Tokyo’s exotic street fare enthralls a chef’s palate
TOKYO - The 10:52 a.m. train shows up right at 10:52. Same for the buses. Everywhere you look, someone is sweeping, mopping, or polishing something. This attention to detail and cleanliness bodes well for the food chain. I eat things I would never eat anywhere else.
We are in Japan for two weeks to celebrate my dad’s 80th birthday, and although we manage to squeeze in a few temples and castles, the trip mostly involves what we do best: eating. My parents were restaurateurs in Dayton, Ohio, and I once lived in Japan to learn the art of sushi. When I’m not at my Wellesley restaurant, Blue Ginger, or shooting television segments for “Simply Ming,’’ I’m looking at food, sampling unknown dishes, tasting everywhere. In Tokyo, we dine well at good restaurants and even have a 20-course Chinese banquet at the Hilton (no kidding!). But we have three generations in our group; my children are also with us. So we find noodle houses (including Ivan Ramen, run by an American). And of course, street food. It’s the street food - what the locals eat on the cheap - that captivates my imagination and my palate.
Tsukiji in Tokyo, the largest live fish auction in the world, is famous for small sushi joints populated by tourists. At 6 a.m. they’re eating the freshest possible raw fish for breakfast. Along one side of Tsukiji, away from the tourists, is a row of street vendors. This is where the workers go; every dish is about $8.
I start with a bowl of simmering beef tripe on sushi rice, very clean tasting, beyond tender, spiced by togarashi. Just as satisfying is the popular curried beef, garnished with pickled ginger. The curry has a flavor similar to the classic Madras blend, though on the milder side of spicy.
There’s a classic ramen with pork, a soy-broth filled with perfectly blanched strands of noodles topped with moist pork slices, bamboo shoots, and scallions. Slurping noises and smiles are evident at this stand. Finally, the lightest of our fare is negitoro-don, the poor man’s version of the coveted toro, or lower belly of the tuna. This dish uses the fatty tuna scraped from the fish bones; it’s on top of steamy rice, garnished with wasabi and scallions. You start to understand why Japanese are crazy for toro.
In the heart of Tokyo is an area called Shinjuku and “Yakitori Alley.’’ Literally an alley, this walkway has tiny yakitori stalls on both sides. Grilled on pressed wood or coal, these skewers hold juicy beef, chicken, chicken meatballs, and shrimp, all glazed with teriyaki. Equally delicious are chicken cartilage yakitori - the white triangular tip of cartilage between the two breasts, crunchy but amazingly tasty - and also chicken livers and kidneys, all cooked until pink and juicy.
Nearby, Kabukicho, a bustling neon-signed entertainment and dining destination, is full of young people walking the streets. This is where you’re served the best takoyaki, round pillows of cooked octopus surrounded by a scallion batter, cooked on griddles with golf-ball size indentations that just fit them. These are served everywhere and come in multiples of eight with thick, sweet-salty Worcestershire sauce (my favorite), and a mayonnaise-based sauce. All are topped with bonito flakes that flutter from the heat like sea grass in the ocean. They’re addictive; you eat them with an oversized toothpick and you’re glad you have at least eight.
The place that really defines exotic street food is located in Shinjuku Ni-chome. Among a group of restaurants here is Nihon Saisei Sakaba, which stands out because of a much-deserved cult following. Customers wait to get a standing position at one of the outdoor tables or in the smoky yakitori bar.
These people are dining on pork brain sashimi, pork heart sashimi, and everything else from the pig. Brain sashimi, in fact, is incredibly creamy, like perfectly cooked sweetbreads, with even a slight sweetness, accentuated by raw onions, sesame seeds, scallions, and shoyu ponzu for dipping. Pork heart, served with spicy Western-style mustard, has the color and texture of very rare duck and an incredibly mild flavor. We also enjoy yakitori of tongue, small and large intestine, stomach, smoked belly, and a refreshing tripe salad. Even though it’s offal, all the dishes have clean flavors. It makes sense though. Pig farms are probably run with the same immaculate discipline as everything else.
The next day at the breakfast buffet, however, I skip the bacon.
Ivan Ramen, 3-24-7 Minamikarasuyama Setagaya-ku, Tokyo . Nihon Saisei Sakaba, Marunaka Bldg. 1F, 3-7-3 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo . 
