Captivating close up of the Jamon Iberico de Bellota that I had as part of the Winter Tasting Menu at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo. The best ham in the world!

Tsukune (Chicken meatball) with raw egg for dipping.

Miss the simple deliciousness of quality chicken in Japan!

Tu_triky wrote:

Delectable grilled chicken enjoyed at Kuruma Yakitori in Osaka

Simple, but it looks terrific.

bmwracer wrote:

Simple, but it looks terrific.

Exactly. The simplicity allows the quality of the chicken to shine. They use a specialty breed of jidori free-range chicken from Miyazaki. Just like there are famous area for wagyu (i.e. Kobe, Matsuzaka, Omi, Tajima), there are famous breeds of bird! I'm sure you recall from all those episodes of Dotch Ryori Show.


http://travel.cnn.com/tokyo/life/miyazaki-chicken-worlds-tastiest-white-meat-729105

Salt-grilled nagaimo. Crunchy tasty tuber.

Part of my kaiseki meal at Takinoya in Noboribetsu.

Beef tenderloin with some crazy melange of sauces. Lol.

bmwracer wrote:

Simple, but it looks terrific.

I love bird cooked like that!
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Eve wrote:

I love bird cooked like that!

Agreed.

Especially since it's such a high quality breed of chicken. It actually tastes like chicken! I swear I don't always buy organic chicken but when I do it tastes soooo much better than Foster Farms or Zacky farms or whatever non-organic brand is available.

Furthermore at most of these Japanese yakitori restaurants they cook the chicken over binchotan (hard wood charcoal) which imparts its own flavor, me thinks.

Here are more pics from my omakase meal at Sushi Sho that I posted earlier.

Shirako (cold milt/roe) with house blended togarashi pepper

Iwashi (Sardine) Most amazing sardine I've ever tasted in my life. After removing the gossamer thin layer of membrane the deep crismon fat layer is exposed. Unbelieveable flavor and color.

Kuruma Ebi (Tiger prawn) with powdered shrimp head roe.

^ Wow.

That just made my dinner an epic fail.

bmwracer wrote:

^ Wow. That just made my dinner an epic fail.

Not my intention, buddy. I'm not eating that well anymore...just a memory.

Here are a few more to torture both you and myself.

Tako (Octopus) The most tender, delicious piece of octopus I've ever eaten! If you ever seen Jiro Dreams of Sushi, I can assure that this octopus must have gotten similar treament. It was so incredibly tender with a just a hint of pliable elasticity. It was like eating a piece of high quality steak! Redefined what my thoughts on what octopus could taste like. Ah-mazing.

Kissu (Sillago) A white fish. Look at that knife work! Ridiculously beautiful and delicious.

Saba (Mackerel) two ways. One with ginger, and one with chopped chives

So I was watching "Dining with the Chef" on NHK last week and Rika Yukimasa said her Mom used to give her chikuwa as a treat instead of candy.

Picked some up at Mitsuwa today: http://shop.mitsuwa.com/eng/egoods/edetail.php?pid=191

It really makes a nice snack. Just don't think about what's in it. From what I understand it's kind of like a hot dog. It's all the rest of the fish (brains, guts, etc.) processed.

gaijinmark wrote:

So I was watching "Dining with the Chef" on NHK last week and Rika Yukimasa said her Mom used to give her chikuwa as a treat instead of candy. Picked some up at Mitsuwa today: http://shop.mitsuwa.com/eng/egoods/edetail.php?pid=191 It really makes a nice snack. Just don't think about what's in it. From what I understand it's kind of like a hot dog. It's all the rest of the fish (brains, guts, etc.) processed.

A popular ingredient in oden, a Japanese winter soup with lots of ingredients. Oden is kind of hard to find in here in LA but it's a comforting seasonal dish to help stave away the cold.

Tu_triky wrote:

A popular ingredient in oden, a Japanese winter soup with lots of ingredients. Oden is kind of hard to find in here in LA but it's a comforting seasonal dish to help stave away the cold.

Closest thing we've got here is udon and ramen... And that's fine with me.

bmwracer wrote:

Closest thing we've got here is udon and ramen... And that's fine with me.

That's generally true although there is one place that I know of that does offer oden items. Torihei in Torrance, which is a place you've been to I think. It's an izakaya that specializes in yakitori but they have other things on the menu as well, as you well know.

Check it out:

http://www.torihei-usa.com/category/menu/food/oden-sashimi/


The only other thing that comes close is chanko nabe, which is offered at one particular Shinsengumi restaurant.

http://www.shinsengumigroup.com/en/dining-guide/chanko.php

Tu_triky wrote:

The only other thing that comes close is chanko nabe

The breakfast/lunch/dinner of champion sumo wrestlers.

bmwracer wrote:

The breakfast/lunch/dinner of champion sumo wrestlers.

Yup. Precisely. I've eaten the chankonabe at Shinsengumi once. It's pretty good but you have to make a reservation in advance but the cool thing is you eat it in a private room where you sit on the floor with a foot well so you can sit comfortably. Because it's actually adjacent to the Shinsengumi Yakitori restaurant on Western you can actually order off their menu as well. It's great winter time meal that you can share with friends or family. In fact it's something I would like to eat again soon. I've never had the pleasure of eating chanko nabe in Japan though...that would be fun.

Tu_triky wrote:

I've never had the pleasure of eating chanko nabe in Japan though...that would be fun.

You'd never get the chance: You'd get elbowed out of the way by a yokozuna wannabe.

bmwracer wrote:

You'd never get the chance: You'd get elbowed out of the way by a yokozuna wannabe.

I'd have to fill my bowl and then run away without spilling any.

An awesome piece of toro that I had as part of my omakase meal at Sushi Sho.