Yakisoba and chocolate : Valentines match made in heaven?

Japanese manufacturer Myojo is well known for selling their popular and super convenient 'Ippei-chan' yakisoba noodles. They apparently thought that their marketing needed something completely wild and crazy and jumped on the Valentine's bandwagon, by adding...chocolate sauce, what?

As soon as I saw the promo for this on the internet I decided on the spot that I HAD to eat this. Who the hell thinks of chocolate and noodles together? Typically yakisoba is ramen noodles fried in a slightly salty soy, Worchestershire kind of sauce. Some flavour combinations just naturally don't work together. You aren't going to add whipped cream to your squid and you won't put baked beans on a chocolate cake. So how anyone decided to make this combo is beyond me. But I remained faithful, after all, adding chocolate to a curry is a great way to add some bitterness to it, maybe this would work?

My local supermarket had an ample stack that was larger yesterday.

Sites like RocketNews have gone for the 'sensational' OMG it's so gross, so unique, rare and hard to find reporting approach. Whilst it will certainly disappear quickly like all limited edition flavours here, within a week or two max, I could find them in pretty much every convenience store and supermarket. Interestingly, it is a good 50 yen cheaper than the standard flavour, I guess even the most adventurous need a little cash incentive...!

So you buy a packet, what do you get inside?

You get the standard packet with the cool drainage lid and 3 packets that you simply need to add after boiling the noodles and draining them, then just mix the hell out of it. Adding the furikake packet last, which is kind of the crunchy topping. Even if you don't know Japanese, the instructions are crazy simple.

So you mix it all up, wait with anticipation and you see this...oh.
I'm sure the obvious comparison is very clear...I tasted a quick sample of the sauce before putting it on an it did indeed taste like legitimate chocolate sauce!

Appetizing?

However, if you go beyond the visuals and mix it up, the taste is pretty surprising.
The texture is very much the same as your standard yakisoba but with a little added crunch from the topping. The starchyness of the noodles actually helps to mellow out the chocolate taste into something a bit more natural.
My immediate comparison would be a standard chocolate mister donut's donut. What I hadn't realized until I had began eating is that it is noodles plus chocolate AND cinnamon. This was a real deal breaker. The cinnamon, for me actually added a nice after taste and complimented the natural noodle taste. You could even say it was pretty good!

Mix, mix...!

That's a bit more natural looking...!

It became one of those dishes where the more you eat it, the more you begin to like it. I found myself saying "Hey...I could actually eat this again!" and not just to be edgy. I have had worse tasting regular yakisoba's. Perhaps I have a more forgiving palate but for that combination and for so cheap, it was a nice surprise!

If you want to try this novelty noodle dish I really recommend you go out and grab one within a week or so otherwise you will have to hunt hard. It has been released for valentines but often it seems that Japan removes these items way before the event has actually finished, marketing is weird.

If you give it a go, let me know what you think! 

No.1 Takoyaki in Osaka!

No.1 Best Takoyaki in Osaka : Naniwa, Nagai

Most countries usually have a few signature dishes that define it's country's cuisine whether it be fish and chips for the UK, pasta and pizza for Italy or curry for India. While some regional variants are available such as Chicago Pizza or Cornish Pasties, Japan has them in ridiculous abundance! If you are a food tourist, you need to add Japan to your list. Every prefecture or sometimes city has more than one local speciality to offer travellers, these are often well known across Japan, compounded by the omiyage and package tour culture here.

I live in Osaka, Kansai and if you ask anyone what food is famous in Osaka you will probably hear "Okonomiyaki, Kushikatsu and...Takoyaki!" To be honest, Kushikatsu has been revealed by surveys to not actually be eaten much by local Osakans but is very popular with tourists but that's a discussion for another day. Today I want to talk about Takoyaki, Takoyaki's literal translation means 'grilled octopus', but its a lot more than that! Takoyaki is made with a special indented pan that is filled an egg and flour based batter with octopus slices and any additional flavourings which could include kimchi, ginger, green onion or any other variations. The pan then moulds the mixture into a ball shape as it is expertly rotated and formed by the chef. Various toppings are available but the most popular combination is Takoyaki sauce and Mayonnaise.

There are a ton of Takoyaki stalls in Japan, it's a popular street snack, according to Tabelog there is a whopping 1130 in Osaka alone! But which is the best one? Each one has their own recipe or cooking technique, I've eaten a lot of damn Takoyaki but I want to share what I, and the majority of Tabelog eaters recommend as the NO.1 place for Takoyaki!

That place is called 浪花や - なにわや、read as 'Naniwaya'. It is a small stall located in Nagai on the Midosuji line, next to Nagai park, for more in depth directions check the end of this post! If you look at the poster below they proudly announce that they are currently the no.2 rated Takoyaki store out of a whopping 1130 stores. However looking further, it was rated no.1 overall for both the cooking/taste and cost performance categories! I'm pretty damn lucky to have this place within a 15min walk from my house and have visited many times.

Naniwa is a small and humble establishment that has been running for 25 years, it offers a small seating space of just 8 seats but I have always managed to grab one as most people order to take away. Inside there is a free iced water machine which is heaven on a hot day. The store is ALWAYS serving someone, I have never seen them not busy or idle, there is a constant flow of custom which explains why they have been around for 25 years! But enough about the place...lets check the menu!

There are four variations available. 

1) Shouyu aka. soy sauce. This is included within the batter so there is no actual topping.

2) Takoyaki Sauce

3) Mayonnaise (Chefs recommendation)

4) Mayonnaise and Takoyaki sauce, my personal favourite.

The prices vary depending on how many you order, ranging from 8 to 24 pieces per order. As you can see it is CHEAP, really really cheap despite the amazing taste and reputation.

Myself and my partner went for options 3 and 4 which you can see below, each order comes with a side of pickles and is served piping hot, sadly my camera didn't capture the steam coming off of them!

Takoyaki is traditionally eaten with these little toothpicks, which may prove to be a little tricky for those without good dexterity! Some Takoyaki can be quite farm or even crunchy on the outside depending on the place but Naniwa's texture is pretty soft and malleable. As you can see it is kind of drooping off my toothpicks and can easily break if you randomly jab at it! 

Fortunately chopsticks are also available if you don't want to fiddle around and just want to tuck in! Much easier and can take advantage of how hot it is! The batter has a nice smooth texture and isn't 'stodgy' like most cheap places, it is satisfying from beginning to end and the pieces of octopus are of good quality. Not rubbery or chewy like cheaper variations, taste satisfaction guaranteed, at Naniwa there are also small pieces of Konyaku to add texture, they aren't really noticeable so don't worry if you aren't a Konyaku fan. I personally love option 4 as the the sauce and mayo blend well with the Katsuobushi dried tuna flakes and smooth texture to create a tangy sweet ball of awesomeness.

If you have never had Takoyaki, you are probably thinking that this sounds really fishy but it isn't at all so give it a try! Its more like a savoury tangy dumpling that happens to have some octopus in it! I highly highly recommend this place because despite the staff being busy they are always friendly, the seating area is clean, plus even with the popularity, the waiting time between order and service is really quick! Definitely No.1 in my eyes.

Where to find Naniwa: It is located about 30m from exit 5 of Nagai park, Nagai is located on the red Midosuji line that connects to Tennoji, Namba, Umeda and so on. It is just around the corner from Mister Donuts so use that as a marker point! 

It is open from 10am to 7:30pm but please note that it is closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays! I have attached a few googlemap pictures of my location at the time to help!

Naniwas official website is http://takoyaki-naniwaya.com/top

You can also view their tabelog at http://tabelog.com/osaka/A2704/A270404/27003447/

Next time you are in Osaka, come and try the best Takoyaki that Osaka can offer!

Take a bite out of Kyubey's schemes!

Kyubey's head available for consumption!

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (魔法少女まどか☆マギカ) is a magic girl anime that broke stereotypes and brought the genre into new territory, becoming popular across the world. If you haven't seen it I recommend it, especially after 'that' episode which completely changes the tone. I was sceptical of the series at first but it quickly grew on me.

The series featured a magical creature called Kyubey, he could create contracts to make wishes and give power to girls who desired it. However, beyond his cutesy exterior was a much darker hidden motive. Now, if you go to Lawson you can enact sweet delicious revenge by eating his cute head!

For a limited time you can buy a steamed meat bun adorned with Kyubey's cutesy features...doesn't he look adorable!

But much like in the series, if you bite him in the wrong way, he begins to take a sinister turn...not so cute now huh?

The bun itself is actually really, really tasty. With a sweet and tangy sauce and plenty of meat to go with it. Sometimes with convenience store meat buns you can barely taste or notice the difference between fillings but not in this case!

I had only intended to but it once for novelty value but have bought it twice since and its better than the standard offerings, perfect for warming you up on the chilly days that have crept up on us recently.

Seek out your revenge at a Lawson store near you before he disappears!

Tower Cheese Monstrosity Returns!!

Cheesy Monstrosity was back for one day only!

Despite my intended focus of this blog being games and Japanese media and culture I keep getting sucked into the wonderful world of Ltd. Edition foods and drinks that are constantly being churned out here!

On 20th November, the hamburger chain Lotteria re-released their limited edition tower cheese burger for one day only. The last time they did this they sold out so quickly, but this time I got lucky!
For ¥500 you get just the burger, or for ¥700 you get a small drink and fries too. The drink is essential for all the damn meat you are about to eat...!

The tower cheese burger consists of a bun, 5 big meat patties and ton of cheese wedged inbetween. I saw some pretty horrific monstrosities on twitter the last time this promo took place so was pleasantly surprised to see that mine sort of resembled the promo photo!

It's difficult to eat, being bigger than the average mouth. I chose to attack it from the side, a salaryman infront of my tries to attack it from the bottom but he became a greasy mess within seconds...! The meat is...disappointing. It is edible but one word I would use to describe it is 'mushy'. Didn't feel solid at all, compared to other popular burger chains this is definitely dog food tier meat. There is no way cheese should have that bright yellow colour either, just doesn't look natural!

The main problem was grease, the bun inevitably gets soaked and makes your hands stink! I had to use a bunch of gatsy wipes to get rid of it. As you can see here, the greasy aftermath after you have finished instantly makes you regret your decision.

Is it worth it? For ¥500 you can argue that it is cheap for what you get, 5 patties is filling! But the taste leaves a lot to be desired. It is a good novelty burger to show your friends (...or the internet/instagram!)

If you are interested, I recently saw a sign for another one day only buying chance for the 10th of December, so go find a Lotteria near you and try one!