The delicious smells of grilling barbeque, freshly made noodles, and all other traditional Japanese favorites hogged the limelight as participating restaurants in the island unearthed their most delectable Japanese recipes to celebrate the Asian nation’s Autumn Festival.
Anticipation was high as hungry customers elbowed their way around the food stalls to buy their favorites.
Among the bestsellers for the night were the Taiyaki pancakes and Takoyaki. Shaped like a meatball, this Japanese dumpling made of fried or grilled octopus and flavored with tempura scraps, bits of green onions and pickled ginger, and comes with takoyaki sauce made it to the top of the night’s favorites.
Diners got a real treat watching food staffers at the Kinpachi Restaurant food stall continually pouring the rich batter for Taiyaki pancakes and takoyaki balls into the hot takoyaki pans, expertly turning them over with a knife when one side was done.
At one stall, food staffers grilling Japanese style pizza good for one person could barely meet the demands as customers wolfed down whatever was finished.
From another stall, a food staffer was busy scooping baked scallops from their shells. The scallops were just shipped in fresh from Hokaido and were available only for the night.
Not to be absent are the traditional freshly made noodles served in different variations to suit the diverse palates and preferences of the crowd, delectable sushi rolls, Okonomi Yaki, Yaki Soba, Japanese bento comprised of island favorites, barbeque, katsudon, onigiri or the ever-present rice balls — a Japanese food made from white rice shaped into triangular or oval form and often wrapped in nori or seaweed.
Tokens changed hands faster than the food stalls could prepare their food, and everything was gone even before the event was through.
Although Japanese cuisine is no stranger to the NMI, the Autumn Festival presented more than the usual Japanese fare. If you were among the hundreds of people who joined the crowd, you would have had the chance to sample the tastes ad flavors of the best of Japan, most of which were prepared only for the occasion and are not available on any day except when you place special orders and pay high prices from Japanese restaurants.
If you missed your chance last Saturday, takoyaki and some of the sumptuous Japanese favorites prepared at the Autumn Festival are available on Thursdays at the street market in Garapan.{jcomments off}
