Osechi Ryouri in Jsp Class :D

Osechi ryouri, new year dishes :D Yay! I only showed our group's food though XD Kurikinton, Tazukuri, Shrimp with Sake, Datemaki and Kuromame :D

Yay!

Happy New Year! :D

Reminiscing Japan - Yakiniku Dinner

Steph and I had a Yakiniku Dinner with Obirin students :)

According to Wiki, Yakiniku (焼き肉 or 焼肉), meaning "grilled meat", is a Japanese term which, in its broadest sense, refers to grilled meat dishes.

Today, it commonly refers to a Japanese style of cooking bite-sized meat (usually beef and offal) and vegetables on gridirons or griddles over flame of wood charcoals carbonized by dry distillation (sumibi, 炭火) or gas/electric grill. In North America, China and Taiwan, Yakiniku is also referred to as "Japanese barbecue".^[1]

In a yakiniku restaurant, diners order several types of prepared raw ingredients (either individually or as a set) which are brought to the table. The ingredients are cooked by the diners on a grill built into the table throughout the duration of the meal, several pieces at a time. The ingredients are then dipped in sauces known as tare before being eaten. The most common sauce is made of Japanese soy sauce mixed with sake, mirin, sugar, garlic, fruit juice and sesame.^[2] Garlic-and-shallot or miso-based dips are sometimes used.

Don't have pics of the actual food except the one posted above, unfortunately XD

I don't know if this counts as Japanese but the Filipino equivalent being Yakimix with friends :)

Reminiscing Japan - Wagashi Day

Steph and I were invited to this Wagashi making place. XD We saw and made lotsa Wagashi. According to Wikipedia, Wagashi (和菓子^?) is a traditional Japanese confectionery which is often served with tea, especially the types made of mochi, azuki bean paste, and fruits. Wagashi is typically made from natural based (mainly plant) ingredients. The names used for wagashi commonly fit a formula—a natural beauty and a word from ancient literature; they are thus often written with hyōgaiji (kanji that are not commonly used or known), and are glossed withfurigana.

This was our sensei wagashi maker :D

Lotsa pictures will follow now :D

Persimmon wagashi for fall!

Foreigner Joyce making bunny wagashi with sensei!

Wagashisss

Rooster made of sugar!

Yay! :D

Reminiscing Japan - McDo

Okay, Steph and I actually ate in McDo often XD Here's their breakfast! This is their version of the err Sausage McMuffin we have here? I forgot what it's called but it was good. I included this post just for the heck of it, though XD

Shrimp burger!

My usual McDo lunch consisted of the shrimp burger, large fries and a drink XD That would cost around 250 Php. Shrimp burgerrr XD It was pretty good, though. I just removed the veggies coz I'm not a fan.

I also liked ordering the fireofishu! Because fish is good. So why did I say the meal only cost me around 250 Php? There was a student discount since the McDo we ate in was located near our school.

The McDo in Japan does not actually serve rice. They only serve burgers. Yes, McDo's menu is location-specific or country-specific XD So, if you go to a foreign country, check out the menu of the McDo in that country. You don't have to try the food but it would be interesting to know what food they serve. Haha XD

Reminiscing Japan - Takoyaki Night!

Takoyaki is one of the more famous Japanese foods. Steph and I were lucky enough to have had a Japanese friend who invited us over to make takoyaki! :) According to Wikipedia, Takoyaki (たこ焼き or 蛸焼^?) (literally fried or grilled octopus) is a popular ball-shaped Japanese dumpling or more like a savory pancake made of batter and cooked in a special takoyaki pan. It is typically filled with diced or whole baby octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion, brushed with takoyaki sauce and mayonnaise, and topped with green laver (aonori) and katsuobushi (shavings of dried bonito). There are many variations to the takoyaki recipe.

Originally takoyaki used to be eaten without sauce or dip but in modern days it became common to eat it with a variety of sauces (takoyaki sauce, mayonnaise) and/or dips (e.g. ponzu i.e. soy sauce with dashi and citrus vinegar, goma-dare i.e. sesame-and-vinegar sauce or vinegared dashi).

In our case, our friend Maki already made the batter for us and we just put octopus in it XD We also topped our takoyaki with mayo and takoyaki sauce :D

Ah yes. Why is there meat, you ask? Well, I'm not too fond of octopus and our Japanese friend knew that so we also made "Nikuyaki" for me XD Eventually, I did the takoyaki with actual tako but yes. She actually prepared niku for me XD

Here is Steph making takoyaki :D

Me holding the takoyaki-making stick thingy XD

All of us though blurry XD

Takoyaki :D

*In exchange, we made some kinda banana thing. It was supposed to be turon, but we couldn't find the wrapper things XD

Reminiscing Japan - Family Steakhouse

Okay, actually I'm not super sure what the name of this restaurant was but I know Steph and I ate there more than once and it was near our school XD I think it's called Family Steakhouse, but again, I'm not sure XD

So this is rice, corn soup, I think, burger with potatoes and corn as sidings and tempura? I'm not sure as I forgot but yes. Look at the Japanese rice. It looks so sticky. I think all of the rice we tried in various restaurants reflected that kind of texture. Yummy :)

In another time, I also ordered Burger with Cheese in tomato sauce (spicy) with a siding of Spaghetti and Potatoes. Yummy. The Japanese also have a lot of burger places, surprisingly. Burgers don't strike me as particularly Japanese but yes, there are a lot of 'em. :)

Reminiscing Japan - Denny's

Steph and I often ate in Denny's, partly because I liked the food there. I loveeeed their beef stew! Unfortunately, no picture :( It was also expensive. More than 800 yen, I think but I kept ordering it nonetheless XDDD

Me in Denny's!

That's my camera I'm holding and my Japanese cellphone is beside me XD

I also ordered Omurice in Denny's.

This time, Omurice is actually something Japanese XD So as the name suggests, it is an omelette rice. So there's egg and there's rice. According to Wikipedia, The dish typically consists of chicken rice (rice pan-fried with ketchup and chicken) wrapped in a thin sheet of fried egg. The ingredients that flavor the rice vary. Often, the rice is fried with various meats (but typically chicken) and/or vegetables, and can be flavored with beef stock, ketchup, demi-glacewhite sauce or just salt and pepper. Sometimes, the rice is replaced with fried noodles, yakisoba, instead of fried rice, to make omusoba. A variant inOkinawa is omutako, consisting of an omelet over taco rice.

In my case, I remember that I ordered the ketchup flavored one coz I thought it seemed interesting. Also, I think there was beef in my omurice though I don't really remember. XD It was my first time trying omurice and I think it's something that can easily be done at home. If ever I do get the chance to try making it, I'll let you know XD

Reminiscing Japan - Mo's Burger

Steph and I also went to Mo's Burger. Here is their menu: 

Contemplating what to order or waiting for our orders XD

I think I ordered the Fish Burger but I don't have a picture of that so I shall show you Steph's order instead. I think she ordered a Cheese burger XD

For what it's worth, I also ate fries XD

Mo's Burger was not toooo expensive, surprisingly (as can be seen by the prices) and it was pretty good. :D

*okay, to append this post, I found a picture of the fish burger :D