Feb 1

WIT Life #73: Culinary treasures of (little and big) Tokyo

Anecdote Article, Article/Journalism, Japan Trends, Translating/Interpreting, WIT Life Add Comment (1)

WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.

Nice to be back in chilly New York, but a bit of an adjustment after the final stop on my business trip last week being balmy LA.  I always love going to this southern California destination for the chance to visit Little Tokyo!  Besides great cultural institutions such as the Japanese American National Museum and the Geffen MOCA, it has delicious mochi flavors that I am yet to find here in the city.  My first two stops when in town are always the sweet shops carrying these creations, Mikawaya in the Japanese village and Fugetsu-do on the main drag.

The more expansive Mikawaya carries a greater selection of mochi, including some crazy fruit flavors such as blueberry, pineapple and strawberry!  They offer samples by the register should you want to try these offbeat tastes before making an actual purchase.  The flavor that I personally dream about is peanut butter mochi.  Although nothing tops a Reeses on my list of things to eat, peanut butter + mochi comes close.  I first encountered this heavenly creation in Hawaii, and was happy to find it on the west coast as well.  The version that Mikawaya sells is substantially sized and contains peanut butter that is pretty granular.  In the picture above the peanut butter mochi are the top middle and bottom right (couldn’t get just one), and the other types I selected going from top left clockwise were  taro, red bean and chestnut, sakura mochi and uguisu.  They made a great snack for the long plane ride home!

Fugetsu-do always merits a visit for their take on peanut butter mochi, which is pre-packaged with 6 pieces (the picture is less two as I gave my guests each one to try).  They are flatter and have less peanut butter filling than Mikawaya’s, giving them somewhat of a processed feel.  Also I don’t know why they have pink coloring, as the taste is that of regular mochi.  But there really is no such thing as a bad peanut butter treat, and I enjoyed them as a contrast to Mikawaya’s version.

Although they were going home the next day my guests were craving ramen, so we had lunch at Daikokuya just down the way from Fugetsu-do.  It is rumored to be the best place for ramen in the area, and its popularity was evident by the crowd in front.  By the time we got there at 12:30 a line had formed outside the shop, but the wait was not horrible as we settled for a counter seat.  They both went for the house specialty, Daikoku tonkotsu ramen, whereas I got una-don as ramen is not my favorite meal.  We all left feeling satisfied after getting a much needed washoku (or in their case chuuka?) fix.

The travel section of this weekend’s Times explores Tokyo’s ramen shops, providing an analysis of their popularity and comparing the offerings of several restaurants.  I like how author Matt Gross attempts to explain the ubiquity of this national comfort food with this description: “Combine New Yorkers’ love of pizza, hot dogs and hamburgers, throw in some Southern barbecue mania, and you’ve still only begun to approximate Tokyo’s obsession with ramen.”  He profiles several ramen aficionados, both Japanese natives and not, and takes readers on a tour of Tokyo that will leave your mouth watering.

An article in last week’s NYT focuses on another Japanese comfort food, beef bowl, and the success it has found in this faltering economy.  It talks about how this industry is representative of the country’s deflationary tendencies, as the three top chains (Sukiya, Yoshinoya and Matsuya) are currently involved in a heated price slashing competition.  The danger of this practice is highlighted by the head of an influential business lobby who states,“Some Japanese companies are waging such reckless price wars, they’re wringing their own necks.  Companies need to be more creative. They should come up with products that add value.”  This may be so, but this fast-food with bargain basement prices and plentiful portions is bringing in the customers, something significant in these recessionary times.  When I asked what was the first food my guests were looking forward to having upon their return home, without hesitation the male participant’s answer was “Yoshinoya!”