Japan like a Native

I have a lot of friends ask me about Japanese food; and to be frank --- most people only know Japanese food as sushi, tempura, and maybe teriyaki chicken.
For example, my friend asked me my favorite local Japanese restaurant. I say Sushi Ro****. And he replies, oh, their sushi rolls were okay... AH! Did you even see the other 70% of the menu? All of the fried, grilled, steamed dishes? The robata-yaki menu?? What about just good ol' ankimo (あんきも　monk fish liver pate) with a nice glass of cold beer??


So, since I do have a passion for food, I would like to start a list of "authentic" foods to try in Japan. I put quotes around authentic because, well, what is really authentic? Great Japanese cuisine can actually be what we called "fusion" food. Some creative Japanese chefs can be experimenting with the traditional, and I still think that can be considered "authentic" because its heart and its creators are rooted in tastes of Japan and you know what, it tastes good. So... what I guess I won't call "authentic" is a sweet sticky, thigh fillet "teriyaki chicken" with a boob-shaped mold of rice (that's not even cooked in the teriyaki way! teriyaki, btw, is more of a style of grilling food over charcoal and basting it constantly with gooey and flavorful sauce that a restaurant will spend years mastering and developing. grilling of kabob-ed food is just referred to as robata-yaki)


List of foods to try: Part 1
Salty-and-Flavorful Rich

1) Ramen（ラーメン）. Of course. Most people know what Ramen is. But I'm not talking about the instant maru-chan crap that's sold in grocery stores here. Small hole in the walls can be some of the greatest. Just find somewhere you see a bunch of Japanese people. Really. All Japanese menu probably is a good thing too. Just point and smile and eat whatever comes out. I can guarantee it'll taste great.
 
1.1) Tsuke-men (ツケメン). I had this at 2am with my boyfriend after a whole night of drinking in celebration of a good friend's wedding. Let me tell you, whatever late-night drunk food the US has, it can't beat this. It's noodles with a hot dipping saucy soup. But so much more. The noodle of thicker and chewy. The dipping soup is thicker than just broth... and has this delicious Chinese/Japanese flavor... and the soup tastes like it's been cooking and perfecting for days.

2) Motsu-nabe （もつ鍋）Now this will take some research to find a restaurant that serves this delicious dish. Last winter, I had dinner at one very popular motsu-nabe restaurant near Ebisu. It was.... incredible. So amazingly good. Nabe is hot-pot. Motsu is, well, intestines. BUT don't let that gross you out! It's actually flavorful, chewy but tender, and the hot-pot broth/soup they make for it is so rich and beautiful. Don't forget to finish the meal with either rice or udon cooked in the hot-pot broth that become even richer in flavor with the motsu/other vegetables you've cooked in it.

3) Monja-yaki (もんじゃ焼き）Ohhh my uncle introduced me to this dish. It's basically a rendition of Okonomi-yaki (what I've heard English speakers call the pizza of Japan. Not really but okay). But anyways, okonomi-yaki style varies all over the country and every household has a unique way of making it... so I'm not going to talk much about it... Basically think of it like a pancake bound with a type of flour and cabbage usually, filled with whatever-you-want-to-eat. Monja is basically a more gooey form of it. You eat it with this mini-shovel-like spoons. It's cooked over a teppan, and you do it yourself too. I guess it's the melting but mochi-type quality of it that I love.


I would love to post pictures from actual Japanese sites/bloggers... but with the current blogger set-up, I can't just put pictures from other sites directly onto blogger (even if I display the link the follow! Grr. I have to add it into my picasa or something. A bit inconvenient)