A Taste o apan - Stars and Stripes

The 3 ‘R’s to good eating – Restaurants,

Reviews & Recipes

A Tasteof

Japan

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STE OF JAPAN2AUGUST 14 − AUGUST 20, 2020

A taste of Yokosuka you’ll never forget

We ensure that in every dish we prepare, we add the best herbs and spices specially handpicked from Nepal and India. With our belief deeply rooted in the Eastern philosophy, we regard every customer as a god, and make sure in every way that we treat them as one. Our 5-star experienced cooks and chefs ensure the food looks as good as it is healthy. Once you come and visit us, we are confident that you will make plans to come again. We eagerly await the opportunity to serve you our delicacies!!

Antenna America is just what you need to quench your thirst! Our Kannai, Yokohama and Shinagawa branches serve up American craft beer from top U.S. craft brewer-ies. Please go to : http://www.antenna-america.com for more details. Our tasting rooms have rotating taps and a huge selection of bottles, all fresh from breweries thanks to our cold-chain delivery system. Chicken wings, burg-ers and other American food items all made to order at our Kannai and Yokohama branches. We have private space available upon request at our Kannai branch. An-tenna America is family friendly, so come check us out!

American craft beer is our specialty!

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Delicious French cuisine in Misawa

Join us for a wonderful French meal at North40-40 in Misawa. Your friends and family will enjoy the finest dishes made with the best local ingredients. North40-40 is within walking distance from Misawa Air Base, offers parking and take-out service. The restaurant has a new bar where you can enjoy a wide variety of beverages sure to please all of those in your party. Celebrating a special occasion? Don’t forget to pick up that scrump-tious dessert from our take-out patisserie to make that celebration all the sweeter! Visit us at North 40-40, we can’t wait to serve you.

It tastes as goodas it sounds

Beginning with an Eric Clapton guitar, Hard Rock Cafe owns the world’s greatest collection of music memora-bilia, which is displayed at its locations around the globe. For fans of music, great food and good times, Hard Rock is the go-to restaurant to get that authentic American diner-inspired cuisine wrapped in a unique musical ex-perience. So, it’s time to strike up the band! Events, like great music, are born to inspire others. At Hard Rock Cafe, we pride ourselves on delivering an exceptional ex-perience with a rock ‘n’ roll twist for each and every one of our guests.

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Marumiya is one of the biggest names when it comes to furikake, boasting its own extensive “furikake series.” The Noritama flavor combines nori (dried seaweed) with tamago (egg) and is the most popular long seller among colorful furikake products.

Japanese people immediately recognize the characteristic taste of the subtly sweet egg granule and the aromatic shredded seaweed, recognizable from the very first bite ever taken.

The nori is a blend of seaweed from various production areas while the egg granule also features two different

kinds of flavors – for what seems like a simple furikake, there is a lot of commitment inside

the package.Since its release in 1960, the Noritama

furikake rice seasoning has been renewed a total of eight times, reducing the salt content and the seasoning according to changes in both the tastes and lifestyle of

modern consumers.It’s a famous best-seller that ranks

high in popularity for decades! With a slow, careful evolution in accordance

with the taste of the time, Noritama provides a classic, satisfying flavor to enhance your rice with.

Nagatanien created a furikake series for the sophisticated palate of adults called “Otona no Furikake,” looking at data on which flavors sharply declined in popularity among people older than 12 years.

This has lead to a bag that pursues the crisp freshness of nori seaweed by using freeze-dried seaweed, enhanced with carefully chosen ingredients that ranked high in popularity among adults such as wasabi, a flavor that children tend to stay away from.

That’s what differentiates the Otona no Furikake series from other rice seasonings.

Since its launch in 1989, it has been a large success that managed to overturn the common belief of the time that furikake are primarily for children.

With flavorful bonito and plenty of seaweed added to the wasabi taste, this seasoning is positively addictive.

According to Nagatanien’s own research, the three flavors of bonito, sockeye salmon, and wasabi have earned a statistic of being liked by 99% of people for three consecutive years.

The “Yukari” furikake of red shiso (beefsteak plant) is a staple seasoning on tables all around Japan. It is characterized by its vivid color and unmistakable aroma, and the more Yukari red shiso varieties the company behind this famous product develops, the more commitment to quality goes into the process.

Since Yukari’s release in 1970, there have been a variety of flavors on top of plain beefsteak plant: ume (Japanese

apricot), sesame, seaweed, ginger, and so on.Especially “pen-type” furikake has

gained a lot of attention, serving the sprinkles in a literal pen to

be shaken out, easy to carry and fun to use.

Yukari is also a female name in

Japan and carries the meaning of “fortune”

and “destiny,” coming from the ancient belief that purple grass is something auspicious.

Ochazuke is a traditional Japanese dish that features hot tea, broth, or water being poured over a bowl of rice topped with various ingredients.

In 1952, a company called Nagatanien developed an instant ochazuke, instantly successful as a simple and quick dish.

The Tarako Ochazuke is based on a soy sauce infused with the umami flavor of scallops and bonito while also featuring little arare rice crackers made of rice and seaweed, the staple ingredients of ochazuke.

Of course, the tarako (spicy cod roe) flavor is wonderfully rich and brings a nice balance to the mix.

These handy little bags are perfect for lunch boxes. One pack of Marumiya’s Pokémon Furikake Mini Pack is just right for one serving of rice.

It is an assortment of 20 individual bags that comes in four different flavors that are especially beloved by Japanese children: egg, salmon, bonito soy sauce with finely chopped bonito flakes, and vegetables.

Different Pokémon are printed on the little bags, so this flavorful rice topping is a highlight for fans of all ages! Extra calcium is added as well, giving you a nutritious boost!

Another classic dish is wakame gohan, blending wakame seaweed with rice.

Marumiya’s “Mazekomi Wakame” furikake series lets you enjoy this staple rice dish with a simple yet flavorful bag. The rich umami flavor is rich in the ingredients,

characterized by being delicious even if the rice has cooled down.

The sake (flavor) has received an upgrade, adding even more salmon to the mix and thus making for a richer, saltier umami experience.

In general, the Mazekomi Wakame series comes in 24 varieties, including limited and premium flavors such as bamboo shoots or grilled eel.

best Furikake rice seasonings

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ill make your tastebuds sing!10NORITAMAThe classic furikake rice seasoning choice1.

YUKARIAromatic, carefully selected red shiso2.

POKÉMON FURIKAKE MINI PACKGreat for lunch boxes, not only for kids!4.

MAZEKOMI WAKAME SAKEAn authentically Japanese flavor with seaweed and salmon5.

OTONA NO FURIKAKE WASABI A flavor geared towards an adult palate6.

TARAKO OCHAZUKEThe original flavor of rice with tea3.

Both the popularity and the taste hasn’t changed in 50 years and counting.

The shredded seaweed and yellow egg of this furikake looks colorful!

Pour some hot water over the furikake rice bowl and enjoy a savory broth.

Red shiso furikake has a characteristic purple color and rich aroma.

Every furikake pack of this fun mix has a different Pokémon on it.

There’s plenty of wakame seaweed and salmon in the bag!

This rice topping boasts the crispy and fresh flavor of seaweed.

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Nagatanien created a furikake series for the sophisticated palate of adults called “Otona no Furikake,” looking at data on which flavors sharply declined in popularity among people older than 12 years.

This has lead to a bag that pursues the crisp freshness of nori seaweed by using freeze-dried seaweed, enhanced with carefully chosen ingredients that ranked high in popularity among adults such as wasabi, a flavor that children tend to stay away from.

That’s what differentiates the Otona no Furikake series from other rice seasonings.

Since its launch in 1989, it has been a large success that managed to overturn the common belief of the time that furikake are primarily for children.

With flavorful bonito and plenty of seaweed added to the wasabi taste, this seasoning is positively addictive.

According to Nagatanien’s own research, the three flavors of bonito, sockeye salmon, and wasabi have earned a statistic of being liked by 99% of people for three consecutive years.

Launched in 1963, Marumiya’s “Sukiyaki” furikake celebrates its 55th birthday in 2018. Sukiyaki is a beef hot pot and one of the Japanese dishes that is fairly well-known around the world.

When this Japanese rice seasoning launched, beef was fairly expensive, so this product was developed to let people enjoy the flavor easily and affordably at home. It was the very first meat furikake back then and the beef flakes were even patented. To commemorate its 55th anniversary, the original packaging is on sale as well.

There’s hardly anyone who is not familiar with the Minions of the Despicable Me movies. These Minions are the stars of the “Minion Furikake Mini Pack” by Marumiya, a collaboration that makes for a wonderful souvenir for the little ones at home.

Egg, salmon, bonito soy sauce with finely chopped bonito flakes, and vegetables are the four flavors of this

mix, especially loved by children. All of them hold back on saltiness and instead focus on a gentle flavor after the most recent renewal.

This is another recommended furikake of Marumiya’s “Mazekomi Wakame” series. Shirasu are boiled young white sardines, sweetfish, or herrings that are often used as a topping for rice, tofu, and so on.

The back of the package of this furikake also features recipe ideas, such as adding the flavorful mix to pasta.

These furikake are free of any additives and the set of 20 bags comes in five different varieties: ume with bonito, bonito, egg, small fish, and nori seaweed.

Tanaka Foods, the company behind this product, is a long-established manufacturer from Hiroshima, founded in 1901. It’s also a pioneer of furikake seasoning for a single

serving, releasing “mini furikake” way ahead of the competition in 1975.

Without any colorings, preservatives, or other additives, one of these bags promises an authentic and natural flavor experience, completely relying on the taste and aroma of the ingredients alone.

Especially the rich sesame fragrance

positively stands out. Even toddlers can enjoy this product without worries.

You can find a selection of Japanese furikake rice seasonings at most supermarkets and even convenience stores.

Keio Store is a supermarket chain that is all about the daily life around Keio Electric Railway’s lines. As of right now, there are 33 individual stores including the affiliates Kitchen Court and Keio Store Express, all of them loved by the locals.

We hunted for the best furikake rice seasonings at the Sakuragaoka Store, right next to Sakuragaoka Station, and also recommend its other diverse product selection, ranging from fresh foods to alcohol and miscellaneous goods.

Keio Seiseki SakuragaokaAddress: 1-11-1, Sekido, Tama-shi, Tokyo, 206-0011NEAREST STATION: Seiseki-sakuragaoka Station (Keio Line),

right next to the stationPHONE NUMBER: 042-337-2511HOURS: 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. (2F is open until 9:00 p.m.)Closed: January 1, irregularly twice a year

*This information is from the time of this article’s publication.*Prices and options mentioned are subject to change.

Have you heard of Japan’s furika-ke? In Japanese, furikake means “to sprinkle over.” Furikake are

seasonings of various dried ingredients such as egg, seaweed, or sesame, made to top a bowl of plain white rice.

In Japan, it is common to enjoy rice just as it is while the West knows it as a side to go with something else, and this is why furikake is rather prominent in Japanese daily life. A simple bag of fu-rikake rice seasoning adds a flavorful kick to every bowl, inspired by dishes and ingredients such as eggs and sea-weed, sukiyaki, and cod roe!

Try this fun way to enjoy rice for yourself with our 10 recommended fu-rikake rice seasoning choices!

LIVE JAPAN

best Furikake rice seasonings

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ill make your tastebuds sing!

OTONA NO FURIKAKE WASABI A flavor geared towards an adult palate

SUKIYAKIBeef hot pot as a unique seasoning7.

MAZEKOMI WAKAME SHIRASURich flavors of both the sea and the land9.

MUTENKA FURIKAKE MININo colorings, no preservatives, good for the body10.

MINION FURIKAKE MINI PACKGentle flavors for kids8.

WHERE TO BUY JAPANESE FURIKAKE RICE SEASONINGS?

The bags are adorned with cute illustrations of cows.

This furikake is rich in calcium and comes with plenty of shirasu.

The base color of the Japanese furikake package is white.

The Minions are extremely popular in Japan.

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When it comes to Ja-pan, snack foods are a particularly popular cultural

export. It is not uncommon for young people living outside the country to know about things like pocky and ramune (see below), and taste-test videos of Japanese snacks on YouTube can easily amass tens of thou-sands of views. When coming back from a trip to Japan, a common question may well be, “Did you go to a konbini?” re-ferring to, of course, the ubiq-uitous chain stores like 7-11 and Lawson, that can be found on nearly every street and whose snack selection is absolutely mouthwatering to the uniniti-ated.

However, there was indeed a time before konbini. The popu-larization of these chain stores didn’t even start to take hold until the 1980s, during the peak of Japan’s Bubble Economy.

Prior to this, the go-to store was the dagashiya, meaning “trivial sweets shop.” The smallness may refer to the individual-sized candies, or perhaps to the cheap price — finding dagashi for a mere ¥10 a piece is still delightfully common. Though many dagashiya have struggled under increased competition from convenience stores and supermarkets, there are still ways to get your fix for those who know where to look. In Tokyo, there are dozens of differ-ent shops, each with their own unique flavor.

Okashi no Machioka is the closest thing to a dagashiya chain you’ll find. Resembling a convenience store from the ex-terior, it features a mix of both western items (potato chips and chocolate bars) and more tra-ditional favorites, such as the firm jelly sweet youkan, and the incred-ibly popular corn snack umaibo. In

nearby Zoshigaya, you can also find Kami Kawaguchiya — a dagashiya that’s over 200 years old!

One of the most obvious charm points of the sweets sold at dagashiya is their use of more traditional flavors to fit the Japanese palate. There are many ume (pickled plum) flavored goods; anything from crackers to mints, jams and jel-

lies, or even sold as-is. They are very sour, and not what one would usually think of as a pleasant des-

sert, though they can be an ac-quired taste. Japanese sweets traditionally also tend toward the crunchy, such as the crack-er-ish snack senbei. Nuts, like those in popular brands like Usupi, are also common. Then, of course, if you want to go all

the way to the Japanese-y side of the sweets spec-

trum, you can buy whole fish here as

well. Seafoods such as iwashi (sardines) and

ika (squid) are dried and eaten as a snack. Novelty candies are also king, such as fake beer and candy cigarettes, which, as you might imagine, are especially popular with children.

Indeed, as will be obvious from entering nearly any da-gashiya store, the primary customer has always been chil-dren. “First of all, the candy is very cheap, and also very easy to eat,” explained Mr. Futami, the friendly owner of Kirinchan in Ebisu. This shop also sells toys: all manners of Rubik’s cubes, dice, playing cards, as well as Disney or Universal-themed merchandise. Some shops, like Ichinban Ichome in Ikebukuro, also have UFO catchers or other games out-side the shops. Interestingly enough, they also carry vintage photosets of J-pop idols. Anoth-er holdover from the Showa Pe-riod are prizes, or “kuji” found in certain items that can be re-deemed at the stores for more candy. Going to dagashiya is ac-tually a great way for children to learn a part of

their culture

that they may otherwise not be so familiar with.

However, adults can also join in on the fun, as well as collec-tors. “The kids don’t come here much anymore, it’s become a candy store for adults,” says Mr. Adou, the owner of Waruga-ki Salon in trendy Shimokitaza-wa. Like the sweet shops once common in American shopping malls of old, there are dozens and dozens of tubs of candy, as well as old toys, and vintage ac-cessories. These were actually brought to Japan by Americans, often soldiers. In a strange twist of fate, such nostalgic items have become fashionable, and Mr. Adou showed me the high-end fashion magazines that have used his odds and ends in haute couture photo shoots.

Dagashiya shops are a treat for the taste buds as well as an interesting gateway to retro Ja-pan; seeing at least one is high-ly recommended!

BY ALEX EHRENREICH,METROPOLIS MAGAZINE

THOSE DANG DAGASHIYAWhat, where and how (much candy can I f t into my face at once)?

Yakisoba crisps

Fruit roll tape

Castella dango

Senbei with

um

e ja

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Chocolate cigarettes

flickr/Wally Gobetz

flickr/Martin Lewinson

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THOSE DANG DAGASHIYAWhat, where and how (much candy can I f t into my face at once)?

Outback Steakhouse starts fresh every day to create the flavors that our mates crave most. Our signature steaks are seasoned, hand-carved to order and grilled to perfection. Our specialty is Slow-Roasted Prime Rib offered during weekend dinnertime. But there’s so much more to enjoy, including our famous Blooming Onions. So, come and enjoy our authentic American food and let us make you feel at home. Or, get your food to go and enjoy it relaxing at home. Even easier, order through Uber Eats, with delivery available from our Roppongi, Shinagawa Takanawa and Shibuya Ikebukuro locations.

A Steakexperience crafted just for you!

Dine in at Yokota Enlisted Club!

Your safety comes first, so join us for a relaxing and enjoyable meal with your family, or just spoil yourself. Featuring our new menu, we’re now offering sit-down meals or you can get it To-Go. Seating may be limited, so make your reservation or just drop in, but be sure to use your Dining Loyalty Card every time you spend more than $6. Get 10 stamps to receive $10 off your next meal. Not a member? Sign up now at your club for Members First and get the benefits you deserve. Reservations can be made by calling 227-8820.

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A Taste o apan - Stars and Stripes

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