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Summer vacation may be over (or close to over) in the United States, but it's still in full swing in Japan. Many of my friends in Japan are busy celebrating Obon right now, an annual summer event when families come together to honor the spirits of their ancestors. You can learn more about this Buddhist tradition and how cucumbers shaped into cows plays into the celebration here. I've never been in Japan for Obon, but I hope to participate one day. As always, this celebration has its own set of decorations, symbols, rules, and, of course, foods! If you are in Japan right now or within the next month, look for Obon celebrations, firework shows, local matsuri, and other fun summertime events.
Speaking of matsuri...Last Friday, I wrote about the Ichinomiya Tanabata Matsuri and showed you pictures of festival foods that the characters in TANABATA WISH eat. [You can read that post HERE.] But what did I *actually* eat at the matsuri? I am not a huge fan of ika (squid), so I passed on Hiro's treat of squid-on-a-stick. I had already eaten takoyaki like David/Ryohei at the mall the week before, so I passed on that, too. I looked all over for Emi's taiyaki sundae and miso-smeared cucumber, but couldn't find them this year. I did find giant pickled cucumbers and taiyaki-like puff pastries though. But that's not what tempted my taste buds. This is what my Hikoboshi (aka my husband Toshi) and I chose...
Corn dogs and beef cartilage! I'm not even a huge corn dog fan at home, but when I saw this half cheese stick/half hot dog concoction, I had to try it. The cheese-hot dog duo was dipped in a pancake-like batter and rolled in panko (bread crumbs) to make it extra crunchy when deep fried. After it was cooked all the way through, the vendor rolled it in coarse sugar and offered me some American-style ketchup and mustard for it. I declined the latter. It probably didn't do my arteries any favors, but I give this treat a thumbs up. Come to find out later that this isn't a Japanese thing at all, but a Korean street food. As Kpop and Korean dramas are super popular with
Japanese teens and young adults, this doesn't surprise me at all. Further research at home found a recipe for Korean cheese corn dogs should you wish to whip some up in your Fry Pappy before you and your friends head out to see BTS perform on their world tour.
Though I picked a new and globally-blended treat, my hubby picked something very traditional and regional: Doteni (also called doteyaki in other parts of Japan). Doteni is beef cartilage, slow-cooked all day in a rich miso-paste sauce. Though you can find versions of this dish all over Japan, especially in izakaya (informal, pub-like places for the after work crowd), the Nagoya area is particularly known for this treat. My husband insists that it is delicious. He even went back for seconds. I...stuck with my Korean corn dog.
Because I take my foodie reporting skills seriously, I ate renkon chips for you, too. By itself, renkon (lotus) doesn't have a strong flavor. The vendor offered a variety of spices that could be added to the paper bag of deep-fried chips. I picked yuzu (a Japanese citrus fruit) with salt and pepper. You might not know yuzu, but if you eat/cook Japanese food a lot, you probably know the popular marinade ponzu which is made with yuzu juice. If you like Terra's vegetable chips, you'll probably like renkon chips, too.
Last but not least, there were several vendors selling kakigouri (like Sky eats in TANABATA WISH), but this was the closest I could get to the traditional flavorings--matcha syrup with condensed milk and a side of sweet azuki beans. It was so ridiculously hot in Japan that Saturday, that my dessert melted down before I could even stop to get a good picture of it. You'll have to look at the plastic display version from last week's blog post to see it in all its glory.
One thing that we saw a lot of but didn't try was frozen cans of mikan (tangerines). This area of Japan (especially out where my in-laws live) is known for its mikan. Everybody was such a hot, sweaty mess at the matsuri that every frozen mikan vendor had a long line. Each delighted customer was handed an opened steel can of frozen mikan and a plastic spoon. It was an ice pack and dessert rolled into one! Intrigued, we decided to try this at home. Toshi popped the can of mandarin oranges I bought at Fry's into the freezer for a few hours. It made a healthy, refreshing treat. Now I see why the lines were so long at the matsuri.
So there you go. Summer is winding down, but we aren't done yet. If you are coming out to Saboten Con in downtown Phoenix Labor Day weekend, come visit me. I will be in the back of the Vendor Hall in Artist Alley selling TANABATA WISH, bento boxes, chopsticks, egg molds, and all sorts of things to make your lunch fun. I'm happy to give your ho-hum lunch a makeover. No charge!
Want to see more of Sky's romantic adventure at the Ichinomiya Tanabata Matsuri? You can buy the paperback version of TANABATA WISH here and the eBook here.