We visit two more restaurants in Tokyo this week, as part of our culinary adventures. The first is in Yoyogi-Uehara in Shibuya City, Tokyo. There are many narrow streets here and we decide to eat at a Bhutanese restaurant in one of the alleys. We first try Tsheringma tea, also known as the tea of longevity. It is recommended by doctors in Bhutan.
We notice the menu has several recommended chilli pepper dishes and are told that Bhutanese cuisine uses more chilli peppers than any other country in the world. We try the Hogeg, a salad tossed in chilli pepper, sansho pepper and cheese. There is also Ema Datshi, the most popular dish in Bhutan, which some people have three times a day. Other items we eat include momo, juicy steamed dumplings that go well with ezay – chilli peppers and onions fried in oil. It comes with a serving of rice. Bhutanese eat a lot of rice with their side dishes. There is also phaksha paa, consisting of onions, daikon radish and dried pork with red chilli peppers.
The next place we go to is in Kameido, Koto City, Tokyo. We check out a classic ramen shop which serves champon noodles, tan-men noodles, gyoza and the popular jun-liver rice bowl. We try the fried dumplings with vinegar, pepper and chilli oil. The jun-liver rice bowl features a mountain of green onions on red rice with lots of liver. The onions are mixed with the jun-liver sauce. It has a strong flavour and is very zesty. The whole dish is rich, sweet and spicy.
Tips:
1) Chilli peppers are a predominant ingredient in Bhutanese dishes
2) Gyoza is best eaten with vinegar, pepper and chilli oil
