Japanified

If it weren't for the odd sprinkling of "white man" here and there, one would think Vancouver is in Asia. I really noticed the change in demographics when I came back from being abroad. Being the Asian-food fanatic that I am, my first few weeks back were spent in hot-spots that are especially "Asian". Half of me blends-in rather undetected, while the other half simply gawks, which - at times - is a dead giveaway for "foreigner"..."intruder"..."alert"!

Japa-Dog
A popular hotdog stand that is 100% Japanified. The options are numerous from miso (salty soybean paste) flavoured dogs with bonito (dried fish) shavings to spicy radish dogs with a bite. My favourite is the terimayo (teriyaki and mayonnaise) dog with nori (dried seawood) sprinkles. When I used to work downtown, I remember waiting in the line-up, barely having enough time to gobble it up and get back to work! That's how popular this stand was and remains still! Rumour has it that there is a special dog here that some workplaces have forbidden their employees to bring into the office due to its potent odour!! Hilarious...

Order to the right...
Pick up to the left...

The options prove too overwhelming for this 'white man'...

Just a small sampler of the menu...

Wish you got one too, right?


Japanese perfection...

Fujiya
A truly 100% Japanified supermarket. Like the Russian supermarkets in Israel, it's like being in another world. It's like being in Japan without having to purchase an expensive plane ticket or worry about accomodation! You can find everything from normal items like red-bean pastries to silken tofu to the strange like fermented nuts to miscellaneous (unidentifiable) meats. I consider a trip to Fujiya like a treasure hunt, in that you'll never know what you'll find!

A different sauce per dish...


Endless amounts of goodies...

The token 'white person', my mother...


Fitting in nicely, my father...

It is tradition in my family to prepare a Japanese feast from scratch for New Year's. This year consisted of maze-gohan, which is steamed rice mixed with shitake (mushrooms), gobo (burdock root), carrot, green onion, chicken, age (tofu sacs), soy sauce and mirin (sweet rice wine). Other side dishes included hand-made futomaki (fat rolls) stuffed with shitake (mushrooms), spinach, kanpyo (squash), oboro (neon pink-sugared dried cod), cucumber, barbequed eel and dikon (pickled radish); shirai (tofu spinach salad with miso and sesame seeds); inari (tofu sacs filled with sushi rice and sesame seeds); and finally, omochi - something so amazing, it requires its own explanatory paragraph.

Omochi are traditional Japanese New Year's rice-cakes made from sweet gelatinous rice that is steamed and pounded into a smooth, homogenous batch. Luckily, we have a machine that does this for us; however, back in my father's day and that of my Japanese ancestors, it is tradition to cut down a tree, burrow a bowl in the stump, mold the trunk into a pestle, and pound the rice in the make-shift tree bowl - all while chanting. (As the Jews say, "Next year in Jerusalem" after each holiday, I should really start the tradition of saying, "Next year in Japan" after Japanese New Year's!). After the pounding, the mound is divided into little round circular cakes. These cakes are then later toasted in the oven until they blossom into big puffs of yummy goodness - crispy on the top and gooey on the bottom. It's like watching lava flow and harden. Absolutely fascinating! Once cooked to perfection, a soy and brown sugar sauce is drizzled on top and a true delicacy is born.

I was hoping to get some photos of the feast, but in the heat of the moment, hunger consumed all thought and prevailed over all mental processes. The camera remained in its case for the full duration of the meal. I guess it'll just have to be saved in the ol' memory bank.

More Asian goodness to come...


Happy New Year!