Locally Grown - Availability for May 24th , 2015

Hey Local Food Lovers,

This week’s message is being beamed across the world from Kyoto, Japan. I know you may be confused why the Local Food blogpost is gonna be about Asian food on the far side of the Earth for the next several weeks….but I hope you don’t mind to roll with it….as it’s fun for me to share how people eat in far away places. And its fun to share a little bit of the joyous experience of eating while traveling in Asia. After all, I can’t eat North Georgia’s Locally Grown while I’m away!

Let’s see, where to begin. In the last several days we’ve walked all over the city indulging in every kind of treat you can imagine. Day one we went to a very well known ramen noodle house. Everything about this experience was interesting. For starters, you pick out what you want at a little machine at the entrance to the place and order a ticket, and put your money in the machine (It’s like a vending machine with photos of the items you want). You pick out what noodles, how mucj, which types of broth, how spicy, how many onions, etc. Then you go into a little private booth with a curtain and wood benches. A huge pipe crosses the room and from that is a spigot to pour yourselves clear cold water to drink. A small wooden window at the end of the bench opens and a ramen noodle cook appears to take your tickets. Behind the little wooden door you can hear half a dozen noodle cooks shouting at each other in these kind of ritualized call and response tones. About a minute passes and 4 bowls of fresh ramen come out. For those who are super knowledgable about ramen this was the miso broth version, with a couple of thinly cut slices of pork on top. Miso comes from fermented bean paste, and is a very popular form of noodle soup, but there are other variations. Tonight for instant we had burnt miso which was a totally different flavor, and I had Shoyu which is a soy sauce base to the soup…(this shoyu was burnt as well so it had a rich smoky flavor that lingered for a half hour after the meal which was very interesting).

Another highlight was my introduction to little fried octopus balls or takoyaki (which is the name of the ball shaped pans that they are cooked in). This is a very popular snack. Asians have this great characteristic that I have learned to follow. When you see a long line of people waiting for something, that’s how you know that it is very good. Everywhere I have seen a takoyaki store there has been a long line so I’ve learned to get in line. The balls are made from a mixture of wheat batter, diced octopus, tempura and ginger. A sweet sauce is often poured on top. Like many street foods in Asia, part of the joy is watching the food be made right in front of you. The cook uses two little needle like pokers to turn the balls to cook them evenly on all sides. Their hand motions are fast and focused and elegant. And the result is quite delicious.

Other traditional Japanese foods we’ve enjoyed, Unagi, which is a seasonal river eel. The place located across from our hotel had the smell and smoke of the grilled eel (called Kabayaki) pumping into the street for many days before I finally went to try it. A very unique but delicious flavor. These eels spawn in the ocean and then spend most of their lives as freshwater eels living in rivers. In the wild these species are considered endangered but because of their importance as a major food source throughout Asia they are now raised in aquaculture.

Tonkatsu is a breaded and fried pork chop, usually a loin cutlet (and often of Berkshire pork….which I think ours was….I can’t read everything on the menu). This is traditionally served with a mountain of shredded cabbage and a handmade dressing and a side of miso soup. Another nice feature of this dish is making your own dipping sauce for the pork. It starts with a bowl of freshly roasted sesame seeds which you grind with a mortar and pestle then add a brown sauce and spicy sauce to taste. Really tasty.

Another unexpected treat was Japanese style French Toast. I don’t know the backstory on this but around Kyoto we’ve seen several places that have a delicious delicate bread that is deep fried then coated with sugar. It’s eaten without syrup which is unnecessary with the sugar. I’m a huge French Toast fan, and this just adds to my love. Not sure how easy it is to reproduce (I don’t deep fry for starters) but would be interested in trying a version of this. It also seems to me that the Japanese really like some elements of French Culture. There’s a super croissant shop also nearby, but with their own flare added of course. Such as baking, lotus root into the top of a sliced croissant with a little cream beneath. Yum!

There’s so much more such as sashimi sushi, green tea ice cream, all kinds of mochi (sticky rice treats in different flavors), yatsuhashi, warabimochi (similar to mochi but a jelly like starch rather than rice), tempura fried veggies, kobi beef, all types of interesting egg dishes, tofus, various seaweeds, etc.

Well, that’s about all I have time for this week. More to come.

Hope everyone is enjoying the bounty of locally grown food back home.

EAT WELL,

Justin, Chuck, Teri and Andrew