Things you should never, under any circumstances, ingest but are technically food

[rei]

@Timemaster_Tim

There is also a gigantic ventilation hood over the table.

Here in Edmonton, that sort of thing is “teppanyaki/hibachi” with “Japanese Village” our “real” Japanese food chain. The mall food court type fast food “Japanese food” chain we have up here in Canada grills the food/veggies and dumps it into a foam container then slathered in “Teriyaki” sauce. Is that the same as Seattle Teriyaki?

[Timemaster_Tim]

@rei

Is that the same as Seattle Teriyaki?

I’m not one of the Seattle crowd. I’m from the greater Toronto area. I assume your food court Teriyaki is a Teriyaki Experience or similar.

[anonymgeist]

This is what Seattle teriyaki typically looks like:

[Timex]

Yeah, that’s the stuff… Although in my experience it was more “saucy”. But i think that’s something that differs from place to place, and why everyone there had their own favorite place. Seattle natives please correct me.

But yeah, generally whole grilled chicken breasts, that are then sliced, covered in sauce, and served over rice. Also often a cheap salad in the box.

It’s very different from the Japanese food of grilled skewers.

Edit: oh, i just realized, maybe that pic has sauce on the side in that little container?

[anonymgeist]

The amount of sauce varies from spot to spot, but that picture is on the lighter side of the spectrum. Pretty sure that container is soy sauce, which comes standard.

[ArmandoPenblade]

God okonomiyaki is good. And not very hard to make, though some of the ingredients, particularly Japanese mountain yams (yamaimo/nagaimo) are very obnoxious to source unless you’ve got a dedicated Asian grocer nearby.

[Madmarcus]

The Koreans claim that bulgogi marinate is the ancestor of teriyaki sauce. It’s certainly related (soy sauce, sugar, ginger, sesame, and some asian pear for additional fruity sweetness and tenderizing enzymes.

@Nesrie

then there was some sort of sauce drizzled on it,

I should like okonomiyaki but the few times I’ve had it I have hated the sauces. Pajeon (or really all types of jeon) are great. Korean cabbage pancakes, baechujeon, don’t seem to show up on many menus.

[Nesrie]

If you do it yourself you can pass on the sauce even at the restaurants. I think it was a slightly sweet mayo. so nothing too extreme. Mayo in Japan is a little different but the link is there.

[RichVR]

Oh man, kimchi pancakes would be amazing.

[Stepsongrapes]

@Timex

whole grilled chicken breasts

Blasphemy! The best chicken teriyaki must be made from thighs. I suspect the one in Anonymgeist’s picture is thigh meat.

[Nesrie]

@Stepsongrapes

The best chicken teriyaki must be made from thighs.

Indeed.

#TeamDarkMeat

[anonymgeist]

And the great thing is, you can get that practically anywhere (and often with a second scoop of rice) for like $7. It can easily cover two or more meals. Hell of a value.

[ArmandoPenblade]

@Nesrie

If you do it yourself you can pass on the sauce even at the restaurants. I think it was a slightly sweet mayo. so nothing too extreme. Mayo in Japan is a little different but the link is there.

Generally a sweet/tangy sauce – okonomi sauce – that’s similar to tonkatsu sauce (usually something like Worcestershire, soy, sugar, etc.), and also a liberal application of Japanese-style Kewpie mayo. And a fuckload of green onions, shredded katsoubushi, and maybe some ao nori kelp flakes. But yeah, the whole idea is “grill it yourself,” so toppings and even fillings are super subject to change/preference, and there’s a couple of major regional variations that are pretty different.

edit: Also, #TeamWhiteMeat, y’all. Ugh, thighs. So greasy and gamey tasting.

[RichVR]

@ArmandoPenblade

#TeamWhiteMeat, y’all. Ugh, thighs. So greasy and gamey tasting.

Preach.

[Stepsongrapes]

@anonymgeist

And the great thing is, you can get that practically anywhere (and often with a second scoop of rice) for like $7. It can easily cover two or more meals. Hell of a value.

While housing prices are high in the SF Bay Area, I’ve found meat to be relatively inexpensive. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs can be had for 1.99/lb regularly and sometimes even a little less. It’s amazing how much chicken teriyaki you can make at home for cheap—dinner for our family of 4 is usually ~$10 bucks, with the chicken, steam veggies, and rice. It’s one of our go-to dinners that comes back around like once every 2-3 weeks.

[Madmarcus]

I can confirm that kimchi pancakes are amazing. The Koreans think that jeon goes with makkoli but I think that a mix of kimchi pancakes and seafood pancakes (mostly cut up octopus bits normally) goes great with beer.

[CraigM]

Which, thanks to @Tman for turning me on to, Mr Bento Burger does on my favorite burger there. The Angry Bird, kimchee, fried egg, jalapeno, cheese, lettuce, and sweet onions. I highly recommend you check them out.

[Madmarcus]

It was the flavor mix of sweet mayo that did me in. I am not a fan of mayo at the best of times and adding sweetness makes it worse. I can’t say I like natto but even the natto rice ball that I accidentally got at a 7-11 was more palatable.

[Nesrie]

@Madmarcus

natto rice ball

@Madmarcus

palatable

I can’t believe you managed to swallow that.

[rei]

Food court stuff of rice/noodles + veggies slathered in “Teriyaki sauce.”