Yudofuya Restaurant

Kyoto's Ryoanji Temple's large garden contains the vegetarian restaurant Yudofuya serving yudofu - boiled soy bean curd topped with a mix of seven herbs.

Other things on the menu include beer, sake, rice and juice. The full yudofu set costs 3,300 yen or just yudofu with vegetables is 1,500 yen.

The tatami-style seating looks out over a lovely garden complete with pond and lovely pine and maple trees. An English menu is available.

Yudofuya
13 Goryonoshita-machi
Ryoanji
Ukyo-ku
Kyoto
Tel: 075 462 4742

Looking at Japan's Insects and Fish

A pleasure of visiting a faraway country is getting to see new and different things. This can range from the very big (i.e., castles) to the very small.

One day while visiting a castle ruin in Tsuwano I was looking closely at the plants and flowers, and I noticed several insects. At that moment a great revelation struck me: I recognize these bugs from "Animal Crossing!"

That little gem of a videogame by Nintendo was originally titled "Animal Forest" in Japan before it arrived on American shores in 2002. Part of the game involved catching bugs and fish, and I spent long hours with my net and fishing pole in a crazed, obsessive quest to catch them all. Over time I have played every incarnation of "Animal Crossing."

To my immense delight, I have come across various insect and spider species in our travels throughout Japan. Some of them I recognize from the game, while others come as a new and pleasant surprise. During my trip to Kyushu I came across a Blue Admiral Butterfly on the grounds of Kumamoto Castle.

When it comes to fish, the only ones we saw except for koi carp had been prepared for us as meals. Red snapper ("I caught a red snapper! Snappity, snap, snap!") tastes pretty good. And what do you think about sweetfish ("I caught a sweetfish! Deelish!")?

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Oden

おでん

In these cold winter months in Japan, a favorite winter warmer is oden, a selection of ingredients boiled in a soy-flavored dashi broth. Dashi is made with konbu seaweed and shaved tuna flakes (kezurikatsuo), so oden is not really vegetarian, though many of the other ingredients are staples for non-meat eaters: daikon radish, potatoes, konnyaku (konjac or devil's tongue), kinchaku (mochi in a deep-fried tofu pouch) and tofu. Other things found in oden include boiled eggs, chikuwa fish cakes, folded seaweed, meatballs on sticks, sausages, octopus and sometimes skewered beef.

Convenience store oden

Oden can be found at food stalls at temple fairs and festivals, convenience stores, izakaya and at some specialized Japanese restaurants. There are many regional differences and the oden you eat in Tokyo is likely to differ from that popular in Osaka, Hiroshima or Kyoto.

Aomori oden - heavy on the eggs

You order your oden by the piece and it is served in a either in a bowl with broth or just plain on a tray. Mustard is served to dab on the pieces and to increase the heat effect.

Oden goes well with hot sake rather than beer.

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Sanfuri Yokocho

さんふり横丁,青森

Aomori in the far north of Japan has a well-deserved reputation for the excellence of its local food.

Sanfuri Yokocho (Yataimura) in the east of the city is a recreation of intimate Showa-style food stalls offering a few seats (8-12) around a counter presided over by a mama. The 15 stalls are arranged in an alley covered with paper lanterns. Sanfuri Yokocho opened in 2005 and is open in the evenings.

Diners can try some of Aomori's excellent sashimi (raw fish), kaiyaki miso (pictured above), and oden washed down with a glass or two of local sake or beer.

Yatai Mura is north of Amenity Street, one block north of the Aomori Prefectural Folk Museum.

Yatai Mura
Honmachi 3-8-3
Aomori
030-0802
Tel: 017 745 4242
Map of Yatai Mura

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