Vegan Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken...Minus the Chicken!)

I must shamefully admit: when I first moved to Japan, sticking to a vegan diet seemed so difficult, and sadly I found myself slipping up too many times. So many food items seemed to have hidden animal ingredients, and I lost my way for a while. But thanks to the mister and his fantastic research while I was on holiday in Aus, a solution was found! (thx bb)

Halle-freaking-lujah!

The word 'vegan' is virtually unknown in Japan (or maybe a little in large metro areas such as Tokyo), so we have searched for places that provide organic and 'macrobiotic' food items, while keeping an eye on the ingredients used.

A macrobiotic diet in Japan consists of a balance of wholegrains, vegetables, soy, seaweed and beans, but sometimes includes fish so I just make sure to avoid that. The main idea for this diet and lifestyle is to consume less processed food to maintain a good balance in health, and sometimes is even recommended as a recovery method for those who suffer cancer. (Info sourced from Wikipedia...maybe not as reliable, but it'll do.)

So! We began our vegan lifestyle again with a fresh new outlook and confidence, and so far we've been to a handful of small grocers and a few good restaurants that provided vegan-friendly meals. It's all been rather fun! But I think the best thing we've come across so far is dried soy 'meat', particularly one that mimics karaage, or Japanese fried chicken. And I understand that some people who follow a vegan diet cringe at food that mimics meat, but I personally don't mind (so long as it's not built into the shape of a carcass...that's a bit weird). I can still have karaage without the murder, so yay!

After all of that, here is the glorious karaage...with fish-free miso to boot!

I'd never cooked with dried soy before, so this was a first experience for me, and I was definitely not disappointed. We bought soy chunks by a brand called Ohsawa Foods, and the cooking process was very simple. Just boil some water to 80 degrees (I just brought water to a boil because I'm a professional...not really), then throw in the soy chunks and let them soak for about half an hour. Then squeeze out the water, put them all in a bowl and I usually stir in a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce, some garlic powder and grated fresh ginger. Fresh garlic would be better, but we don't have any of that. #brokelife

After sitting in the mixture for 5 minutes, heat up a whole lot of oil of your choice, coat the soy chunks in flour or starch (I usually stir in some spices too) and fry baby, fry! Fry the pieces until they are a lovely brown colour (not too long or they'll become too dark and tough), drain them and get ready to nom!! I honestly think the texture resembles KFC, but y'know, is a whole lot better. Unless you think about the oil content, then maybe it's not that much healthier, but it's definitely less cruel, so that's a plus!

Just look at it...my inner fat person was very happy eating this. And I understand it's not an everyday meal, but hey, I'm just so happy to know I can indulge without contributing to anything horrible. So if you're heading to Japan for an extended period of time and have access to a stove, I recommend these soy chunks for a treat, since the cooking process is very simple, the texture and the taste doesn't disappoint, and it's just enjoyable. Look for them in organic or macrobiotic shops, because I haven't found them in regular supermarkets. Oh, and make sure to drink some cold green, oolong or barley tea when eating as to cut through the oil consumption!

Happy eating guys! Until next post~

Snow Festival at Towadako, Aomori/Akita

To finish off the winter season, we decided to go and suss out a snow festival that had taken place on the border of Aomori and Akita Prefectures. The mister and I took a trip to Towadako (or Towada Lake), which was about a 3-ish hour drive from Morioka, and did a bit of sightseeing (as we do) before venturing off to the festival.

Towadako is located on the border of Akita and Aomori, as stated above, and is the deepest lake (at 327 meters) in Honshuu Island of Japan. When we arrived it was partially frozen, and the sun was also starting to set, which made for some lovely photos. And as my writing isn't magnificently engaging, please enjoy my amateur photography instead!

During the drive

Towadako panorama time!

Partially frozen lake

Lake tour boats

Frozen water drops always look so interesting

After taking some nice snaps, we drove to where the snow event was being held, and took a quick break before heading in (also to warm up inside the car, since it was rather chilly outside). I noticed a few people entering the event and soon exiting again, which made me wonder if there was even a whole lot to see. But anyway! We eventually ventured out into the cold to see what this snow festival was all about!

As we approached, there was a snow wall with strings of light bulbs encased in little igloos to light up the way and looked oh-so pretty, and a short entrance tunnel covered in blue lights.

Once inside, there wasn't a whole heap of people...probably because there wasn't a whole lot of things to see, but nonetheless they seemed to be enjoying themselves. A lot of children were pulling along plastic sleds, as there were two man-made slopes to go speeding down (responsibly of course!). There were light displays, archways to have couple-photos taken (because Japan's all about those "romantic stories" and such), some interesting snow architecture including a bar where people can try out some of Japan's alcohol range, a stage with a huge feature snow wall, and an alley with food stalls. We had a good time just leisurely walking around, taking photos, and freezing our fingers off.

Chocolate coated strawberries! I wish the chocolate was dairy free...

Looking a bit Christmasy!

Freeze for your sins? Jk guys!

80 years of snow festivities!

Just gonna pop in and talk about this bar. I don't drink a lot (so dun ask me about sake, sorry), so I wasn't super interested in going in, but we noticed other people going in with their kids, and since child-alcoholics were very unlikely...we kinda thought maybe there was something else inside. And I'm so glad I stopped being a party pooper and decided to go in, because I was greeted by a huge snow Totoro! Best bar ever, right? 

A snow No-Face too! Also two small ice sculptures that the camera has a whole lotta trouble capturing.

And that's all for the bar!

One of the prettier archways, with lights and cherry blossoms.

Sometimes I find the excessive lovey-dovey features a bit cheesy...

People could get a couple or family photo taken here for a fee, so being the cheapskate I am, I took it from afar!

Not sure about this butt-dancing snowman...haha

Eventually a crowd started to gather at the stage, and a couple of performers played music (with the volume set rather loudly, mind you), so we decided to stay and watch for a little, before retreating back to the car to warm up. The area we parked in was actually perfect, since there was a fireworks show and we could just recline and watch the show while we warmed up with the car heater and just lazed for a bit. Ten minutes later, the fireworks were over, and people started to leave (we did eventually, after the small masses cleared out). Overall the festival was kinda on the small side, but not disappointing considering it was a free event, and it went from around 4pm until around 8.15pm (with the live performances starting around 6.30pm). Not bad for a leisurely night out.

Since winter is now ending and we're heading into the warmer spring season, I'm SO looking forward to cherry blossoms and taking more lovely photos to share! Until next time, my friends~

New Year in Japan, 2016 - Hachimangu, Morioka

Why, hello there! Long time no post. I took a trip back home for just over a month and only recently got back. So now it's time to get back into gear! *Dons battle armor and charges forth*

Let's start with something that is WAY overdue: New Year in Japan!

During the lead-up to New Year, houses and commercial places started to display traditional decorations made of bamboo, braided straw, and sometimes colourful paper with fortunes written on them. It's also a custom to display them inside the home too, but we didn't do any of that this year. Breakin' the rules, yo!

As part of the Japanese tradition for celebrating New Year's Day (plus a few days after) is to visit shrines and pray for a good year, twe decided to take a quick trip to a large local shrine, called Hachimangu, in the town of Morioka.

These were taken some time before New Year, hence the lack of people, and taken with my smartphone, hence the lack of quality.

We arrived around 7-ish, a light bit of snow falling, and there were already a heap of people. Many were lined up waiting to pray at the biggest shrine on the site. There were other smaller shrines too, not to mention a whole lot of stalls selling food and decorative goodies. Although we didn't actually pray at any shrines, we nommed on obanyaki (filled pancake-like snack) and some amazake (sweet rice wine). So we're going to have a bad year, but at least we had some yummy food, hahaha!

One small shrine for each Japanese zodiac sign

The largest shrine at Hachimangu is beautifully decorated and up-kept, as are pretty much all Japanese structures nation-wide (they're very proud of the condition of statues, shrines, temples, etc). The traditional way to pray at a shrine for New Year is to cleanse your hands with water provided from a trough (and dry them of course), approach the shrine and generally make a coin donation, followed by rattling a bell that hangs from the ceiling, clapping twice, making your prayer then bowing. I've been told that it's not a custom to clap at all shrines.

You can also purchase fortune scrolls called omikuji for a small cost, each with a different level of fortune ranging from the worst luck to the best luck (there's five levels all up). The one pictured is from a different shrine, and on this occasion I had chosen 'small fortune', which isn't great but not the worst.

So back to Hachimangu! We only stayed for a short time, because as the day progressed a whole ton of people ventured to the shrine to pray and indulge in some food-goodies (and I'm not a fan of crowds). Some of the foods available were obanyaki (as mentioned above), taiyaki (fish-shaped bean-filled cake), takoyaki (savoury batter balls with octopus pieces), jagabataa (baked potatoes with butter and other toppings), dango (glutenous rice flour), and sticky rice crackers. Are you drooling yet?

Our little venture didn't last long, so there's not much else to talk about in regards to what we did that day. Another huge thing for New Year in Japan is a variety of sales at stores. When I was in Tokyo for New Year in 2013, people would shout from storefronts about their sales, which wasn't great for someone like me who hates people shouting in my face...but anyway, I imagine this year was no different and many people took advantage of the sales that went on...me not being one of them, lawl.

Spending New Year in Japan was an interesting experience, since back home it's all about partying with friends, loud music, drinking and setting off fireworks...or in my case, watch fireworks on TV and calm the pups down from being spooked by fireworks in the neighbourhood. So I'm glad I had the opportunity to be here for this special time of year, and for a second time at that!

Let's see if the fortune was wrong and this year actually turns out to be amazing *insert cliche winky face*