Local Japan Guide

  It’s customary to have hot pot dishes in Japan during cold winter seasons. Firstly, pre-heat a hot pot by a tabletop stove and add some kinds of vegetables, seafood, meats, and some ingredients at random. And have cooked ones when the ingredients are dancing. I like really MOTSU-NABE. The word "motsu" means offal, the internal organs or intestines of beef or pork. It is very chewy and the more you chew it, the more flavorful it becomes. Motsu-nabe(hot pot dish) consists of beef or pork offal with vegetables and tofu.  After enjoying eating all the ingredients of the hot pot, we add cooked rice or udon to the leftover soup.  Aside from motsunabe, typical nabe-ryori include sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, yosenabe, oden, mizutaki, chankonabe. There's no doubt Nabe dishes are getting better if you eat them with friends or family.   Manners for eating hot pot dishes - Use the meal serving chopsticks and a ladle.  - Dish out only the amount of food that you can eat.  -...

Oden おでん is a traditional Japanese dish made by simmering various ingredients. It is a popular family dish. Many people enjoy eating it especially during winter. Oden soup stock is generally made from bonito flakes and seaweed.  It is said to sell well at convenience stores in autumn. However, there are also convenience stores where oden is sold all year round, for Japanese who love oden.Oden is a staple food in Japanese pubs. You can also buy ingredients at a supermarket and cook it at home. It is also an attraction of oden that it goes well with sake. ★ Staple ingredients for oden is below.   大根(Daikon)  Japanese radish –   ちくわ(Chikuwa) Tube-shaped fish cake・A mixture of minced fish meat, salt, sugar, egg white and cornstarch   こんにゃく(Konnyaku) Konjak / Konnyaku・Known also as “Devil’s Tongue”.・Interesting texture.   ゆでたまご(Yude tamago) Boiled eggs –     はんぺん(Hanpen) Boiled flat fish cake  ・A mixture of minced fish meat, sticky grated yamaimo...

  - Manners for Eating Sushi Long time ago, it was the manner to eat sushi with hand but now it is ok to use chopsticks. It is considered that a traditional way is to take fresh Nigiri-zushi by hand and eat it in one bite, and it is believed that this is the best way to enjoy sushi.  I make sure to eat sushi with hand at pricey restaurants because I want to feel traditional vibes. If you felt a little greasy or fishy , you should eat "Gari" (pickled ginger)   - The ideal order to eat sushi. Start eating with light taste and move on to rich and fatty taste. But I think you should order what you want whenever you feel like it. That is the good thing about eating at a sushi restaurant.   - How to dip it in soy sauce When you eat Nigiri-zushi, make sure to dip only sashimi in soy sauce. If it absorbs soy sauce too much, makes it more salty and moreover harder to eat it because the rice will break apart. Keeping the topping side down and deliver it to your mouth, you'll e...