Interlude 1: Katsuobushi

Ahh, bonito. Or in Japanese, katsuobushi.

These fish flakes are responsible for seasoning 99% of Japanese cuisine. Deliciously subtle when prepared right, disgustingly fishy for Western palates when prepared wrong or in too great of quantities. If you don't like fish and you plan on coming to Japan, unfortunately you will have to live with it. However, if you are unaware of the fact that most dishes are seasoned with fish stock, you will most likely not be able to deduce this fact.

Those familiar with Japanese cuisine may know what I'm talking about, but let me explain for the rest of us. These flakes are either on everything, or in everything, to some degree. Ramen? Yep. Sukiyaki broth? You betcha. Inari? Yep, sorry. Gyuudon (or any donburi for that matter?) There too. Many other dishes are also topped with them - such as yakisoba noodles and okonomiyaki. These flakes were singlehandedly responsible (along with a douche waitress) for making sure Lisa and I would never return to the only (real) sushi restaurant in Rochester. I will spare the details here but needless to say that when these flakes aren't balanced, they can really destroy a decent bowl of noodles.

Needless to say, when Satoshi and Haji took me out for Okonomiyaki on Friday night and I noticed that everything we were being served was piled high with the stuff...oozing and shrinking into the hot food... I was a little doubtful of what I was going to do. I requested the pieces with the least amount of katsuobushi and came to a shocking discovery. That in moderation, and if they're fresh, katsuobushi can be a nice addition to a dish. Sadly, Japanese still love piling the stuff three layers high, which is more than my meat-centric palate can take. I was pleasantly surprised at how non-fishy fresh katsuobushi can actually be.

And I use the term "fresh" with caution here, because the darn things are made by drying fish out for weeks and smoking it...so I really don't know if the term "fresh" can really apply to katsuobushi in the first place.

And my mind is done wandering.