709. Mochi

I’d never tried mochi before, and I really wasn’t sure what to expect as a cake made out of ground up sticky rice doesn’t sound all that appealing. I was so pleasantly surprised though. They were chewy in a really great way that reminded me a lot of turkish delight. These ones had little balls of ice-cream hidden in the centre, and came in three flavours - lemon, sesame, and coconut. I loved them all so I couldn’t pick a favourite! I’m definitely going to be on the lookout for these again next time I go to a Japanese restaurant.

709 down, 1087 to go

628. Yakisoba

Occasionally Pie and I order sushi. It tends to be much rarer and much more of a treat than ordering other takeout because it’s that much more expensive. I only first tried sushi a few years ago but I’ve grown to love it. I do find though that I can’t eat a whole big meal of just sushi, and I prefer to have a few pieces followed by some noodles or another hot dish (more like how they actually eat it in Japan). On this occasion I went for the chicken yakisoba. Normally if I’m having Japanese food I’ll go for either katsu curry or ramen, but these yakisoba were definitely a good alternative - kind of like a Japanese version of chow mein (and I’m never going to complain about chow mein).

629. Sea Urchin and 630. Wakame

This restaurant had a pretty good sushi selection so we picked a couple of more unusual items like the sea urchin and wakame nigiris. I knew that sea urchin is considered a real delicacy so I was pretty excited to try it. I’m still not sure whether I liked it or not though. It didn’t taste like fish, really I can’t describe it any more accurately that saying it tasted like sea smell. You know when you go to the beach and there’s that aroma of salt and sand? Yeah, just exactly like that. It was strange, but I would try it again for sure. The wakame is a type of Japanese seaweed. I didn’t find that it tasted of all that much, it was just bland with a slimy texture and I wouldn’t bother ordering it again.

630 down, 1166 to go

612. Edamame

Edamame was another of the dishes I ordered when I went to the sushi restaurant for my friend’s birthday. I’d actually never had them before, and so I was expecting them to taste kind of like peas, because that’s what they look like. The flavour was really different though - nutty and just a little sweet, and totally accentuated by the salt and chilli that was sprinkled on the outside. I found they were completely addictive and I was kind of sad that I had to share the bowl with my friends!

612 down, 1184 to go

594. Yakitori Chicken

For my friend’s birthday we went to our favourite sushi restaurant. Rather than having any main courses we just ordered a bunch of different sushis plus a few hot dishes like edamame, garlic rice and this yakitori chicken. I love the marinade you get on yakitori chicken; it’s so sweet and sticky and scrumptious. The first time I had yakitori chicken was actually at Epcot in Walt Disney World. I probably should get back there at some point, I’m sure the World Showcase would help me to tick a bunch more delicious things off of my list!

595. Seabass

We had a couple of mixed nigiri platters which had all the regular fish on like salmon, tuna and seabass. I like seabass because it’s mild and a little sweet.

595 down, 1201 to go

506. Umeboshi

We decided to try out our newly re-opened Japanese restaurant and got some takeout sushi (and katsu curry). One of my favourites is the plum and cucumber rolls as the umeboshi is just so tangy and delicious, it makes a nice refreshing contrast to the fish.

506 down, 1290 to go

477. Sake

One of my flatmates used to live in Japan, so he is a lot more informed than I am about good sake. Then again most people are better informed than me about good sake because I think including this I’ve now had it twice? Anyway, this was very nice and smooth. I have yet to try hot sake, that is something I shall have to give a go another time.

477 down, 1319 to go

123. Ramen

I went to Wagamama for the first time ever the other day and had this big bowl of chicken ramen. I will almost always choose wet noodles over dry ones. This bowl was pretty simple with just the noodles, chicken breast, bamboo shoots, green leafy bits, and the broth. My chopstick technique is definitely improving as well as I ate the whole bowl with no problems, and I washed it down with two mugs of free green tea, which I was very excited about, I like free stuff.

123 down, 1673 to go

113. Miso Soup

I really like the fact that when you order miso soup at a restaurant you are allowed to just drink it out the bowl. If it weren’t for all my British manners and general public dignity, I’d pick stuff up and drink it from the bowl (or lick sauce off the plate…) all the time. Aside from that I really like the lovely salty flavour anyway.

114. Silken Beancurd

I can’t say I’ve ever really been a tofu fan, maybe I just haven’t had any good stuff yet. I don’t mind the few little chunks you get at the bottom of the soup, but I just find it too tasteless to choose it over meat. I’d be a crappy vegetarian.

114 down, 1682 to go

105. Katsu

I love katsu as a type of fried chicken, the panko breadcrumbs always make it lovely and crunchy. All the times I’ve had it have been like this, as a curry, which is pretty ideal for me. I adore curries, and I’ve always loved fried chicken too, so the combination is almost too good.

106. Glutinous Rice

The main thing I like about glutinous rice is that the stickiness makes it nice and easy for me to pick up with my chopsticks. Other than that it just tastes like any regular rice, which I’m certainly not complaining about as rice would very possibly be my carb of choice if I could only ever have one ever again.

106 down, 1690 to go

100. Mackerel

From my years of non-fish eating I have a lot of catching up to do as there are an awful lot of fishes I’ve never tried before, mackerel being one of them. It was never really one that appealed to me straight away as I figured it would be strong tasting and oily, but it wasn’t bad at all. Then again I did have a bit in sushi and I’m increasingly finding that I prefer my fish raw to cooked. My friend’s ex-neighbours (I know them more than that connection may suggest) have a cat called Mackerel, she is very pretty, so I think overall I probably prefer her.

Photo by Pie

100 down, 1696 to go