Japanese diet

It’s been four months since I arrive to Japan. Since I am from middle Europe it took me quite a long time to get used to the lifestyle here. There are huge diffences in almost all areas of life but maybe for me one of the hardest thing was to adjust to the food here. It wasn’t difficult because I don’t like the food here. It’s the exact opposite, even back in Hungary I went to eat out quite often in Japnese restaurants since I had a big passion for sushi and ramen. The main reason it was hard. I think is because I needed to change my carbohydrate sources. I switched from bread to rice, from spagetthi to ramen and yakisoba and the bacterial flora of some of the ingredients inside of these measl are very different from what my European stomach was used to. Maybe when you travel only for a couple of weeks there differences are not that apparent to your body but since I am libving here now my immune system needed to go through some drastical changes.

Although, I must say that since I arrived Japan and I started to eat local food I feel much more healthier and energetic than before. Compred to Hungary the dishes are less oily and fatty and which I love most about Japanese kitchen is that there are many meals which can be prepared very easily. Back in Hungary, when my mom cooked something I remember that she always spent long hours in the kitchen but here cooking seems so much less stressful and time consuming which is a great thing in my opinion.

Also, another great thing is that treaditional Japanese fastfood is less harmful to the body than “western” fast fast food in my country. When I eat fast food in Budapest it’s usually either a pizza or hamburger but here there are better options here. As I heard ramen and udon are consideres as fast food here. Yet, even if you eat them multible times a week it won’t have a negative effect on your diet or eatinmg habbits.

Tapioca Fever →

Recently, in Japan, there has been a trend that goes around the society involving not only teenagers, but also adults and children. Tapioca, or bubble tea, or boba tea - whichever you would like to call it - is a drink that has edible chewy black balls in it. The drink can be in any form: milk tea, chocolate, coffee, tea, etc. Tapioca has actually been in Japan and many other countries for many years now, but for some reason, the trend is suddenly high these days. A week ago, I tried a new tapioca in Nakano. It was just open not long ago, and since I live near there, I felt like I have to try it. It tastes pretty good, and it costs around 400-600 yen. I tried the chocolate flavor, and my friend tried the seasonal pineapple flavor.

My favorite bakery

Recently I’ve been travelling a lot. It’s a nice thing to be able to tour different places but at the same time, my body got tired from constantly being on the road. That’s why this week, my friend and I decided to have a break and treat ourselves to some good food. One of the places we went to was The Little Bakery Tokyo, located in Shibuya. I love everything there, from the tasty bread to the cool interior design. It’s definitely popular among young people, so everything often sells out very quickly. As I went there a little later in the afternoon, there was already a pretty long queue of people. However the wait was definitely worth it as we very much enjoyed our food!

Dessert →

I wasn’t a big fan of dessert when I was younger, things have changed since I went to Japan. There is an abundant collection of pastries and sweets and the price is so cheap (especially desserts sold in convenience stores, which have many seasonal limited flavors as well as traditional tastes). Unlike western sweets that tend to be very sweet and have powerful flavors, Japanese desserts focus on the natural flavors of the ingredients themselves. My favorite one among all, daifuku, is mochi filled with a variety of sweet fillings like red bean paste or ice-cream. Of course, I also love western desserts such as apple pie, tiramisu, etc. But the only downside about having a sweet tooth is that I have to care about my weight all the time.

Sushi sushi

Sushi is a very delicious traditional dish in Japan. There are a lot of sushi restaurants in Vietnam and I had tried eating sushi before coming to Japan. In my family, my sister and I really love sushi but my parents don’t because they can’t eat sashimi. When I first came to Japan, the very first sushi restaurant I went to was Genki Sushi. It’s a 100 yen sushi restaurant and in my opinion, it is extremely delicious. i also have a close friend who very likes sushi. We promised to each other that we will go to this place and have a sushi dinner at least once a month. And I hope that I can find a lot of nice restaurants to try different kinds of Japanese dishes when I’m studying here.