Check me out at Japan Pulse again, this time writing about baumkuchen. I told my roommate I was writing about バウム, and she was like, バウムクーヘン? That was a なるほど moment for me because I had been saying it バウムクーチェン in my mind. I should really know better, especially since I learned the correct pronunciation of rauchbier from Japanese (ラオホ). It’s clearly just as difficult for Japanese to get at guttural German sounds as it is for Americans, maybe even more so. Reminds me of some passages from Chapter 8 of Don DeLillo’s White Noise:

I’d made several attempts to learn German, serious probes into origins, structures, roots. I sensed the deathly power of the language. I wanted to speak it well, use it as a charm, a protective device. The more I shrank from learning actual words, rules and pronunciation, the more important it seemed that I go forward. What we are reluctant to touch often seems the very fabric of our salvation. But the basic sounds defeated me, the harsh spurting northernness of the words and syllables, the command delivery. Something happened between the back of my tongue and the roof of my mouth that made a mockery of my attempts to sound German words.

He hires a German tutor named Howard Dunlop:

He said he was a former chiropractor but didn’t offer a reason why he was no longer active and didn’t say when he’d learned German, or why, and something in his manner kept me from asking.

We sat in his dark crowded room at the boarding house. An ironing board stood unfolded at the window. There were chipped enamel pots, tray of utensils set on a dresser. The furniture was vague, foundling. At the borders of the room were the elemental things. An exposed radiator, an army-blanketed cot. Dunlop sat at the edge of a straight chair, intoning generalities of grammar. When he switched from English to German, it was as though a cord had been twisted in his larynx. An abrupt emotion entered his voice, a scrape and gargle that sounded like the stirring of some beast’s ambition. He gaped at me and gestured, he croaked, he verged on strangulation. Sounds came spewing from the base of his tongue, harsh noises damp with passion. He was only demonstrating certain basic pronunciation patterns but the transformation in his face and voice made me think he was making a passing between levels of beings.

Maybe that explains why it’s so much fun to pronounce rauch accurately. Could also explain why rauchbier is so tasty. No real reason to post those passages other than that I like them and think about them when I try to pronounce difficult German words. I like how Japanese takes pronunciation of words straight from the mother tongue. I think many Americans, and perhaps I at one time, assumed that all loan words came from English – a crime which Japanese themselves are guilty of on occasion. Remind me to tell you a funny story about the word rendezvous sometime.

In other news, I have a review of Tea Market G Clef online at CNNGo Tokyo. I randomly came across the store while I was shopping in Kichijoji back in 2006. Kawasaki-san, the owner, is a really nice guy who speaks English in a quiet voice and is quick to offer his latest teas for sampling. I highly recommend the Waffle Sandwich set at the nearby Tea Salon. It’s the perfect portion size and an amazing combination of flavors – go for the bacon mushroom.

I got in touch with Brian last summer to see if he wanted to do some collaborative video reviews of the ramen shops he was visiting for his site Ramen Adventures. He’s got solid pictures of everywhere he visits, and it’s hard not to get hungry while you read through his posts. (He also posts his photography on his other site, Gaijin Bash, and makes every trip he takes look awesome.) We’re both busy dudes and were unable to get around to it until last weekend when we managed to check out 魚雷 (ぎょらい), a new shop over near the Tokyo Dome. (魚雷 means torpedo. Pretty cool, eh?)

The result is the first installment of Collabo-Ramen:

Collabo-Ramen – 魚雷 Gyorai from Daniel Morales on Vimeo.

For me, the bowl was really refreshing. The noodles were a little soft but definitely handmade. I can’t remember the last time I had noodles like that. And the soup had a lot of flavor but was light enough to drink down to the bottom of the bowl. The grilled chicken and the chashu were also highlights – small bites, both of them, but delicious.

Read Brian’s review here. You can see another review of the shop here at Go Ramen. It’s definitely worth stopping by if you’re out that way. They’re going to start serving gyoza at some point in March, so maybe it’s worth another visit then.

Speaking of Subway, I often pick a footlong after lunch and keep it in the fridge at work. I get super hungry right around 6, so they’re nice to have on days when I have to work overtime. After the boss man has left (“the Syach,” as we like to call him), I sneak over to the tables that are cubicled off in the corner of the office and eat half. I save the other half for a little later when everyone has gone. (Quick sidenote: in Japan, a full sandwich is listed as 30cm but still gets the designation フットロング.)

On Monday I was eating the first half of my sandwich, just staring out the window, when one of the Sales guys peeked his head in and laughed. I think I mumbled something like ごめんなさい, and he said いえいえ、誰かな～と思って… and then left.

The meaning of what he said is pretty straight forward here. Literally “Who is that? I thought…” Or in more natural English, “I was wondering who that was…” The point I’d like to make is that this is not a complete sentence in Japanese. He easily could have said 誰かなと思った, but instead it ends on a gerund, and much like the で discussed last week, there is a bit of causality implied. This makes more sense when you fill in the final clause of the sentence: 誰かなと思って、顔を覗かせた。In natural English, “I just peeked in wondering who was in here” or maybe “I just wanted to see who was in here.” (Other alternative second clauses include, ここに入ってきた or ちょっと見てきた.)

The point is that while the gerund clause modifies the implied, invisible clause, it’s the main point of the sentence since the implied, invisible clause is obvious to both parties. Most excellent. It also reminds me that you could probably go a whole day in Japan using only gerunds. Reminds me of my No 僕 Challenge, but I’m too lazy to try this one.

And for those who didn’t recognize the title, Geaux Saints!

Subway in Japan is true to the spirit of the original American store. While they don’t have the “melt” sandwiches or the “Five-dollar Footlong” (footlongs range from 600 yen to 810 yen), the core group of offerings (Smoked Turkey, Ham, Roast Beef, Veggie, Subway Club, Egg, Tuna) is the same, and they have a few regular sandwiches special to Japan (Tandoori Chicken, Shrimp Avocado). Besides these two, there are the seasonal sandwiches that get changed every couple months or so. Since I moved to Tokyo in 2008 (and began to eat semi-regularly at Subway again) these have included Chili Beans, Avocado Turkey, and the heavenly Double Pastrami.

The current seasonal sub offerings are the ベジバーグ (bejibaagu, an approximation of “veggie burger”) and the ベジドッグ (bejidoggu, “veggie dog”). I was pleasantly surprised to see these available: Japan is not a very vegetarian-friendly country, but it is slowly starting to change and this is one of the signs. Clearly these are being advertised to healthy eaters:

I tried the ベジバーグ a few times and was moderately satisfied. For whatever reason, they won’t add all the veggies – just tomato, lettuce and bell peppers in addition to the patty. But then they douse it with special ginger sauce. It’s decent (and makes me feel less guilty for eating so much tonkatsu). They give out a flier with coupons too, and as I was perusing it I noticed something funny about the ベジドッグ:

ベジドッグ is Iwate Prefecture pork! I was stunned. If you read their equation carefully, the “ベジ” must refer to the six-vegetable ratatouille (ラタトゥイユ) that they use as a topping. A scoop of ratatouille does not a veggie dog make. Japan clearly has 肉 issues to work out before it fully embraces vegetarianism.

One of my roommates recently corrected the mikan peeling technique I introduced in this video. Apparently I was doing it upside down.

This little, green nub is so inviting:

And when you flip it over it’s deceivingly flat:

But when you open it:

There’s a surprising little space that you can sink you finger into:

Then peel as normal. Ta da:

You can see the little piece of white stuff that goes through the center of the mikan and is attached to the green nub. It removes cleanly when you peel it this way. Nice.

Good Eats – Musashi from Daniel Morales on Vimeo.

00:28 The music is “Yakiniku” by Papa Grows Funk. They are a New Orleans-based Funk band with a Japanese guitarist named June Yamagishi. He hails from Kyoto but moved to New Orleans in 1995. I know he played with the Wild Magnolias for a while and probably some other local bands, but around 2000, Papa Grows Funk grew out of a group of musicians who would jam on Monday nights. There’s a nice set of interviews with with the Papa Grows Funk members on YouTube, including a three part interview with Yamagishi in Japanese. If I remember correctly, the saxophone player wrote the song “Yakiniku,” but it has a great guitar lick and is inspired by Yamagishi’s cooking.

If you’re looking to pick up some of their music, I’d recommend their second album Shakin’. They occasionally tour in Japan, and I’ve seen them once, but the tickets were about twice as expensive as back home.

00:39 I love the combination of old and new you get from the SL Hiroba. The old, crowded neighborhoods on the Shimbashi side and then the shiny, new glass buildings on the Shiodome side.

00:42 The New Shimbashi Building (that big, kind of white-checkered one), however, is just terrible. It must have been some architect’s vision of “the future” seen from the 1970s. It’s a giant mistake because this vision turned out to be the perfect pigeon roost, forcing them to cover the awfulness in mesh wiring.

01:19 I can’t believe these guys sit in 正座 the whole time.

02:20 I was running low on either battery or tape when I took this footage. I never got the perfect shot of the guy serving with the paddle. I was hoping to get a nice angle of him swinging it around widely, but didn’t have good enough timing.

02:40 I hate it when Americans have a laugh at tofu’s expense. It always seems to be the butt of the joke when it comes to flavorless foods. I’d argue 1) that their palettes aren’t experienced enough to appreciate the subtle flavor of plain tofu (the stereotypical tofu) and 2) that they haven’t tried enough different tofu dishes. Ageatsu are so coddamn tasty.

Original post here.

Natto Experiments from Daniel Morales on Vimeo.

00:27 The music is AudioBody’s “You Gotta Tap” from the YouTube video “The Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments.”

00:36 The cumin seeds I brought back to Japan from New Orleans. They’ve lasted me quite a while as I only use them in one lentil dish I make occasionally. In that dish, they get stir fried with garlic and red pepper, so I thought that might work here, too.

00:42 The knife shots work really well with this music. I think I was playing the song in my mind as I was chopping.

01:06 Yarg. Could use some lighting here.

01:26 When I was living up in Fukushima, there was a weekly men’s cooking class at the Town Hall called 男エプロン. It was only around for about half a year, but I learned this avocado-seed-removal trick from the lady who taught the course. Very effective.

01:57 Mmmm. This is the only of the three recipes that I actually eat regularly. I wait until avocados are on sale for 98 yen and use the natto and avocado to supplement my meal (generally a bento).

02:17 This is the cheapest cheese in Japan. They have both cheddar and mozzarella in this size at Seijo Ishii stores, and it’s only 299 yen. As I’ve mentioned before, probably the best value in the whole store.

02:43 The schools in my town in Fukushima used to eat natto like this. It was good, but they used a really weak cheese. The sharper you get, the better, in my opinion.

Original post here.

仁亭 from Daniel Morales on Vimeo.

00:28 George Miller’s “King of the Road.” You might recognize George Miller as the voice for the rooster from Disney’s animated version of Robin Hood. He also wrote and sang some of the songs from the movie, notably “Oo de lally.” What’s that you say? You want to hear the Swedish version? Well, YouTube delivers.

00:36 The Yaesu side of Tokyo Station. I wonder if this part of the station will get renovated. I really like the look of north Yaesu, but that’s mostly because of the big Daimaru over there.

00:44 That big glass building on the right is the International Forum. It’s a great building, and it’s free, so I always try to take friends to see it. I never knew about it until my college roommate Dave came to visit Japan with his skinny little hipster guidebook. Thank you, skinny little hipster guidebook.

00:47 Ah, the Sakura Bus. The best way to get up to Fukushima. If you’re taking it to Aizu, it’s often just as fast as taking the train because you have to change trains and wait in Koriyama. Much cheaper than the train, too.

00:59 Big jump to Koriyama. I wanted to film more, but when I got on the bus, I realized my camcorder battery was really low.

Love this little sign. It says “Right: Jintei. Left: Edo, 60 里” I can’t really tell if that kanji is 里 or not, but it makes sense. 里 is an old Japanese unit of measurement that is equivalent to 3927 meters. 60 would be approximately 234 km, which seems right.

01:04 This is Jintei. I wrote a lot about it in the original post, so I won’t say too much here other than note again that it’s a fantastic restaurant run by a really nice guy.

01:09 Seeing the video I took of this sign was the first time I realized that Jintei serves “yakikatsu” and not “tonkatsu.” I’m not sure what the difference is, although from the video it does look like the katsu get a bit of pan-searing on one or both sides.

01:22 Ha, Jintei noob. Everybody knows you just have to wait.

01:28 Doh! This lady didn’t unfold the fan completely, so the “Jintei Special” on the far right is still hidden.

01:54 Mmmm. Jintei salad. The salad is so critical to the Jintei experience. Not only does it have more foliage than your standard tonkatsu salad, it has two dressings that need to be mixed in appropriate portions. A creamy one and a more vinegary one. They cut through the greasiness of the katsu perfectly and really balance the whole meal (along with the karashi and lemon, of course).

02:11 Does look like some searing, eh? Perhaps yakikatsu aren’t deep fried at all.

02:17 The moment of truth. Yes, there is cheese and ham and a leaf of basil in there. I’m so hungry watching this.

02:25 I can’t believe I ate the whole thing. I discovered through experience that I was always better off leaving the last three to four cuts and getting them to go. I also can’t believe the master let me sit at the table even after I told him the counter (space for two) was fine. I scarfed everything down because I felt so bad for the people waiting outside.

How to Japanese: Underrated Japan Vol. 3 – Tonkatsu from Daniel Morales on Vimeo.

00:26 Clip from Pulp Fiction. What a movie.

00:35 The music is “Los Dias Sin Dias” from Estradasphere, one of my favorite bands. I’d wanted to do a video about tonkatsu for a while but didn’t know how to structure it until I heard this song on shuffle one day. The idea came to me instantly – the mood so perfectly captures that strung out, hungover feeling.

This is my room. You can see my pole. That’s where I hang my futon when I’m not sleeping on it.

This is probably my favorite of all the videos I’ve made. Maybe number two with the onsen video being number one.

Other things of note: The Meters self-titled first album on my desk (best funk album ever), Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II (sadly I don’t have a record player, but they are fun albums to look at), my UV-blocking curtains I brought with me from Fukushima.

00:42 My futon in action. Things of note: Tempur-Pedic pillows, my mini Mapple, bag for my yoga mat (which lives under my futon), camera case for my Canon HV20.

00:50 Full shot of my room. It’s a mess. It’s a little cleaner these days thanks to a massive purge I went through when I thought I might have to move apartments. I still have too much stuff.

Things of note: gray bags from Tanakaya in the foreground (full of beer), my low-ass chair I bought from the Shinagawa Ward recycle shop (it broke about a month after I bought it and is now stuck in the lowest position), art by Kestutis of Lithuania on the wall.

00:59 My desk. Did you notice what’s on my desktop screen? PAIN. I thought that was funny. Things of note: iPod, DS case, hard drive I use for all my video footage, earplugs, calendar of my yoga lessons, my air-con remote control.

01:09 My kitchen. I’m a huge fan of taking pictures or video very close to small objects to make them look epic. I think it started when I was traveling in South East Asia and started taking close-ups of beer bottles. I got this amazing shot of my friend Faye:

I’ve been looking for an excuse to do something with that picture for years.

01:18 I don’t know why I bought negi-toro. I rarely eat it in any form, onigiri or don. They must have been out of mentaiko or ume – those are the two I always buy.

01:27 Kaiten-zushi at Yokohama Station. I really wanted this shot to be of the dishes going by on the conveyor belt, but I couldn’t hold the camera still enough, and I don’t have a tripod. And in all honesty, I didn’t want to be that weird foreigner with a giant tripod in the sushi restaurant. I was already that weird foreigner with a mini-tripod taking video of sushi, and I think that’s about as weird as I’m willing to get.

01:42 Aji no Tokeidai ramen in Shibuya. I had this bowl right before a big beer session in Shimokitazawa during Kura Kura’s January nomihodai offering. Great ramen. Perfect foundation for beers. I really was hungover the next day, and that was the day I went to Tonki in Meguro.

02:00 Tonki Tonkatsu. The ロース variation. I hate the way the fried batter falls off so easily. That’s my main criticism of an otherwise exquisite place to eat tonkatsu.

02:06 Katsuretsu-an in Yokohama. Very thin katsu, but still tasty. The Katsuretsu-an Teishoku is ヒレ, but I think this is one of the few stores where I prefer the ロース.

02:15 Good God that’s a massive piece o pig. It’s the kurobuta from Maisen. Tasty, but also 3000 yen a plate. The first time I went, the menu was a little confusing (Maisen’s big downfall is that they offer too many variations), and I thought the kurobuta was the only katsu they had.

02:24 Droolz.

This clearly show’s Tonki’s flaws – the pork shrinks within the batter or gets somehow gets dislodged during the cutting process. It’s worth mentioning that they cut the katsu lengthwise, which I guess makes the pieces easier to handle. I prefer just widthwise cuts, although there’s a place in my neighborhood that gives you three small diamond-shaped doubloons of katsu for the ヒレ. I always thought that was neat. Tonki still has the best service of any tonkatsu place I’ve every visited. Hard to leave unsatisfied.

02:35 Gnompf, carbs, gnompf.

02:38 I liked the butajiru at Tonki but still prefer red miso with katsu. I guess that’s the second mark against Tonki.

02:41 I can just imagine what went on in the kitchen: “Yo, let’s put another leaf on top.” “What for?” “I dunno. It just looks nice.” “True.” That dude got his bonus that year. Brilliant.

02:46 Karashi really does make the katsu. I only respect restaurants where the karashi is sinus-burningly powerful. Tonki’s is strong stuff, although they only provide you with a small amount. Maisen is self-service.

02:54 You can see from the Tonki clock that it’s right around 4:40pm. They opened at 4pm. Yep, it fills up quickly.

02:58 I was third or fourth in line, right behind this guy. He did things right – brought a newspaper, ordered a beer (which comes with peanuts). Respect. This shot also gives a great look at the pristine countertops. So smooth and clean. Bonus points.

03:07 Don’t be fooled. Maisen has tons of seating. It never takes all that long to get inside. The atmosphere is nothing compared to Tonki, though.

03:13 Love the Katsuretsu-an atmosphere, especially the lantern outside. During the indoor shot, the lady carrying the katsu realizes that I’m filming about halfway across the screen and then tries to skoot out of the way. I thought that was cute.

03:18 They also have very nice countertops. The information in the subtitles I found on Japanese Wikipedia quoting some book, but it has since disappeared. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal that lists a different place as the tonkatsu origin, but I haven’t had a chance to go yet. The article is really nice, but I’m not sure why Maisen and Tonki get excluded. I’m also confused why a tonkatsu restaurant would need a wine list. Call me a purist, but beer is the only beverage that goes with tonkatsu.

Original post here.

Week two of Director’s Commentary Month at How to Japonese.

How to Japanese: Underrated Japan Vol. 2 – Mikan from Daniel Morales on Vimeo.

00:32 Harry Nillson’s “Coconut.” Not sure about other readers, but I became familiar with this song after they used it in the Lime Coke ad. This is the demo version, which I prefer to the original. A lot simpler. Just Nillson and his guitar.

00:35 I bought all of these mikan at the off-brand konbini called “Tom Cat” near my apartment. The mikan are cheap, but they’re all kind of unhealthy-looking and relatively tasteless. During peak season I eat about eight mikan a day, though, so this is the only way I can afford my citrus addiction.

You can see my roommate Ayako and her yellow jumper in the background.

01:00 I had a pile of about 40-50 mikan, and everyone started playing with them. I think my roommate Teppei was the one who started drawing faces on the mikan. It was either him or my Korean roommate Son-san.

01:07 This is Son-san’s self-portrait.

01:28 Embarrassingly terrible screen capture of Google Earth. If anyone knows how to do HD video screen capture, please share.

01:49 There are also lots of mikan in Nagasaki and parts of Kyushu. I travelled in Kyushu for New Year’s a couple years in a row and was always stunned at how cheap they are down there.

01:59 Son-san gave me the idea for this section of the video. He kept trying to balance them in all these weird positions after I finished filming the pyramids. I thought it was funny to think of them as “inherently unstable.” Unlike apples, which are clearly an inert fruit.

02:22 Kotatsu + mikan = Japan.

02:28 “From the top” was briefly a hilarious meme in my apartment. I guess it was simple enough for everyone to understand and pronounce, sort of like “Yes we can.” I think it’s still the part of this video they remember the most.

02:48 This was an element of contention when I initially posted the video. I’d be curious to see a pie chart style breakdown of peeling styles. I prefer this method because it keeps things tidy.

Original post here.