The Abe Forum

J: Japan

In 2018 I visited Japan for the first time - it was such an amazing experience for someone who has never been to Asia! So I feel I can do "J" for our game

Remembering some of the foods I appreciated in Japan...

SAVOURIES

Okonomiyaki

I actually tasted this Japanese dish in London rather than Japan, but it is one of my favourites!
It is a delicious egg and cabbage pancake with all sorts of sauce and toppings beautifully arranged on top. The crowing touch is thin bonito flakes of fish that dance in the heat. It is quite a spectacle seeing those fish flakes ripple and sway! The this dish is full of flavour and is absolutely delicious!
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Gyoza

I adore dumplings in all shapes and sizes! And gyoza are Japan's version: Noodle-like exterior filled with delicious things, from meats to vegetables, in an array of flavours. You can have them with crispy pan-fried exterior, providing a gentle yet satisfying crackle in your mouth, or soft-boiled. Both are wonderful!

I love their slipperiness! I love how they feel like comfort food, infused with so much savoury soupy flavour, succulent - they slip right down your throat with such effortless ease and satisfying, wholesome, nourishing warmth - so good!

One of the special things about Japan is that in a lot of restaurants, the layout is such at you eat at a bar rather than at tables. Often a straight wooden thin table, lined with bar stools, facing towards the open kitchen, and you can see the chefs preparing everything in the open kitchen before you. A type of theatre!

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Ramen
Ramen is very famous Japanese food. For me, whilst the dish itself is not particularly memorable (I remember it being simply a big tasty bowl of noodle soup, with unusually delicious eggs with yolks more vibrantly coloured than eggs I'd seen before ),

the most special thing about tasting it was the restaurant setup where we ate it. It's a restaurant in Tokyo called "Ichiran", and it is set up so you eat in cubicles facing a curtain.

When the food is read, arms pop out from the curtain and your dish is served by a faceless anonymous server!

An interesting experience!

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Senbei
In Asakusa in Tokyo, there are the most beautiful Senbei shops: Senbei are Japanese rice crackers: crispy, crunchy snack foods that are savoury-sweet and very satisfying to crunch and munch! In Asakusa you can watch them being hand-made before you, and taste them fresh!


They have them in millions of different shapes and sizes and flavours. There were some that were bigger than a dinner plate! I loved seeing the colours, the variety! The creativity - some were shaped like cats or like little dolls! If you try them anywhere in Tokyo, try them in Asakusa where they have the biggest varieties and most freshness out of everywhere we saw.


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SWEETS

Japanese Wheel Cake

Walking around one of the neighbourhoods of Tokyo, the air was filled with a delicious sweet pancake-like aroma. Following our noses, we found a little bakery selling Japanese wheel cakes: Thick round pancakes, filled with a choice of fillings (red bean, vanilla custard, chocolate and others). Unable to resist the enticing smell, we got a chocolate-filled one, freshly made, still steaming. A bite into the soft cloud-like pancake exterior revealing a hot steaming molten chocolate centre. Sweet, hot and delicious!

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Japanese Souffle Pancakes
Fluffy, super-thick, soft soft cloud-like pancakes! Not very traditionally Japanese, but so tasty! We had them served with butter-infused-with maple syrup, so it infused flavour as it melted on the fresh hot clouds! Visually appealing and very comforting!



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Ghana chocolate with macadamia nuts by Lotte:

I tasted these chocolates in Japan and remember them being particularly delicious! I know I admired them a lot because I kept the box in order to buy them again one day They seem to be made to be perfect for eating in warm weather, when their texture is just the right melting point to melt in your mouth with ease. The ones we tasted had a picture of macadamia nuts on the cover - I think they have lots of different flavours. I'd love to taste more from their range if the ones we tasted were so tasty!

Some I haven't tasted but that look amazing too!


UPDATE: A relative visited Asia and brought us back some other Ghana chocolates and cookies - and they were actually quite terrible So I take back my recommendation for trying lots of their flavours! It seems we were lucky / aligned to have tasted one of their only flavours which was delicious!

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Royce Nama Chocolates



Another very special chocolate we tasted in Japan was Royce chocolates - which are kept in fridges because they are not ordinary chocolates! They are very soft and veeery smooth. Biting into the cold square, your teeth sink into it's silky texture with ease, as your mouth fills with the sweet coolness of the chocolate. Very tasty!

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Cremia Ice Cream

Japan doesn't really do vanilla ice cream, but it does "Milk flavour" ice cream, and Cremia soft serve ice creams, which are available in lots of places all around Japan, are a good example of this. Cremia are super soft and delicate, with a comforting cool texture, particularly lovely on a warm day of sightseeing. The cone is also particularly special and tasty!

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Cheesecake tarts

When I think Japan, I don't really think of cheesecakes, and yet in Japan was where I tasted one of the best cheesecakes! In Tokyo we went to "Bake Cheese Tart Shinjuku " to taste their cheesecake tarts. I wrote a review at the time which I appreciate because it captured my enthusiasm of the experience when it was fresh in my mind : )
"I cannot begin to describe how tasty these cheesecake tarts are! One of the best desserts I've tasted! A crispy pastry shell, filled with a cloud-like, whipped, soft, warm, molten cheesecake filling.. sooo goood! It has just the right amount of sweetness, is not heavy and, well! it's just super tasty! We bought one original flavour one (they also had strawberry available), and it was so good we went back for seconds! If you like them warm, just ask for a freshly made hot one - they have a bunch that are just-out-the-oven-fresh. Highly recommended!"

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Other things I want to someday taste if I get to go to Japan again:
- Kakigori: shaved ice dessert
- Kit kats in different exotic flavours which Japan is famous for
- Milk bread - said to be particularly tasty bread
- Omurice: Fried rice wrapped in a thin omelette topped with ketchup: It's a simple dish made at home by many, but it sounds like an interesting combination of ingredients I haven't tried together before!

spiritualcookie wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2024 11:09 am J: Japan

In 2018 I visited Japan for the first time - it was such an amazing experience for someone who has never been to Asia! So I feel I can do "J" for our game

ohhhh I ENJOYED this!! Thank you so much!!
I never was in Japan (or anywhere in Asia, really). That was SO interesting!

My uncle went for the family-enterprise to China and Japan already in the late 70'ies -where almost nobody there spoke english, and especially in China, there was NO tourism yet. And so he really learned about the culture (I would have croaked in his place!!!) He reported, that these countries find milk and all dairy-products (as cheese and joghurt and so on) disgusting, they see it as rotten milk. So, by your experiences, this is not the case anymore at least in Japan, I guess?

Paradise-on-Earth wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2024 11:25 am My uncle went for the family-enterprise to China and Japan already in the late 70'ies -where almost nobody there spoke english, and especially in China, there was NO tourism yet. And so he really learned about the culture (I would have croaked in his place!!!) He reported, that these countries find milk and all dairy-products (as cheese and joghurt and so on) disgusting, they see it as rotten milk. So, by your experiences, this is not the case anymore at least in Japan, I guess?

(I just edited a little to add a few additional dishes I remembered )

I think it's not traditional, but modern-day, people are making it their own and incorporating it into their cuisine more.

I've not seen any dairy dishes in Chinese restaurants, though in London's Chinatown they do have a lot of bakeries with cakes decorated with whipped cream,


Asian style pastries filled with ice cream


and there are a lot of milk-tea / bubble tea places that are dairy based.


In Japanese restaurants, I have often seen ice cream served for dessert. In Japan there were quite a lot of dairy products. They all were quite Western, non-traditional dishes, but I think the Japanese are embracing trying to master Western dishes too with their traditional zest for excellence and perfection

In Japan they even add cheese to their traditional Japanese curry!

Oh, I would love to do a little rampage about Europe.
But first some text that I found very interesting, copied from my resource, here:
https://www.countries-ofthe-world.com/c ... urope.html

List of countries in Europe

Europe is a unique continent, which is not surrounded by water from all directions and has an overland border with neighboring Asia. Physiographically, it occupies the northwestern part of the large landmass known as Eurasia and surrounded from the north by the Arctic Ocean, from the west by the Atlantic Ocean, from the south by the Mediterranean Sea, and from the southeast by the Black Sea.

Definition of the correct border between two continents was a big question for geographers and politicians. Nowadays it is commonly delineated by the Ural Mountains in Russia, the Caspian Sea, and the Caucasus Mountains.

Now Europe includes 51 independent states. Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey are transcontinental countries, partially located in both Europe and Asia. Armenia and Cyprus politically are considered European countries, though geographically they are located in the West Asia territory.

Europe's largest country is Russia (37% of total continent area), and the smallest one is Vatican City, which occupies only a tiny territory in the center of Rome.

The most visited travel destination in this part of the world is France with its capital Paris as the best place of interest, followed by Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

.....................................................................................................




I so love to live in Europe!
The variety is sooo HUGE! The cultural treasures are immeasurable. The landscapes, the weather, the traditions, the history, the RECIPES are manifold- with so many long-grown, authentic details, based on the specifics of the unique region and their story and basis.

The different languages are overwhelming- AND full of precious, unique beauty. I couldn't say which language-melody and -energy I would love most!
I so love that English became the travel-language in all of Europe. I learned French and Italian enough to understand some words on the menues, and to know that I don't know more! I can read Dutch out of intuition, but when it's spoken, I don't get a word. I am in awe about those who speak more than 2 languages, as my Grand-uncle did- speaking fluently 13 languages and being a professor in 3 of them. Simply amazing!!

I owe it to my Canadian pilote's licence that forced me to learn more than my terrible school-english, and I owe it to Abe that I got quite good at it. So I stopped bothering to learn more than "Bonjour" and "Grazie" and maybe "Buenas noches"... and am SO THANKFUL for our modern times. As an oldtimer, I have experienced waiting for hours at the toll gates of the European countries, AND at the exchange-offices, where you always got ripped off. And then, when you come home... what to do with all that foreign coins?

So, another BIG thank you to the European Union for open turnpikes and (mostly) ONE currency- while I pray that they will stop with their erratic flood of new terrible laws that only cut down our beautiful freedom (Abe say, all laws are made from OOTV, to prevent the unwanted)... but I give that to Source and trust, that the best will happen, in love and joy, eventually!

The European Union is an idea (no matter how bad or good it is executed right now), that- imo, is one peak into ONENESS! We will learn so much from it. We will find ways to work this out in really fair, good, FREE, joyful ways!

spiritualcookie wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2024 11:49 am (I just edited a little to add a few additional dishes I remembered )

I noticed! Ohhh my, I wanna try them!!! You really have an awesome way of describing things. It feels as being there!!

I think it's not traditional, but modern-day, people are making it their own and incorporating it into their cuisine more.

I've not seen any dairy dishes in Chinese restaurants, though in London's Chinatown they do have a lot of bakeries with cakes decorated with whipped cream,

Asian style pastries filled with ice cream

and there are a lot of milk-tea / bubble tea places that are dairy based.

That is so interesting. I love witnessing and hearing, how the world evolves, and embraces new ideas!

In Japanese restaurants, I have often seen ice cream served for dessert. In Japan there were quite a lot of dairy products. They all were quite Western, non-traditional dishes, but I think the Japanese are embracing trying to master Western dishes too with their traditional zest for excellence and perfection

I can imagine that! Japanese people seem so playful- AND so incredibly caring for excellence. Such a fascinating energy!

Cookie, pretty please, will YOU do the rampage of "U, for United Kingdom"? I have NO idea about it, and it is such a huge topic! And I reallllly would love to hear about it from a master! if you don't mind?

And PLEASE, everybody who would like to tune in, please do! The more who play, the merrier! * I * will stick to cuisines from Europe this round, but I love if others have their own inspirations!!

Paradise-on-Earth wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2024 12:01 pm Cookie, pretty please, will YOU do the rampage of "U, for United Kingdom"? I have NO idea about it, and it is such a huge topic! And I reallllly would love to hear about it from a master! if you don't mind?

I can if you like : )

spiritualcookie wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2024 2:22 pm
I can if you like : )

I would love it!!

K, for Kazakhstan!

...what??? Kazakhstan is an EUROPEAN country? It counts into Europe but actually is half-andhalf: (Quote from Wikipedia)

The Ural River divides Kazakhstan into two parts, bisecting the Eurasian supercontinent. European Kazakhstan geographically lies in Eastern Europe, with its area of over 148,000 square kilometres (57,000 sq mi), which makes Kazakhstan the 14th-largest country in Europe with a population of about 1 million.


The darkblue part is European Kazakhstan, the lightblue one belongs to Asia. The HUGE country (comparable to Argentina in size) is on all it's North-West border neighbor to Russia, and was former part of the USSR. On the South- and South-East border, there are Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and China.

I am choosing Kazakhstan, because I know almost NOTHING about it, but I really want to. My beloved "Herzenstochter", Daughter of my Heart, aka Daughter in Law, is a Kazakh. I SO ENJOY that she became a precious part of my family! I love that she (besides German and English) speaks the wonderfully sounding Russian, I so enjoy listening to her talk! And I so enjoy also our mutual dream about traveling together in 4wheel drives, through her country- and so much further.





My Heiko and his Nelli, cutting their wedding cake (that I had the honor to prepare for them, after her desire to merge "black and white" harmoniously!)

My dear N. was raised with mostly Russian cuisine... she explains it being "most often potatoes with lots of meat, stuffed potato- dumplings with lots of meat, preserved vegetables as tomatoes and zucchini, and lots of Wodka". But I am sure, there is so much more! The country, as I had mentioned, is HUGE. On the shore of the Caspian Sea, Aral Sea and Balkash and containing more than 48 000other seas and lakes. There are lush green alpine regions and harsh high mountains without any vegetation. There are wide grass covered plains and savannahs, and there is dry desert, as far as the eye can see...
populated with not more than 1 million people.



In the foothills of the Tian Shan mountains in Kazakhstan grew supposedly the original ancestors of all modern apples. Once this region was covered with apple trees.


A huge variety of wild and domesticated apple-breeds on a market.



Bauersak: Delicious deep fried, fluffy bread, to dip into soups or sauces. They look different depending on the region- rectangular or round, larger or smaller.



Beshmarmak, a festive stew from beef, lamb or horse meat (which is a daily staple) with noodles. The name means "5 fingers"- a hint that it got eaten originally with the bare hands.



Sopra, =broth with vegetables, noodles amd meat



Zhaya, salted horse-meat, brined in spices and then cooked




Manti: Dumplings, stuffed with seasoned meats and than steamed or cooked.




"Zhent" is ground millet, cooked in milk with sugar and butter and then cut into squares, together here with typical sweet treats, Shelpek (deep fried flat bread), Qrt =salted and dried curd in little white balls, that where the very transportable and easy to eat snacks of former times, and Ayran, Kefir, Kumis and Shubat- fermented (sour) milk-drinks with our without yeast. The milk comes from horses, camels, cows, sheep or goats.




I took this description from a travel blog, as I liked it so much: "After dinner it is tradition to serve tea, After a meal, it’s customary for guests to relax and enjoy tea, and tea in Kazakhstan is almost always accompanied by sweets, nuts, and dried fruit.
Among the most popular desserts in Kazakhstan is shak-shak, sometimes calls “shek-shek.” These delicious doughy delights are made from fried dough cooked in hot oil and then smothered with honey. The fried results are mixed together in a bowl or plate to create a sticky mass. The entire dish is topped with raisins and walnuts making for a gooey, sticky, and delicious finger- shareable.




"Rhakat" chocolate is the national brand, but there is supposedly a huge amount of cookies and sweets that are beloved by almost everybodies!







...I'd LOVE to take time, -soon!!!- and have this travel to Kazakhstan with my beloved man, son and daughter of heart! I am eager. I am curious!!! And right now, I feel SO thankful and SATISFIED to be "there", now, in this way, already!

Paradise-on-Earth wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 6:25 am K, for Kazakhstan!

How beautiful that you have this heart-connection to Kazakhstan thanks to your Daughter of the Heart
Does she prepare any of the traditional dishes for Heiko or for you when you visit their home so you get to have a taste of Kazakhstan?

Thank you for sharing all your fascinating research about their dishes - So interesting! I think the dish that impressed me the most was the yin yang cake you prepared!

spiritualcookie wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 7:21 am

Paradise-on-Earth wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 6:25 am K, for Kazakhstan!

How beautiful that you have this heart-connection to Kazakhstan thanks to your Daughter of the Heart
Does she prepare any of the traditional dishes for Heiko or for you when you visit their home so you get to have a taste of Kazakhstan?

Thank you for sharing all your fascinating research about their dishes - So interesting! I think the dish that impressed me the most was the yin yang cake you prepared!

Awww THANK YOU!!



...there is a story... my son sat besides me in the night before my daughters wedding, and ate up all the tiny leftovers that fell aside when I covered HER wedding cake with fondant. At this time, fondant-covers where not really known in Germany. But my daughter REALLY wanted a cake with it! So I finally ordered a very good brand of fondant from the US. Heiko, my son, 15 years old at that time, fell in love with it and sweared- if he would ever marry, his cake would need such a trim as well.


my daughter and son in law celebrated their wedding in our barn... when you look closely, you see that the wedding cake that I prepared is leaning and losing it's shape. I had NO IDEA at that time, that fondant and whipped cream don't go together!

Now, WHEN that time came 5 years later, his fiance was certain that her cake would NEED to be pitch black! Which was a problem, because -at that time, while fondant had arrived in Germany, black fondant didn't, yet. So I asked them about choosing a "black" chocolate cake... but Heiko wouldn't budge, he insisted on THIS brand of white fondant, and neither did Nelli, who wanted at least dark chocolate. Until I finally asked if a Yin-Yang cake would be an option? It WAS. Halleluja!

...She has cooked several times the more Russian style of her childhood for us. I don't think they cooked really Kazakh-style in her home! (you know, with potato-dumplings and lots of meat...). But, her own heart REALLY is upon light and healthy vegetarian styles...