[ SECRET POST #6731 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #6731 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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[Kingdom Hearts]



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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 26 secrets from Secret Submission Post #963..
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links (broke twice now? maybe imgur is deleting it) ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Re: Dream Vacation

[(Anonymous)]

I've always wanted to go to Japan but then I realize I don't like fish. So I feel like food would be limited for me.

I wish India wasn't so dangerous for women because that'd a food paradise.

Re: Dream Vacation

[(Anonymous)]

Japanese food is so much more than fish. If it's just a dislike of fish-flesh and you're fine with seafood flavors hidden in condiments or broths, instead of an allergy, you can get by just fine. Maybe you won't get to enjoy sashimi or takoyaki, but you can still have katsudon, tempura, soba/udon, teppanyaki, hot pot/shabu shabu, karaage, yakitori, kushikatsu, like 95% of all types of ramen, onigiri, and all the sweets and dango and street food and...god, just so, so much. Pork, chicken, and beef make up much more of the Japanese palate now, and avoiding fish as an ingredient is super easy. About the only thing you couldn't do would be the kind of kaiseki meal served at a ryokan, because it's super super rude to ask for a substitution for all fish dishes unless you have a legit allergy that would kill you. They do their best to accommodate food allergies but avoiding fish as a whole would mean you'd be best off just not staying at a ryokan or not buying the meal package.

But but but...omg. You can eat so much food in Japan without ever taking a whiff of raw fish.

Re: Dream Vacation

[(Anonymous)]

DA but as a fellow seafood-hater who also dreams of going to Japan one day, this was really informative and gave me a lot of hope! My partner keeps saying I have to learn to like fish before we can go. Thank you!

ayrt

[(Anonymous)]

nooooooo your partner is wrong. I have been cooking Japanese at home for something like 15 years, and landlocked as we are fresh fish is hard to come by - so if I can cook Japanese without fish, you can eat your way through Japan without fish.

It's even more easy if you're fine with shrimp, because you're very likely to encounter it at tempura-ya and in set meals - cooked, and for that matter usually battered and deep fried. But holy god you can ramen your way from Aomori to Kagoshima without ever having fish, most izakaya have incredible yakitori offerings that don't include fish at all, curry is like zero fish, and in a pinch you can still tell yourself you're eating Japanese by going to a yoshoku (Western-style) restaurant to experience what Japan thinks is western (hambagu, omurice). You're still not going to McDonalds for a burger, after all!

If you want specific chain recommendations that are likely to be safe regardless of what city you're in, I can provide. We ate at small local places as much as we could but if/when I go again, I want to amuse myself by eating at Japan's most popular chains, which are all chicken and beef.

Re: ayrt

[(Anonymous)]

I'll happily take any recommendations you have! Thank you so much. We're hoping to visit at some point soon; weirdly enough we were recently in France and there was actually a Japanese restaurant two doors up from our flat, so we got to try miso (which I adored and hogged most of), yakisoba and takoyaki. I did enjoy the takoyaki overall, but I was definitely squeamish. (Was raised vegetarian until I was in my late teens, still have some lingering issues with texture and octopus isn't a common ingredient where I live)

My other big worry is that I can't stand eggs, and I know they're another Japanese staple. I know the quality of eggs in Japan is crazy good, I just can't get on with them and I worry about being seen as picky or difficult, I guess! They look so pretty in situ, I just can't do them. :(

Thank you again for your advice! It's really nice to hear from someone with some experience!

Re: ayrt

[(Anonymous)]

no problem, I love spreading love of Japanese cuisine! especially if it helps planning a trip, Japan is so wonderful to visit.

So, there are "family" yoshoku chains all over the country that are the safest for westerners: Gust (Cafe Gusto) and Royal Host are the biggest and pretty consistent in quality, there's also Ootoya which isn't as widespread. It's like going to Dennys but the food is better. For beef (donburi = rice bowls) you're looking for Yoshinoya and Gyu-kaku. For chicken you want Torikizoku. For ramen, you'll see Ichiran in every youtube but the truth is, Ichiran is where tourists go because they don't know better. Any corner market ramen place with the vending-machine tickets is better than Ichiran.

Eggs is definitely harder. Almost every ramen dish includes them, and you'd have to have some slight ability to speak Japanese to communicate that you'd like the dish without eggs, or else just eat around them. Don't order omurice, obviously. It's not common for most dishes to include egg, so whether it's scrambled egg added to something or a raw egg on top, you'll have to do your due diligence ahead of ordering a specific dish. Menu photos and plastic food displays are accurate, if that helps. In truly hairy situations, have some phrases pre-loaded into a google translate app on your phone and spring them on the wait staff, who can help. It's not like a protein where you know ahead of time whether it's beef, chicken, pork, or fish, egg can pop up in weird places. FTR Japanese eggs are surprisingly safe, if you can mentally get past your blocks. I have an ingrained expectation that raw egg isn't safe but I chanced it at the amazing kaiseki place in Gion, Kyoto because the chef recommended it as a dip for the A5 wagyu and it was incredible. Anyway.

Get familiar with words in english/romaji and kana: egg is tamago, fish is sakana but that's a generic word, you will have a harder time if all fish is labeled by species (salmon/sake, tuna/maguro, and fish with no direct translation like uo). If you don't have time to get gud at reading kana, use a phone translation app that uses the camera to scan photos, you can hold it up to a menu and get an instant look at what's what. Saved my damn bacon (no pun intended) in Sendai when the only lunch place was the Date castle museum cafe on top of Aoba-yama in the snow, we could read the labels on the vending machine instantly and order the most amazing curry-pan I had the entire time. No fish no egg just quick-translated labels on a machine.

Re: ayrt

[(Anonymous)]

I'm super late replying to this (I dozed off!) so you probably won't see it, just wanted to say thank you so so much for the thoughtful advice. Have shared it with my partner and we're saving it in a word doc for when we do go!

I've heard some awesome things about curry-pan, it's really high up my wishlist at the moment. Also mochi and taiyaki.

I can read kana and speak conversational Japanese so I'm hoping I'll at least be able to navigate a menu. I'm fully ready to be humbled in practice though! Kanji remains a mystery to me at this point, haha. I'll get there one day hopefully.

Again, thank you so much for your wonderful advice. It's made my whole week and made me even more excited to visit!

Re: Dream Vacation

[(Anonymous)]

Seconding this. I'm a seafood hater and did just fine on a 10-day trip to Japan. I had actually planned to get sushi while I was there, because I figured if I'm ever going to eat sushi, that's the place! But there were so many delicious non-seafood options, I didn't get around to it. I was regretting my stomach wasn't twice as big.

Re: Dream Vacation

[(Anonymous)]

right?? I regretted stuffing myself a few times but it was like...if I don't eat this amazing custard taiyaki right off the griddle right now I will be mad at myself even though I just had a big lunch. Don't care still delicious I promise I'll walk it off on my way through this shotengai.

SA

[(Anonymous)]

For those interested in Japan but apprehensive about food options, I read the following books before my trip:
Not One Shrine, by Becky Selengut and Matthew Amster-Burton
Pretty Good Number One, by Matthew Amster-Burton

This will give you a great overview and deep dive into Japanese cuisine, written for Western travelers. Yes, a good amount of it is fish/seafood, but so much of it ISN'T. I made a list of all the things I wanted to try, and barely scratched the surface.

The books are also good for general travel tips and cultural advice.

Re: Dream Vacation

[(Anonymous)]

Seconded re: there being plenty of options besides fish. Seafood is certainly a big part of Japanese cuisine, but there are traditional dishes which feature beef, pork and chicken as well. You won't have any trouble finding stuff to eat.