I'm not talking about Italian food in Niigata. I'm talking about yakisoba with Western tomato sauce poured over it that was originated in Nagaoka city, Niigata prefecture in 1959 by a coffee shop, Mikazuki, and is now quite popular in Nagaoka city, Niigata city, and other areas.
新潟のイタリア料理についてではなく、焼きそばに洋風のトマトソースをかけた料理のことです。新潟県長岡市で1959年に「みかづき」という喫茶店で発明され、今では長岡市、新潟市、その他の地域でとても人気のある料理です。
This is the store-bought version manufactured by Oguni Seimen (noodle manufacturer), under the supervision of Mikazuki.
これは、みかづきの監修のもと、小国製麺が作った市販品です。
Very good! I especially liked the very thick yakisoba noodles. I could have them even without the tomato sauce.
とても美味しいです！特にとても太い焼きそば麺が良かったです。トマトソースが無くても食べれます。
Very interesting! I'm sure I won't find it here, but I love reading about regional Japanese food hoping one day I'll go and taste it in Japan.
ReplyDeleteSissi: If you can find yakisoba noodles (made by steaming), then you can make a dish quite similar to Italian!
ReplyDeleteReminds me on childhood impressions. Italian cuisine became popular around 1955 up when more and more german families started to visit italy during summer holidays. So maccharoni and tomato sauce was a typical childhood dish. It was also the first dish I learned to cook in school as 10 year old school girl. But the school recipe was awful: it was some kind of tomato paste stirred in white roux - don't ask... More typical italian was a product sold in a cardboard box including a bag with dried spaghetti noodles and sauce base in a bag and a spice mixture in a smaller bag. First sold in 1961 and they still sell it.
ReplyDeleteYakisoba - how do you cook noodles with steam only?
Kiki: Thanks for a funny story.
ReplyDelete>tomato paste stirred in white roux - don't ask...
OK, I won't ask. I just wonder what the white roux is (laugh).
The Japanese like noodles, all kinds of noodles, so it's quite natural that we like Italian food, particularly spaghetti and other pasta.
I justed wanted to say that, unlike ramen noodles, yakisoba noodles are made by steaming. They are then packaged and shipped. To make yakisoba, just stir-fry the yakisoba noodles with other ingredients, and add yakisoba sauce.
Here are some Italian-related videos on YouTube:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sv5DxSLWCs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE6hUb8UN9A&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFXs2-23fHI&feature=related
I watched the videos. In the third the pasta didn't look very italian with the salad placed under the noodles and pickled ginger aside? But interesting the second: prefered dishes are katsudon, yakisoba, ramen and italian. Spaghetti vongole or sepia noodles with seafood - italian dishes but no tomato involved - are something japanese may like to eat too. I ate one fabulous dish during my stay in Rome: little noodles formed like small ears (orechiette) with broccoli and pieces of simmered squid tentacles - very very tasty (slightly sour, served lukewarm). I ate very good in Rome, but this was the best.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Hiroyuki.
ReplyDeleteReminds me:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm_ubnnZusc
Kiki: The one shown in the third video may look different from the ones shown in the others, but they are all practially the same: Thick yakisoba noodles, cabbage, bean sprouts, with tomato sauce poured over them and ginger strips placed on the side.
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, the Japanese slurp up noodles! There can be no other way to enjoy the aroma, flavor, and texture of noodles (laugh)!
I'd like to say something about this scene in Tampopo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83KgeYls7iM&feature=related
It's almost impossible to remove a piece of mochi stuck in your throat with a vacuum cleaner, espeically if you turn the cleaner on first and then put it in your throat.
Vacuum cleaner: Yes (laugh), better make a good use of a sharp pointed knife and a ball pen and leave the rest to the rescue team.
ReplyDeleteBesides: we never slurp and burp in germany during dinner (low class manners, bad upbringing)and if there is any food in your mouth keep it shut. This Tampopo scene is extra funny because the teacher was absolutely right - make no sound...
Kiki: Some aspects of a nation's culture are rather hard to explain and understand. Slurping up noodles (but not so loudly as in the movie) is perfectly alright in Japan. Besides, slurping is even encouraged when you have soba, especially, shin soba (noodles made from newly cropped buckwheat), if you want to truly appreciate the aroma. Think of what a sommelier does when he tastes a wine.
ReplyDelete