The Foodie's Food Trip: Japanese food

Showing posts with label Japanese food. Show all posts

Mugicha

I was in the Philippines last week to attend to some family matters. During that short period that I was in Manila my sister, my mom and I went to 2 Korean restaurants. They serve (actually more on we requested) cold tea for the drinks.

The tea they served is roasted barley tea. It's called mugicha in Japanese, damai-cha in Chinese and boricha in Korean (for this blog post I'll call it mugicha as it's more popularly known). It is caffeine-free and is said to have a lot of health benefits - Japanese believe that mugicha helps to cleanse the body.

After going back to Singapore, I craved for mugicha. I went to the grocery store and searched for mugicha. And there they were... bags and bags of them, packed in little tea bags!

I bought a pack then went to the department store and bought a pitcher that can handle hot/boiling water. I went home and made my pitcher of cold mugicha. I've been drinking it everyday for a week now and I just can't stop! I think I can finish half a pitcher in less than an hour (FYI, it's a 1.8L pitcher).

They say that it can help cool down the body when you drink cold mugicha. I can't directly say that it cools down the body, but all I know is it's a refreshing drink and I love drinking it. :)

Ramen

Since we got back from Japan, that was two months ago, our cravings for Japanese food are not the same. We took a break from eating Japanese food for a while, I think we didn't have any for three or so weeks since our vacation. After that, the cravings began.

We've tried real/authentic food from Japan and now we now know the taste, texture, smell of the real ones. We went to our usual sushi fastfood/restaurant here and... we saw the difference. In Japan, there were less rice and more of the meat (fish, prawn, etc). Here, there was more rice and just a small portion of the meat.

Other than sushi, we've also looked around for delicious ramen. I think we've already tried three to four and they're all delicious, but we're still on the search for that yummy ramen. We've heard of one ramen restaurant at Meritus Mandarin Hotel along Orchard Road, but everytime we go there, the line is like a mile long! That's a good sign, though, because that means their ramen must be delicious. :)

The Japan Food Trip

Hubby and I went to Japan during the long holiday (Chinese New Year). On top of our agenda - to eat authentic Japanese food! I was even able to convince hubby to eat rice for dinner so we can eat yummy food (he doesn't eat rice for dinner).

Some of the food we've tried (in no specific order):

Gyudon (Yoshinoya & Matsuya)
Japanese Curry
Kaiten Sushi (sushi served in a conveyor belt)
Katsudon
Tempura
Okonomiyaki - we had this in Kyoto and that's the only item in that restaurant's menu
Takoyaki
Ramen
Japanese Crepe
Onigiri
Yatsuhashi - from Kyoto
Dango
Taiyaki
various drinks from vending machines (I think that's included hihihi)

Just listing them down is making me hungry...will try to post more details/pics when I'm no longer busy. :D

Tonkatsu in Tonkichi

It's been years since I've eaten authentic tonkatsu with authentic tonkatsu sauce. Last time I had it was in Japan in 2003 (or was it 2002?) with my officemates/friends. Each of us will order a tonkatsu set. That's not all.... the rice was eat-all-you-can! hahaha!

Since I left Japan, I've been searching far and wide for that real tonkatsu sauce. The tonkatsu itself is easy to do... but the sauce... I'd just end up disappointed. Most of the time they give me soy sauce!

A few days ago, after going to the gym, Lloyd and I decided to check out if Takashimaya/Ngee Ann City has a Japanese restaurant with tonkatsu in their menu. Lo and behold... there is!

The restaurant's name is Tonkichi. Their specialty... TONKATSU!!! heaven.... :)

So we went in and ordered. Lloyd had the Prawn & Chicken Katsu Set. I had the Nagoya Rosu Miso Katsu Set. Lloyd is fond of Japanese curry so we ordered extra Curry Sauce.

When the food arrived.... speechless. I was too excited (& too hungry as well) that I never got the chance to take pictures of our food!!! Their tonkatsu is actually big... enough for 2 people. And... it was P-E-R-F-E-C-T! The sauce: It was P-E-R-F-E-C-T! Even the curry sauce and the shredded cabbage with the salad sauce... They were P-E-R-F-E-C-T! I was so happy with what I was eating I ordered extra rice... half for me & half for Lloyd. Although Lloyd was teasing me that I was just shy and can actually finish the whole thing! wahahahaha!

To give you an idea of what they offer, here are the links to their menu:
Popular & Standard Items
What is "Tonkatsu"
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Ahh... Japanese food...

Tonkichi - Ngee Ann City
391 Orchard Road, #04-24
Tower A, Ngee Ann City
http://www.pokkafood.com.sg/tonkichi/index.php