My Trip to Japan, Through my Mouth’s Eye

A great vacation has many key ingredients – a smooth travel schedule, interesting sites, and comfortable accommodations.  But let’s face it, another very key ingredient is great food!  Right?  Food is an expression of culture and eating the local cuisine is a way of learning and experiencing their way of life.   

Visiting Japan was always on my bucket list.  I’ve heard so much about it and the only time I was in Tokyo was in transit to Hong Kong over 20 years ago.   Recently, I had the good fortune to cross one more thing off on my bucket list. Tim had a corporate planning meeting in Okinawa and I was his tag-a-long.  The plan was he would be in meetings all day and I would join him at all the corporate evening dinners. I only recently started eating Japanese food and was really looking forward to enjoying authentic Japanese dishes.

When my sister heard I was going to Japan, she called and said, “Konnichiwa”.  I laughed and responded, “I can only speak Japanese food.  Tempura, sashimi, teriyaki, ramen, shabu-shabu, and udon!”  Clearly food was a high priority on this trip

In my past blogs, I focused on the sites, the adventures and the people.  In this blog, I am going to do something different.   I am going to show you my trip to Okinawa, Japan through my culinary adventures. A trip to Japan through my mouth’s eye.

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Day 1

We arrived in Okinawa, Japan about 4:30 pm and the hotel was about an hour’s drive from the airport.  Okinawa is the fifth largest island in Japan and our hotel was in the village of Onna. The hotel was located on a private island with ocean views from every room.

I was really excited that our first meal was a poolside sunset cookout, with ocean views and a cool ocean breeze.  Hotel staff was grilling on the spot, with over 20 different pans of food.  I checked out the buffet before standing in line – I hate it when I fill up my plate with food at the beginning of the buffet line and then I don’t have room on my plate for the good stuff at the end.  There were so many different kinds of fish so I only took a scattering of salad and bread, but when I finally approached the fish platters, all the pans were all empty!  The staff said they were grilling more fish so I sat down, a little disappointed but planned to go back to the line later.  I watched intently out of the corner of my eye, waiting for the fish to come off the grill. I walked up to the buffet line for the 2^nd time and UGH!  Somehow I missed it again. I tried a 3^rd time with there was only a small piece in the bottom of the pan. I was starving by this time and could not bear to go up the buffet line for the 4^th time, so I looked at my options. A hamburger.  Yup, that’s right, my first meal in Japan was hamburger.  Oh well – there is always tomorrow.

Day 2

It was a beautiful day in Okinawa and I walked around the island, swam in the infinity pool, and relaxed at the beach.  I had brunch at the hotel, but I was most excited about dinner.  The group took a bus to a local restaurant that specialized in Japanese meat dishes.

It was a small restaurant and we were a group of about 50.  The large table in the middle sat about 24 people and there was a hand full of tables that sat 4 to 6. Tim and I sat at the large table of 24. The restaurant was a little chaotic and it appeared the cooks and servers were overwhelmed with the large group.  The waiter took our drink order and I ordered a glass of wine.  I should have known what I was in for the rest of the night when the waiter brought me a glass of wine so small, Tim actually thought it was the small amount of wine waiters pour for customers to taste before they pour the full glass.  I laughed and told Tim, “no that is not the wine for me to taste, that is my full glass of wine!”  Well not a problem, I was more interested in the food anyways.  They served family-style and every table shared the same size bowl, so the people at the small tables ate very well.  Not so much at our large table.  The first course was salad and I got a small piece of lettuce and a bean.  The second course was sushi but it moved by me so fast I missed the entire plate. The third course was French fries, which I have no idea why, but yes French fries.  Tim got one French fry, I got none.  By this time, my side of the table was getting a little grumpy!  The lady next to me just about tackled the other end of the table for the fish.  It was the whole fish with the head on, but thank God she knew how to cut it and made sure we all got a bite.  So, four courses and over an hour later I ate a lettuce leaf, a bean and 3 small bites of fish. At this rate, I was going to starve, but as the night went on, the wait staff adjusted the food for the larger table and more food did come out.  But the funniest thing was when we got back on the bus, a co-worker said “Hey Tim, are you full? Do you want to get out of the bus and get some good Japanese barbeque across the street?”

Well, we did not do that but I had a few cookies back in the hotel room. The small amount of food I did eat was good, it was just not the Japanese cuisine I had anticipated. Maybe tomorrow.

Day 3

Dinner plans:  Japanese show with a Japanese buffet.  I lowered my expectations with the meal, learning from the last two evenings, but still hoped for an authentic Japanese meal. The buffet had a huge assortment of things I had never seen before and I have to admit, I was a bit overwhelmed.  I stuck with what I knew and ended up with chicken, and a concoction that tasted like Mexican food. This time it was not the restaurant’s fault – it was me.  I chickened out (so to say).  Maybe tomorrow!  Only one more chance to eat genuine Japanese food.

Day 4

It was the last day.  The plan was we would tour the Gangala caves and have lunch before we fly out.  I really loved Japan, the people were kind very polite, the oceans were spectacular, the culture of Okinawa was rich but I have to admit, I started to give up on the food.  I couldn’t imagine a lunch following a cave tour could be good.

And to my complete amazement, we arrived at a wonderful Japanese restaurant and were served an eleven-course authentic Japanese meal!  I was so excited. 

It was incredibly interesting, each course was served with the utmost elegance and style.  The food was a work of art! There was no tempura, teriyaki, ramen, shabu-shabu, or udon and even though it was a little too foreign for my tastebuds, I loved the fact that I finally had the chance to eat an authentic Japanese meal. Mission complete!

Despite all of these culinary ups and downs, my triumphant food success was acquiring KitKat bars, but not just any KitKat bars. Tim and I discovered an amazing variety of KitKat bars in Japan, so we made it our mission to buy as many different flavors as we could find. We bought wasabi flavored KitKat bars, along with green tea, strawberry cheesecake, and purple sweet potato KitKat bars. And what did I do with all those unusual flavored KitKat bars you ask? Blind taste contest at Christmas with the family!

Take a look at the other KitKat Bars that are only sold in Japan.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/24/magazine/candy-kit-kat-japan.html

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