おいしい! YUM!

I love food. I love to cook, and I love to eat, so, naturally, I am looking forward to the cuisine of Japan. Most people are probably familiar with Japanese foods like sushi or tempura, but there are many more foods that I have read about or even tried in the U.S. which I am looking forward to trying when I get to Japan. In my researching, I have learned that Japanese cities have certain foods that each one is famous for. It's like how Philadelphia is famous for the cheese-steak or how you have to eat a Chicago-style pizza pie when you go to Chicago. My future residence of Nagoya, Japan has some famous foods, too. Here are a few that I've discovered:

Tenmusu
Tenmusu is an onigiri stuffed with shrimp tempura. In English, it's a rice ball stuffed with fried shrimp and wrapped in roasted seaweed. What's not to love?

Tebasaki
This is Nagoya-style chicken wings. Fried chicken wings with a soy-based sauce. Apparently, there are two rivaling restaurant chains that claim to have the best tebasaki. I am totally okay with trying both, and loving each of them equally.

Misokatsu
Katsu is basically a pork fritter, and miso is a soybean paste you may have had in the form of miso soup at U.S. sushi restaurants. Misokatsu is a pork cutlet covered in a miso-based sauce. I even found the website for a major misokatsu restaurant in Nagoya! Check out Misokatsu Yabaton. Looks a little weird, but sounds sOoO goOod.

Hitsumabushi
Ok, so, up until now, things have basically been Japanese versions of foods we typically eat in the U.S. (fried shrimp, fried chicken, fried pork,...) Here's where things might get weird, but stay with me. Hitsumabushi is a bowl of rice and freshwater eel. Don't say "EEW"! Eel is so tasty! It's super rich and tender and delicious, and like everything I've ever eaten at a sushi restaurant here, I hear it's way better in Japan. I cannot wait to eat some!

And all of that is just the tip of the iceberg. There's so much more to eat and discover. While I'm there, I'll be sure to let you in on all of my yummy discoveries, and even the ones that are less than yummy.