About food in Japan

TKG arranged versions

Through our two last posts, we believe you have already leant the simplest Japanese food, TKG or Tamago Kake Gohan (rice with raw egg). Today, in addition to the traditional style, we introduce TKG arranged with food ingredients which are maybe more familiar for you.

Such TKG arrangements are introduced in a book published 5 years ago "365days of Tamagokake Gohan recipes(365日たまごかけごはんの本)". The book suggests many different and some unusual ways to enjoy (might be not for some though) TKG, rice with raw egg.  

The recipe book is actually available in English from the same publishing company but it is sold only through the Japanese version website. For those who can order it in Japanese, please clieck here.

 

Inspired by such unusual recipes from  "365days of Tamagokake Gohan recipes(365日たまごかけごはんの本)", here we also tried a few of newer types of TKG.

 

TKG with typical Italian ingredients, Tomato & Parmesan cheese & Raw ham

 

 Not bad, salty taste of raw ham is well matched with raw egg.

It can be like Italian rice dish, risotto.

 

 

TKG with butter, "nori"(海苔, seaweed) and soy sauce

  
a bit arranged with butter and seaweed 

 from the most popular way just with soy sauce

We could not feel butter taste so much as it was melted by the heat from cooked rice

but surely butter gives sweetness and subtle flavor

to the Japanese traditional food. 

 

 

TKG with canned tuna, cheese, mayonaise and soy sauce

     

Although we did not try this time, green leaf vegetables, mushrooms and fish or seafood such as salmon and shrimps will be also well matched with raw egg.

Try and find your own original TKG recipes!!! 

Try TKG (rice with raw egg) at Haneda Airport

Following our previous post introducing TKG (Tamago Kake Gohan, rice with raw egg), this post brings you an option to try the simple Japanese food at a casual restaurant.

Uchino Tamago Chokubai-jo (うちのたまご　直売所, Stand of our eggs from a farmer) is accommodated in Terminal 1 of Haneda International Airport where it is mainly used for domestic filghts operated by Japan Airline group. The casual Japanese restaurant is close to Keikyu train station and monorail gates on the underground (B1) floor.

It opens from 8a.m. to 9p.m. and is available even for breakfast to quick dinner if you would.

As the restaurant's name shown, "a stand of eggs directly from a farmer", food with fresh eggs is its specialty at the casual first-food like stand. Actually the main menu choices are only two, Tamago Kake Gohan (TKG, rice with raw egg) and Oyakodon (chicken and egg rice bowl). All others are side dishes such as miso soup, drink and, cake and pudding made with the high quality fresh eggs. The shop is operated by Akasaka Umaya upper scale Japanese restaurant, introduced on our another blog post, which features selected fine food from Kyushu region. 

If you still...mind raw egg, Oyakogon (chicken and cooked egg on top of rice in bowl) will be the better option. Otherwise, we recommend that you try a few raw eggs came from a certain farm in Fukuoka and kept fresh and at high hygenic standard. 

Two bowls of rice and two eggs, two small condiment dishes are included in the set menu Tamago Kake Gohan at Yen 500. Miso soup with nori (seaweed) is an option at + Yen 100. 

   

On the counter table, two bottles of soy sauce are offered as seasoning for raw egg. One is especially made for the simple menu, rice with raw egg, and another light taste sauce made from bonite stock.

 

    

We also found black pepper mill and Japanese red pepper with 7 spices (shichimi togarashi, 七味唐辛子) provided for seasoning. These spices could be good to adjust to more familiar flavor for you. Some locals also take the option. 

 

Oyakodon (親子丼 chicken with egg on top of rice)

is also a good alternative

if you are not able to take raw egg TKG.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With these condiments, spices and pickles, enjoy two bowls of rice with two raw eggs.

Then you will become the fan of TKG !!

 

Restaurant name: Uchino Tamago Chokubaijyo

Address: B1F Terminal 1,  Haneda International Airport, 3-3-2 Haneda Airport, Ota-ku, Tokyo

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TKG (卵かけご飯, rice with raw egg)

TKG is a relatively new abbreviation of a Japanese word. Some Japanese people maybe still don't know it.

TKG represents Takago Kake Gohan, rice with raw egg. It is very simple food, cooked Japanese rice (Gohan) topped with a broken uncooked egg (Tamago Kake). 

  　

 

In many places out of Japan, people won't take a raw egg. In Japan, we often eat raw eggs. The two most popular ways to take an raw egg is with rice as above and as dipping sauce for Skiyaki (beef hot pot). You might alerady experience either way in Japan.

Because of the food culture to have a raw egg, in Japan, egg producers, food distributors and retailers etc all care the preserving condition of eggs enough cool in fridge and keep appropriate hygiene standars for taking without cooking. As long as eggs are appropriately treated in Japan, they are edible raw. So don't worry!! Eggs served in Japan are not same with ones in your country, which are considered taking after cooked.

 

TKG or Tamago Kake Gohan, is one of the most popular ways to have rice in Japan.

It is often served for breakfast at Ryokan and hotels as well as as a part of teishoku (定食, set menu) at casual local restaurants across Japan.

The cooking way is very simple and usually made by a diner. 

1. Break egg shell and pour whole egg to a small bowl.

 

2. Add one or two spoons of soy sauce to it.

 

3. Mix them well and pour the liquid to rice in another bowl.

  

An alternative way to prepare Tamago Kake Gohan is to put an egg, soy sauce on a rice bowl directly and mix them all. A short video on below link shows the process. 

http://www.ajinomoto.co.jp/aji/egg/generator/#

Just a remark for you, spice like salt is added after soy sauce on the movie. It is "Ajinomoto", artificial seasoning or a main product of the site operator. Ignore that as it is not necessary actually.

 

 

 

For a last few years, the simplest cooking food, Tamago Kake Gohan has been looked backed and re-evaluated by younger generations. Then the abbreviation TKG was born. Some people select fine quality eggs to prepare the best TKG. Soy sauce developped especially for Tamago Kake Gohan can be seen at some selected grocery stores nowadays.

As a series of TKG or Tamago Kake Gohan, we will introduce modern ways to enjoy it with additional condiments and a restaurant where you can find a nice bowl of TKG!

Don't be afraid and try Tamago Kake Gohan if you can find it at your accommodations or restaurant you visited in Japan!!

  

Related articles

Tamago Kake Gohan: Japan's National Dish

Illy cafe with Ukiyoe (浮世絵), Nihombashi Tokyo

Many of you, especially those in Europe, may know Italian espresso brand "espresamente illy". The coffee brand operates several coffee shops in Tokyo and some other major cities of Japan.

As same with other units of espressamente illy, it provides authentic Italian espresso and other various coffee drinks and some Italian food like panini sandwiches and dolce(italian dessert). All the units are in modern design in red tone from the brand logo.

One thing, espressamente illy Nihombashi, Tokyo is different from other illy coffee shops is a big wall is decorated with art graphic panel of UKIYOE (浮世絵), Japanese traditional art.

 

 

While you have a cup of Italian coffee, you can also enjoy viewing the Japanese traditional art works... like this.

 

Three Ukiyoe art work graphics are successfully replicated by a Japanese major print-technology company from collections of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.A.

 

* Under the Wave off Kanagawa, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

    by Katsushika Hokusai (「富獄三十六景」神奈川沖浪裏　葛飾北斎)

* Nihonbashi: Morning Scene, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô Road

    by Ando Hiroshige  (「東海道五十三次」日本橋朝之景 安藤広重)

* Reflective Love, from the series Anthology of Poems: The Love Section

    by Kitagawa Utamaro (「歌撰恋之部」物思恋 喜多川歌麿)

 

All these works are major iconic works by these Ukiyoe masters in the Edo period. It is also interesting to know a scene of Nihombashi, where the cafe is located, in early 19th century or 200 years ago from the work by Ando Hiroshige.

 

Cafe name: espressament illy Nihombashi

Address: Nihombashi Fuji bld. 1st floor, 2-5-13 Nihombashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Website in Japanese: http://espressamenteilly.jp

 

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Chopsticks with gold foil at New year party, Hakuza Nihonbashi

 At the beginning of a new year with full of happiness, we introduce a product that must be matched with such feeling.

New year is the biggest traditional event for Japanese. We celebrate a new year arrived with family and relatives in general and we wish a happy year by visiting a shrine and share cups of sake etc. We have some icons of New Year, such as traditional decorations, rice cake, new year post cart etc.

If we say in color, "gold" is a color often used for celebration of New Year. It may be same at some other countries. The most gorgeous color is often placed on celebration items.

 

We found an interesting product with gold and also related to food.

Called "Pakkin Bashi" (ぱっきん箸)

 Pakkin Bashi is a pair of chopstick produced by Hakuza (箔座), a gilder from the origin of gold leaf, Kanazawa (金沢), Hokuriku region.  

From the package of paper cover with stlipe lines in red, we are not able to find how Pakkin Bashi is different from others. 

The unique feature of Pakkin Bashi can be seen on a moment when we split apart a pair of the chopsticks. 

It's a very short time and

was too difficult to express it with a photo actually...

 

When the chopsticks were splitted,

small pieces of gold foil came down from the chopsticks.

We saw the remain sticked on a stick end.

 

These pieces of gold foil are "edible", no harm. Gold foil is traditionally used to decorate food and sake (Japanese alcohol) for celebratory feast. By gilders' sophisticated technique, thin and tiny pieces are put on food or drink, additing brilliant flavor. 

In same way, Pakkin Bashi brings us a joyful moment by splitted apart the chopsticks and decorating food before us with gold foil come down.

It's very delicate presentation with tiny pieces.

 

As for the name, "Pakkin Bashi" does sound strange? You may wonder how it comes from.

"Pakkin" implies the sound made when we split apart a pair of chopsticks. And it also comes from a word "gold leaf" in Japanese, "hakukin (箔金)". Bashi is same with hashi (箸, chopsticks). We could not imagine such elegante moment of using the chopsticks from the name with amusing sound. 

Pakkin Bashi is available at Hakuza boutique Nihonbashi, Tokyo as well as Hakuza flagship boutique and craft studio in Kanazawa. 

It will be good to celebrate your special moment with Japanese traditional gold foil decoration on food. 

 

Hakuza official website: http://www.hakuza.co.jp/english

Hakuza Nihonbashi, Tokyo

Address: Coredo Muromachi 1st floor, 2-2-1 Nihonbashimuromachi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 

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Hakuza Honten (flagship store), Kanazawa 

Address: 1-30-4 Moriyama, Kanazawa-city, Ishikawa prefecture 

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Le Bourguignon, French

Happy New Year 2013!!!

 

Upscale French cuisine is actually a food category which we recommend to try in Tokyo, after Japanese meals. Some of you may think WHY French in Japan? But it is true that Tokyo is a city where we can have the highest standard of French cuisine. The quality may be the best outside the origin country, France. We know even a few (or more?) people say that French cuisine in Tokyo is the best in the world.

 

Let us tell you why French restaurants in Tokyo are so good?...  For decades, a lot of Japanese cooks with ambitious have work experience at upscale French restaurants in France to horn their cooking skills. On the other hand, due to their good hands (dexterity) and diligence, Japanese cooks are very welcomed by French restaurant owners and top chefs. Now some of Japanese cooks take important positions in kitchen of upscale French restaurants in France. Again some of them come back to Tokyo and demonstrate their skills acquired in the origin country. People in Tokyo are very eager to taste the best dishes including authentic French cuisine. Restaurants are expected to keep satisfying such guests. As the result, as Michelin Guide's evaluation, Tokyo is one of the best gourmet city in the world and it is not only for Japanese cuisine but also for French and other types of meals. 

 

Well today's our recommendation Le Bourguignon is also one of such restaurants appreciated by local food lovers as authentic French cuisine in Tokyo.

 

Le Bourguignon is located in Roppongi and is just a few hundreds meters from Roppongi Hills and Grand Hyatt Tokyo hotel.

 

Both the exterior and interior with around 20 seats are so lovely in romantic European style. It looks like a "petite hotel" in a small village of France. That makes us escaping from our daily hectic life.

 

 

 

This time, we ordered a full-course dinner at the least expensive price Yen 5500 per person for starter/fish/meat/dessert. The quality and ingredients are much exceeded our expectation.

We introduce a few plates from the course dinner. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boudin noir (black sausage with blood of pork) with two kinds of apple

 

Some people, including Japanese, mind the strong flavor from blood sausage. Boudin noir at Le Bourguigon is totally different from others. The black piece never brings such strong wild scent but is cooked in sophisticated style by the skilled chef. We can recommend even to those who usually would not like to take boudin noir. 

 

 

Yezo deer in pie with truffle sauce

Classic French style. Normally such expensive ingredients like truffle can not be expected for the least expensive dinner course. Here we can. 

 

 

Red pepper pudding with vanilla ice cream

 

We could never imagine "red pepper" pudding!! It is one of the chef's specialty. Sweet pudding with a bit spicy flavor is interesting and delicate dessert.     

 

  

We were really satisfied with the quality, volume and also price of the dinner course, having felt like we were in France not in Japan.

 

To tell the truth, Michelin Guide has not awarded a start to the restaurant for their guidbook 2013 version. But we are sure that Le Bourguignon is still one of the most recommendable French restaurant in Tokyo. It has good value for the authentic French cuisine.

 

 

**************** UPDATE  December 2013 ****************

 

Pleased to tell you,

Michelin Guide has awaeded 1-star to Le Bourguignon for 2014 version!!

 

**************************************************************

 

Restaurant name: Le Bourguignon

Address: 3-3-1 Nishi-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo

 

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