Lunch at Raku in WEHO

Didn’t get the bento box?

I actually went last week for lunch and got the bento box deal. Came with miso, soup, and a tasty cream desert also.

Great deal for the quality, very yummy

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I don’t doubt that, but I was going to try the bbq goodies! Plus, I was scarred by eating bento boxes in Asahi, Japan. I spent my whole life dreaming of eating bento boxes in Japan, and every lunch we had there were salt overloads! My husband was teaching at a hospital there, so they were just what the hospital got in, nothing custom ordered. I was so craving anything fresh after our time there! This from a girl who drinks pickle juice!

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Now that looks tasty :wink:

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Sorry about the confusion! I’ve posted other animated pix here, though really large ones won’t post.

What is your fave thing there? I plan on going back soon!

Hi @Xochitl,

I think most of the items in my previous thread on Raku are “favorites” :smile:

But I think the Tendon Skewer, Intestine Skewer, Asajime Chicken Breast & Thigh Skewers, Foie Gras Chawanmushi (Steamed Egg Custard), Kakuni (Stewed Pork Belly), Sashimi (what’s fresh that day - usually a good Kanpachi or Shima Aji) (must order!) and the list goes on. :slight_smile:

You can skim through the previous thread for ideas. :wink:

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The mountain yam doesn’t help the slime factor, either. While I didn’t mind it so much, the husband called it “fancy snot soup.” :no_mouth:

That dish is all about the texture - it’s intended to be slimy, or in Japanese, that’s called “neba neba.” Nameko mushrooms, okra, and yamaimo tororo are all ingredients that exemplify this. The onsen egg, ikura, and uni together are all about the mouthfeel, too. (But uni and okra is a surprisingly good combination). “Neba neba” off putting to some. I happen to like it (I find it especially good on hot days), but I realize that it’s an acquired “taste.”

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Love at first bite (or rather, slurp?) for me…

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It makes great kimchee when cut like kkakdugi, also. But it’s hard to beat a good maguro yamakake with fresh wasabi.

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You send me to the google very much,

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Mountain yam (yamaimo) is often grated, resulting in a slimy substance known as “tororo.” But when cut in cubes, it can make for great kimchee, also (like how one would have kimchee cubed radishes, a.k.a. “kkakdugi”). When cut in cubes, mountain yam has another interesting texture that’s hard to describe. It has a wet crunch, for lack of a better term, that’s very refreshing, and in my opinion, mountain yam is especially good in summer.

One of the most classic dishes prepared with mountain yam is “maguro yamakake,” in which the tororo covers raw tuna.

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In the cut form do you eat the mountain yam raw or is it fermented?

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Okay. I’ll try it. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

I’ve never had any Japanese food I’d consider “slimy”. Chinese food, on the other hand… Elvis, Elvis, let me be. Keep that sea cucumber far from me.

Fresh, grated.

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All right! More delicious sea floor echinoderms for me!!!

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One of my favorite slimy Japanese dishes found locally is at Torihei. Their natto salad with radish and a soft cooked egg is just wondrous…if you like that sort of thing. I’m a natto lover :heart_eyes_cat:

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I didn’t realize mountain yam was yamaimo. Definitely not a fan of that either lol

Yami = mountain
IMO = potato

That’s all I got…

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YamA = mountain

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