauce or wasabi. All in the name of the perfect bite.

After unsuccessfully being turned away the night before for showing up too late (this was on me – not them), I decided to circle back the next night to their Umeda branch, located in ‘Lucua Dining’ on the 10th floor of the North Gate Building of Osaka Station City. This time I arrived at 8 PM, dressed in my finest Yakult Swallows baseball jersey, to see if the hype was worth it.