As the doctor prescribes: EAT ALL THE CHOCOLATE HEARTS!!!
I don’t know about you, but I love food. Who doesn’t love food? If you don’t love food, then you’ve got issues. Food is life mon. But you know, actually, I like cooking stuff sometimes more than I like eating stuff. So this time around I’m going to talk about cooking and eating stuff, more specifically the stuff found in anime.
Now, I realize that anime is more often than not a horrible representation of reality… but what’s interesting is that, once I started getting into Japanese cooking, I found that common Japanese dishes are often featured in many anime series. (“Uh, yeah Shonen: no duh”) Whether is be the world’s best cakes made by Yoshimori Sumimura, the dango the assassins eat in Samurai Champloo, Baby Beel’s favorite potato croquettes, Mrs. Sawada’s impressive meals, or (of course) the naruto-uzumaki ramen from, well, Naruto, food can play an important part in a series, or it can be the focus of the series altogether. And you know what? Some of it looks pretty good. Really good, actually.
Some of it looked so good that I wished I could eat it. And I did. Now, I could have gone trekking off to town to try and find a restaurant that served actual Japanese food of the non-sushi variety, but those are hard to come by, especially since the dishes I was interested in are considered more “home style” cooking. So, I had to figure out a way to replicate it on my own. And that leads me to the purpose of this blog:
Q: What dishes did you see in a show that you wished you could try?
It can only be anything, but the rule of thumb here is that it has to be food (obviously) and has to be either from anime or manga.
Now then, what were the results of my wading into an anime-cooking foray? I will tell you:
The first thing I think I tried to make from anime was a basic bento. It might have been the other way around though, where I had made bento before and was re-inspired to try it again after seeing it in Ao no Exorcist. Bento is basically lunch in a box. It usually has rice or onigiri and a bunch of sides, arranged in a neat way and stacked carefully into a small container. The one thing that makes this bento (as opposed to something else) is that it is meant to be eaten cold: as in, pre-microwave era. That’s the tradition, anyway. Bento is actually incredibly time-intensive. And personally, I don’t really know if it’s worth it. Cold rice aside, it takes a lot of prep-work (usually the night before) which is time that could be spent on finishing up procrastinated homework assignments, heh…. Bento is definitely a labor of love, which is why moms make it for their kid’s school lunches, and everyone else just buys it from a vending machine. (I’ve been told you can buy anything from a vending machine in Japan. But back on topic…) I didn’t have a lot of success with bento, so I’m not going to talk about it really. I will say this though: if you do make bento, make sure you have plenty of fresh vegetables on-hand. My favorite thing to add to bento is tamagoyaki because it is insanely easy to make. All you need are a couple of eggs, a good pan and spatula, and some omelet-flipping skills.
To continue…
The second dish I made, and actually remember making after being directly inspired by an anime, was Kansai Beef and Potatoes. From none other than the anime Beelzebub. Let me tell you something, that show had a TON of amazing looking food in it, but the beef and potatoes had an actual recipe in an actual episode. I think it was a cooking-show parody or something. At any rate, it was strange, funny, and looked really really good. It didn’t taste so good when I made it, but that’s because I used deer meat and accidentally over-cooked it, so it tasted like shoe-leather. But, if you avoid leathering the meat, it is a hearty, tasty, and I assume healthy meal that is pretty easy to make. I’m just going to quote the show verbatim here:
"Now it's time for some trivia! In Kansai people use beef! Beef! And in Kanto people use pork! Since I speak with a Kansai accent, I'll be using beef! Now, you can't have Meat and Potatoes without the potatoes, can you? But you can go with the soft and flaky Irish Cobblers, or the more hardy May Queen variety to your taste! Today I'm going for the Irish Cobblers! For the rest, it's up to you. But I cook like a man... No need to be refined: I'm going with meat and potatoes and that's it! 1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into bite-sized pieces, rounding off the corners. Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces as well. 2. Add sesame oil into a pot, and fry the meat. 3. When the meat changes color... It's time to season. Soy sauce, sake, and sugar... That's all we'll use today. It's important to thoroughly flavor the meat. 4. Next, add in the potatoes. Keep up the heat until steam starts to rise... 5. Add enough water to almost cover... Then, just boil it down...''" |
Of course, Koma was trying to poison Aoi in that episode, so try to avoid that if you do decide to make this.
Failed bento and shoe-leather aside, I finally reached success with the next concoction. The most anime successful dish that I’ve made, the tastiest, and the one I’ve made at least four or five times, is Japanese Style Curry from none other than the series Gintama. Ironically, the foodstuffs in that episode were also poisoned (and weaponized by Curry Ninja) but we’ll just brush that fact aside conveniently here…
This is my own recipe for Red Japanese Curry, put together after some trial and error and now here for you to try. Keep in mind that the more curry powder you add the spicier it will be, so cater to your own tastes. Don’t add too much though.
"1. Take four medium chicken breasts and rub with black pepper, salt, and a dab of oil. Fry in a pan over medium-high heat until golden. 2. Peel and dice 3-5 (depending on how many you want) medium sized carrots, boil or steam until soft. 3. Chop a medium onion into wedges (kind of like 1/4ths, but squares) and sauté with some minced garlic until fragrant. 4. Add 4 tblsp of curry powder, stir constantly so it doesn’t burn on the bottom. Add carrots and stir. 5. Add a small can (6oz) of tomato paste. I think you’re only supposed to put in 2 tbsps for yellow curry. But I like it thick and red, so I add the whole thing. You need to dilute it with 2 cups of (chicken) soup stock. Also add 1 tbsp of Worcshtershire sauce and simmer until it thickens. Season with salt and sugar to taste. You can add sriracha if it isn’t spicy enough. 6. This dish is most often served with a side of rice on one side of the plate and the curry on the other, evenly divided. It looks cool, and then you can mix in the rice as you want. Add a sprig or two of cilantro to make it look even cooler. Viola. You’ve got Gintama Curry.''" |
That about wraps things up. Let me know what food you have been inspired to try after watching anime (or reading manga), which ones you would want to try, or which ones do you want other people to try. (Got all that?) At the very least maybe I’ve given you a dinner idea for tonight. And now, I am off to finish a miso soup. Ciao and Chow.
