At the beginning of 2012 I had resolved myself to eat 20 foods that I hadn’t
tried before. It was a lot of fun to keep this resolution. By the end of the
year I ended up trying more than 30 dishes. I'm too lazy to write about all of them so I'll pick 20 dishes that I liked. The whole experience was quite amazing. I must say that when it comes to food looks are surely deceiving. Here goes the list in no particular order.
1. Raw horse meat with soy sauce
I tried it at our lab welcome party. I really liked it. It's really cold and goes really well with a bit of soy sauce.
2. Beef cooked on some kind of a leaf
This one I tried at a Japanese Ryokan (inn) They offer the strangest food but nevertheless it tastes awesome.
3. steamed soy beans (edamame)
I have been procrastinating trying this for a while since it looks slimy but it was really good and addictive. It's one of my favorite snacks right not.
4. Cold black soba (buckwheat noodles)
I tried it in a very traditional Japanese restaurant on my way to Hakone with my fellow researchers. Black soba with soy sauce and a bit of wasabi is really delicious.
5. Vietnamese spring rolls
These Vietnamese spring rolls are stuffed with raw vegetables, fish and noodles. They are eaten with these two dipping sauces. I really liked the spicy dip. This was tried at my lab secretarie's home party.
6. Thai steamed fish
Last March I visited my brother who lives in Thailand. These dishes were tried at a small cabana near the beach. The dish was quite spicy but I found it a little watery.
7. Crispy prawns
This is by far my favorite Japanese appetizer. It's batter-fried crispy prawns. It's different from tempura. With a bit of lemon juice it can even beat my favorite Japanese karaage (fried Chicken)
8. Pakora
This is batter fried masala potatoes. It is a south Indian snack. It goes very well with some chutney. Tried them at the Pondicherry restaurent in Tokyo. It is really really yummy.
9. Raw deer meat
Japanese love their food raw. I am a big fan of these raw food. It is eaten with a bit of ginger, wasabi and soy sauce. It's really cold but for me it's a party in my mouth. Tried it on my way to Hakone with my fellow researchers.
10. Avacado and raw fish salad
I hate avacado. I really do, but I like sashimi (raw fish) So I gave this a go. It didn't disappoint me. This was made by my lab secretary and tried it at her home.
11. Thai chicken stir-fry
I really like the spiciness in thai stir-fries. It was served with jasmine rice and a bulls-eye egg. Tried at the Thai restaurent in Shinjuku.
12. Taiwanese shaved ice
Shaved ice is awesome. It's beyond awesome with a bit of strawberries, ice cream and mint. One of my students bought it for me. I ate it the whole summer on every Wednesday. Oh! I love teaching with treats like this.
13. Coffe and chocolate flavored shaved ice.
This was served with some coffee jelly and some cocoa dust. Coffee flavor was over powering and I'm not in to caffeine, so didn't like it that much.
14. Green tea flavored ice cream
I don't drink tea or coffee but I don't mind drinking green tea with Japanese food because they go together very well. Green tea flavored ice cream is not bad.
15. Fried idly
It's a south Indian snack. The normal idly is fried with some spices. It was alright. I think I prefer normal idly to fried idly.
16. Sushi with fish eggs
One day I was in a good mood and wanted to walk the streets of Shinjuku all by myself as a new tourist. I found a very quiet sushi place and had some really amazing sushi. I have tried them before but never tried the one with fish eggs. So I tried it there. It was ok but my all time favorite sushis are squid, salmon and tuna with no sea weed.
17. Payasam, kir
This is an Indian dessert made by our friend Ruban. It's milk and pasta with some spices like cardamom. I liked it.
18. kulfi
Kulfi is also an Indian dessert. It's really awesome. It's an ice cream. It tastes like frozen aluwa. I'm surely gona make it at home.
19. Chinese dessert (almond jelly)
It's very light but delicious. A fine ending to greasy Chinese courses.
This for me is the visual perfection. Japanese are really careful about the food presentation. I have no idea what I ate there. I ate some flowers, fish, pickles and many other tiny food. They all tasted really good.
It surely was a fun resolution. I guess I should try in 2013 as well.
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