Entries about kamakura

Yaki Curry or bAked curry in English is a specialty dish in Kitakyushu city, especially the Mojiko region (Fukuoka prefecture). In Chinese culture, we have a lot of baked rice dishes and curry is one of them but however this one is quite different. So the put the rice into this iron plate and then crack an egg in the middle. Then they pour hot boiling curry over the top and topping it with cheese before the bake it in the oven. To eat this dish, you are suppose to break the egg and then mix it up with the curry, cheese and rice. Most shops uses those store bought curry rue cubes while some have their own special curry recipes. I have been to 3 different shops and only one of them had a different type of curry.

Yaki curry

Breaking the egg inside

Another recent specialty is a more modern take on the Yaki curry with banana slices in it. It has a nice balance of spice and sweetness to it. However you can taste that they use those curry rue cubes so it's not really homemade. It is really unusual to find banana and curry together so if you want to try something special the. I would recommend trying this dish.

Banana yaki curry

Breaking the egg inside of the banana yaki curry

The 3rd shop I went to had the best curry since it wasn't that flavour I always taste. This shop's curry had a Thai flavour to it, it's like a fusion between a Japanese-Western classic with a Thai style twist to it. Though the prices here is a little bit more but I think it was worth it since it has a better flavour and don't have to go through all the long lineups. Many Japanese people only check a few sites and usually just lineup for the top 2-3 shops, so why bother when you can come to this shop and have something much more different yet still very local to the area?

Thai style yaki curry with veggies

Before I talk about Karamen, can you take the heat? Are you a spicy food lover like me? If you are then this is a great dish for you! If you're not, they have a level system so doesn't matter if you can take a little heat to nothing at all they cater to everyone's taste. So what is this Karamen? If you directly transliterate the word, "Kara" means spicy and "men" means noodles. This isn't just an ordinary bowl of spicy noodles but a special one since you can choose the spiciness from level 0 all the way 25. Along with the hot and spicy soup they use eggs, garlic and green onions to enhance the flavour. The egg is put into the soup with the egg drop style so it helps out a little bit to bring down the spice level. The noodles which they use isn't just some Chinese ramen noodles where you can find anywhere in Japan but a special konyaku like noodles. This type of noodle gives you that soft crunchiness which balances well with the hot and spicy broth. The garlic and green onions are soft from being simmered in that amazing broth which enhances their flavour. If you like noodles and find yourself traveling to this region of Japan then I would really recommend trying this dish! Of course you might find it in other parts of Japan but eating it where it originates from is a whole different kind of experience!

I have been to Miyazaki prefecture before but the last time around I didn't really eat lot. In order to make up for it I tried to eat more this trip to share some new local specialty dishes I've found. In this blog post I will be talking about a dish called the "hiyajiru", which basically means cold soup if you transliterated it directly from Japanese to English. The dish is separated into a bowl of cold soup and a bowl of hot steaming white rice. The cold soup is made from white sesame paste, miso paste, tofu and green onions. It was my first time ever trying the dish and didn't know what to expect but the waitress there was really helpful and she taught me how to eat it. The way you're suppose to eat is to pour some of the cold soup over the rice and eat it. The taste is a little bit sweet and salty with a very deep sesame flavour to it. If you're not allergic to sesame then I would recommednd trying this dish because those who like it will love it! There are many restaurants around Miyazaki city which serves this dish and the procedure of making the soup and the ingredients might also be different. Since I only had 2 days in Miyazaki prefecture and the first day I've spent in in Nobeoka city I could only try the "hiyajiru" at one shop. If you have the time I do recommend maybe trying a few more to see which shops' "hiyajiru" suits your tastebuds more!

Kiritanpo Nabe is a dish famous in the Northern part of Akita prefecture. Kiritanpo is a type of food made resembling the form of a sausage. Unlike sausages, kiritanpo is made out of rice mashed into a paste and formed into a cylinder form on a stick and is usually cooked near a fireplace. These kiritanpo are then cut in half and put into the nabe (hotpot with vegetables and meat) for boil. Since the kiritanpo cook fast, anything more than a few minutes will make it soggy and break up so it is best to let it sit for 2-3 minutes and take it out of the nabe to eat. If you drop by Akita prefecture, this is a must try local dish!

Before putting the ingredients in.

Kritanpo Nabe.