What is authentic Japanese food? Do they always eat sushi? Are their udon noodles typically that blend? Do they really get to eat raw fish every day? What is your perception of Japanese food?
Japanese food is one of the more expensive foods both here and in Malaysia. Japanese restaurants tend to be very stylish and can look intimidating. The dining table settings are more delicate and traditional. It is definitely not one of those foods that one decides to 'tah pau' (take-away) on the home from work.
Back in Malaysia, Japanese food was a celebratory choice of cuisine. We can count the number of times we ate Japanese food in a year. When we were little kids, once in a while, dad would bring us to a Japanese restaurant located on the 3rd floor of the Mall at Kuala Lumpur after Sunday class. I was so young at that time I can't remember if the food was good but all their bento comes in all kinds of shape like aeroplane, cars, ships, etc. That was probably what attracted us there too since we definitely didn't know to ask for Japanese food at that time.
Sometime during high school days, sushi became really popular and it wasn't long before I got hooked on it. The two most fast-growing sushi chains in Malaysia were Genki Sushi and Sushi King. They serve their sushi on colored plates to distinguish the different prices for the different types of sushi (ie. blue plates are RM4, so forth...hmm..is the cheapest sushi plate still RM 4? hehehe...). The sushi plates are placed on a conveyor belt, which is located right in the middle of the shop. For those who want to eat mainly sushi, they are seated around the conveyor belt while those who want to order the main dishes (ie. teppanyaki, bentos) will be seated away from the conveyor belt. The fun part is to watch the sushi plates go by until the one you want comes along so that you can grab it off the conveyor belt. They also serve free ocha (green tea) to go with the sushi (wonder if they charge it now). It is also fun to sit near the conveyor belt because you get to see the chef in action when he/she makes the different types of sushi or rolls.
That was my perception of Japanese food - conveyor belt sushi. Not only that, the few types of sushi I ate were not really special either. Tuna salad. Crab salad. Bak hu (chicken floss). But I did started liking eel and a variety of fish eggs that they became my favorite ingredients for sushi. Realized that I didn't mention any fresh seafood (tuna don't count ler, that wan can punya)? Yup, it wasn't my top choices (even though I love fish and crab). Raw fish was even worst. Still remember ah Yong and Mei teasing me about how I am missing out the best part.
It wasn't until I came to East Lansing and started going to the Japanese restaurants here that I started accomodating the taste of raw fish and guess what, I love sashimi!! But of course I didn't jump straight into eating sashimi lah. The sushi here is slightly different than the ones at Genki Sushi or Sushi King. They do have the regular ones (only one ingredient) but the specialty sushi are the most popular ones. They are way more expensive compared to the sushi in M’sia (for the ingredients, it really is not that expensive) but when it comes to fresh and raw seafood, I definitely prefer to pay the price than the consequences of cheap, not fresh, contaminated, unhygienic seafood. The specialty sushi almost always consists of at least one raw seafood (typically some kind of fish). It tasted pretty good that I bravely advanced to eating just sashimi.
Haven’t gotten Japanese food for a long time…end up going for Japanese twice in a week. Sushiya just before the beach weekend and Sansu after the beach weekend. Sansu has been around for a while and it is still one of the best in town. We got a specialty roll (spicy tuna in the inside and both tuna and eel on the outside), a type of hometown roll and the simple tuna roll. This is definitely way more than enough for two persons.
The specialty roll is drizzled with the eel sauce and the raw tuna is coated with spices that the tuna taste becomes pretty mild. It is a starter for one who likes eel and is making their first attempt to try raw fish (like I was!).
The hometown roll is the best for someone who likes raw fish but might not like the sashimi style. The freshness of the raw fish can still be tasted with every bite of the sushi. The only thing about this particular hometown roll, it comes with four types of fish and shrimp. While I like raw fish now, I still don’t like the taste of cold shrimp (yup, not a big fan of shrimp with cocktail sauce) so I would request for them to change it to something else or make sure I go with someone who likes shrimp. :P
Other nice Japanese food are Omi Sushi and AI Fusion. We frequent Omi more because it is within walking distance from campus. Some of the sushi are definitely Americanized, like the one below, to better suit the American taste bite. They are unique American Japanese style where one probably can't find it in Japan (just like one can't find General Tso's chicken in China).
There is a new one in town - Maru Sushi & Grill - that I have yet to try but have heard lots of good stuff about it.
So Mei and Yong, next time we go out for Japanese food, Ping will be eating sashimi too!! :P
1 comment:
Just found out that you have a link of Maru Sushi to my blog. Thank you. Hopefully, by now you've got to visit and enjoy their delicious and artsy food already!
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