Mata Kite Kudasai!

Since he served his mission in Japan, Kevin is pretty picky about his Japanese food. We have found several good sushi places around here, but something we hadn’t looked for was a place that serves good ramen. Last week I did a bit of internet searching and discovered a ramen place that received high praise for having good, authentic Japanese ramen. The last really good ramen we had was in Hawaii a year and a half ago, so we decided to give it a try. It always helps when the folks doing the cooking know what authentic international foods should aspire to be, so when we walked in and saw that the owners and cook staff are all Japanese, it inspired some hope. And our tastebuds were not disappointed. The ramen was delicious. Kevin had traditional Japanese style curry, and he said that was delicious too. The takoyaki were also good, albeit the amount of sauce was a bit on the heavy side. And the gyoza handmade in the restaurant did not disappoint. To sum it all up, we came away happy with our meal. 

In addition to the good eats, we discovered that this establishment doesn’t use any nuts. That means it is a safe spot for Malia. She has been all about the ramen for the past sixish months, eating a package for a snack after school, for lunch on the weekends, on nights when I make something she hates for dinner, etc. As such, we were all pretty excited about the opportunity to let her taste something more authentic than Top Ramen. So, this evening we made the trek back to the east side of the valley to expose Malia to a little bit of Japanese culture. 

In addition to authentic eats, this particular restaurant wants to give their customers an all-encompassing Japanese experience. As such, the décor and atmosphere of their shop is modeled to mimic such establishments in Japan. Everything from the music, the art, the anime on the big screen, and the way the wait staff greets the customers just screams out, “Hey!! I’m Japanese!!” It makes it kind of fun. Kevin and I have both been exposed to such situations at previous points in our lives, but our Utah born and raised youngest child has not. We walked in and Malia’s response was, “What IS this??!!” I must admit that I was amused at her reaction. Her life experiences have been fairly limited after all, but she’s not exactly subtle about her opinions. 😂

Malia and I both ordered ramen, and Kev opted for the curry again. Have I mentioned that he really likes Japanese curry? And that I’m not a fan so it’s not something I’ve bothered to learn to cook during our twenty-seven years of marriage? Probably not. So with those tidbits of info, you won’t be surprised to know that he ordered the curry. I was pleased with my ramen, but Malia, who really didn’t know what to expect, was less than thrilled. She described it as different than she expected. And weird. And I’m not sure she super duper loved it. It wasn’t gross or anything, but I think some of the flavors were less…American than Top Ramen. And as such, a departure from what she is accustomed to. But she ate all the noodles, tried a bit of the spicy oil, and enjoyed the gyozas. 

I suspect Kev and I will be return customers of this little shop from time to time. In fact, it is just down the street from his office so on the days when he needs to be in the office, he might just dash over for lunch. And there are some other things on the menu that I’d be interested in trying, so I know we will make our way back there from time to time. I’m not sure Malia will join us. Or if she does, maybe she will opt for a giant platter of potstickers. I really don’t know. But whether she decides to give it another try or not, at least she can say that she’s tasted the real thing!

International Eats-Japan

I cheated a little bit. Our International Eats protocol was put in place so that we can try some new foods. But I opted to make a dish that most of us have eaten before. Due to my Chinese heritage and Kevin’s missionary service in Japan, we eat a lot of Asian foods around here. As such, I didn’t really feel like we needed to include these countries in our experimentations. However, I also have two food allergy kids that 1) don’t get to experience all the foods we eat in restaurants and 2) are the younger half of my children and weren’t around for many of the experiments and activities I sponsored when Daniel and Nathan were small. So I decided to cheat a little.

Way back in the early years of our marriage, Kevin and I were living the “Early American Poverty” lifestyle. That meant a night on the town consisted of some very careful grocery shopping and a movie at home with the occasional splurge by eating at Wendy’s. Only on our anniversary did we feel like the occasion warranted a bigger investment in a fancier restaurant. One of our favorites back then was the Kyoto, a local Japanese restaurant that was much more authentic and far tastier than some others. One of my favorite dishes to order when we went was sukiyaki, a Japanese hot pot style dish that had noodles, beef, tofu, and veggies all nestled in a flavorful broth. Since we couldn’t afford to eat out like that very often, I searched the internet and found a recipe to recreate sukiyaki at home. But even making it at home was a splurge, so it was a once in a long while kind of a dinner. 

Our finances are not anywhere near as tight as they were back then, but sukiyaki is a meal I haven’t even thought about for a long time. While I was exploring recipes for this summer’s grand food experimentation, I happened to come across a sukiyaki recipe and realized that neither Matthew nor Malia has ever eaten it. It only took me about two seconds to decide that a little cheating was in order. And honestly, my motivation was not entirely selfless. This stuff is good. So, so good. 

When the kids asked what we were having for dinner, I described it as a cross between broccoli beef and chicken long rice with some other stuff thrown in. They seemed to think that was ok, but Malia took a look at the fixings as I was prepping food and looked highly skeptical. Things improved somewhat when it came time to dish her dinner and she discovered there were a variety of things she knows she likes-rice, beef, long rice (which are mung bean noodles). That, and the fact that it smelled really good, gave her hope.

Kevin and I were both happy to revisit and old favorite. Matthew liked it as well, though he picked around the tofu and the cabbage. Malia picked around the mushrooms, tofu, and cabbage, as I knew she would, but really liked the other parts. I think if I left out some of the interesting bits it would have been an all-out winner with the kids, but Kev and I like the interesting parts so I left them in knowing the kids would opt not to sample those portions. I do have to admit that Kevin was the only one who added a raw egg to the meal the way the Japanese traditionally eat sukiyaki. I just can’t make myself eat raw eggs. Far to slimy. (Full body shudder)

The only thing I would do differently next time is marinate the beef and possibly the tofu for a bit before cooking the dish. The broth was enormously flavorful, but the beef and tofu didn’t have enough cook time to really absorb the lovely flavor. Darn. I guess that means I have to make it again. 😜

Sukiyaki Rating: 3 ½ forks