Travel to Japan and Back All in One Day

Chefdruck's Tasty Tuesday

This weekend, we traveled to Japan and back again all in one day. We went to theMitsuwa Japanese Supermarket in Edgewater. Once we stepped in through the sliding glass doors, we were suddenly surrounded by a sea of Japanese faces, Japanese signs, and Japanese products everywhere. Unfortunately in our haste to get out the door with the kids, I left my camera at home so I'll have to settle for Blackberry pics for this post. But the experience was so great that we'll be back soon, camera in hand.

Our first destination was the food court at the back for lunch. There are over a dozen restaurants offering tempura, sushi, and steaming bowls of noodle soups. It was a little overwhelming with the kids and I can't wait to get back there to explore some more. We quickly ordered a huge quantity of food and were soon tucking into chicken teriyaki, beef udon noodles with shrimp tempura, and soba noodles with fried pork. The kids were thrilled with the entire experience and I was so proud of how open they were to experiment this unfamiliar food.

Then for dessert, we went to this amazing dessert stall that made adorable waffles in fish and bunny shapes called taiyaki. The y stuffed with three flavors: custard, red bean and white bean. I thought the custard would be the big winner but I ordered a red bean taiyaki in the spirit of trying new things. I was amazed at how sweet and flavorful it was, almost like chestnut puree. They were so cute that it seemed a shame to eat them, but we licked our fingers clean.

After lunch, we headed into the supermarket and scoured the shelves for our favorite Japanese products. Normally when we go to Mitsuwa, we have a big make your own sushi feast that night. Their fish department will slice the fish for you and you can bring home much more sushi that you could possibly eat for less than $40. The rest of the fixings you'll need are just down the aisle: seaweed, sushi rice, and sushi rice seasoning.

We also picked up some great sauces. I don't even know what they're called - I just recognize the label but they are amazing on steak. I love to pick up staples like panko, mirin and miso there too. The kids are all about the fun Japanese cookies. Aren't these the cutest animal crackers you've ever seen?

Check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays for other foodie posts.

Also, don't forget to enter my Jonathan's Spoons Giveaway for a beautiful cherry wood lazy spoon.