Disclaimer: I wrote this back in October. and forgot to publish it. Oops.... Gonna publish the backlog slowly before new stuff comes out.
What better way to start off the weekend than going to Tsukiji Jogai, or the outer market full of food stalls outside the old/original Tsukiji Fish Market in Ginza! :D
Even before heading in (at 9:30am), I found some small stalls selling some fish so I stopped by and saw these incredible ikura (salmon roe) bowls for 1800円 and I had to get it of course. If anyone has seen the anime ヒナまつり(Hinamatsuri), the simple pleasure of just having a ton of sea salty umami bombs on top of warm steamy rice is good enough where I'd help out the yakuza if I'd have to. It's a salt brined salmon roe that had some dashi on the side with wasabi in case one wants it. Very simple, not unassuming, you get what you're paying for.
The next one is from a tamagoyaki (玉子焼き) or Japanese omlette store that might've been showcased in a YouTube series called Worth It. As maybe similar in some sushi restaurants, it's savory from the egg and the dashi but also quite sweet from either a bit of sugar or mirin. You might do a bit of flipping and rolling to speed up the process but most of it should be somewhat low heat and leave it somewhere long enough to get the bit of caramelization on the outside. For 100円, it's definitely a fun treat so if you're in the area, please try it or one of the other many egg places!
The second ~100円 treat I decided to get where these grilled squid cakes. There's not too much to say here aside from the nice fresh squid flavor, it was a nice treat finished with some teriyaki sauce but if it's busy, not worth your time.
After a bit of walking, one of the coolest things I saw were these crates of fresh wasabi just chilling. If I didn't have to take a 2 hr train ride in the evening back to Tsukuba (and if I had a good grater), I would've bought a few to experiment with but man.... What a world.
The last thing is if I didn't have something like this at Tsukiji Fish Market, what am I even doing. So still near the entrance of the market, they had a dedicated tuna store and advertised their ōtoro (大トロ) (along with the other grades) and it was just a nice rich creamy bite of tuna for 600 or 700円. Had the rice been better and the wasabi being fresh, there would've been nothing better.
Well, that's all I had for my nice 30 minute trip around Tsukiji Jogai. I hope to see if I have time for the real Tsukiji Fish Market but it was nice to say I've at least been here to start off my day in Ginza+Roppongi.
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