By Emily Connor
I realize that I write about food quite often, and I apologize for this. However I think one of the most interesting and unique aspects of Japan are the many foods and variations that are put on them. Traditional Japanese cuisine is of course splendid, but I'm much more intrigued by the Western foods that come over here and are quickly given face lifts by the Japanese. Sometimes these changes are good, but most of the time they're just bizarre and unnecessary.
A popular US pizza chain has recently been popping up around Tokyo, and at first glance I was shaking with excitement... Upon entering the store though I was aghast at the display of Japanese-styled pizza toppings before my eyes. Potato corn pizza, tuna mayonnaise pizza, teriyaki chicken with mayonnaise pizza... They just don't get it! Although mayonnaise on pizza surprisingly doesn't taste awful, the concept of it is just immoral and unthinkable. Who ever thought of putting corn and mayonnaise on a pizza to begin with? Were there not enough options readily available? Growing up I always thought that the 'Hawaiian-styled' pizza with Spam and pineapple was as weird as it could get, but I was gravely mistaken.
Bacon is another food that is just never right in Japan. Seeing as how I'm a vegetarian I really shouldn't be complaining about meat, but cut me some slack for a minute. Bacon in Japan is always served limp and soggy. I don't think anyone ever decided to tell them that it's supposed to be crispy--instead they just take it out of the package, grill it for maybe one minute on each side so that the meat is still a bit translucent and pink and then serve it up. I'm sure that the meat quality in Japan is a thousand times better than the quality of meat in the US, but still... Who wants to eat soggy bacon? I once knew a Japanese person whom upon coming to the US and eating properly cooked crispy maple bacon for the first time gained ten pounds in a month and could eat half-a-pound of bacon in one sitting. Maybe that's why bacon is only served soggy here--the Japanese government must be doing it in an attempt to save this country from an obesity epidemic. If it were too delicious everyone would eat it uncontrollably and gain massive amounts of weight. Clever, I must say.
I could go on and on, but the last food that bothers me immensely would have to be pancakes. Pancakes are one of my favorite foods in the entire world, and although they're available in Japan, very few people seem to really understand the proper way to eat this breakfast classic. First of all, seeing as they are a breakfast food, pancakes should be served from early in the morning. Pancakes cafes in Japan, however, all seem to open up at 11AM or noon... Where can I get my pancake fix at 8AM? You could argue and say that McDonalds serves them on the breakfast menu (you would be correct, by the way)--but McDonalds pancakes aren't heartfelt! They're corporation pancakes, and corporation pancakes are filled with hate. Menus in pancake cafes are much too complicated, too. Pancakes are served with curry, or salmon, or salads or a whole bunch of other things that are just not necessary with pancakes. Pancakes should only be allowed to be served with eggs or a breakfast meat product. Also, there must be more than two pancakes on the plate. For some reason two seems to be the magic number when it comes to pancake cafes in Japan, when everyone knows that pancakes are counted in 'stacks' and two pancakes does not equal a 'stack'. It's just a lonely number.
The argument could be made that Americans are equally as guilty when it comes to how badly some restaurants mess up Japanese food. Sure, California rolls are not really sushi. Also, chicken fingers made with panko instead of normal flour are not automatically 'tempura chicken'--they're just panko-crusted chicken fingers. But still--! I just wish I could get a bit more authentic American food in Tokyo without having to go to T.G.I. Friday's every time I want food like from back home. Maybe I should open up my own restaurant--a place that serves crispy bacon, stacks of pancakes and pizza without mayonnaise. That would be the day.
I realize that I write about food quite often, and I apologize for this. However I think one of the most interesting and unique aspects of Japan are the many foods and variations that are put on them. Traditional Japanese cuisine is of course splendid, but I'm much more intrigued by the Western foods that come over here and are quickly given face lifts by the Japanese. Sometimes these changes are good, but most of the time they're just bizarre and unnecessary.
A popular US pizza chain has recently been popping up around Tokyo, and at first glance I was shaking with excitement... Upon entering the store though I was aghast at the display of Japanese-styled pizza toppings before my eyes. Potato corn pizza, tuna mayonnaise pizza, teriyaki chicken with mayonnaise pizza... They just don't get it! Although mayonnaise on pizza surprisingly doesn't taste awful, the concept of it is just immoral and unthinkable. Who ever thought of putting corn and mayonnaise on a pizza to begin with? Were there not enough options readily available? Growing up I always thought that the 'Hawaiian-styled' pizza with Spam and pineapple was as weird as it could get, but I was gravely mistaken.
Bacon is another food that is just never right in Japan. Seeing as how I'm a vegetarian I really shouldn't be complaining about meat, but cut me some slack for a minute. Bacon in Japan is always served limp and soggy. I don't think anyone ever decided to tell them that it's supposed to be crispy--instead they just take it out of the package, grill it for maybe one minute on each side so that the meat is still a bit translucent and pink and then serve it up. I'm sure that the meat quality in Japan is a thousand times better than the quality of meat in the US, but still... Who wants to eat soggy bacon? I once knew a Japanese person whom upon coming to the US and eating properly cooked crispy maple bacon for the first time gained ten pounds in a month and could eat half-a-pound of bacon in one sitting. Maybe that's why bacon is only served soggy here--the Japanese government must be doing it in an attempt to save this country from an obesity epidemic. If it were too delicious everyone would eat it uncontrollably and gain massive amounts of weight. Clever, I must say.
I could go on and on, but the last food that bothers me immensely would have to be pancakes. Pancakes are one of my favorite foods in the entire world, and although they're available in Japan, very few people seem to really understand the proper way to eat this breakfast classic. First of all, seeing as they are a breakfast food, pancakes should be served from early in the morning. Pancakes cafes in Japan, however, all seem to open up at 11AM or noon... Where can I get my pancake fix at 8AM? You could argue and say that McDonalds serves them on the breakfast menu (you would be correct, by the way)--but McDonalds pancakes aren't heartfelt! They're corporation pancakes, and corporation pancakes are filled with hate. Menus in pancake cafes are much too complicated, too. Pancakes are served with curry, or salmon, or salads or a whole bunch of other things that are just not necessary with pancakes. Pancakes should only be allowed to be served with eggs or a breakfast meat product. Also, there must be more than two pancakes on the plate. For some reason two seems to be the magic number when it comes to pancake cafes in Japan, when everyone knows that pancakes are counted in 'stacks' and two pancakes does not equal a 'stack'. It's just a lonely number.
The argument could be made that Americans are equally as guilty when it comes to how badly some restaurants mess up Japanese food. Sure, California rolls are not really sushi. Also, chicken fingers made with panko instead of normal flour are not automatically 'tempura chicken'--they're just panko-crusted chicken fingers. But still--! I just wish I could get a bit more authentic American food in Tokyo without having to go to T.G.I. Friday's every time I want food like from back home. Maybe I should open up my own restaurant--a place that serves crispy bacon, stacks of pancakes and pizza without mayonnaise. That would be the day.
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