There was a real carnival atmosphere on the streets of Takayama, with many stall fronts offering a myriad of food for hungry festival-goers. It was an interesting mix of the traditional and the not-so-traditional (as this post will capture). I always find fascinating what people eat during celebrations.
These conch (sea snails) were [...]
You may have noticed a particular penchant in some of my posts - a penchant for the sweeter things in life. Not that I am a big cake eater. But give me a cute little macaron, a delicate pastry, a luscious truffle, some choux filled with custard, or a sweet yeasty dough, and I’m in [...]
I just fell in love with this happy chappy, the purveyor of owara tamaten, little cubes of grilled honey-flavoured meringuey/marshmallowy goodness. His cheeky chuckle brought a smile to our faces as I held up two fingers and said “owara tamaten o futatsu kudasai” (”I’ll have two please”).
A delightful translation of this unusual little treat was [...]
This street stall along the picturesque Miyagawa River was cooking up mouth-watering kushiyaki (skewers) of Hida beef - a local speciality of the region. Hida beef are raised in the meadows of the Hida plateau for about two years, and are known for their fatty tissue and rich flavor.
The skewers were grilled on the [...]
One of the more popular street snacks in Takayama are mitarashi-dango, skewers of grilled rice dumplings (mochi) coated in a soya based sauce. In fact, the unmistakable smell of burning vegemite will certainly lead you to their location.
They are excessively salty and extraordinarily chewy, and will keep you chomping for a good five minutes.
Read [...]
Dotonbori, Osaka, Japan
Ah street fare. Is there a more simpler or honest way to sample the local flavours of a place? In countries like Singapore, I often prefer the street and hawker foods to cafes and restaurants, for the price but also for the fantastic flavours and lively atmosphere that such food is cooked and [...]
