first pic is shogayaki, second pic is some cold udon, last two pics is my curry rice and the curry rice i was teaching my partner to make.
some of my favorite memories related to japanese food are making curry for me and my father. we didn’t have a lot of money and could only cook on a hot plate so often times i misssd meals. however, i convinced my dad to let me try to make curry. we both loved it so much that it became a staple, during the times we could afford actual groceries. it is still my favorite comfort dish and i have made it for all my friends. curry is my way of showing love. most recently, i got my long distance partner some curry ingredients and we cooked along together with my guidance, and he found it delicious!
others are obviously just drunk conversation with my friends over tonkotsu ramen, the feeling of the weight of my 7eleven bag in my hand half asleep in tokyo at 7 am and the warmth of the bottle of coffee i had, the first time i ever tried takoyaki…
what are some of your own most precious memories?
by Dry_Abbreviations742
5 Comments
My grandmother would make sushi for Christmas and sukiyaki for Thanksgiving. Of course as a kid you just think that your own normal is everyone else’s normal. I remember telling my classmates that I couldn’t wait for Christmas sushi! Even my teacher looked at me odd. And this was before sushi became more normalized in the states haha
I also look very white for 3/8 Japanese
One time near Nikkō I got caught in a downpour while hiking to see the momiji with a couple others. When we walked back into town, absolutely drenched, we found an onsen with a home style restaurant attached. We threw our clothes into a dryer, had a some hōjicha, went for a soak and got a tokkuri of atsukan in the tub. After that we went to the restaurant, I had kinoko gohan, miso soup with yuba knots and tsukune with simmered root vegetables. I guess the food was probably on the good side of unremarkable in retrospect, but at the time it hit just right. I still love kinoko gohan and make it often.
I also had a ramen shop in the house next door, or close to that anyway, when I lived in Tokyo. It was open at weird hours but always smelled extremely good. I’d stop for a bowl of tonkotsu pretty often late at night and they’d pile it high with moyashi. “Good against hangover” they’d say.
When I lived in Okinawa, on Iriomote, there was an izakaya in town whose owner I met while fishing. I told him how I love ika sashimi and tako karaage, but raw octopus not at all and deep fried squid much less. After that, whenever he went out spearfishing he’d stop by my workplace on the way back and tell me to come eat the squid or octopus he’d caught. He also made an incredible dish of simmered (or poached?) chicken skin in ponzu topped with grated radish and a little yuzu zest.
Another Okinawa story: Got up at 4 in the morning to go fishing for katsuo. Got back by 11, the tataki we ate for lunch was still swimming in the big blue just an hour before. I don’t love raw fish, actually, but that was absolutely incredible.
Lastly, there used to be an Okinawan restaurant in Kyoto called aka-hige. Many years after my time living in Japan, I went back just travelling, with my future wife. She was just too tired one evening so I went out looking for food and found aka-hige. The owner got a big laugh out of the tall white guy speaking Yaimamuni (just a few sentences, admittedly) and the only other guy in there was the prefecture sales rep for Orion beer. Turned into a great night of food, drink and island stories.
nothing beats the miso soup my mom made every morning. i try to copy it now but it never tastes the same 🥲
My aunt was hooked on pachinko so she’d bring me along. I’d stand at the little food stall eating ramen while she played. At first I was shy eating alone but I got used to it. Ramen was so good! Another memory: I once brought my nephew and his classmates to an izakaya (didn’t know any better back then) and the cook would make us chahan and tebasaki. Good times.
when I was an early teenager my mom would send me to sleep over at my Grandma’s house. She was the most incredible cook. I was kind of a scrawny kid with a finicky appetite – I think my parents kinda sent me there specifically because she could get me to eat. Probably my favorite is when I’d show up and she’d be set up with a TV tray holding a stack of gyoza wrappers and a big bowl of filling. She’d watch the news and make dumpling after dumpling. Then she’d fry them up and we’d chow down. She’d make massive batches, like 50+, so there would be leftovers. If I recall she’d serve with japchae. We’d stay up late eating her incredible food and watching Jackass and other godawful TV together.
One time… there weren’t any leftovers. I stayed up late after she went to bed and kept going back for more and more. I ate every last one! She was so pissed in the morning!
Thank you for posting this, it was a treat to hold her in my memory for a bit.