a shot o' steph: Foodie: Japan Trip Food Blog

Food Blog! One of my passions is eating good food. So in one of my past posts I blogged about my Jenesys Programme in Japan trip. As a bonus, we got to try loads of authentic Japanese food. Cause here in the Philippines, everything is turned to a saltier version. They say real Japanese food is more bland. I finally had the chance to try the real thing! Though I wasn't able to take pictures of everything.
:(

I will be listing restaurants, hotels, and addresses (if possible).

FIRST. Bentou in the Shinkansen (Boxed lunch in the Bullet Train)

This is the box of the bentou. It was pretty big, maybe a square foot. The box had pretty colors. Inside the food was arranged neatly. But I was quite disappointed because there was no meat! I am a meat lover! There are food that I was not able to take a picture of so... sorry!

Japanese rice with black sesame and pickled plum! I love Japanese rice. Not all people like the texture of Japanese rice since it is quite compact (sticky is not the right term). The plum was salty and sour at the same time. But it was good. It might be a little strong at the first bite. The one on the right is sweetened veggies. The carrot was so soft and mushy. It was extremely sweet. I didn't like it. I like my veggies half-cooked.

Broccoli, fish cake and potato (I think). I'm not sure if it is potato but it sure did taste like one. The potato was a bit sweet and salty. It was one of the things I liked. The other is veggies wrapped with egg. I do not know what was used to bind it. The egg was bland and the veggies tasted like veggies. Nothing special

Potato crouqette/ Korokke. Crunchy outside, mushy inside. The sauce was quite strong when I poured it in. But later, it was okay. I left it out since I knew I would like it. I thought it was dessert time! Okay, I was stupid. I didn't know that the wakame (kelp/seaweed) was part of the dish. I thought it was a dessert since there was a cherry sitting on top of the "cream". It turned out to be another potato dish! It is mashed potato but I was wondering why it was white. Hmm...

My favorite from the bunch. I had always wanted to make one of there. This is called Daigakuimo. It is Japanese sweet potato cooked in sugar or syrup and sesame seeds. Then it is eaten with soy sauce. I enjoyed it very much since it was simple, subtle, and it wasn't too mushy.

SECOND. Riasu-sou Banquet. Kesennuma Oshima Riasu-sou inn.

The feast! That is only a serving for one person. Plus unlimited rice.

Left: Squid with filling. scallop, swordfish wrapped in bacon. I did not like the squid and scallop. I'm not a big fan of those things. The swordfish was good and tasty maybe because of the bacon.

Right: Fish with a veggie that I do not know. It was quite dry but the seasonings were good. Salty and a bit sour. I finished the whole thing.

My faves.

Left: Ebi tenpura (Shrimp tempura), Japanese-style cordon bleu, super crunchy cabbage, tomato and Japanese mayonnaise. The tenpura was delish! Crunchy and the shrimp could be tasted. The cordon bleu is the typical cordon bleu plus nori wrapper. I dipped it in the may and yuuuum! Not too salty and not oily. The cabbage was sooo fresh and was delicious when mixed with mayo. Instant salad.

Right: Tuna sashimi and shrimp sashimi plus shredded daikon. I love the freshness of the sashimi. The others didn't like it at all. Though I did not eat the shrimp. The daikon was super crunchy and refreshing.

Left: Fried fish and orange with jelly. The fish was deep fried so I am assuming this is karaage. I liked it but it was quite bland. I dipped it in soy sauce. The jelly was tasteless! And the orange was sour.

Right: Pork strips with matsutake mushrooms, onion, carrots and bean sprouts. Of course this shouldbe dipped in the sauce. Without the sauce it is bland.