Bread lovers,

Holy **** was this good: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/...l-apart-bread/

lol, Im with y'all. The technique is impressive but it looks kind of gross to me (although the cat guy's version looks much more appetizing), especially with that gravy looking stuff on top

probably tastes great tho

love that cat

wow... looks just unreal

I am also attempting to plan a food based trip to Japan this year. Are you going to try out a kaiseki meal/Ryokan experience in Kyoto?

Amoeba, Mia:

I'm going to Japan for three days of eating next month!

Neat video, but to me no mention of omurice is complete without this scene from my favorite food movie.

that is my favorite omelette scene in a movie.

My second favorite is this one

Recently I've really enjoyed this series of videos. It's training videos from Nihonryori Ryugin.

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCvUO2ZIlGCjwa1BnOQMovfw

OK. It looks like I murdered a few unborn chickens. And I didn't strain the eggs so I got some of that white globule stuff. But this was my first try.

Things I learned.

1. I thought my pan was a little to hot, but it wasn't. If anything it could have been a little hotter. Med-High instead of Med.

2. I suck at using chopsticks to try and manipulate the egg. I'll work on that.

3. The actual flipping part once the outer part of the egg sets isn't that hard. If you can flip veggies in a pan without spilling them, you can do this.

4. i am still flabbergasted at how different eggs can taste simply by the way that they are prepared. I know these look a little unappetizing, but they were absolutely delicious.

Next step is add in the fried rice and demi glace sauce and report back.

Haha, long live artistic freedom!

Would love to, but don't have plans set in stone yet. Any recommendations?

Nice. Where are you going? I'm going to be in Tokyo, Fukui, Kyoto and Hiroshima. Looking forward to your TR/recs.

On the very high end, you have places like Kitcho Arashiyama or Nakamura or Kikunoi and a host of others that reject the Michelin guide but are probably just as good.These are dining only. I think Kitcho will be the priciest.

On the other hand if you stay at a Ryokan, usually the kaiseki dinner and breakfast is included. You will likely decide based on more than the food though. Be aware that the price listed for Ryokans on Japanese websites are for per person.

lol I had the exact opposite reaction, especially in the first video. I was surprised to see him start drenching the egg with black sauce, and had no idea what it was. After seeing the second video and knowing what is in the sauce it was better, but it doesn't look appetizing to me.

Rep_lol: A 6k+ post study of how to come off as condescending as possible, as frequently as possible, while adding as little value as possible.

I’m not calling you a trollish loser or anything, but I’d bet you’d have more friends in life if you turned down the argumentative know-it-all dial to 9.

That said, aren’t you a line cook or something? I suppose I’d be bitter too if I mad $15 /hr.

Snipe: I believe rep plays poker for a living.

Mia: not really much of a trip tbh. I'm going to Hong Kong for a week, and decided to tack on three days in Tokyo because I haven't been before so why not? Kinda want to take the bullet train to Kyoto because bullet train, but that idea doesn't really seem to make any sense on such a short trip. Instead I think I'll try to eat sushi and ramen like 4 times a day in Tokyo. Maybe do one fancy meal if possible, but primarily focused on hitting up many casual dining places.

Seems close enough for a Monday.

If any of you make it to Japan, please post while you're there.

I went there 20+ years ago and have been trying to find a drink that tasted awesome ever since and no one knows what it is. I've talked to several people from Japan and none of them know what I'm talking about.

The people I stayed with called it Yo-Gur-toe, not sure how it was spelled, but thats the way it was pronounced.

Its sold in grocery stores in the same section as milk. It looks like milk and was sold in the same container sizes (pints, quarts, etc).

It has an odd flavor that is tart and sweet and looks exactly like milk. I think I drank 4+ gallons of the stuff in the few weeks I was there.

I'd love it if someone could go into a grocery store and find it & post pictures with what the correct japanese word is to describe it.

It sounds like the katakana of yogurt instead of some specific Japanese word.

Have you had Yakult? Is it similar?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakult

Yeah - my korean friends always referred to it as "Yo git uh too"

http://www.trifood.com/yakuruto.asp

El diablo, I think you should include some tonkatsu at a place like maybe butagumi.

Spent a month in Tokyo twice, and have been to Osaka/Kyoto before too. If you have any q's feel free to shoot

If your trip is only 3 days def skip the the Kyoto leg. It's hard to describe the how dense and huge Tokyo is, but you'll need every minute you can just to see a fraction of it. Def try and experience sushi on all the different levels. It's great to just start at the quick/cheap conveyor and slowly upgrade to higher and higher quality so you can really get a feel for how japanese treat it. Best I had by far was Sushi Sawada, two star michelin, if you've seen Mind of a Chef with David Chang, the epi where he eats the uni and goes speechless. Yes its that good.

Another must have is Tonkatsu, there's a chain called Maisen that's very good and english friendly. Pretty awesome to have a steakhouse like menu for Tonkatsu with different breeds of pork. Another cool thing to do is go to the bottom of any of the major shopping malls and go to the patisserie . I'm not a massive sweets guy, but these are a hidden treasure down there and no other japanese desserts are worth a damn unless you have an asian palate.

For fine dining I had both Ryugin and Narisawa, both on different ends of the spectrum. Both out of this world good. I know it sounds crazy as well, but the French and Italian food in Japan is worth a try. Some of the best pizza I've had is in Tokyo.

Only place in Japan I thought was not worth my time/$$$ was Joel Robuchon L'atelier.

Ramen is easy enough to find guides/suggestions.

Tempura probably not worth it unless you go somewhere ridic high end.

Can't think of anything else atm. But if you have any specific q's can try my best to answer. Another good source is chowhound, those guys love to set up 3 day itineraries that are solely food based.

amoeba, mrw:

TYTYTY

Yeah good stuff. I'm going mostly street food/low end stuff as well, with a fancy place or two thrown in. Def looking forward to lots of tonkatsu, ramen, okonomiyaki, and sushi.