… mushrooms and octopus.

I was really excited to try ‘real’ Japanese food on my trip, and I had heard great things about it from friends of mine who had been to Japan before.

It wasn’t all foreign to me since there’s quite a bit of Japanese food and influence in what Koreans eat, but it was so much better.  The ramen shops were absolutely delicious, the dumplings were fabulous, most everything I ate was amazing.

One thing Koreans have adopted is the Tonkatsu, or fried pork cutlet and I had the best one I’ve ever eaten while in Japan.  It also came with these fried potato cakes which were heavenly, super dangerous, and thankfully live far away from me.

The sauce, which I have only had before as ready-made or pre-packaged, had a mortar and pestle type element where you grind the sesame seeds up into the grooves of the bowl and add your own blend of spicy and savory sauces for dipping.

Now it’s one thing for me to find something fried, or with noodles delicious, but it’s a whole other animal for Japan to make two of my least favorite foods rave worthy.

I really don’t like mushrooms and octopus.  They are near the top of my least favorite foods.  It’s not their tastes that I dislike, but their textures.  I don’t like really squeaky or chewy things (I tried cow’s stomach a few weeks ago in Korea at the coaxing of some friends, and it was all kinds of chewy and therefore all kinds of unappetizing to me).

Anyway back to the mushrooms.  I had them on more than one occasion on my trip, usually in soups and they were amazing, they were soft and supple and super tender. Not a single one squeaked between my teeth.  Seriously, if someone could teach the rest of the world, or maybe even just me how to make mushrooms that good, I would be a convert.  I’d be Ms. Mushroom 2013.  My friend Annie had raved about the mushrooms, but she likes mushrooms to begin with, but after Japan- I totally understand what she’s talking about.

Things were going so well between me and the mushrooms, I decided to dive in head first and tango with some of the takoyaki, or octopus balls.

While waiting to order I asked the lady and her daughter who were waiting in front of me what kind I should get and we ended up having one of those lovely conversations you get while traveling.  The woman had spent a few years in Madison, Wisconsin while her husband was studying at UW and she loved it.  When I told her I had been to Madison and didn’t live too far away from there it was like instant old friends.  Her and her daughter told me to go with the classic preparation topped with takoyaki sauce, mayo, and bonito flakes and their advice was great.

Since it’s street food I just sat down on a curb and chowed down.  I was more than a little hesitant, but the octopus was as tender as chicken.  Seriously, how do they do it? I eat around the octopus and squid in Korea and here I was one night in Kyoto munching on these guys.  And it’s not like I went to a super famous takoyaki place, just a stall in a big shopping street.

Seriously I’m at the point where even if a restaurant was serving steaks made of rubber, and I were back in Japan, I would try it- I’m that impressed.

From Busan with Foodie Love,
Jenna

Filed under: culture, food, Japan