うな丼

今日は「土用の丑の日」 (Today is “The Day of The Ox“)…which is the day in summer that people eat ウナギ (freshwater eel). Usually the eel is prepared as 「うな丼」 (Eel on Rice).

The うな丼 that I ate today.

Eating ウナギ (freshwater eel) in the summertime is said to give you stamina to stand the hot, humid days.

I wrote a post about 「土用の丑の日」 (“The Day of The Ox“) last year. Click here to read it.

We are eating 「うな丼」 (Eel on Rice) for dinner today.

It’s quite delicious!

Have you ever tried eel? ウナギ (Freshwater eel) is different from アナゴ (Saltwater eels).

ウナギ (Freshwater eel) is richer tasting and, in Japan, is usually prepared with a sweet sauce and eaten on rice. アナゴ (Saltwater eel) is the eel that is used on 寿司 (sushi), in Japan.

Both are good…but I think ウナギ (freshwater eel) is better.

回転寿司

Today my wife and I went to a Levi’s outlet sale in 新宿 (Shinjuku, Tokyo).

We bought some clothes for our kids.

While we were in 新宿 (Shinjuku), we had lunch at 三葉回転寿司 (Mitsuba conveyor-belt sushi).

Do they have 回転寿司 (conveyor-belt sushi) restaurants in your country?

At this type of sushi restaurant, the sushi chef prepares various types of sushi and puts them on different colored plates. Each colored plate represents the price for that particular sushi.

Then the sushi is placed on a conveyor-belt and goes around and when the one you want passes in front of you, you can take it off and eat it.

When you’re ready to leave, the restaurant staff calculates how much you owe by counting the colored plates from all the sushi you ate.

You can also request the sushi chef to make a particular sushi that you want, if you don’t see it on the conveyor.

Here are a few photos I took of the sushi and around 新宿 (Shinjuku):

フグ (Blowfish) skin

This building in Shinjuku has banners advertising Tokyo's bid for the 2016 Olympics.

The banner says: 「Tokyo 2016.　日本だから、できる。 あたらしいオリンピック！」 ("Tokyo 2016. This is Japan, so we can can do it...a new Olympics!")

Tokyo is #1…again!

For the second year in a row, Food & Wine magazine voted Tokyo as the Best Food City in the World.

Japanese chefs are dictating the world’s dining trends with their fierce devotion to seasonality and respect for aesthetics.

[Food & Wine magazine]

I agree! Tokyo has more restaurants than any other city in the world…whatever you want to eat, you can find it here.
And eating out in restaurants in Tokyo is a real pleasure, because no matter which restaurant you choose…the prices are reasonable, the service is excellent (with no tipping in Japan), and the food is prepared perfectly!

The Top Five cities in the world for the best food, according to Food & Wine magazine:

1. Tokyo, Japan
2. Barcelona, Spain
3. Copenhagen, Denmark
4. London, England
5. New York City, America

春の七草

Today is the seventh day of the new year.
It’s a Japanese tradition from China to eat a special dish made with 「春の七草」 (the seven herbs of Spring) on this day.

In China, the new year starts at the beginning of Spring. Japan used to follow this calendar, too.
That’s the reason that one way to write “New Year” in Japanese is 「新春」. It means “New Year“…but a literal translation would be “New Spring“.

The dish you meant to eat this morning with the 「春の七草」 (the seven herbs of Spring) is called 「七草粥」 (“Seven Herbs Porridge“).

The picture above is the 「春の七草」 (the seven herbs of Spring) that my wife used to make this 「七草粥」 (“Seven Herbs Porridge“):

I put a 梅干し (Japanese salty plum) in mine.
It was quite good.