My last full day in Japan was March 28 and my husband and I traveled to the place where it all started for us, Kita-senju. This was where I "met" him for the first time and lived in his apartment for a month in 1988. As part of our experience, I had my last taiyaki. For those who don't remember, taiyaki is a waffle/pancake like cake with a filling that is shaped like a fish. The most popular kinds are filled with sweetened beans or custard, though a wide variety of fillings can be had including savory ones.
The shop we went to hadn't even started doing business when we arrived, though they were actually open. My order started the day for the proprietors and here we see him making his first batch of the day. The device he's holding is being used to fill the other half of the mold. The right half already contains kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) filling. He made 5 pumpkin and 5 bean varieties at the same time even though I ordered just one kabocha. I guess the rest will be set aside for those who buy in bulk.
One of my readers once said that it was hard to get really freshly made taiyaki as often patrons are sold pre-made ones. I was lucky because my very last experience was about as fresh as could be.
2 comments:
What a wonderful experience. I will miss reading your experiences in Japan as it is near and dear to my heart in spite of it's foibles. (Born and raised in Okinawa just after WWII -- lived there until I was 16. My husband and I have been together for visits, 4 times, the last one last fall -- hoping to go next year.) Enjoy the next chapter and know that you gave many of us much enjoyment throughout the years.
Hi, bingata, and thank you for your comment!
Just to be clear, I'm not going to stop blogging because we're no longer in Japan. I'll just be blogging a bit differently. ;-)
So, I hope you'll stick around and read and how things go from here.
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