Lost In Translation

Tex-Mex: No Apologies

It is extremely difficult to find good, authentic Tex-Mex here in Japan, and perhaps outside of Texas in general. But I love it and Mexican cusine just doesn't cut it for me. There's an informative article about Tex-Mex in the NY Times:

Among food snobs, the Mexican vs. Tex-Mex argument has been raging for decades. It is a wrongheaded debate, according to Robb Walsh, who wrote “The Tex-Mex Cookbook: A History in Photos and Recipes” (Broadway, 2004).

“Tex-Mex isn’t Mexican food,” said Mr. Walsh. “It is an American regional cuisine. So why do we have to apologize to Mexico for it?”

Mr. Walsh said the late food writer Waverley Root got it right when he described Tex-Mex as “native foreign food.”

“It is native, for it does not exist elsewhere; it was born on this soil,” Root wrote in “Eating in America: A History”(William Morrow & Co., 1976), with Richard de Rochemont. “But it is foreign in that its inspiration came from an alien cuisine.”

After the book was published, of course, Tex-Mex moved into the mainstream, and that was where the trouble started. Between microwaved burritos in convenience stores and nacho platters served with two-for-one margaritas in casual chains across the land, Tex-Mex got itself a bad reputation.

The history of Tex-Mex begins with the “chili queens” of San Antonio, who in the late 1800s transformed the plazas of the city into destinations for everyone from soldiers to tourists in silk hats to Mexican bootblacks, all seeking generous portions of chili and beans, with a tortilla on the side — for a dime.

It is hard to pin down experts and restaurateurs as to what happened to Mexican food when it crossed the border. The best explanation is perhaps the most inelegant: it got cheesier, chili-er and meatier.

“Cal-Mex is long on burritos and sour cream,” Mr. Walsh said. “In New Mexico, it’s all about green chilies, and in Arizona they are proud to have invented chimichangas — deep-fried burritos. The embodiment of Tex-Mex is a cheese enchilada with gravy.”

While superior Tex-Mex food may be specific to Texas, it is hardly restricted to one region or city. In 10 years as a Texas resident, I learned that there is no such thing as a best Tex-Mex restaurant in any given city. Instead, there are favorites recommended by locals. This is because the restaurants are family run, and the true Tex-Mex aficionado is usually a good neighbor who supports more than one family.

Talking Sushi

There's an interesting discussion with authors Trevor Corson and Sasha Issenbeg about sushi on Slate from a while back. Here's an interesting interchange from the interview:

Slate: How specifically did L.A. become this center of sushi in America in the '60s and '70s?

Corson: Sasha's book contains some very interesting information about the evolution of Japanese food in Little Tokyo, and I tell the story of a particular gentleman—I think Sasha mentions this, too—named Noritoshi Kanai, who was looking for a way to expand the business of the important Japanese foodstuffs for Americans. No one had considered sushi because they thought it would be too disgusting for Americans to try. I believe the story is that he was on a business trip back in Japan with an American colleague, and they went out to eat sushi. The American colleague went crazy for it. That was sort of the "Eureka" moment. Once Hollywood celebrities caught on, it got a whole new life.

Issenberg: The first wave of sushi bars in Los Angeles were catering to the new Japanese money there—the sort of places where special occasions and business meetings were celebrated. It took some part of a generation to move into something that's offered in a kind of fast food version—as opposed to, say, tacos, which started in ethnic enclaves as an inexpensive accessible food, and now a generation or two later, you see the gourmet Mexican version. The first people to eat sushi were having it at its most refined.

Slate: One of the reasons I think sushi translates well in the United States is because it has a certain similarity to steakhouse culture—the rich meats, the minimal emphasis on sides, and it also caters to male business clientele. There's also this interesting element of eating sushi where you quantify your food—keeping track of ounces or the number of pieces of nigiri you're eating. What's your take on the gestalt of sushi?

Issenberg: In Japan, it really is comparable to steakhouse culture. But in the United States, even though it's overwhelmingly produced by men, it seems a disproportionately feminine experience, and I actually think sushi bars are a far more feminized space than the steakhouse. In the '70s and '80s, when we had sort of a national diet culture emerge, sushi was a perfect way to satisfy that while still being an adventurous diner.

Corson: The flip side of that feminine thing, though, is that maybe there's a kind of masculine macho aspect to eating sushi. Certainly at the beginning, when people like Yul Brenner started eating sushi in Hollywood, it was a dramatic, exotic kind of macho thing to do. You got points for trying something that was different and potentially disgusting to the average palate. I do think we've maybe tricked ourselves a little bit, calories-wise. Sushi is not that much healthier than a lot of the stuff we usually eat. In my book, I mention going to the supermarket and getting a frozen pizza and a California roll: They had the same number of calories per serving.

Malidali Cafe

I found a really cool and funky Asian cafe, Malidali Cafe, in Takasaka, Saitama of all places, near the station. I noticed it before but when I visit Daito Bunka's Higashi Matsuyama Campus, I'm usually right on time and don't have any time to spare. I got there early last week and had a nice croissant sandwich and gourmet coffee at Malidali. They have a lot of other typical Japanese cafe food items like pizza and pasta. I was impressed with their Asian beer selection from Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.

Restaurant Cambodia

I found a good Cambodian resturant in Takanobaba called Restaurant Cambodia (03-3209-9320), right off of Waseda-dori. I'm not so familar with the cusine, but it msut be similar to Vietnamese, it says that they also serve Vietnamese there as well. I ate two of the same dishes that I had at Angkor Wat a few weeks ago: Mien Xao Tom (vermicelli noodles with shrimp) and Tom Hoa Tien (rocket shrimp).

After doing a little research I see that what I had at the other restaurant was Mien Xao Cua Be (vermicelli with sea crab meat). Both had a really tasty pepper sauce, but I have to say the meal above was tastier. I think there was more seafood (squid) and vegetables (eggplant), as well as ginger in the recipe that added to the overall taste.

The Tom Hoa Tien was pretty similar at both placs, but there were four pieces to each serving at at Angkor Wat. Generally, this place was more expensive than Angkor Wat, but it also had a better ambience and service. But I have to say that I enjoyed both dinning experiences.

Ankor Wat

I was inspired to check out Ankor Wat, a Cambodian restaurant near Yoyogi station, after reading this article in Salon. It was pretty busy for a Saturday night, and it is a bit lacking in ambiance since it seems to be a converted kissaten (old styel Japanese coffee shop) and has been in business since 1982-25 years-wow! However, the food is pretty authentic. The menu is all in Japanese so I’m not sure what the Khmer names for the dishes are, but we started off with fresh spring rolls, which were pretty basic. We also ordered some fried spring rolls that were coated in a kind of paste and had a shrimp on top of minced pork-they were quite tasty, but my dining companion doesn’t eat meat so I had to finish them off. My favorite dish was a fried glass noodle dish with a pepper seasoning with shrimp and crab. I also ordered a spicy beef salad at the waiter’s recommendation. It was very different from a Thai beef salad, the sauce was not unlike the chili paste Korean use in their food. The service was a bit indifferent, but it seems to go hand in hand with the SE Asian theme. It was tasty and reasonably priced, and those are the most important factors in my mind.

Why Not Cambodian Tonight?

There's a feature on Cambodian food in Salon that I found really interesting. I love SE Asian food, but I don’t remember being impressed with Khmer food when I was in Cambodia, but it makes me want to re-evaluate the food. To be honest I was only in Cambodia for five days and most of that in Siam Reap for Angkor Wat. Perhaps it's time to revisit Cambodia in general.

Here's the intro to the article:

You wouldn't know it from looking at me -- perched upon a wooden stool window-side in the Kampuchea Noodle Bar, on a trendy street in Manhattan's Lower East Side -- but I'm eating my way to the past. I'm hunched over a bowl of something named Phnom Penh katiev, and the long white strands of rice noodle are dripping off my chopsticks back into a cloudy broth. Let it splatter. I'm fishing for the shrimp, lapping them up and wondering if the tingling on my tongue is a hint of MSG.

This is New York, food capital of the world, where you should be able to get whatever you want, whenever you want. But I'm just not finding it. Kuy thiew (koy-TEA-oo), not "katiev," is breakfast in Cambodia. I came here hoping to be transported back to the corner of Street 130 and Preah Ang Eng Boulevard, downstairs from my river-view apartment in Phnom Penh. There, under the rotating fans at Rthy's sidewalk noodle stand, bright pink plastic chairs are arranged around bright blue plastic tables, each with a can of metal spoons and plastic chopsticks in the center. The clovers of sauces are so dark red and corrosive and oily that not even the 90-degree heat can spoil them.

In New York, transplanted Hong Kong hands have a couple of Chinatowns to choose from. Colombians can head out to Queens for an oblea caramel wafer and yucca bread under the elevated train tracks. Eastern Europeans longing for a borscht can ride the F train to Brighton Beach. West Africans have the Bronx, North Africans have the East Village -- and even the Uighurs, the Sephardim of the Silk Road, can find home cooking out in Rego Park. But for Cambodians (and nostalgic travelers like me), a taste of home remains elusive.

Last year, such was my longing, I made the trip to Lowell, Mass., just to order a plate of pliah, marinated beef salad, and sit under posters of pop stars in silk dresses and whiteface. By the odd topology of refugee migration, a quarter of Lowell's 105,000 citizens are Cambodian. (One grocer told me he stocks his vegetable counter with the help of a Cambodian immigrant in Florida who found the Mekong Delta-like Everglades perfect for growing tropical greens.) "Is this how it's supposed to be?" my uninitiated companion asked about the pliah, gazing around the Formica-clad dining room with an expression approaching horror. "This is it," I said, chomping on a dangly piece of cold tripe. The acid from the Asian coriander bit through my teeth. "This is right."

Over the past three decades, the West has fallen in love with the cuisines of Thailand, southern China, Vietnam and Malaysia, even Burma (for its barbecue), but somehow, Cambodia's food has slipped through the cracks. It has been nearly 30 years since "before Pol Pot" became "after." Two million tourists converged on Cambodia last year to see the temples at Angkor and what's left of Phnom Penh's French colonial grace. A generation of refugees resettled in America and France and had children of their own. Slowly, Khmer cultural heritage is being restored, protected, re-created. A no-fly zone covers the temples at Angkor, to keep engine blasts from shaking delicate foundations. The nation's Royal Ballet has trained a new troupe of hyper-flexible ingenues to perform on world tours. And Khmer shadow puppetry, called sbaek thom, or "big skin," now carries UNESCO's seal as one of 89 "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity." Why not Khmer food?

Another Meal

Here's a mini gydon (beef bowl) with Dan Dan Udon (spicy Chinese-style Japanese noodles).

Menchi Katsu Teishoku

Today's lunch menchi katsu (deep fried minced pork cutlet) and crab creme korokke (similar to the French croquette) teishoku (set menu with miso soup, with pickles, and rice). I ate at a mom & pop shop in Ekoda before this afernoon's classes at Musashi University and it was only ¥630.

Return Of The Whopper

It is kind of sad, but I am actually excited about this from Japan Today:

Good news for burger lovers. The world’s No. 2 hamburger chain, Miami-based Burger King, makes its long-awaited return to the Japanese market on June 8 when it opens at Nishi-shinjuku (Shinjuku i-Land). A second restaurant will open June 22 in Ikebukuro.

Burger King was forced to quit the Japanese market amid a price war in 2001, but is now back as a group company of Lotte and Revamp. The ever-popular Whopper will be the mainstay of the menu, which is almost the same as in the U.S. The size of the Whopper will be the same, too. Burger King will be using 100% New Zealand beef in its patties which are flame-grilled.

Fish Tank Ramen

I recently ate at a rustic looking ramen shop near Shin Otsuka subway station that had a fish tank along one wall in the restaurant. I had the kimchi ramen (see below). Good food and a cool atmosphere.