Misen; the Hottest and Spiciest Thing I've Ever Had in Japan

If you've ever been to Nagoya, you've probably heard of the Chinese restaurant Misen. Their main dish has become a Nagoya specialty and attracts locals as well as the tourists. The dish is called Taiwan Ramen. It's not actually Taiwanese, but I believe it has roots from a Taiwanese dish using ground meat sauteed with spices. Now that Taiwan ramen has become a dish of Nagoya, many Chinese restaurants in this city make their own versions of it, but Misen claims to be the originators of this popular bowl of noodles.

Taiwan ramen and stir-fried greens

This is probably one of the hottest and spiciest of any dish I've ever had in Japan! I never would have thought that something this spicy could be this popular here. Luckily I shared this with a friend; I would not be able to finish a bowl on my own. It's hot the minute any part of it, whether it's the noodles, meat, soup or even the garlic chives comes in contact with the mouth. And it just keeps getting hotter and hotter, (lips burning more) the more you eat it. Having said that, I must admit, it does have a flavour (it's not just all about the heat), one that keeps you wanting to dig in more even though your mouth is on fire.

If you can take hot things, I do recommend Misen's Taiwan ramen if you're in the Nagoya area. Just make sure to also order some fried rice or something to take the edge off the heat in between bites!

Area: Various locations. Nagoya station branch (Nagoya eki ten 名古屋駅店）shown in photo above
Restaurant: Misen 味仙
Website: http://www.misen.ne.jp/store
Hours: at Nagoya-eki ten 11am-11pm (LO 10pm)

Japanese Foie Gras Terrine?

I don't indulge in foie gras very often, but I found some frozen foie gras in Amika, a small scale grocery store for food business owners (but anyone can enter, no membership needed). I thought it was a reasonable price, 1200 yen for 100g, and I hadn't had it in a while so I decided to challenge my cooking skills.

The package included two small lobes of foie gras, so the first one I sauteed as a luxurious topping for a steak. I put the second one back in the freezer and planned to pan-fry it another time. But then I saw packages of pates in a specialty grocery store and it made me think of how much I miss foie gras mousses and foie gras terrines. I casually looked up how to make a foie gras terrine on the internet and found that it didn't look that hard, it didn't require a huge list of ingredients either. The only thing I didn't have was Sauternes, port wine, or any dessert wine. I didn't exactly want to go out and buy a bottle either since I only had 50g of foie gras to work with. It dawned on me that I did have mirin on hand! It's a sweet sake (rice wine) used for cooking in Japan. So I went about removing the veins, seasoning the liver, and then poured on the mirin. I then stuffed it into a little ramekin and put it into the oven at low heat.

Homemade foie gras terrine

 Voila! The terrine turned out a little rough, I could have probably used a bit heavier weight to press it down after taking it out of the oven, but it actually tasted nice. Mirin added just the right sweetness to it. The experiment was a success!

Terrine spread on some bread

I tried it with some bread, but the Japanese bread is a bit too sweet, a regular french baguette would've been better. I wonder if Japanese sweet plum wine (umeshu) would do the same trick in a foie gras terrine...

See the Boat Racing In Japan for a New and Exciting Experience!

Most people don't associate Japan with gambling. This is probably because there are no casinos here and there are enough tourist spots in this country to entice visitors to return to Japan again and again, or at least keep them occupied during their stay. Even if there were casinos, I'm not sure how popular they'd be among tourists since most people come to Japan to experience the food and the culture.

One thing that I have noticed, living here for many years, is that gambling is a part of the modern day Japanese culture. If you think of how many Pachinko parlours there are (there seems to be one on every corner in areas near major stations), it's way more than the casino ratio in other cities, not including Vegas and Macau. Not only that, the Japanese are really into betting on boat racing (kyotei), bicycle racing (keirin) and horse racing (keiba).  Go to anyone of these venues, and you'll find them far from empty. Even on days when there is no live event happening, there will still be people betting on races in other cities that they can watch on screen. Venues take turns hosting races everyday, including holidays, throughout the country.

The venues have even become date spots or even places for family weekend outings when there are food stalls set up and games or entertainment for the kids. Japanese stars attend the races to promote events or even as their own personal hobby. Many places try to increase their female audiences by waiving the entrance fee for them.

Recently, I visited the boat races in the city of Gamagori (Aichi prefecture). I'm not much of a gambler but I have to say it was a pretty fun Japan experience!

Watch the races as they happen right in front you

The venue has been recently renovated so it looks very clean and modern inside the building. You can hang out on the first floor where the seats are free to watch the races outdoors or the television screens showing races around the country. The first floor also houses the building's food court where you can choose from 5 different shops selling ramen, hotdogs, curry, tempura and other types of rice bowls, gyoza and kara-age (fried chicken).

The second floors holds rooms for rental, good if you're going to be spending the whole day there with a date or a group of people. There is also a restaurant on this floor selling various Japanese comfort foods.

I suggest getting a seat on the third floor, the moonlight seats are inexpensive (1500 yen) compared to the other types of seats and you have your own little table, reading lamp and monitor. Plus they sometimes hand out a 500 yen coupon to use at the snack shop (it is permitted to bring food and drinks back to your seat). Even if you are there with a friend, you can just choose two seats adjacent to each other, sharing the same aisle, and you're still close enough to have a chat.

A 'Moonlight' seat on the third floor

Simple betting is very easy; just take a look at this sample mark sheet;

Sample of a marksheet

At the top I've marked off the number 7 to indicate the venue of the race, which in this case is Gamagori. To the left of that, number 8 is coloured in to indicate the number of the race I want to bet on. Where I marked off the letter A, this is where you choose the type of bet. So here, A means I'll choose 3 boats in the order that I think they will place. In this example I chose boat no. 1 for first place, boat no. 3 for second place and boat no. 5 for third place. To the right of that, I filled in the how much I want to bet, in this case the number 1 and the character for 100 (百). This means that I'll bet 100 yen.
I filled in another example of a type of bet you can make at the bottom of the sheet. This time I marked off C to show that I'd like to choose three boats that I think will make the top three, and they can be in any order. Of course with this type of bet the payout is less, but it is also easier to win. Here I've chosen boats no. 2, 4, and 6 to place in the top three. Then I fill in the numbers 10 and 2 to bet an increment of 12. Lastly I filled in the character for 1000 (千) for a bet of 12 000 yen. By the way the last character, 万 represents 10 000 (if you dare to fill that one in!).

Just insert your marksheet into one of the self-service machines and get your confirmation of a bet placed. Keep the confirmation because if you win, you'll need this ticket to insert back into the machines to get your payout.

See? Not too difficult! Don't forget there are plenty of newbies there and the staff are more than willing to help anybody who has questions. For a brief explanation in English, check out the official Japan Boat Race site at https://www.boatrace.jp/owpc/pc/extra/en/index.html.

To get to the Gamagori venue, just take the JR train from Nagoya station to Okazaki station, and transfer to the train that goes to Mikawa-shiotsu station. From there it's just a 5 minute walk (you can see the venue from the station). For complete directions visit the venue's website; http://www.gamagori-kyotei.com/03access/03access.htm. They don't have live racing everyday, so if you want to see it, make sure to check the schedule before you make plans; http://www.gamagori-kyotei.com/ (for gamagori, the schedule is the first row on the calendar, and if there is a symbol of a moon, it means the races start in the afternoon and go into the night).

I hope you get a chance to check out the boat races in Japan, they are exciting and would be a break from visiting all the temples, castles, shrines and gardens!

Will Fried Beef Cutlet Replace Pork Cutlet?

One popular dish in Japan among any age is Tonkatsu, or pork that's been breaded and fried. It is usually served with shredded cabbage and a worchestershire based sauce (the flavour of sauce sometimes depends on the city). The meat is usually tenderized before frying and is marbled or has a portion of fat attached to it so that when bitten into, it is soft and juicy.

Somebody had the idea of preparing beef in the same way, breaded with panko and fried, and the idea has been spreading. Last year, many beef cutlet, or gyukatsu specialty restaurants popped up around here. Recently, I was shopping at a mall just opened this fall in Nagoya (LaLaport), and found one of these specialty stores in the food court so I decided to give it a try.

Beef Cutlet from Kyoto Katsugyu

I think because the mall is still rather new and people are still going to check it out, the food court was pretty busy. I did have to spend time looking for a seat and lining up for my gyukatsu, but I eventually got to sit down and eat. The dish comes with three dipping condiments, a worcestershire sauce based one, a salt and sansho (japanese pepper) mix and a dashi based sauce. I personally found that dipping the meat in the dashi sauce and topping it with a bit of wasabi was the best. It was the lightest flavouring of the three but it didn't overpower the flavour of the fat in the beef. I liked that the rice had barley mixed in giving it a slighty chewier texture. The fourth way to eat the cutlet was by putting it on rice and pouring the little bowl of curry over it. For people that like curry this might be a good way to end the meal, but I wanted to eat my gyukatsu in its simplicity. This set, the regular size ro-su (rib cut) beef was about 1500 yen. Not bad for the price I'd say, but I think I'd prefer either a more course or thicker breading, or a thicker slab of meat so that it stays juicy. Also, gyukatsu doesn't feel like a meal to be enjoyed in a loud and bustling food court.

Because beef is more expensive and isn't as easy to make it as juicy as pork cutlet, I don't think it will replace tonkatsu, but it is definitely something to enjoy as a treat once in a while.

Restaurant: Kyoto Katsu-Gyu 京都勝牛
Area:  Lalaport Mall ららぽーと(Minato-ku area 港区)
Website: http://kyoto-katsugyu.com/
Hours: 10am-9pm (last order 8:45pm)

Japan's Fall Scene: Yoro Falls in Gifu

One thing I like about the Japanese is that they take pride in their four seasons and find beauty in each one. When the leaves start to change colour in the fall many people will trek out just to view their bright red leaves.

Every year I try to get out and see the Japanese maple trees in autumn. In the Tokai area (central Japan) the momiji viewing starts about mid November until the first week in December. It's not just about going out to a forest area to see the trees, in Japan there are parks, temples or shrines and gondolas in the mountains to go and see the fall colours. They make it easy to get out to with buses or public transit and once you arrive there are pathways and maps to make sure you don't get lost in nature.

This year I visited Yoro Falls in the Gifu prefecture. It was a perfect sunny day with a slight chill, but the uphill walk to the falls warmed me up quite a bit.

The first part of the walk up

It took about 10-15min to get to parking lot at the bottom of the mountain from Yoro Station. The leaves were already starting to change colour from there. I love the contrast of the bright red and still green momiji (Japanese Maple) leaves. The momiji are different than Canadian maples as they are smaller and daintier, and only turn red as opposed to yellow and orange as well.

Midway up

The path of stairs follows the river up to the falls to make the scenery even more serene.

Almost at the top, area around the gift stores

Near the top there is an area to catch a bite or buy some omiyage (souvenirs). Although some of the leaves were still green, there were some that screamed autumn. I imagine the peak would have been a week or so later, or the last week in November.

Yoro Falls

The steep walk up (about 15 min) was worth it! Just look at the beautiful waterfall framed by colourful momiji!

Obento and the falls

No one else did this, but we bought a department store obento (lunchbox) before getting on the train to Yoro. I'm so glad we did (I'm not the one who carried it all the way though)! It was so nice to have a slow lunch break on a nice day right in front of the falls. I highly recommend doing this!

A close up at the top part of the falls

Back at the bottom of this mountain

Be sure to cross the little bridge at the bottom of the mountain, before the parking lot to see this beautiful landscape.

I hope you enjoyed my first post on this blog. There are so many places to capture the fall colours and I'll eventually get around to telling you about some of the places I've visited in all my years living here.

Konnichiwa from Nagoya, Japan!

The theme of my blog is everything Japanese. I've been living in the not so well-known city of Nagoya since 2012. Ever since then I've accumulated so many new experiences that I'd like to share with all of you out there.

Since I live in Nagoya, I'll be blogging mostly on this city, but I hope that you'll find this quick-changing, never-boring nation just as fascinating and interesting as I do! (and maybe you'll someday want to visit Nagoya!)

こんにちは皆様！
2012年から名古屋で住んでおります。出身はカナダだけど日系三世です。日本の色んな所を旅しましたが名古屋が好きになりました。この町の魅力をシェアします！ほとんど英語で書きますが、英語の勉強になったら喜びます。