Chef Born: Japan: The Food Tour

In December 2012 we traveled to Japan to do some exploring. To answer your question.. yes we got fat.

We spent 6 nights in Shinjuku, Tokyo; 2 nights in Osaka; 1 night in Kyoto; and 2 nights in Shibuya, Tokyo.

Sake on the plane to get this trip started off right ~旦_(・∀・ )

Just arrived! Ramen with savory dumplings..

I took Marika to a Japanese cooking class. One of the best experiences all trip; we received a private lesson (all in Japanese) from a Japanese lady who was amazed by everything.

Marika double deucin

Tempura with a random Eel spine.. we decided not to eat it until the chef came over and forced us (;¬_¬)

Oh my god.. where do I start? This is fresh Maguro (tuna) and it literally melted in our mouths.. best sushi we've had in our lives.. we both just stared at each other in shock after the first bite.. I would travel back just for another bite

We got to cook our own okonomiyaki! Everything tastes better when you get to cook it yourself..

clearly we couldn't wait to take the picture...

Takoyaki （：。）ミ

Top on our list of experiences was to try Fugu, or Pufferfish. Fugu is famous for its high amount of poison and difficulty to prepare. When the victim consumes the poison, he/she becomes fully paralyzed; however, the poison does not cross the blood-brain barrier, leaving the person fully conscious. The victim dies when their diaphragm becomes paralyzed and they eventually suffocate to death. Even the non lethal parts of the fugu contain some amounts of poison, leaving the patron with a slight sensation of intoxication. We went for the full fugu experience <( ゜= ゜ )>

fugu sashimi

Raw Fugu meat for the stew

Fresh

Fried Fugu (tastes like chicken)

The Fugu stew is cooked in a basket lined with parchement paper. Omoshiroi!

Each Fugu contains enough poison to kill 30 people - food for thought

Ice cream, mochi, and red bean

yayaya!

Insulated sake tokkuri and an intrigued Japanese boy

Matching thug mittens

mini milk carafe

Yuzu is an alcoholic drink made from the citrus fruit, yuzu, grown primarily in Asia

Dim +

Pumpkin

Best steak of our lives.. served with shredded daikon

Hamachi and Daikon

Delicious Tonkatsu

Sake vending machines kept me liquored up

Nabe Pot

Nabe stoof

Ringo Dessert

Okonomiyaki AGAIN!

Charcoal roasted coffee.

That's what heaven looks like ^

(except without baby j trying to sneak your food)

We spent the night in a Ryokan, Japanese bed and breakfast. What an amazing experience! A little old lady poured us hot tea in our rooms

Black ramen

If anyone knows why it was black please let us know..

Yakitori

Watching the chef's prepare it was slightly arousing

Fire Roasted Flounder

Shochu

a night to remember.. kinda

Stuffed Eggplant

Wild monkeys @(o･ｪ･)@

Ichiran Ramen - Shibuya

Best Ramen in Tokyo, Japan, and Earth

You order your ramen from a vending machine. You can customize everything from the firmness of the noodles to the fat content in the meat. You then take all the tickets that represent your ramen to a bar where they slide your ramen through a little window once it's done.