Introduction: East Meets West in Japanese Cuisine
Hey hey, my name is Thersa Matsuura, author of The Book of Japanese Folklore and podcaster here at Uncanny Japan where I tell you about the more obscure nooks and crannies of Japanese culture.
Today’s show is number 5 of a 6-part mini-series that has been made possible thanks to our sponsor Explore Worldwide. They offer small group adventures with local, on the ground, expert leaders. I really think you’re going to like them.
The Culinary Soul of Japan
Today I’m going to talk about one of my favorite topics, one of the things that makes Japan special to me and I’m guessing you, too. It still gets me excited after all these years. And that is: Food. But not just any generic Japanese dish – sushi, tonkatsu, ramen, or yakitori – let’s go a little deeper than that. I absolutely love that wherever you go in Japan there are some – oftentimes many – local specialties. Osaka? Okonomiyaki (often translated as savory pancakes) and takoyaki (humorously but not incorrectly called: octopus balls). In Nagoya? You have your tebasaki (little chicken wings). In Okinawa? Don’t forget to try goya chanpuru (a stir fry with bitter melon, tofu, and pork). But there are also certain foods that are just prepared differently depending on what prefecture, city, or area you’re in, and I’ll get into those, too.
Kanto vs Kansai: More Than Just Geography
Let me start by telling you about a friendly little rivalry we have here on Honshu, the big island. That’s Kanto vs Kansai. Kanto is eastern Japan – think Tokyo and Yokohama. It’s easy to remember Kanto, to, Tokyo. and Kansai is western Japan – think Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto. Let me try another clever mnemonic device. When you’re traveling, you “can sigh” (Kansai) with relief when you’re back in Osaka and Kyoto after all that hustle and bustle of Tokyo.
Did you know that the delineation line between Kanto and Kansai is usually agreed upon to be around Hakone. I live near there, kinda, and can attest we get a little culture and food from each side, which is fun.
Before food, it’s important to point out that the Kanto vs Kansai difference does extend well past all things culinary. Some quick generalities – not stereotypes – to keep in mind: Kanto (Tokyo area) people are more fast-paced, reserved, and formal. And the Japanese spoken there has the standard pronunciation, as well.
While in Kansai (Osaka area) the people are more talkative, friendly, and have a really unique sense of humor. Dare I say goofy or rough around the edges. And I mean that in the best way. I hear that non Japanese often feel a little more at home in the Kansai area, I know I do. The accent there is a hoot, too.
A really quick example would be: “Thank you” in regular Kanto Japanese is as well all know: “Arigatou gozaimasu”. In Osaka you’ll get a feisty: “Ookini!” “Really?” In Tokyo is “hontou ni?” In Osaka? “Honma?”
Flavor Fundamentals: The Dashi Divide
Okay, I can go on and on. But what I really want to talk about today is food. Of course, you’ll find exceptions when you visit, but in general, flavor-wise, Kanto (Tokyo area) has stronger bolder flavors. Where Kansai (Osaka and Kyoto area) has lighter, more delicate flavors. Miso soup in Tokyo is made with a katsuobushi (smoked bonito flakes) base and uses red miso or mixed (red and white) miso. Osaka uses kelp for the base and white miso.
I read the reason for this is that because of all the minerals in the water in Kanto, you just can’t get a pleasant tasting soup from boiling only seaweed. So you have to use smoked bonito fish. When you order udon in Tokyo, your soup will be this with a splash of soy sauce thrown in, making it richer adn dark.
In the Kansai area, however, they have softer water which is actually ideal for making dashi with konbu seaweed. You get all those delicate flavors. And if soy sauce is used, they’ll go with a light colored shoyu and maybe some mirin (sweetened sake). So a clear, less fishy soup.
Udon Nuances: Raccoon Dogs and High Society
Since we’re talking about udon, here’s something funny I learned. Another difference is if you get your noodles with tenkasu, those crispy, crunchy little beads of deep fried batter that have been scooped out of the tempura oil and sprinkled on top, it’s called Tanuki udon in Kanto. Yes, raccoon dog udon.
In Osaka, though, some call it Haikara udon. Haikara means something fancy. Haikara = high class, stylish. But the name is born of total sarcasm. Again displaying what a great sense of humor the Kansai people have. Why “fancy, high class udon”? Well, before the Taisho Era, Kansai-ites would just throw those little beads of tenkasu that invariably gathered in your tempura frying oil away. Who needs those? So when they saw everyone in Tokyo were actually sprinkling them on top of their udon like they were something special they jokingly said, “Oh! Look at the Kanto people, they’re eating Haikara upscale udon.”
Tempura Techniques: Oil and Eggs Make All the Difference
Speaking of tempura, that’s made differently as well. Kanto uses an egg in the batter and deep fries the fish or vegetables in sesame oil. It gives the tempura a lovely golden color. Kansai, on the other hand, doesn’t use egg at all and fries in salad oil, producing a much lighter color and flavor.
I don’t know how true it is or not, but I’ve heard this repeated before, and that is the reason for this is because back in the day in Tokyo they’d use fish caught in the Tokyo Bay, which was (is) kind of gross and dirty, so those fish had a certain smell to them, the sesame oil helped mask the stink. Or it might just be seafood in general. Because during the Edo Era, popular tempura in, well, Edo, was often shrimp, white fish, and anago (eel). While, over in Kansai lots of vegetables and mushrooms were preferred.
Another difference is when eating tempura, Kanto will usually serve it with tentsuyu (that light dipping sauce), but in Kansai you’ll most likely get salt, sometimes even flavored salt, like curry or green tea.
Noodle Know-How: Soba vs Udon Territory
In general, Kansai loves its flour. You can find both soba (made from buckwheat flour) and udon (made from flour flour) noodle restaurants all over Japan, of course, but there tend to be more specialty udon shops in Kansai and more specialty soba shops in Kanto. The udon texture is different as well. Kanto is softer and easier to chew, Kansai has a firmer bite to their noodles.
Okonomiyaki vs Monjayaki: The Great Pancake Debate
Now that we’re talking about flour, okonomiyaki has been translated as everything from Japanese pizza to Japanese pancakes to Japanese soul food. It’s one of those “it is what it is” things, so let’s just call it okonomiyaki. Which means kind of “Fried As you like it.”
Shredded cabbage, mixed into a batter of flour, egg, and dashi broth with just about anything you want thrown in, and fried on a griddle. Meat, seafood, cheese, mochi. Hey, my mom used to do potatoes and carrots, which gave my mother in law a heart attack, but in the immortal words of my mom: You said it means as I like it. Can’t argue with that.
After fried up and flipped, you slather a zesty dark sauce all over the top of your okonomiyaki, maybe make a fancy design of mayonnaise, too. Sprinkle some dried seaweed flakes and a heaping handful of smoked bonito katsuobushi flakes on top of that and dig in. Mmm. Osaka.
Now let me tell you about the first time I had monjayaki, the Kanto equivalent. I was shocked. It starts off deceptively similar to okonomiyaki but then fools you. Long story short, the ingredients go on the griddle first and you scoot them around, cooking them, then pour over the batter, but the batter never thickens up. It becomes a gooey, sticky concoction that you scrape off the grill and play with and eat with tiny little metal spatulas. It’s good when you know what’s coming. But I was sitting there with my kendo friends watching them eat what I thought was raw batter while I just tried desperately to get it to form a cohesive pancake-like consistency, wondering what I was doing wrong. Mmm, gooey Tokyo monjayaki.
A Taste of Japan with Explore Worldwide
Speaking of food, our sponsor Explore Worldwide has a 12-day foodie adventure called A Taste of Japan that starts in Tokyo, stops by Kanazawa and ends in Kyoto and Osaka, where you’ll be eating yummy foods the whole way.
You’ll even get to make some wagashi or Japanese sweets, have a private tea ceremony, try different sakes (nihonshu), and of course there will be okonomiyaki and takoyaki, octopus balls.
If that sounds interesting please visit Exploreworldwide.com find their Japanese tours and click on the A Taste of Japan: Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka to see more details on what you’ll do, see, and eat!
Here are some more differences you might notice between Kanto and Kansai when you’re traveling around.
Inari Sushi and Onigiri Shapes
Inari sushi. Those sweet, salty, tangy seasoned fried tofu pouches filled with vinegared sushi rice, the ones that foxes love so much. Did you know they are shaped differently depending on where you are? Kanto (Tokyo) likes their little bales of hay kind of shape, and Kansai goes for triangles.
And just to confuse you, the shape of onigiri, rice balls, is the opposite. You’ll find more triangle ones in Kanto and round or bale shaped ones in Kansai. There’s a theory that the triangle shape was encouraged by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Remember him from the ancient walking routes episode? Well, he lived right here in Shizuoka with a great view of Mount Fuji and maybe one morning over a cup of green tea, while gazing out at the iconic mountain, he thought to himself, I should suggest people start making their rice balls to look like the Fuji-san! Maybe not. Even Japanese people can’t decide if that’s true or not. But it sounds good.
Tamagoyaki: Sweet or Savory?
Then you have your tamagoyaki which is a sort of Japanese omelet made by cooking thin layers of seasoned egg in a rectangular pan and rolling them into a log shape and slicing. They’re soft, fluffy, a beautiful golden yellow and can be sweet or savory.
And that’s where the difference comes in. Kanto (Tokyo) tamagoyaki are sweeter with either sugar or that sweetened mirin added to the eggs. If you can taste the delicate notes and umami of seaweed and dashi in your rolled tamagoyaki, that would be Kansai (Osaka).
A Kansai-er might balk at a sweet tamagoyaki in their obento. Where a Kanto-ite would say, hey, it’s a palette cleanser. What’s the problem? Plus my kids love them.
If you don’t like natto, yummy stinky, sticky, neba neba fermented beans then you just might be from Osaka. Kansai people aren’t as fond of it as the Kanto-ese.
Unagi: A Tale of Two Cutting Methods
Now let me end by telling you about one of my favorite food differences between Kanto and Kansai. I learned this one while eating with my Japanese relatives long ago. Everyone, it seemed, was in the fishing industry in some form or fashion. I was newly married and had a thing for unagi, grilled eel.
Well, one evening a bunch of us were sitting around and there were two uncles. Literally one lived in Tokyo, the other Osaka. And we were having grilled unagi. They started talking about how to prepare eel for grilling and the cultural aspect just blew my mind.
When filleting the fish, in Tokyo they cut along the back, seibiraki. This stems from back when samurai roamed the land and cutting the belly resembled seppukku, cutting the stomach in ritual suicide. Very unlucky. So back cutting, seibiraki was and is still done there.
Osaka is the opposite, they DO cut along the belly (harabiraki) and that’s because it’s a merchant culture and there’s a popular phrase “otagaini hara wo watte hanasou”. Let’s both cut our bellies and talk honestly. Here, cutting your belly means to talk openly and frankly. It’s a good thing. So, belly cutting, harabiraki.
A Shopper’s Tip: The E and W Code
Very lastly, before I let you go, let me teach you a little trick while you’re visiting or living in Japan. If you’re visiting a supermarket and want to try some of the various cup noodles – Japan has cup noodles like America has breakfast cereals, no sorry. No one anything like America has breakfast cereals – but anyway, look at the ingredients label and see if there is an E or a W there. E would stand for East, and thtyou’re getting the Kanto flavor and W then would be West and the Kansai type. You could get one of each and compare if you’d like.
Thank you for listening, stay safe and well, I’ll talk to you again in two weeks. Bye bye.
Next
