Kobe Beef, Dried Scallops, Pickled Squid and Shabu-Shabu!!

Gigaton · (#1 (**permalink**))

Hey guys,

I thought i would take some time to write about the delicious food experience i had while i was in Japan

On the train to Osaka from Tokyo a woman with a trolley came down the aisle and i just had to stop her. There were so many interesting things she had to offer. Japanese beef jerky - cut into strips and tastes like regular beef jerky. Some dried Scallops (clam-like creatures) which were shaped like small round.....ermm...wheels? They were hard yet delicious. I loved eating the pickled squid. It looks disgusting, you are given a small toothpick to pick out the small squid tentacles from your pouch but it just tastes sooo good!

In Tokyo we went to a restaurant where they served the most brilliant Kobe beef. Kobe beef is a very rich, extremely tender fatty beef. It comes at a large price but is well worth it. The cows are massaged all day at a young age onwards and are constantly fed milk which gives them their tender meat, but who could complain from a long-life massage

The beef was showed to us first and was then grilled on a grill at our table and cut into cubes. It tasted too good to be true!!

One of the most beautiful and delicious meals i had was the Shabu-Shabu. Shabu-Shabu (Does anyone know what it means?) is a delicious meal of thin meat slices and vegetables in a broth. Its a very good meal to share, as all the food is cooked by yourself, in the broth. They bring the broth to you on a heater and the raw veg and meat is placed infront of you to cook in there yourself. I dipped the meat in only for a few seconds and it was immediately cooked!! You are given a delicious sauce to dip it in too.

Surprisingly the sushi in Japan was not as good as i thought it would be, maybe because we ate it at 6am at the Toyko fish market? But it was nice to sit next to fishermen who drank their beers so early, everyone was so friendly. We did have some great sushi in one restaurant in Tokyo although it was quite commercial.

I had the most delicious tempura in my life while i was in the Yoshikawa inn in Kyoto. They are very famous for their tempura and i have to say it is extremely delicious!!

So does anyone have any food experiences they would like to share?

Hoped you liked hearing about mine

glaylover · (#2 (**permalink**))

They call it shabu shabu because thats the sound it makes when you swish the meat through the water.

Gigaton · (#3 (**permalink**))

Are you serious?! Thats so funny!!!

glaylover · (#4 (**permalink**))

YUP. It's so yummy tho huh! I also luurrve sukiyaki

Gigaton · (#5 (**permalink**))

What is sukiyaki? And also, what are those octopus balls called? Ive never tried them, always wanted to.

glaylover · (#6 (**permalink**))

Takoyaki and it is the best thing ever! Osaka is famous for it. Sukiyaki is kind of like shabu shabu but not water, the meat and ingredients is cooked in the most delicious sauce in a communal pot at the table.
Also you must try Okonomiyaki, which is like a savory pancake that can have anything mixed in it, meat, seafood etc then topped with sauce, mayo and nori. YUM

Gigaton · (#7 (**permalink**))

Thats sounds sooo good! Do people put raw egg in their ramen? when i was in tokyo i saw all the models with a raw egg in it.

glaylover · (#8 (**permalink**))

You can do, whatever tastes good! Raw egg on top of gyudon(beef rice bowl) is delicious.

Senekisu · (#9 (**permalink**))

Hey if you like to try new foods try monjayaki. They either grill it in front of you or you grill it yourself. Its fried soup and its recommened they do it for you! lol

Gigaton · (#10 (**permalink**))

Sounds interesting. I went to have shabu shabu yesterday at a restarant here in London...and i got ripped off. The menu said it was £48 ($120) for a whole course of sashimi, tempura, tea, fruit and the shabu shabu. The woman asked me 'For two, right?' i said yeah cos it was me n a friend. The bill came and it was £91 ($200) so it was in fact £48 per person... IRRITATING!!! But none the less it was very tasty!