SUSHI AND NOODLES -JAPAN JOURNEY

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I looked out of our hotel window and could see lot of shops, malls and a high tech gym with people busy sweating out
Tully's hand drip coffee shop was in the basement of the hotel  wafting out divine coffee smells.

In the evening we went out for a stroll and had a look at the goods being sold in the convenience stores ,

There were a lot of kitchen articles very useful ones and we were told that Japanese never compromise on quality though pricing may be a little high

But my thrifty middle class mind spontaneously converts the foreign currency into Indian money and goods appear very expensive and moreover our  watchful heavy suitcases warn us not to burden them any more

Dinner we had at an Indian restaurant Zaffran

Most of the restaurants in Japan have Indian owners ,cooks  and waiters were Indians , Bangladeshis and Pakistanis.

In New Zealand while on tour we were searching desperately for Indian food,  when we  finally found one, we went and settled down there , entire décor was very Indianish, food was fantastic but owner was a Bangladeshi, cook was a Srilankan and the waitress was a pretty 6 footer Russian girl, LOL !
 As promised when we were booking the trip, SOTC gave us good Indian food and the timings were strictly adhered too, though at times we felt so stuffed with food that we couldn’t eat any more
Just adjacent to the lobby we had the restaurant with an airy dining room, there was a breakfast buffet (free for children up to 6) from 6.30 to 10 am.

We had to give the slip given with each room key to the person at the front table in restaurant who would greet us “irasshaimase” which meant “welcome and please come in.” Our slip would be placed on an empty table and we could go and sit there, this was all done effortlessly and with utmost courtesy

In the morning during breakfast we would see smartly dressed young ladies and men have their breakfast in the restaurant and briskly go on their way probably to their meetings and offices, one more thing we observed in Japan was the cell phone etiquette ,people would talk very briefly and quietly into their phones ,not wash their dirty linen in public like in some countries

 Almost all lunches and dinners were arranged in Indian restaurants whereas breakfast we had in the hotels we stayed in. Food becomes an issue when we travel out of the country ,we found that we could tolerate all types of local cuisine when we were young ,once we reached 60 and became senior citizens our taste buds started yearning for Indian food and that was the main reason for us to book in a travel agency with Indians ,luckily because it was not a season we were a small group and it was a comfortable tour 
The buffet used to have both Japanese and continental menu ,safe bet while having breakfast would be plenty of soup ,salads,egg ,yoghurt ,brownies ,fruits and desserts .The restaurants in Japan have different soups and a choice of fresh salads and eggs either boiled or in form of omelettes

Normally I am fond of trying the local cuisine but am however  wary of meats other than chicken and mutton.Most of the restaurants in Japan had the item cards displayed

 Japanese are fond of Rice,Noodles ,Vegetables ,Fish such as salmon, mackerel Green tea and fruits like tangerine, persimmons and Fuji grapes.Potato chips are the usual favorites

Japanese personifies Sushi a dish of rice seasoned with vinegar, with some sugar and salt, accompanying a variety of ingredients, such as seafood, often raw, vegetables, and occasionally tropical fruits.

Till I visited Japan I was confusing Sushi with Sashimi which is similar to sushi but without the rice, it is raw fish sliced into easy-to-eat pieces.

The high-quality of the fish caught in all regions of Japan makes it a great choice but as a pathologist I had my doubt whether eating the raw fish would give rise to parasitic infestations .Our guide assured us that flash freezing and usage of vinegar make it safe to consume fish
Some of the most common and popular varieties of fish are maguro and other tuna varieties, salmon, mackerel, and sea bream. Sashimi is typically eaten with soy sauce for flavoring.
Unagi or eel is a river fish. In Japan, it is a delicacy typical in high-class Japanese dining. At Unagi restaurants, one can enjoy Kabayaki, where the Unagi is put on skewers and grilled with a special sauce containing soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and Sake. Unagi is also considered a health food to prevent summer heat weariness for its protein and because it is good for digestion.

In South India too we relish eating a small fish like the eel we call it nethalu which is used in fries
Unadon, a dish of Kabayaki on top of white rice, is also offered at restaurants

Hitsumabushi, a specialty dish from Nagoya, is another must-try traditional dish  as cut-up Kabayaki on top of white rice but it can be eaten in several ways, such as with condiments like green onion and wasabi, or as Ochazuke by pouring warm green tea or broth over it.
Tempura is a dish involving ingredients like seafood, meat, and vegetables covered in batter and deep-fried in oil. The batter usually contains flour and egg.

Throughout our trip in Japan we relished Tempura because it was very similar in taste to fish and chips we used to eat in Australia and New Zealand. Tempura is generally dipped in a special sauce called tentsuyu before eating.
It is said that Japanese are so fond of fish that they eat more than 17 million ton fish per year
Tsukiji market in Tokyo is the world’s largest fish market, handling over 2,000 tons of marine products daily.[
Buddhist laws passed in the 7th century prohibited Japanese from eating meat, only birds and fish were allowed but in the 19th century, the Meiji emperor himself broke the taboo and ate meat
Soba is a noodle dish made from buckwheat flour with water and flour, thinly spread and cut into noodles 1 to 2 cm in size. After boiling the noodles in hot water, it is eaten dipped in cold soup, or by pouring hot soup over it. Soba is enjoyed hot or cold, making it an ideal dish year-round.

Udon is a unique ,popular and traditional dish known for its thick noodles. The dough is made from flour and saltwater that is well-kneaded and cut into noodles. After being boiled in hot water, it is eaten in seafood broth soup, or by pouring soup and toppings like tempura on top of it.

We tried Onigiri, or rice balls which may just look like plain rice, but they often have a savory filling inside and are wrapped with a salty sheet of nori seaweed. They are seen sold in convenience stores and supermarkets.

Yakitori is a popular food where chicken is cut into small pieces, then placed on bamboo skewers and grilled .It reminded us of our exotic varieties of kababs

Sukiyaki is a one-pot wholesome dish cooked in a shallow iron pan, traditionally enjoyed in the fall and winter in Japan and is made with several different ingredients, like thin slices of beef, green onion, mushroom, tofu, and noodles.
We relished the Miso soup another famous Japanese food, renowned for its great taste and health benefits. It is made of the fermented miso base and had a good flavor

Sake is an alcoholic drink made from fermented rice, Koji mould and yeast,it is very popular all over Japan and is served at all types of restaurants and bars. One of our tour members ordered it in a restaurant and pronounced that it was good

Japanese love Kit Kat candy bars which come in many unusual flavors like grilled corn, Camembert cheese, Earl Gray tea, grape, and wasabi.

We observed that it was appropriate to slurp noodles, especially the soba (buckwheat), when eating in Japan. Slurping indicates that the dish is delicious. It also obviously cools down the hot noodles.
 More than 5 billion servings of instant Ramen noodles are consumed in Japan each year. Chef Momofuku Ando invented the first instant “chicken Ramen” in 1958.
 Astonishingly Japan has more than 3,000 McDonald’s restaurants, the largest number in any country outside the U.S.