何食べよう？The Most Favorite Japanese Food

アメリカから帰る前から、「日本に帰ったらまず何が食べたい？」とよく聞かれた。
日本に帰ったら、「よし、どこに食べに行こう？順子の好きなところでいいよ！」と友達は言う。そう言われると浮かばない。私って日本食で何が好きなんだろう。

Before I left the States, Many of my friends had asked me "what are you going to eat first in Japan?".
My best friend told me when I got to Japan, "We're going wherever you want to go eat now!".
Hmm... that's a good question. What's my most favorite Japanese food?


その時は「あえて言うなら、たくあん！」と答えて、ふざけるなと笑われた。だって、お刺身は食べれないし大好きな牛角だってアメリカで行ってたし（そもそも日本食じゃない）。天ぷらやトンカツみたいな揚げ物はそうそう食べたくならないし、ラーメンな気分でもない。そうめんは向こうで毎日のように食べてたし、冷やし中華には目がないけど、これも日本食屋によく食べに行ってたなー。ここで挙げるものを見てもわかるように、そもそもあんまりこてこての日本食（魚介類や山菜等を使った料理だとか、海外で手に入れづらい物）自体に残念ながら親しみがないのかも。今思うと、アメリカで食べる日本食でも何だかんだ言って満足してたんだな〜と。。。笑

I couldn't come up with an answer right away so I said "I'd say, Takuan!" and made my friend disappointed(Takuan is a radish pickle). I'm sure she had expected something like a good sushi, tempura, or ramen place, which are hard to find in the States (that are affordable for us students). But somehow these didn't sound good to me. There is my favorite chain restaurant in Japan called Gyukaku, but I used to go to one in LA and also its not technically Japanese food (its Korean-Japanese). I love the cold noodles, but I ate them many times at a Japanese restaurant close to my college. And I started to realize, because of my background, I wasn't so familiar with the "real" Japanese food that were hardly found in the States. I guess I was basically (not completely though! lol) fine with the Americanized Japanese food there....

それからというもの、何が好きかなー何が好きかなーと毎日のように考えていました。
そしてその答えが昨日ようやく見つかったのです。

Since then, the question has been bugging me everyday. "What do I like the most that is Japanese?" And I finally found the answer last night when I went to a traditional Japanese style bar with my parents.


「ナンコツの焼き鳥」（Fried Chicken Cartilage）

この日はちょうど両親に誘われ、有楽町ガード下（ｗ）の昭和な感じの焼き鳥居酒屋へ。
こういう雰囲気がやっぱり好き！洒落たバーとかそういうのいいから、ワイワイガヤガヤの大衆酒場みたいのが、食べ物安いし旨いしいいんだよね〜。とかいって、ビールも飲めないしお酒は３杯で酔っ払うんだけど。とにかくナンコツのあのコリコリがどうもやみつきで、家に帰ってからも忘れられなかった・・・。せせりとかぼんじりのプリっとした噛み心地もなんともいえない。

This is it - this is what I missed the most. Drinking and eating Yakitori (skewered chicken) at a Japanese traditional style bar/diner (called "izakaya"). I could care less about sophisticated bars where you have to dress up to impress others and pay $8 for an appetizer. I love the casual atmosphere of those izakayas. It's cheap and good. Each menu comes in a small portion. $1.5 for a skewer, $4 for a drink. That's all I need! They are also perfect for me who is super indecisive, because I get to try like 10 different food at once if I'm sharing with somebody else. Their food is supposed to taste the best with beer - which I haven't found it tasty yet. lol

Yakitori offers different parts of chicken. My most favorite one is Nankotsu (chicken cartilage). I also love Seseri (nack) and Bonjiri (tail), each of them have specifically different textures. They all are so addicting! And those are something that you normally don't cook at home because they always taste better at Yakitori place with all the right equipments like the grill and the chef's hands!



 ああ〜これ食べてる間もまた食べたくなってきちゃった。吉祥寺のいせやの畳とかめっちゃ恋しい！あれもこれもと優柔不断な私には、小さい皿で色んなものが食べれる居酒屋料理が一番なのでした。