WIT Life #249: 小東京
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
Marugame Monzo’s insanely rich uni cream sauce udon!
My interpreting travels find me in Los Angeles, where of course I made a stop at 小東京 (shou Toukyou, or little Tokyo). I enjoyed the legendary umami-packed uni cream sauce udon at Marugame Monzo, which opened this past spring. It is located right by the ever popular ramen joint Daikokuya and specializes in sanuki udon from Shikoku, handmade at the restaurant. The menu features traditional items as well, but its appeal lies in more unconventional offerings such as vongole udon and quattro cheese udon.
I am a huge uni fan but not so much of cream sauce, so wasn’t sure how I would take to the dish as it seemed excessively creamy. But you only live once so I decided to give it a try. Surprisingly, it was just the right amount of creamy! Certainly not something you would want to eat every day or even every week, but there was a nice balance between the uni and the cream and it was not as heavy as you might think. I somehow managed to finish the whole thing, a feat I didn’t think was possible upon first glance. Bottom line: if you are an uni lover and can deal with something relatively creamy, I think you will enjoy it.
My hotel is actually in Santa Monica this time, and I was excited to find about the existence of a second, lesser-known Japan town near where I’m staying. It can be found at the section of Sawtelle Boulevard between Santa Monica and Olympic Blvds, and features numerous Japanese establishments such as Beard Papa cream puffs. Apparently this area is also known as “Little Osaka,” much to the delight of my two current clients who are both from this city. Our local host told us that when Japanese-Americans were incarcerated during the war, some left their businesses in the hands of members of the Mexican community with whom they had good relations. This legacy lasts until this day, as many of the nurseries that the Japanese operated at that time are still in business here. Unfortunately I only had time to quickly pass through Little Osaka, but I look forward to exploring this area when I’m back in town later this month!
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Homepage: www.stacysmith.webs.com
Blog: http://jetwit.com/wordpress/category/wit-life/
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