January 2014. My friend and I had marvelous days in Japan. 5 days non-stop travel around Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo. Wherever I travel I would definitely taste the local food of the place I visited. The fact that as a Moslem there were limited food I can eat doesn't stop me to keep looking for the best food. I could suggest for Moslems whose going to travel around Japan not to eat ramen, curry, and okonomiyaki. Because they use pork in their ingredients. Okonomiyaki originally uses pork belly as its filling. If you can speak Japanese then you can ask to take out the pork before it's being cooked.
Given the limited time, I couldn't specifically go to Halal restaurant. The food listed here were created based on our
trip.
Let's get right to it, shall we?
Fresh Sushi. This is not a new thing. You can find sushi anywhere in Jakarta. But you gotta eat this when you go to Japan. The raw fish taste different, so fresh!
Hakozushi or Osaka-style boxed sushi. This style is less known by the foreigner. Hakozushi style is unique to the Osaka region. All ingredients of Hakozushi are either cooked or cured: sea eel, red snapper, egg omelet, and shrimp.
The Fugu or Pufferfish. Dotonbori district in Osaka is the right place to find this restaurant. Fugu is known as the extremely poisonous fish, yet it is famous in Japan. In fact, Japan gov allow only highly trained and licensed chefs to serve the dish. Knowing this fact, I put aside my worries. I shouldn't have missed this chance while in Osaka. I ended up ordering a plate of mixed sashimi and a plate of Fugu sushi which contains of thin sliced of raw Fugu (the bottom plate in the picture). Raw Fugu is rather chewy, not like other raw fish. Since Fugu is an expensive delicacy, I can only afford this much.
Ikayaki or grilled squid topped with soy sauce. This fast food is quite popular too in Japan. The taste of sweet and salty sauce makes you want to eat more. It also good to eat it with rice. Onigiri rice filled with tuna and vegetables. Takoyaki. All of these I bought at the supermarket nearby when I stayed in Osaka.
Takoyaki. A ball-shaped Japanese street food snack which is originated in Osaka. It is basically made of wheat flour filled with a tiny piece of octopus inside. Takoyaki is served with takoyaki sauce, green aonori, dried bonito flakes, and sometimes mayonnaise. The taste is similar to
okonomiyaki that you can read in my
other post. Too bad I couldn't eat okonomiyaki in Osaka because it contains pork as I mentioned earlier. Just like takoyaki, okonomiyaki is originated in Osaka.
Udon. That day, the weather was below 0°C at the top of Biwako Valley. Udon would be the best companion at this rate. Udon is served in a hot broth with thin sheets of fried tofu and kamaboko (a pink and white steamed fish cake) placed on top of the noodles. As I eat it, there's a refreshing after taste from the soup. While eating, I could enjoy the view of Biwa Lake that lies ahead.
Tentamadon in Kyoto. Rice topped with tempura and beaten egg.
Green tea puff bread. The shop is near Ginkakuji temple in Kyoto.
Kyo nama-fu yaki made of wheat gluten. A traditional food of Kyoto, which served dry baked with soysauce. Wheat gluten is more chewy than tofu. The taste is so unique. This becomes one of my favorite dish from all of the foods I've tried in Japan. This food is high in protein which once provided for the monks who are vegetarian. This is often used as meat substitutes or an alternative to soybean-based foods. I once wrote about
vegetarian meat substitutes, the version of Taiwan, in my
other post.
Grilled salmon. Another healthy food for you to choose.
Tarako cod-roe pasta. Tarako Pasta is certainly a popular dish in Japan. The dish was first invented at a pasta restaurant in Tokyo, when someone made a request for a bowl of spaghetti with caviar in it. Nowadays, there are many restaurants serve this, Sbarro Spaghetti is one of them.
Green tea-vanila ice cream at Asakusa temple, Tokyo. Probably not the best choice in Winter.
McDonalds at Harajuku area. French fries topped with cheese sauce and apple pie with strawberry-ice cream. McDonald's is another must-taste when you travel abroad because every country has its own menu and style.
MOS Rice Burger. The burger that made of rice instead of bread bun. This one is a vegetarian rice burger contains of carrot, veggies, seaweed, and seasoned with soy sauce.
Kitkat, Tokyo banana, Pocky, and Maxim green tea latte. Japanese sweets and crackers. There are many unique foods in Japan that at the end I brought this much of sweets and crackers back home. Kitkat version of Japan offers a wide variety of flavors: hot Japanese chili, rum strawberry cheese cake, wasabi, green tea, rum raisin, white chocolate, and strawberry chocolate.
