Japanese Pancakes- It's Breakfast For Dinner!

Pancakes are a universal food. They are literally perfect with anything and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Like the potato, they are the perfect food, and Japan did not miss the memo.

The first Japanese pancake showed up in the 16th century, and was called "Funo-yaki". It was invented by a gentleman known as Sennorikyuu, the founder of the Japanese tea ceremony. (Japanese Pancake World) The cooking process went something like this:

"... mixed flour with water and sake and char-grilled the flattened dough. Sweet miso was then spread on this savory pancake before being rolled and cut into a bite-size portion. At the height of the pancake's popularity, there were even Funo-yaki specialty shops." (Japanese Pancake World)

Pancakes dropped out of popularity in the Edo era, it came back in the Meiji era, when candy stores started selling "Monji-yaki" or "letter cooking", where kids would come into the stores and learn the Japanese alphabet by drawing the letters with watery pancake dough. Thicker dough was adapted to make the Monji-yaki sellable in mobile stands. (Japanese Pancake World)

Western influence came with Worcester sauce in the Taisho era (1912-1926), which the Japanese people loved to spread on their pancakes with some scallion. (Japanese Pancake World) During WWII, when food was scarce, people would stuff the pancakes with as much cabbage as they could, and meat, if it was available- this would become known, eventually, as a different kind of pancake, the okonomiyaki. (Japanese Pancake World)

Link: http://japanesepancakeworld.com/pancake-history/

For Sake's Sake!

Sake is a popular alcoholic beverage in Japan. While nobody knows exactly when sake was first made, it is believed to have first been recorded as being produced in China around 500 B.C. (Afshar) The original process to make sake went something like this:

"... villagers would gather to chew rice and nuts, spitting the contents into a communal tub which would then be stored and left to ferment (the enzymes in their saliva aided the fermentation process.)" (Afshar)

But fortunately, a much more hygienic method was found:

"Perhaps for the best, this method was soon abandoned after the discovery of koji, a mold enzyme that could be added to rice to begin fermentation. This brewing technique is believed to have spread throughout Japan in the Nara period (710 to 794), resulting in sake as we know it today." (Afshar)

Sake didn't see much mass production in Japan until the 10th century, when temples and shrines began brewing the beverage and selling it, often as a ceremonial drink. (Afshar) Today, however, there are over 2,000 breweries in Japan making the sweet rice wine!

Pug Cafe!

Not for eating! In Japan, different themed "cafes", where you can hang out with critters such as owls, macaws, and, in Kyoto, pugs!

At this cafe in Kyoto, you have eleven, count 'em, eleven pugs to hang out with! For a few yen, you can get a handful of treats and play, cuddle with, and wrestle with the pups! The deals are pretty nice:

"Guests can choose one of two drink courses when they come to Living Room. For 500 yen (US$4.80), you get one drink and an hour of play time. For 1000 yen ($9.60), you get unlimited time and unlimited drinks!" (Miller)

Reservations are filling up fast, so if you plan to visit, be sure to call ahead! These cafes are not only popular tourist spots, but also excellent for people who have anxiety or just want a lot of puppy cuddles!

Want A Brewski? Try Asahi! - Beer in Japan

Hendrik Doeff: The Beer Father

When one thinks of alcohol in Japan, beer isn't necessarily the first beverage that comes to mind. Usually, sake is associated with Japan, and with good reason- the sweet rice wine is uniquely associated with Japan and is a very popular Japanese beverage, both at home and abroad. However, beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage in Japan. (Grimm) Beer was first introduced in Japan as a "specialty import" by Dutch merchants in the 17th century, with the first actual brewery starting up in the 19th century. (Grimm) Necessity begets genius, and when the Napoleonic wars saw a beer shortage in Europe, a Dutch brewer and tradesman, Hendrik Doeff, decided to take matters into his own hands and open his own brewery in Dejima. (Grimm) Commercial beer production began when Norwegian-American William Copeland opened the Spring Valley Brewery in Yokohama in 1870. (Grimm)

The first native run brewery was began when hops were discovered in the island of Hokkaido- Seibei Nakagawa was sent to Germany to learn German brewing, and when he returned, he began the Pioneers Brewing Company, which would brew a very famous flagship beer: Sapporo Cold Brew! (Grimm) Other famous brands would be Kirin and Asahi. (Grimm)

Link: http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/08/a-brief-history-of-japanese-beer-sapporo-ichiban-craft-beer-in-japan.html

Tasty Taiyaki: There's Something Fishy About This Dessert

One of the most popular traditional desserts in Japan is a really cute little fish cake known as a taiyaki! Don't be fooled by its fishy exterior: taiyaki is only shaped to look like a fish, but it's filled with a yummy red bean curry paste. (Asahi) The name "taiyaki" literally translates to "baked sea bream", despite there being no fish in the treat. (Asahi) Taiyaki stands are a common sight in winter, as many people like to warm up with a hot, sweet treat! (Asahi)

Taiyaki was first baked a little over a century ago, and the recipe remains generally unchanged (but still extremely popular) today. (Asahi) While it was first sold in the Edo period, its first big rise in popularity came in 1976, when the kids' song Swim Tayaki-Kun became a hit, ultimately rising to become the top song in Japan, selling over 4.5 million records. (Asahi)

The pastry itself is very similar in taste, texture, and cooking procedure to a pancake, while the paste is merely red beans and sugar mashed up into a paste. (Asahi)

Links:

Taiyaki

Swim, Tayaki-Kun

Taiyaki filled with ice cream- there is actually a God, and He is benevolent

Chocoholics in Japan

So, everyone is universally pretty crazy about chocolate, but for the most part, chocolate and sweets aren't something we typically consider "Asian". Yet, with the influx of Western culture and desserts, chocolate has risen in popularity in Asia, especially in Japan.

Bear in mind, Japan was isolated for a period of time, and there were very few ports that could actually receive European goods. One of the few European peoples allowed into Japan for trade were the Dutch, and they did bring the drinking version of chocolate with them, but it was largely restricted to the upper classes in Japan. (Tofugu) The first solid chocolate bar was introduced to Japan during the Meiji era, and interestingly:

"... was marketed as チョコレート , but with the kanji 貯古齢糖. Interestingly, those kanji individually mean "save", "old", "age", and 'sugar'." (To

Ice Cream Flavored Chocolate!

fugu)

During the American occupation of the second World War, chocolate was brought along as a treat for civilian children. (Tofugu) In fact, one of the first English phrases that Japanese children learned was often, "Give me chocolate!" (Tofugu)








Japanese chocolates are unique from chocolates around the world in that they are usually individually wrapped to maintain their unique flavors, including but not limited to a special hazelnut flavor (Tofugu), and some of them are not even necessarily chocolate: for example, a Kit-Kat flavor that is popular in Japan is green tea!





Link: https://www.tofugu.com/japan/japanese-chocolate/

Video: To give you an idea of how crafty Japanese chocolatiers are, watch this video, which is a game show that has contestants take a bite! Is it chocolate... or not? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEcC7LGXDQc

Everything's Better On A Stick! Kushikatsu!

Fried food is good. Sticks are good. What happens when you put them together?

Well, if you visit the Japanese city of Osaka, you'll find that kushikatsu is what happens! This popular dish is best described as a "fried kebab" (Turtle), and in Osaka, it is an extremely common food to find, with kushikatsu places all over, including restaurants where you can fry your own kushikatsu. Kushikatsu can be anything from pork to chicken, and from seafood to vegetables (even pumpkin!), and then it is dipped in egg, flour, and breadcrumbs before being fried in veggie oil (Turtle) and served on a skewer.

The snack is a fixture at bars due to its greasy nature and quickness (Turtle), but there are also many cafes and ritzy restaurants that serve it too.



If you would be interested in seeing kushikatsu made in real time (and don't mind intermittent language- like PG-13 language), then you should check out Solo Travel Blog's video on kushikatsu in Osaka!

http://www.timetravelturtle.com/2013/04/kushikatsu-japanese-food/


Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aQ1YaPmUjM