Tokyo Midtown

[softgrey]

these are some other snack-y things i got...
maybe someone can tell me what they are exactly?...

i know that one is sweet potato/yam cookie- but it's almost like a cross btw a cookie and a cake...

and then there is the strawberry thing that turned out to be crunchy...
i guess maybe it has some rice in it?

 

[softgrey]

oh-
and i picked up these little flavoured salt things at the airport...
can anyone tell me what the flavours are kudasai?...
i can make out some of them from the pics, but i need help ...


tia...

 

[vetements]

Soft
The first snack is a chocolate with biscuit
Second is chocolate with cereal, almonds and such...
The salt has all sorts of flavors from first row left to right
Andes red, yakiniku, tempura, white rice, sansho.
Second row left to right
Peruvian inca sky, Himalayas black rock, bamboo, wasabi and matcha/ green tea.

Glad you like these sweets... Problem with them is that you can never be too sure of they will still continue to be in production because I think Japanese customers are fickle, they always like new flavors so even if you hope something would stay mostly they won't... With a few exceptions, and those are considered the 'successful' products that can stay the test of time...

 

[runner]

as for yakiniku, tempura, rice, just to make it clear, it's not that they have those flavours
but that they are meant/seasoned to go well especially with those.


I think you are not going to eat sashimi.
but I guess you guys would find stuff like caviar quite normal.
so if you are a fan of ika, it may be good to try shiokara next time, fresh one at a restaurant/bar, not the one at a grocery in a glass jar where the meat is almost dead and stale.
also if you come across yellowish stringy thing called kiri-ika in the department store basement hall, it's also worth trying. it's sort of sweet and yum.

strictly speaking, it's tsukudani kiri-ika
pic from rakuten

 

[runner]

just found some images, for reference

omotesando from 1977
image of new york shot in the same year
utsukushigahara located in the middle of nagano


pub.ne.jp

 

[softgrey]

chocolate with biscuit?
...
that is weird!...but so is the texture of these things...sort of creamy and crumbly at the same time, so i guess that makes sense...
crazy---cool~!

thanks for the translation vetements...
and also for the clarification runner...

i confess- i still don't know what the heck this means-
"Peruvian inca sky"......

I guess i will have to just open them up and start tasting them...
one restaurant i was in gave us teeny tiny little cucumbers with three small dishes of salt to dip in, so that is what i had in my mind when i bought these...
i thought i would just try them like that, to get some idea of the different tastes...

this is the way it was in the restaurant-
and also- this is something else we had...
i guess it was egg yolk?!
i don't know if it was cooked or raw or what...but it was yummy!
the color of it reminded me of the pic runner posted of tsukudani kiri-ika...
that also looks quite good and i will keep in my mind for next time...

runner- i would eat sashimi at a very good japanese place or in japan itself, where i know it will be very fresh...
my issue with sushi and sashimi is freshness, more than anything...
but usually i think that it doesn't taste like anything- just whatever sauces you use...
maybe sashimi is more about texture and i don't appreciate it properly...
caviar is well known, but i don't think anyone actually thinks it's normal to eat fish eggs...
not the way the japanese so regularly do...
i confess, i have trouble with the large salmon roe...
i only like the little tiny ones...especially ones flavoured with wasabi~!

i found this place in nyc that seems really authentic and serves ika shiokara- but i have to confess, from reading it, it does not sound yum......
http://www.sakagura.com/

 

[softgrey]

something i had not considered was menus...
sure- some places had pics to choose from and some had the english translation, but all the specials were only in japanese and some of the better places were also only japanese...

here is the specials menu from the above restaurant, for example...
i had to sit there rather helplessly while someone else ordered for me...
so i am not totally sure what i had at this place......

this is some fried tendon/cartilage?
the nice japanese lady we were with said that the japanese really like it and think that it's good for your skin or something, so i wanted to try it...
ehh...it was ok...we didn't finish the dish though and she ate most of them
...

also- had some corn tempura which was a new thing for me and very very yum!- i was so excited about the little mushrooms on the paper below this dish that when i left they presented me with several sheets of the paper to take home...
...wasn't that sweet?!... i know they were probably laughing at me a little, but in a nice way...

i had seen this kind of paper at Loft, but had no idea what it might be used for so i didn't get any, but now i know~

 

[softgrey]

Soft
The first snack is a chocolate with biscuit
Second is chocolate with cereal, almonds and such...
The salt has all sorts of flavors from first row left to right
Andes red, yakiniku, tempura, white rice, sansho.
Second row left to right
Peruvian inca sky, Himalayas black rock, bamboo, wasabi and matcha/ green tea.

Glad you like these sweets... Problem with them is that you can never be too sure of they will still continue to be in production because I think Japanese customers are fickle, they always like new flavors so even if you hope something would stay mostly they won't... With a few exceptions, and those are considered the 'successful' products that can stay the test of time...

this is the story of my life, unfortunately...
i seem to have different tastes to the majority, so even when i find something great, it's usually gone before long...
this happens with everything- food, make up, fashion, etc...
...

i guess the best thing to do is to embrace this change and hope for some new great things~!
thought- frankly, it's more than a little frustrating...

 

[runner]

i confess- i still don't know what the heck this means-
"Peruvian inca sky"......

it seems that it is from the historical salterns that exist at sky-high level.



kira-stone
amazon

 

[runner]

yes it looks like egg yolk and probably what we call kimi-no-miso-zuke (pics below). it's zuke rather than raw.
I think you can make it yourself. it may be good if there is some thread about wa-shoku in general, though I will have to leave most of it to melisande and vetements since I'm too ignorant of those english words necessary for talking about that kind of stuff.

so, alright, I see you don't like ikura. but really hope you liked the tarako rice ball.
I referred to caviar in terms of something salt-cured. because shiokara is a kind of salt-cured marine product cuisine (shio = salt). anyway, while I haven't read its description on the site, I can imagine how it sounds like what belongs to what some called terribilita.
but it's very good when it's done rightly.

lol for the fried cartilage. that's one of the things I don't feel like eating no matter how good it is for your skin, health, whatever.
have you tried tsukune around the bar district in yurakucho ? tsukune usually contains minutely fragmented cartilage. that's the only way I eat cartilage pleasantly.


luckyclover7

 

[runner]

topic sort of more appropriate here for the first time in five pages
what it looks like in winter at tokyo midtown


fashionpress

 

[softgrey]

Hi runner~!

thanks very much for the name and explanation of the kimi-no-miso-zuke...
i was able to find a recipe on a blog and it does seem easy enough to make at home...
i'm excited to give it a try!

the tarako rice ball i had in the seibu food hall was fine...
it was quite a mild flavour, from what i remember...
i expected it to be stronger...but i liked it, yes...

we talked about going to yurakucho, but somehow it never happened...
it always got too late after dinner and getting up so early with kids is not helpful when one is staying up late...
one or two cups of sake and we were getting super tired!
i also had some work phone calls to deal with and the time difference was killing me...
...

the one big night out was karaoke --- all night!
and that was at the end so i could recover on the way home...


i admit- i would probably eat anything if you put it on a stick, so the tsukune is definitely appealing to me...
*aside- i have this idea that someday i will have a party and serve only foods on sticks...

 

[Melisande]

topic sort of more appropriate here for the first time in five pages
fashionpress

Too hilarious how a thread on Midtown covers everything but...from Incan salt mines to pickled eggs!

Mm, that is a great idea about making pickled egg yolks...I think it tastes like bottarga, which we have in Japan as well. I'm crazy for ikura, tarako, shiokara, etc...When I was in Japan I'd make my own ikura every fall...and last month I went snorkeling for fresh uni in Indonesia...bring on the sake!

 

[softgrey]

by all rights-
i suppose this thread should probably be merged with the tokyo shopping thread...

tokyo midtown is just part of that anyway...
and not necessarily the best part...
it probably doesn't need it's own thread at this point...

the salterns are AMAZING- aren't they???!!!
i LOVE them!
thanks for those images runner...


snorkeling for uni ?!- sugoi!
they are sooooo beautiful...one of my fave things...
first time i saw one was in the pacific ocean off the coast of california when i was a kid...
i guess they don't like the atlantic ocean so much...


they seem very exotic and rare to me because of this...
i eat them at japanese restaurants because i really want to enjoy this unique flavour- but i don't love the taste so much...
it's nice, but i think i prefer to enjoy their beauty in their natural state...
i feel the same way about oysters...
...

i'm not so familiar with bottarga, even though it is italian...
it wasn't readily available in the US for a long time and probably still isn't easily found...
i will have to remember to look for some the next time i am in one of those gourmet shops...

but i love anything salty or pickled and i love veggies and seafood...
so- of course, i love asian food!

one thing i wish i was able to find was a shop for just pickles...
i got several different kinds at the store, but i was hoping to find some more unusual varieties...

*don't you think we can still talk about food in this thread? it's still shopping...
i was absolutely shopping for food every day i was there!
and for all sorts of other things as well...

i mean- i was practically overwhelmed by all the choices of everything one could possibly imagine...
i bought 3-4 pairs of tweezers...
some for my eyebrows and some for the kitchen and some for fixing jewelery...

i also got several pairs of kitchen tongs for cooking...
wide short ones and long thin ones...

etc...
lots of shopping!

i even shopped at the museum...
thanks to runner's suggestion, i got these adorable little dishes...

 

[softgrey]

crap- i can't get the pic to show...
...

 

[softgrey]

Oh Softie, it's really true about patience. And respect. If we lose our patience and respect and noble humility we are no longer Japanese. Puccini knew it so well; the whole of Madame Butterfly is based on this; there is the humming chorus which just describes so beautifully the Japanese attitude of patience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f1k14GQmNE

True about the changing rooms; I always wear slip-on shoes when going shopping. Or visiting people. And the insoles have to be fresh, lol!

I totally agree about the level of service...I really miss that in Paris too (some may say no surprise?? ) and it almost hurts when people say "You're welcome" like that. You know, it means a lot to me/us that you appreciated this, because it is so important to us yet often misunderstood. In Japan taking good care of guests and customers is considered a reflection of noble character, and the receiver of the service is also expected to show honor, gratitude and respect. Showing off is also considered vulgar, so we don't. Sometimes, unfortunate people misinterpret the good service and humility as proof of their own superiority and entitlement, which is just embarrassing.

Wait a second, I'm really glad you got to know Tokyo so deeply and so well, but it just struck me, did you not go to Kyoto...??

Cairo was a whole different can o' worms... The history is just. mind-boggling. The people are warm and cheery and friendly.

i'm going to see Madame Butterfly this evening, thanks to your inspiration...


arigato gozaimasu...

 

[runner]

every time I hear the word uni, I remember the name unimog somehow.
both sound cute.

i admit- i would probably eat anything if you put it on a stick, so the tsukune is definitely appealing to me...
*aside- i have this idea that someday i will have a party and serve only foods on sticks...

tsukune is a kind of yakitori which is grilled.
there is another kind called kushiage. it is deep-fried.
you could have a kushiage party as well as yakitori one.

kushiage and yakitori
wiki
ebisawakeiko

 

[runner]

what it's like at this kushiage place, just for reference


hantei

 

[runner]

these adorable little dishes...

so you got these ?

nezu-muse

 

[Melisande]

i'm going to see Madame Butterfly this evening, thanks to your inspiration...


arigato gozaimasu...

You're going to the Met!! That is beyond awesome!
I hope it's a great production. The music is the best ever......
Let me know everything how it was!