"This classical travel bento box's nine compartments include an array of vegetables, seafood, meats, and rice; it was one of many snack options before we boarded the train."
After spending our last day in Japan's Kansai region - home to Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe, neighboring Nagoya - we've just finished taking one of the famous Shinkansen bullet trains to our favorite place in Japan: Tokyo. Having already covered some Japanese specialties that readers mightn't have heard of, our plan for the next several days is to focus on several of the country's better known treats: ramen, tonkatsu, and snack foods.
When most people outside of Japan hear the word "ramen," they think of using boiling water to reconstitute dried out noodles in one to three minutes. In our upcoming article on ramen, we'll show you the real deal - the noodle soup that has been keeping Japanese slurping from tiny restaurants for decades, in multiple and interesting variations.
Tonkatsu is a topic near and dear to our hearts. In Japan, this deep-fried pork cutlet is at the core of one of the country's best dishes - Katsu Curry - which blends a panko-breaded and thick sliced steak with Indian-style curry and rice. Basically impossible to find at restaurants in Western New York, it's quite possibly number one on our list of items that need to find their way into local restaurants.
We're also excited to share more about Japanese Snack Foods. For now, it suffices to say that Japan's convenience stores, vending machines, donut shops and tiny mom-and-pop places keep an incredible array of delicious food within very easy grasp no matter where you go here. Our second photo shows a classical Japanese travel bento box, its nine compartments assembled from an array of vegetables, seafood, meats, and rice variations; we picked it up for the three-hour Shinkansen ride from Osaka to Tokyo, as only one of a couple of hundred of amazing, palate-expanding snack options offered right before we boarded the train.
The last shot there is Tokyo's Shibuya district at night. Much more will follow from this energetic, exciting city in the days to come. Stay tuned.
