P1 Japan: Konnichiwa!

The first culture shock, first food impression and the first mystery. Curious about all my “firsts” in Japan? Keep reading!

“Konnichiwa!” That’s how you greet someone in Japanese, and it was the only word in my vocabulary when I embarked on my epic journey to the Kansai region of Japan. 

Kansai is the heart and soul of Japan, where you can witness the ancient and the modern coexist in harmony. It’s where you can marvel at the elegance of geishas, the zen spirit of temples, and the artistry of kaiseki. It’s also home to Kyoto, the cultural capital of Japan, where every street corner reveals a hidden gem of history, beauty, or cuisine. 

I spent twenty glorious days there with my travel buddy, and we had a blast exploring a culture that was both familiar and exotic.

Japan: A cultural shock in the air

One of the things that amazed us right from the start was how polite and orderly the Japanese people were. They lined up like soldiers, spoke softly like ninjas, and even their kids acted like angels. 

The most surprising moment was when the chief flight attendant asked everyone over the micro to close their overhead bins in a courteous manner. What? We had never heard such a request before! We were on the edge of our seats to see how the passengers would respond.

The first time the flight attendant spoke in Dutch (the plane was from KLM), only a few people bothered to close their overhead bins. The second time she repeated it in English, a few more people followed suit. The third time she said it in Japanese, all the bins suddenly closed with a click. It was like magic. 

That’s when my friend made a funny remark that our flight number was probably DIY (do it yourself) and we would have to serve ourselves on the plane while the crew just watched and cheered. Unfortunately, the airline did not expect other passengers to behave like the Japanese, so in the end the beautiful flight attendants still served us. 

A Japanese Feast: From Smoked Eel to Sparkling Jelly

Dinner had two choices: Japanese chicken rice or beef and potato. Sticking to the old adage “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”, we chose Japanese chicken rice without a second thought. 

The smoked eel appetiser was a delight. The piece of eel was soft like salmon, smoky like bacon, and umami like a mystery. (Umami is a Japanese word that means “savoury”, but I think it is more accurate to mean “a secret ingredient that makes everything taste better”). The sauce looked like soy sauce but was thick and rich, fragrant with mirin (Japanese rice wine) and slightly sweet. It was like caramel for the eel. 

Instead of a boring salad, there were some slices of avocado, creamy and fresh. They added a nice balance to the eel. The combination of two seemingly strange things turned out to be a genius idea. The sauce brought everything together and made my mouth happy. It was the ideal way to begin the feast.

Second appetiser: cold soba noodles with nori (dried seaweed) and dipping sauce. Japanese soba noodles are made from buckwheat, which is gluten-free and full of protein and minerals. Not many dishes in the world are served cold, but soba noodles pull it off. The noodles were cool but not stiff, chewy but not rubbery. 

Dried seaweed added a touch of ocean flavour. The dipping sauce was made from dashi, a broth that tastes like liquid umami. It was not too strong or too bland, just right to moisten the noodles and nori. A clever choice to tone down the intensity of the eel and prepare us for the main event.

The rice was warm and fluffy, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds that pop in your mouth. Fragrant juicy chicken, smothered with a glossy teriyaki sauce. The aroma of sake tickled your nose. Steamed carrots and broccoli were bright and crunchy, not mushy or bland. Here and there a green scallion slice peeked out from behind the chicken and the veggies. Some people might find Japanese food too mild compared to Vietnamese and Thai food, but once you give it a chance, you will appreciate its subtle charm.

Desserts looked stunning like glittering jewels on a magnificent Christmas tree. A proud purple grape rested in sparkling jelly on a creamy white cushion. Slices of succulent moss green kiwi relaxed in shimmering jelly. A trio of zesty yellow ananas sneaked in a tiny little cube. 

I gawked at them, feeling a pang of nostalgia. Oh jelly, who could grow up without having sweet memories with it? How could the Japanese make such pretty jelly? They must have a secret recipe or a magic wand. Or maybe they just have time, patience, and passion. 

A delicate white porcelain pot of steaming green tea was the unrivaled winner of beverages on that flight, at least for me. The other teas suffered the humiliation of being poured from the metal pots. Was it the Japanese obsession with culinary excellence that made them treat the green tea differently? Or did they simply know that green tea tasted better when poured from a porcelain pot? Either way, their attention to detail impressed and delighted me. Maybe I had also contracted the Japanese perfectionism bug.

The champion may have stolen the show, but I still had a soft spot for the ugly duckling of the bunch. When I eyed the bottles of Asahi-branded brown tea with curiosity, the Japanese stewardess kindly informed me that it was Japanese 16-herb tea. She said it was good for digestion, but also warned me that it had a peculiar taste that many people found off-putting. 

I was intrigued and decided to give it a go. It tasted a bit like roasted rice drink in Vietnam, but with a stronger herbal flavour that made it harder to drink. I managed to finish the bottle and realised that it wasn’t so bad after all. Plus, it did make my stomach feel lighter. Maybe I would have to stock up on this tea during my stay in Japan to cope with my greedy appetite.

We touched down in Osaka at the crack of noon. The passengers silently grabbed their bags and lined up to get off the plane. Everyone was so nice and well-behaved that my friend and I started to whisper whenever we spoke and moved like snails on tranquillisers. We figured that politeness and discipline were airborne diseases in Japan.

mlefood

In the next episode, I’ll tell you about one big surprise and some mysteries in Japan.