NY JapanTown Festival

JapanTown is Now Japan Week!

2012-01-30T10:52:00.000-05:00

Breaking news! JapanTown is back but with a new name: Japan Week! To bring you a weeklong celebration of Japanese food and culture from March 1 – 11, 2012, JapanTown has joined forces with two other Japanese food-related events in NYC: the Japan Pavilion at the The New York Restaurant Show and Dine Out for Japan. The festival that you know as JapanTown is now Japan Week’s Kickoff Event of held at Grand Central Terminal on March 1-3.

We won't be updating this blog any longer, but we'll be giving you the latest scoop on our new Japan Week Facebook page. Please "like" it to stay on top of the latest news and comment on our posts! Check out our new website at http://bimi.asia/japanweek/ for more info as well.

Japan Week is sponsored by Organization to Promote Japanese Restaurants Abroad (JRO) with additional support by the Japan National Tourism Organization and Japan Tourism Agency (JTA).

Recap of the JapanTown Soul Food Festival

2010-09-30T01:20:00.003-04:00

Well, the JapanTown Soul Food Festival certainly lucked out with the weather this Sunday given all the rain we're getting this week. We were blessed with a gorgeous day, neither too hot nor too cold, which brought out a great turnout. Pervading the air, the smell of grilling meat and other exotic foods definitely acted as a people magnet as well. Plenty of loyal fans showed up as well as many of the area's residents, who were pleasantly surprised to discover the festival. We found it interesting that some people we talked to confessed that they didn't really know all that much about Japanese food., so we're glad the Soul Food Festival helped to broaden their perspective!

Kyushu Soul Food
The highlight of the festival was the soul food from Kyushu, from which several vendors traveled all the way here to promote their company and products to the New York market. These vendors include:

Takahashi Shoten Co. (Yuzusco liquid yuzu pepper seasoning)

Shiki Kamaboko (kamaboko burgers and skewers)

Fukuman Soy Sauce (gourmet soy sauce)

Daichi Ohama, Soy Sauce Sommelier

PGT Trading (Dumiel Pet Supplements)

Amakusa Toishi (blade sharpening stones and carved bamboo lanterns)

Eita Segawa, an artist from Kobe who is friends with the Amakusa guys, created art and poetry for visitors

Fantastic 4 (nikumaki onigiri, taipien, ikinari dango, himono)

Hita City Tourism Association (traditional pottery, geta, powdered wasabi, soy sauce, yuzu sauces, seasonings)

Takeo City (Lemongrass tea, lemongrass cider, green tea, bean sweets)

There were even some vendors who came from Tokyo:

IFUU Powered by ZAAP (warabimochi, yakitori, kakuni)

Anything (maekake and handbags)

Other Eats
Other veteran JapanTown vendors sold new dishes that fit the regional specialties theme of the event. Negiya restaurant had Jingisukan steak, a grilled mutton dish from Hokkaido. They sold tebasaki, or seasoned deep-fried chicken wings that Nagoya is famous for, at our last festival. Souen, the macrobiotic restaurant, had organic vegan pocket burgers, scones, and sweet corn with miso instead of the ramen salad they served in the past festivals.

Negiya grilled Jingisukan steak

Souen Village's Vegan Pocket Burger

Games
The many families in the area made the kingyo sukui fishing game incredibly popular, and the booth was constantly beseiged by strollers. In Japan, kingyo sukui (goldfish scooping) is done with real fish, but here, we made it easier with cute bath toys. Dr. Robot again invited people to battle robots as well as taught them basic robot engineering.

Success
The Soul Food Festival's success can be measured by how quickly some vendors sold out their food. Cafe Zaiya and Go! Go! Curry!, both selling curry dishes, were completely sold out by 3 PM, three hours before the festival closed. Shiki Kamaboko, Billy Strynkowski, Hakata Tonton, East Restaurant, Negiya, Umi No Ie, and Hide-Chan Ramen followed suit shortly.

This wasn't very surprising, considering that all of the Japanese regional foods offered smelled and looked mouth-watering. Most of the afternoon saw lines of people snaking through our two-block festival, and some of the wait times were almost an hour long, like the one for Hakata Tonton's delicious tonton pork. East Restaurant's inexpensively priced $5 whole grilled calamari and $3 squid legs tempted many a hungry visitor.

Lines of people waiting to buy some Japanese soul food

East Restaurant's grilled squid

East Restaurant's whole squid

Hakata Tonton's tonton pork

Non-Food Stuff
Besides food, there were lots of accessories, clothes, and Japanese items from stores such as Tesage by Yukiko Sato, Wuhao NYC, Kiteya, Web Japan, Anime Castle, and Video Games New York.

Tesage by Yukiko Sato

Kiteya

Wuhao NYC


Anime Castle

Overall, everyone was happy. We couldn't ask for a more perfect day for the Soul Food Festival. We want to thank everyone who came and to all of our vendors and sponsors who made this festival such a wonderful success! We look forward to seeing all of you at the next festival for another year of successes. Stay tuned for plenty of professional photos taken by by Takahiko Marumoto.

If you are interested in exhibiting next year, please contact us at info@nyjapantown.org.

THANK YOU and until next time!

JapanTown Soul Food Festival Prepares to Launch Tomorrow, Sunday 9/26!

2010-09-25T23:36:00.003-04:00

click to enlarge

T-minus 12 hours countdown to the JapanTown Soul Food Festival! We look forward to meeting all of the vendors and visitors who will be coming tomorrow. This Soul Food Festival's goal is to showcase the diversity of Japan's cuisine through the authentic local specialties of different regions. Vendors will offer foods and products from their hometowns and half an entire block is devoted to Kyushu island. You can find everything from classic okonomiyaki to innovative fishcake burgers, yuzu spices to Chinese-inspired noodle soup, Hokkaido mutton steak to pork belly English muffins. For dessert, try a variety of Japanese pastries and sweets made with ingredients such as black bean, red bean, and sweet potato. A list of the different vendors and the Japanese region they are represented can be found below. We hope to see you all tomorrow, and don't forget to bring your appetite!!

Date:
Sunday, September 26th, 2010
11 AM to 6 PM

Location:
Lexington Avenue between 93rd and 95th Streets
map

Subway:
6 train to 77th St.
4, 5, 6 train to 86th St.
6 train to 96th St.

Here's a quick summary of just a few of the foods you'll find at the festival:

Ikinari dango

Ajinomoto's Edamame Vegetable Gyoza

Go! Go! Curry! curry dogs

Cafe Zaiya's curry pan and curry rice

Yuzusco

Hakata Tonton's tonsoku pork

Umi No Ie's Goto Island Noodles

Shiki Kamaboko's kamaboko burgers


Hide-Chan Ramen's yaki ramen

Hita City's Yuzu Spices and Sauces

Ramune

Organic Japanese Vegefrom Suzuki Farm

Tornado Meat Riceball (nikumachi onigiri)

East Japanese Restaurant (55th St. location) grilled seafood

Marukome misoyaki

Okonomiyaki

Yakisoba from Souen

It's supposed to be a beautiful day tomorrow, so hope to see you all there!

IACE Travel Gets You Where You Need To Be Safely and Stress-Free!

2010-09-25T19:39:00.002-04:00

IACE Travel USA is a travel agency that has provided customers with satisfying travel experiences to Japan and Asia for four decades. Established in New York in 1970 to provide Japanese customers living in the U.S. with low-priced air tickets to go home, IACE Travel continues its mission to offer travelers the best rates and exceptional service.

A sponsor of the JapanTown festivals since the beginning, IACE Travel provides affordable tickets to and from Japan as well as to other destinations. If you've been to any of the festivals, they have several booths and host raffles for discounts or even free tickets to anywhere in the U.S. IACE also deals in hotels, cruises, tours, car rentals, cell phone rentals and other conveniences to make a trip as stress-free as possible for their clients by providing information and services for everything a traveler could possibly need. Their website is an incredible resource for trip planners, as it provides airline and embassy information and locations, as well as a world clock to figure out what time it is on the other side of the world. Drop by their offices for a visit and check out their booth for great travel deals at the Soul Food Festival tomorrow!

All photos ©Takahiko Marumoto

Konnyaku: A Super Versatile Ingredient That Improves Your Health

2010-09-25T17:11:00.000-04:00

Konnyaku Jelly
image credit

S.H.O.W. LLC. (Simple Healthy Organic Wealthy) will be at the Soul Food Festival tomorrow to introduce their konnyaku products. Konnyaku (also known as konjac) is a type of yam native to some parts of Asia that's becoming popular for its health benefits. It isn't widely known about here but is commonly used in Japanese food such as in shiritaki noodles, oden, sukiyaki, and fruit jelly cups. Flavorless and virtually calorie-free, konnyaku is high in fiber and can reduce cholestrol and blood sugar as well as improve immune systems. It's an ideal diet food as well. Because it is over 90% water, gelatinizes quickly and expands to many times its size, it gives the consumer a feeling of fullness and is thus an ideal food for weight control. S.H.O.W. LLC. comes from Gumna Prefecture in Honshu Island, where about 90% of all Japanese Konnyaku is made.

S.H.O.W. LLC. is headed by Sachiko Mitsuno who began her mission of spreading the word on konnyaku when she came to the U.S. and noticed that the lunches served at her children's school were nutritionally unbalanced. Not only is konnyaku healthy and low in calorie, it's versatile because konnyaku powder can be kneaded into pizza dough, meatballs and other dishes without taking away from the taste.

S.H.O.W. LLC. will be enlightening visitors on this healthy product and serve it in various foods at the Soul Food Festival. If you're on a diet or are interested in new healthy ingredients, come on by and check them out!

Make Your Pet Smell Great with This Product From Kumamoto!

2010-09-25T15:58:00.001-04:00

image credit

We have a vendor from Kumamoto that will be offering not human food, but a treat for pets! PGT Trading features the Dumiel Health Supplement, which can be added to pet food to improve the smell of their ...umm, waste. Beside reducing dogs' waste and overall odor, the limonite component in Dumiel also improves metabolic and hair conditions and helps prevent anemia in dogs. This limonite originates from Mount Aso in Kumamoto prefecture, Kyushu. Limonite contains natural minerals such as iron, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, manganese, sulfur, and aluminum, which help improve canine health conditions, prevent diarrhea, anemia, stress, and obesity. PGT includes limonite in many other products, including those for bath and beauty, and livestock or farming supplies. Products include Limo Soap, mineral feed for livestock, and a desulferizing agent.

I think it'd be nice if cats can also take this, since they do their business indoors. Want to find out more, stop by the Soul Food Festival this Sunday and ask them!

Locally-Made Sauces and Spices from Hita City!

2010-09-25T15:44:00.001-04:00

Yuzu Rich Sauce

Coming from Oita Prefecture, Hita City, located in the center of northern Kyushu, will be presenting an array of tasty bottled specialities made with local ingredients at the Soul Food Festival. Hita City itself is famous for its mountainous landscape, flowing rivers, cedar forest, romantic fog, the annual Gion Festival and the Sapporo beer factory, making it a popular tourist attraction.

Here are the local products that Hita City will be offering:

Yuzu Rich sauce by Kawazu House. This pungent liquidy sauce is similar to yuzukosho but milder and sweeter with a vinegar base. A versatile spice, Yuzu Rich is made with a perfect balance of quality ground yuzu, green hot pepper, and salt. It can be used as a dressing for salads, meat marinades, hot dog topping, cracker dip, you name it. Yuzu Rich also goes great with mayo, which brings out hidden flavors of the sauce.

Yuzu Honey (yuzu hachimitsu) by Tennensouko. Yuzu Honey is a marmalade-like jelly used to make yuzu tea. To make the tea, just spoon some in your cup, add hot water, and stir. It's a comforting cold-weather drink, and Oita Prefecture has perfected yuzu tea due to its long cold season. Rich in vitamin C, Yuzu Honey has a fragrant scent, with a sour/bitter taste of yuzu and the sweetness of purified honey. It can also be mixed with shochu or yogurt and used as a jam!

Yuzu Honey

Kona Wasabi by Tennensouko. Farmed from the mountains of Maetsue Village in Hita, this wasabi has a unique spicy flavor. After it's harvested, it's immediately processed and shipped for the freshest quality. Tennensouko's Kona Wasabi is the real thing, unlike the pasty blend of horseradish, mustard, and green coloring that is often found in some sushi places. The flavor is thus more authentic and you'll benefit from the health benefits of wasabi, which has antimicrobial properties and antioxidants and aids detoxification.

Kona Wasabi

Other local sauces and condiments Hita City will have are:

Yuzu Ponzu (a sauce made by simmering mirin, rice vinegar, katsuobushi flakes, seaweed, and yuzu over medium heat)
Hita Nashi Vinegar
Tsubu Yuzu Pepper
Ayu fish Sauce (made with ayu fish caught in the Mikuma River)
Kinu (soy sauce combined with ayu fish sauce)
Ume Kichi (ume salad dressing)

Hita City will also be selling geta and bamboo utensils made traditionally for centuries from wood from its cedar forests.

It's Gobbling Time! Fantastic 4 Brings Kyushu Munchies Tomorrow!

2010-09-25T14:10:00.000-04:00

Ikinari Dango
(image credit)

JapanTown’s Soul Food Festival presents Fantastic 4! Hailing from Kumamoto Prefecture, Fantastic 4 is bringing to the festival some popular local dishes that are all part of a trend in Japan called B-class gourmet. B-class gourmet is a term for foods that are ordinary and common, yet popular for being delicious and flavorful.

Fantastic 4 will be offering taipi-en, ikinari dango, and Tornado Meat Riceballs. Taipi-en originated in China and is one of the most ubiquitous dishes in Kumamoto. It is a low-calorie vermicelli soup topped with local ingredients such as pork, fish cake, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, shrimp, squid, and eggs. Taipi-en is a popular school lunch in Kyushu as well as throughout Japan. Another specialty of Kumamoto is ikinari dango, a steamed dumpling stuffed with sweet potato and a layer of anko, or red bean paste. Ikinari means "all of a sudden" in Japanese, a reference to how easily the locals can cook up this tasty treat; people can serve visitors who suddenly drop these ikinari dango because they can be made in minutes. Finally there are the Tornado Meat Riceballs (also known as nikumachi onigiri), coming from Miyazaki Prefecture in the eastern part of Kyushu. These are grilled onigiri wrapped in pork slices with special sauce. A prime example B-class gourmet, Tornado Meat Riceballs are very popular with young people because it's cheap, bursing with pork flavor, and filling.

These are all one-of-a-kind eats you won't find anywhere in New York, so make sure you give it a try at the Soul Food Festival tomorrow!

Taipi-en
(image credit)

Tornado Meat Riceball (nikumachi onigiri)
(image credit)

Hide-Chan Ramen Guarantees Satisfaction with Authentic Tonkotsu

2010-09-24T21:58:00.000-04:00

Another Fukuoka shop joins our Soul Food Festival: Hide-Chan Ramen! Hide-Chan is a small ramen shop specializing in tonkotsu, or pork bone ramen, that is part of the group of restaurants (ie. Soba Totto, Yakitori Totto, and Totto Ramen) owned by Bobby Munekata. The chef, Hideto Kawahara (a.k.a. Hide-Chan), hails from Hakata, Fukuoka, known far and wide for its tonkotsu ramen. Made from boiling pork bones, fat, and collagen for hours, tonkotsu broth is characterized by its intense pork flavor and rich, almost milky consistency, and cloudy whitish color. The noodles in this soup are usually thin and straight and usually topped with chopped scallions, red ginger, tree ears, and of course, pork (cha-su). The interesting thing about Hakata-style ramen is that you can choose your noodle's level of firmness as well as the level of fat in your broth. If you want seconds of ramen noodles, you can order another helping by asking for kaedama.

We went to check out Hide-Chan this week. Tucked away on on the second floor of a nondescript location, the restaurant contains a bar bathed in light and few intimate tables are partially screened for privacy. We found several lone office workers there having a dinner of ramen after work as well as small groups of friends that night.

There are only nine ramen dishes on the menu, which I thought made decisions easier. Because tonkotsu wouldn't be right without some fat but we wanted to avoid future high cholesterol problems, we opted for the medium instead of the rich fat for our broth. We ordered the Hakata Kuro Ramen, served with inky ma-yu roasted garlic oil that coated everything black, including the heaps of green onions, tree ears, and some tender pork slices. Sublety complex, garlicky, and a bit gritty throughout, the Kuro ramen instantly became my favorite ramen of all time. We also ordered the Hakata Grilled Toro Pork Ramen that was chock full of slices of Berkshire (toro) pork marinated with brown sugar and soy sauce. The pork tasted delicious, with a smoky, just-off-the-BBQ-grill aroma and was soft enough to easily break apart. The medium firm noodles were fresh and al dente, though I don't think I could really tell the difference between medium and firm. Both ramen dishes were generously portioned, and priced at about $10 a bowl, it wasn't a bad deal in Midtown.

Hide-Chan will be offering a new dish not on their menu specially for the Soul Food Festival. It's called Yaki Ramen, a Fukuoka hometown specialty that is like yakisoba but is flavored with Worchestershire sauce and simmered tonkotsu broth. They saying goes that it was invented by a Fukuoka yatai stalled called Kokin-Chan in about 1968. You could only get it in Fukuoka before, but it's become so popular that an instant Yaki Ramen has been recently created that's now available everywhere in Japan. It's stir-fried, which makes it easier to eat while walking around the festival.

We highly recommend you check out Hide-Chan for a great bowl of authentic Hakata tonkotsu ramen and invite you to have a taste of Yaki Ramen at the Soul Food Festival this Sunday!

Hide-Chan Ramen
248 E 52nd Street
New York NY 10022
(Between 2nd & 3rd Avenues)
map

Entrance

Bar

Restaurant

Noodle Firmness and Broth Fat Options

Hakata Kuro Ramen

Hakata Grilled Toro Pork Ramen

Toro Pork

Hakata Grilled Toro Pork Ramen

Spicy Mentaiko

Yaki Ramen

Anything to Keep You Stylishly Mess-Free

2010-09-23T22:57:00.002-04:00

JapanTown is pleased to introduce Anything, makers of custom maekake. Made of thick cotton cloth with long straps that are tied around the waist, maekake are aprons traditionally worn by craftsmen, laborers, and store staff. The name maekake derives from the words mae, or front, and kakeru, meaning to hang.

They aren't as common now but recently, maekake have been making a comeback as a fashion statement and as another form of advertising for companies. More practical in some settings than a T-shirt with the company logo, maekake have been attracting the attention of people outside of Japan.

As their name implies, Anything can customize maekake any way you want, be it short instead of knee-length or even neon green with "Kiss the Chef" printed on it. This company takes care of making these from beginning to end, from weaving the fabric to sewing each maekake in Japan.

Anything, founded by Mr. Ueda Sonoko, started out as a T-shirt company selling their products on the street, is now a worldwide clothing network. They are well-known throughout Japan for their "T-shirt painting festivals" held at local schools. Anything have since expanded their product lines to include other types of custom tops, hats, and even totes.

You can place your order for custom maekake here, or easier, just stop by Anything's booth this Sunday at the JapanTown Soul Food Festival!

Otokomae staff wearing maekake at the Healthy Food & Green Festival:

Some examples of Anything's maekake:

Maekake for dog lovers

Check Out Takeo City For Authentic Bite of Kyushu

2010-09-23T00:47:00.000-04:00

Yabusame Horseback Archery

JapanTown presents Takeo City! Located in Saga Prefecture in northwestern Kyushu, Takeo is a popular tourist destination for its enigmatic performing arts, beautiful mountain landmarks and scenery, unique dishes, and soothing bathhouses. Takeo contains a wide range of mountains, including Mount Hachiman, which is over 3/4 of a kilometer high. These mountain ranges contain hot-spring bathhouses that have been a tradition for hundreds of years. These mountains are also home for some incredible landmarks, including some famous okusu trees over 3000 years old, the Saga Space Museum with its space simulations, and the Kofuku-ji statuettes of the Buddhist guardian gods. Takeo also hosts several annual traditional performances such as yabusame, horse-mounted archery dating back 800 years, and the araodori dances, which have been performed for over 400 years.

At the Soul Food Festival, Takeo City will be bringing some of their local specialties. We invite you to stop by and try some champon noodles, lemongrass tea and cider, green tea, kuromai, Ariake Seaweed, and Toshin curry! Check out their brochure for more information.

Is Soy Sauce the New Wine? The Answer is at Fukuman Soy's Booth This Sunday!

2010-09-23T00:03:00.001-04:00

There's a bar in Fukuoka whose walls are lined with bottles of every vintage and origin imaginable, all brewed to perfection. Except it's not alcohol in those bottles; it's soy sauce.

Bar Fukuman Soy Sauce is the modern reincarnation of the old company Fukuman Soy Sauce, which first opened in 1821 selling sold top-quality sauce to shops in Fukuoka. Closed for 50 years, it was resurrected in 2009 by the soy sauce sommelier Daichi Ohama, who continued making Fukuman soy sauce using its traditional recipes. The only thing he changed in the new Fukuman shop was that he established a bar devoted exclusively to to this essential Japanese condiment.

Educated in New York and Japan, Mr. Ohama worked for an IT company before a great inspiration about how much Japanese food culture was based on soy sauce motivated him to do something to change the current direction of Japanese food culture, which was moving towards an American tastes, back to one that emphasizes traditional Japanese principles. In Japanese cooking, salt, soy sauce and miso are used a lot. Soy sauce is one of the most basic yet versatile and complex ingredients in Japanese food.

The first soy sauce bar in the world, Bar Fukuman Soy Sauce sells the traditional Fukuman brand as well as offers tastings of more than 200 kinds of sauce from around the world. Like wine, this dark salty liquid comes in endless varieties, from different regions, and have different complexities in flavor. Soybeans and koji are the main ingredients in soy sauce, but it may have other grains mixed in and fermented for long periods of time for deeper flavors. Salty is the obvious taste of soy sauce, but it can also be sweet, sour, or bitter.

Fukuman Soy Sauce will be at the Soul Food Festival educating the public on the different kinds of soy and how to choose the right sauce to better enhance the color and flavor of your cooking.

Kamaboko Burgers, Sticks, and Dumplings at the Soul Food Festival!

2010-09-20T23:44:00.000-04:00

image credit

Does the word kamaboko ring a bell? If you're familiar with sushi or Japanese ramen, you might know what kamaboko is without knowing the name. Kamaboko is fish cake made from a centuries-old technique of curing and steaming seafood puree. Small slices of pink-dyed kamaboko loaves, usually half-moon shaped, are commonly seen as a common ingredient in many Japanese dishes. With a firm texture, it can be steamed, deep fried, barbecued or poached and used in soups, salads, casseroles, you name it. Kamaboko is easily moldable and can be found in any form, even Hello Kitty.

With stores across Japan, Shiki Kamaboko is a company that specializes in transforming kamaboko into innovative and non-traditional forms, such as sticks, burgers, dogs, and dumplings topped with Yuzusco. If you got a craving for fishcake but with a different flavor, stop by Shiki Kamaboko's booth in the Soul Food Festival this Sunday or a kamaboko dog or dumpling!

Discover a New Exotic Condiment: Yuzusco!

2010-09-20T22:51:00.000-04:00

The West has pasta, the East have noodles; America has bourbon, Japan has sake, so what is Japan's equivalent of hot sauce? A recent phenomenon in the condiment world is Yuzusco, a spicy liquid yuzu seasoning. The name Yuzusco is shortened from "yuzu suko," which is a summary of its ingredients: yuzu peel, vinegar (su) and pepper (ko). Yuzu is a citrus fruit that is used primarily for the rind that tastes kind of like lemon and orange.

Yuzusco uses a particular variety of yuzu that is native to Kyushu. Kyushu is also the birthplace of yuzu kosho, the original yuzu chili condiment base, which is the predecessor of this more enhanced and easy-to-use yuzu seasoning. Similar in taste to jalapeños, but a little more tangy, this zesty (but not incredibly overpowering) condiment is incredibly versatile and can be used to add and enhance the flavor to almost any dish, be it meat, fish, salads, or even crackers. Adding Yuzusco to pizza is also highly recommended! Hakata Tonton, which serves soul food from Kyushu, uses it intensely in their tonsoku dishes. One of our favorite of these dishes was slathered with a lickable Yuzusco and miso sauce that brought out the complexity and meatiness of the tonsoku. It comes in many different varieties, and Takahashi Shoten, the company that makes it, now offers Shogasco, a ginger pepper seasoning. Yuzusco has such a unique flavor that it's definitely going to be a regular on my spice rack.

Spicy, flavorful, and exotic, Yuzusco is the taste of Kyushu cuisine in a bottle. Come to the Soul Food Festival and have a sample of it this Sunday!

Hakata Tonton's tonsoku pork with miso and Yuzusco sauce

Yuzusco, yuzo kosho, and yuzu chili

Amakusa Toishi Brings Age Old Samurai Sharpening Stones To Soul Food Fest

2010-09-20T14:06:00.005-04:00

While many people come to the JapanTown festivals to enjoy the variety of food offered, we also get a lot of people interested in cooking. At the Soul Food Festival, we have a new vendor who will help you hone your cooking skill to a razor fine edge. Amakusa Toishi has been manufacturing blade sharpening stones made from waterstone since the Sengoku Era, and the Amakusa region became renowned for these sharpening stones. The stones in this region develop a unique pattern called the "tiger's eye." Originally used to sharpen swords, these blocks of waterstone are perfect for sharpening any blade! If it was used to sharpen swords, then it must certainly sharpen for kitchen knives well. Amakusa Toishi can be found at the Soul Food Festival on September 26th.

Umi No Ie: A Hidden Beach House in the East Village

2010-09-19T15:54:00.001-04:00

Umi No Ie, a quaint Japanese bar and restaurant that feeds patrons home-cooked specialities from the Goto Islands, is supposed to be an East Village secret. It's tucked along a side street without signage and is easily missed if you're not looking for it. Because of its intimate setting and extensive list of obscure quality shochus, we'd like to keep this place to ourselves, but it seems like the word is already spreading.

This relaxed spot is run by friends Mika Okui and Mutsumi Tanaka, who is from the Goto Islands, located west of Nagasaki in Kyushu Prefecture. Umi No Ie, or "Beach House," is home-like and unpretentious in every way, from the DIY beach-themed decor of fishing nets, surfboards, and straw mats, to its simple, honest food and service. Visitors can seat themselves at the bar and easily chat up the bartender/cook. It looks and feels like someone's house.

Goto Island cuisine is characterized by the use of agodashi, a broth made with dried flying fish as opposed to dried bonito and konbu used in the common Japanese dashi, ichiban-dashi. We ordered the Goto Udon, a simple bowl of udon that swam in an agodashi soup. Handmade by Ms. Tanaka's father in the Goto Islands, these were special thin udon noodles that were about the same thickness of lo mein noodles with a distinct al dente texture and a fresh flavor. The kakuni (pork belly) tasted like it was also simmered in agodashi, and it was tender enought that it easily fell off our chopsticks. We also tried the dried manta ray (eihire), one of the more exotic items on the menu, and it became our favorite because of its snackability; we couldn't get enough of it. It tasted like dried cuttlefish but meatier and was great with mayo.

The menu also had a handful of the usual Japanese food suspects such as edamame, gyoza, karaage, hijiki, and onigiri, and the portions are generally small. If you're up for surprises, get the tasting menu for $35, which is about seven dishes of whatever the cook feels like cooking that night.

We can't talk about Umi No Ie without mentioning the bar, the focal point of this narrow space. They have one of the largest selection of shochu that we've seen made from such grains as potato, rice, soba, and sugar. There's even novelty flavors like carrot, sesame, date, and citrus. Hama no Imota, a sweet potato shochu, is the star of Umi No Ie's drink menu that is made by Chiyomusubi Shuzo Co., a 120-year-old sake brewery. It has a chameleon-like quality that accompanies any food well, with a sweetish taste on initial sip and a slightly alcholic aftertaste. Hama no Imota is requested so much that it is even kept in Umi No Ie's special bottle given to them by Chiyomusubi Shuzo Co. Another great thing about the bar is that if you can't finish your bottle, they can keep it on the shelves for you to finish at your next visit.

At the Soul Food Festival, they'll be serving their special Goto Udon, grilled corn, Japanese snacks, and grilled skewers. If you're in the neighborhood and looking for somewhere low key and a home-cooked meal, remember to drop by Umi No Ie!

I forgot my camera when we went to Umi No Ie, so here are some photos of what we ordered borrowed from Yelp:

Goto Udon

Kakuni (pork belly)

Eihire (dried fin of manta ray)

Some shots of the restaurant:

Umi No Ie at previous JapanTown festivals:

Umi No Ie
86 East Third Street
New York, NY 10003
(between First Avenue and Second Avenue)
map

Hours:
Monday through Thursday, 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.; Friday and Saturday until 2 a.m.

Take Me Out to Go! Go! Curry!

2010-09-19T12:56:00.000-04:00

Sports fans are among the craziest in the world of fanaticism, and the Japanese curry restaurant chain Go! Go! Curry! stands as an example of an extreme devotion to one baseball player, "Godzilla" Hikdeki Matsui. Owner Hirokazu Miyamori, an ardent Matsui aficionado, has reportedly traveled great distances to hold up signs that say “Go Go Matsui!” at Yankees games. Besides a word of encouragement, "go" also means "five" in Japanese, and Matsui's jersey number is 55, which explains the restaurant's name. The number five is everywhere; the store's hours are from 9:55 AM to 10:55 PM, its phone number ends in 5555, discounts are given on days ending in five, and it even opened for business on the fifth day of the fifth month. The three exclamation marks in its name says it all about this place; it bounces with a hyper go-getting attitude of a cheering fan, quite unlike the elegant Curry-Ya, another JapanTown vendor that we reviewed previously. Go! Go! Curry! is also big on competition and sports, hosting annual curry-eating contests.

Inside this small curry joint in Midtown, you'll find all sorts of Matsui memorabilia, newspaper clippings, autographs, and photos. The menu continues the baseball theme, with the order sizes ranging from a "walk," or small, to XL. On a bed of rice, you get a choice of plain curry ("original") or deep-fried protein such as katsu, chicken, shrimp, and sausage ($5.00 - $9.50). These choices come with a generous ladleful of Go! Go! Curry!'s signature rich, hearty, sludgey dark brown sauce. To customize your dish, extra helpings of these meats and an array of Japanese toppings like natto and fukujinzuki are also offered. (Here's a tip: the day after Matsui hits a home run, you get a free topping coupon.) Katsu, or pork cutlet, is the most recommended, but if you can't choose, there's the "Grand Slam," the glorious combination of all the above-mentioned meats.

The Grand Slam ($12.50) can feed almost three people, and if shared with someone else, it would actually be a reasonable lunch deal. We got the Grand Slam to go and our order was so huge that the container needed a rubber band to prevent it from bursting. This dish has three layers: on the top are the crispy panko-crusted katsu and chicken, two sausages, one jumbo shrimp with some mayo, one halved egg, and some shredded cabbage. Sandwiched between the meats and rice the size of a pitcher's mound is the curry, which tastes sweet, meaty and only slightly spicy. The addictive flavor reminded me of katsu sauce. I thought the chicken was a bit on the dry side and that there should be more curry for the rice, but that could be remedied by asking for extra curry ($1.50). As starving as we were and as yummy as it was, my eating companion and I were both full before we could finish the Grand Slam!

The Grand Slam:

Some shots of the restuarant:

Go! Go! Curry! has created a new dish especially for the JapanTown festivals called the Curry Dog, which has either katsu, chicken, or sausage with a helping of curry inside a hot dog bun. These are easier to eat while walking around than a bowl of curry rice. Your last chance to try these delicious Curry Dogs will be at the JapanTown Soul Food Festival on September 26th!

Curry Dogs:

Go! Go! Curry! booth at a JapanTown festival:

Among all the pricey deli food and tourist traps around 42nd Street, Go! Go! Curry! offers a more authentic as well as comparably cheaper alternative. The curries are not the most attractive meal and the shop's not fancy (ie. not a date place), but it's definitely the place in Midtown to go to get your comfort food fix.

Go! Go! Curry!
273 West 38th Street
New York, NY 10018
(between 7th and 8th Avenues)
map

Kysuhu Cuisine Could be Japan's Most Gastronomically Intriguing

2010-09-18T00:51:00.000-04:00

image credi

Kyushu, Japan's "Deep South" that we're highlighting in the Soul Food Festival, is long recognized for its distinct culture that differs from the rest of the country's. What's especially different is its gastronomically intriguing food, influenced by a conglomeration of unique factors such as warm climate, uncommon local ingredients, foreign culture, and political history.

Kyushu is blessed with a mildly warm to subtropical climate that yields an abundance of foods (ie. soy, sweet potatoes, rice, and tea), which account for 20% of Japan's total agricultural output. Southern Kyushu is particularly well-known for food products that are high in antioxidants, such as Amaou strawberries and tankan. The environment is also ideal for making fermented foods such as shochu, sake, and vinegar; the Kyushu landscape is dotted with numerous breweries that distribute endless varieties of Japan's best alcohol. Kurozu, or black vinegar that has become recently popular because of its health benefits, originally comes from Kagoshima prefecture.

For centuries, Kyushu was Japan's gateway to Asia and the rest of the world. The port city of Nagasaki was the only place where contact with Dutch and Portuguese traders was allowed for some 200 years. This accessibility to other cultures resulted in local specialties such as castella (a sponge cake of Portuguese origin), taipi-en and kakuni-manjyu (both of Chinese origin). Kyushu additionally has a tradition of being non-mainstream, perhaps from being the site of many political revolutions.

Each region of this island each boasts popular local dishes, but they are collectively characterized by their richness, spiciness, and strong flavors. Food here is heavily seasoned with such condiments as Yuzusco (liquid yuzu pepper), used on tonsoku (pigs' feet) to even crackers. Mentaiko, spicy cod roe, is a staple in Fukuoka prefecture. This region is also famous for yatai food stalls that sell street food throughout the night. Some Kyushu foods that are not found anywhere else include purple sweet potatoes, sakurajima daikon, ikinari dango, and a medley of fried foods like karaage.

Curious about these Kyushu soul foods? You'll have a chance to experience these regional specialties from several vendors from Kyushu at the Soul Food Festival on Sunday, September 26th!

Official JapanTown Soul Food Festival Press Release!

2010-09-16T20:46:00.000-04:00

Mark your calendars! The JapanTown Soul Food Festival - the last of our three festivals - is coming to the Upper East Side on Sunday, Sept. 26th! Have an exclusive taste of Japanese soul food (regional specialties) and expand your Japanese food knowledge beyond sushi and teriyaki. Just as New England has clam chowder and Philly is known for their cheesesteaks, Kyushu has such popular local dishes as ikinari dango and taipi-en, which aren't made anywhere else but Kyushu. We're excited to show you the diversity of Japanese cuisine at the Soul Food Festival! Here is more information in our official press release:

JapanTown Soul Food Festival to Acquaint New York with Regional Japanese Dishes on September 26, 2010

NEW YORK, New York (September 16, 2010) — Concluding this year’s JapanTown on September 26, 2010 in the Upper East Side, the Soul Food Festival will celebrate the local Japanese dishes—or “soul food”—unique to specific regions of Japan, showcasing the rich diversity of Japanese cuisine beyond commonly-known dishes such as sushi. This festival will focus on the regional specialties of Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost island. Several Kyushu prefectures and New York restaurants will acquaint New York with some of Japanese cuisine’s best-kept secrets.

Many Japanese localities have popular dishes made with traditional recipes and local ingredients, just as Philadelphia has cheesesteaks and New England has clam chowder. Participating New York Japanese restaurants will serve the soul food from their respective hometowns. Hakata Tonton’s collagen-rich tonsoku and Hide-Chan Ramen’s yaki ramen, both from Fukuoka, and Umi No Ie’s fresh hand-pulled thin udon delivered daily from the Goto Islands will inspire visitors with a taste for more authentic specialty Japanese food.

Vendors arriving from Kyushu prefectures of Nagasaki, Oita, Saga, and Kumamoto will occupy one block of the festival and exhibit their traditional and modern dishes. Look for ikinari dango (a dumpling of potato and red bean), taipi-en (vermicelli of Chinese origin with a local twist), nikumai onigiri (juicy pork-wrapped rice balls), and even pet health supplements from Kumamoto. Fukuoka will dish up its famous kamaboko (fish cakes) made from a technique used since the Edo era and the Yuzusco brand citron pepper seasoning. Takeo City of Saga prefecture will have zesty lemongrass green tea, herb tea, and cider.

Additional eats include warabimochi (a kinko-smothered confection), Japanese curry from Go! Go! Curry!, okonomiyaki ,yakitori, and konnyaku.

Besides food, there will be regional Japanese products, entertainment, raffles for airline tickets, Japanese accessories, anime products for sale.

Come visit the JapanTown Soul Food festival on September 26th to taste the uniqueness of Japan!

For more information, visit our website at www.nyjapantown.org.

Connect with us at:
www.twitter.com/nyjapantown
http://www.nyjapantown.blogspot.com/
Facebook: JapanTown Festival

When:
Sunday, September 26, 2010

Location:
Lexington Avenue between 93rd and 96th Streets
New York, NY 10128

The Pigs' Feet of Kyushu Cuisine Invigorates Taste Buds—and Skin

2010-09-13T00:52:00.003-04:00

If you've been to either of the previous JapanTown festivals, one booth that might have stuck out in your memory might have been Hakata Tonton's, manned by the chef wearing the pig mask, Koji Hagihara. Hakata Tonton, a cozy 40-seat restaurant in the West Village, serves authentic soul food from Kyushu, the southernmost island of Japan. Their menu lists many dishes that may seem strange to those familiar with commonplace Japanese fare, but don't be wary; every plate of savory new flavors is bound to make you search for where all the Kyushu soul food is in New York after your experience.

Kyushu's specialties are pork and cod roe (mentaiko), and Hakata Tonton is specifically devoted to tonsoku, or pigs' feet. The feet is usually the part of the pig that no one in the U.S. eats, but in Kyushu, they are a staple. Tonsoku is not very meaty but is packed with collagen, a type of protein that is essentially the "glue" that holds the body together. Used in cosmetic industry, collagen maintains the skin's elasticity, helping to keep wrinkles at bay, which means you actually look better eating tonsoku (or so Hakata Tonton says). And because tonsoku doesn't have a lot of meat, it doesn't have a lot of fat either. Nearly every dish of of this restaurant, whether traditional or fusion, incorporates tonsoku. There's tonsoku homemade gyoza, tonkosu soup, teriyaki tonsoku, tonsoku croquette, tonsoku hot pot, and tonsoku marinated in ponzu sauce. They call this "collagen cuisine."

Curious about this health-giving tonsoku, the JapanTown Team paid a visit and ordered the Tonsoku Mentaiko, Miso Pork, and Koji's Special Crispy Chicken Wings. The Tonsoku Mentaiko, a straightforward introduction for tonsoku newcomers, was a salad-like bowl of shredded tonsoku with spicy mentaiko, scallions, and onions mixed in throughout. The taste of tonsoku is pork, but with different texture that we can only describe as "fibrous." It's chewy, basically. The Miso Pork came in grilled squares marinated in a thick sauce of miso and yuzu chili. Tender, chewy, and containing hidden juice pockets that absorb the miso flavor that squirt out with each bite, the Miso Pork was our favorite, hands down. The Chicken Wings had a thinly fried crust that crumbled easily to expose the juicy chicken within.

For dessert, we tried the Green Tea Tofu and the Fukuoka Mochi Cake. Swimming in a green tea soup, the Green Tea Tofu tasted refreshingly, bitterly clean. The Fukuoka Mochi Cake is a warabi mochi made with red bean and dipped in kinkako powder. Perhaps the most memorable moment of our time at Hakata Tonton was when the waitress ran out after us as we were leaving to give us some after-dinner mints from a pink pig Pez dispenser! That was a very cute touch. We thought the service overall was attentive and quite friendly.

While there are dishes that were much larger, the dishes we ordered were not large portions. Rather than being stomach-filling foods, these dishes were more for the taste buds. The food is meant to be slowly eaten and each bite is meant to be savored. The experience is an exploration of taste, and you are meant to take your time to tread the path before you.

We suggest you make reservations before you go, because the restaurant is packed every night. Apparently, Hakata Tonton has had success spreading the word about tonsoku and Kyushu soul food!

Tonsoku Mentaiko


Miso Pork covered with miso and Yuzusco sauce

Miso Pork covered with miso and Yuzusco sauce

Koji's Special Crispy Chicken Wings

Fukuoka Mochi Cake

Green Tea Tofu

Here are some shots of the restaurant:

Hakata Tonton were a hit at the last two festivals. Be sure to try their yummy tonsoku pork at the Soul Food Festival on September 26th!

Hakata Tonton
61 Grove Street
New York, NY 10014
(between Bleecker Street and 7th Avenue)

Recap of the Healthy Food & Green Festival

2010-08-28T11:28:00.008-04:00

So if you didn't make it out to the Healthy Food and Green Festival this past Sunday, this is what you missed:

The festival had its high and low moments because of the rain, but it wasn't completely disastrous. If it poured for the whole day straight through, then it'd really suck. Fortunately, the rain was sporadic, dampening only a short segment of our festival and by no means extinguishing our spirits. Despite the weather, our vendors came with lots of boisterous enthusiasm, warmly welcoming all visitors and presenting their goods with all the energy of a bright summer day.

The vendors spiced it up a notch at this festival, donning costumes and vociferously proclaiming their goods. It felt like being in an exciting sports game; the fanfare and friendly competition among the vendors provided free entertainment of sorts and gave the event some fun. There was the Go Restaurant fish man selling temaki and yakisoba, the bandit-masked girls of East Restaurant (44th street location), who happened to complement the cowboys of Otokomae in the neighboring booth. Hakata Tonton's executive chef Koji Hagihara wore his pig mask again (advertising his restaurant's signature tonton pork) and was seen posing for numerous tourists' cameras. We spotted plenty of summery yukata, worn by the folks at Nu Skin and O planning's staff, who were selling healthy okonomiyaki, or as they called it, "teriyaki pizza."

The festival at about noon

Go Restaurant

East Japanese Restaurant (44th St. location)

Katagiri

Hakata Tonton Executive Chef Koji Hagihara

O planning

Otokomae

Some healthy food highlights worth mentioning included Suzuki Farm's wide range of fresh, organic Japanese vegetables. Asahi Ryokuken offered free shots of their Ryokko Aojiru health drink, Ajinomoto offered shrimp gyoza and edamame gyoza. Thirsty visitors' options were the plenty of ramune being sold and a wide array of refreshing tea drinks available at the Ito En booth. Those with a sweet tooth had plenty of options at Cafe Zaiya, Beard Papa's, Katagiri, and East Japanese Restaurant.

There were also an abundance of free samples available, something that wasn't as present at the last festival. Negiya's fried chicken wings, Aojiru, Salonpas, teriyaki chicken, even tenugui were offered free all day or for a limited time. There was also the free taste tests by Kikkoman Pearl Soymilk and Yakult, which both gave people a sampling of their flavors in exchange for their opinion.

Goya from Suzuki Farm

Grilled eel from East Japanese Restaurant (55th St. location)

Ito En green tea

Ramune

Organic ramen salad from Souen

Tanichico-yaki from Otokomae

Tofu Steak from East Japanese Restaurant (44th St.)

Yakult probiotic drink

Kikkoman Organic Pearl Soymilk taste tests

Kids enjoying shaved ices

Ajinomoto Edamame Vegetable Gyoza

Daifuku from Katagiri

Aojiru barley grass drink

Negiya's organic tebasaki

Marukome Miso Yaki sauce

Sushiden sushi

Mochi ice cream from Beard Papa's

We would also like to thank all the chefs who participated in the JRO Essence of Japanese Cuisine Demonstrations. Renowned chefs Fred Sabo and Billy Strynkowski gave demonstrations throughout the day on how to cook and prepare healthy, homemade Japanese dishes using ingredients such as miso and tofu. There were also demonstrations by chefs from our vendors and sponsors such as Marukome, Otafuku, Hakata Tonton, and Souen. These chefs demonstrated essential Japanese healthy cooking and dishes using tofu, macrobiotic principles, fish, mentaiko, and okonomiyaki. Guests participated in post-demonstration taste surveys of products and were rewarded rewarded with gift bags filled with our sponsors' products. We do acknowledge that there was a miscommunication over the amount of Marukome gift bags available, and we humbly apologize to our disappointed guests.

Jenna Zimmerman, Billy Strynkowski, and Fred Sabo hosted the demonstrations

Line for tastings after the demonstrations

Gift bags for completing surveys

Marukome miso gift

We realized that some things didn't go according to plan. Beard Papa's actually couldn't bring their cream puffs (yes, we were just as disappointed) because they had to stick to a certain level of quality. They explained that their puffs are always made fresh and are supposed to be eaten immediately and would've gone bad if they were kept at the booth for the whole day. Instead, they sold some mochi doughnuts injected with the same vanilla cream custard as well as everything else on their menu, such as mochi ice cream and mango dessert.

One of our favorite parts had to be when the rain became so torrential that the Information tent buckled under the weight of the water and collapsed onto one of our team members inside. He was saved by a dozen vendors and JapanTown staff, who all ran out into the deluge to rescue him and the booth's contents. (A big thanks to the vendors who helped us!) Seriously, we thought this example of team spirit in the face of adversity represented the mood of the entire festival. We wish we had pictures of that to show you! It was quite a dramatic scene. Here are some soggy moments:

Hiro Takenaga, the director, was prepared for this weather

The rain only stopped a few from joining us on Sunday, and in between spouts the street was actually pretty busy. We thank everyone who visited and welcome everyone to the Soul Food Festival on September 26th, when we'll be featuring Japanese regional comfort food specialities! Stay tuned for more info on the upcoming vendors, special offers, and products that will be available! We hope to see you then!

The Nikkei Weekly: Japanese Business News Straight From the Source

2010-08-21T22:45:00.004-04:00

The Nikkei is one of the leading economic and marketing newspapers in the world. A peer of The Wall Street Journal, the Nikkei consists of five different newspapers, one of which is The Nikkei Weekly, Japan's only English-language newspaper for disseminating Nikkei's economic reporting to a worldwide readership. The Nikkei Weekly incorporates a selection of major articles published in Nikkei's four Japanese newspapers to provide professional yet easy-to-read articles on the economy, industry and finance in Japan and Asia, in precise, polished English. Visitors to the Healthy Food and Green Festival will receive a free issue of The Nikkei Weekly as well as a month of free access to Nikkei.com with a subscription to the newspaper. Anyone with any interest in the Japanese market and trends in Japan in general, The Nikkei Weekly is for you.

JapanTown Welcomes Sophisticated Bath Fixtures Leader TOTO to the Scene!

2010-08-21T21:29:00.000-04:00

JapanTown is happy to welcome TOTO to the Healthy Food and Green Festival tomorrow! For almost a century, TOTO has been supplying houses and commercial buildings with high quality, energy and water efficient plumbing products. TOTO has been years ahead in their knowledge and practice of water and energy conservation, which has enabled them to become the world leader in plumbing products. TOTO will be demonstrating their life-changing, state-of-the-art toilet seat, the Washlet! This high-tech energy efficient facility has more functions than your iPhone. You can find a Washlet right here in New York, the JapanTown team saw one at Curry-Ya. Make sure you stop by the TOTO booth to check out these futuristic looking, sustainable toilets!

Cafe Zaiya Brings Japanese Pastries to JapanTown!

2010-08-21T21:16:00.001-04:00

A New York favorite, Cafe Zaiya has been serving fresh, delicious Japanese bentos, pastries and cafe drinks for years. You may remember at the Cool Japan Festival, Cafe Zaiya served delicious pastries and ice cream in exotic green tea and black sesame flavors. Check out Cafe Zaiya's booth at the Healthy Food and Green Festival for delicious sweets!

EarthSmart Helps Green Up JapanTown

2010-08-21T21:14:00.001-04:00

People who have been following the Healthy Food Festival news have probably wondered what makes this festival "green"? Well, our vendors will be using EarthSmart disposable dishware for their food! EarthSmart tableware and trays are made of Bagasse, an all sugarcane by-product that is sustainable and renewable. In addition to being environment friendly, EarthSmart products are also heat stable, meaning they can be used in the microwave, and they are also water- and oil-resistant, which makes them convenient for use in the refrigerator or freezer. So waste not tomorrow with EarthSmart tableware!