Stuff from Nijiya and Tokyo Central

Just some odds and ends for today.

Stuff from Nijiya:

Nijiya is probably a twice weekly stop…along with Tokyo Central (see below) for me/us. And I’ll often see some newer items in the deli case. Like this…..

Though there are maybe one or two sushi items I might get at Nijiya, I’m not the biggest fan of most of their fish based sushi items. But this one was interesting.

Especially based on the name and yes, the price as well!

I know…..all you ex-pat Kama’aina’s are thinking “Ohana“! And one that I showed this to, went, “what, baka ohana” (i.e. “stupid family” in pidgin). Well, nooooo….. I think that Ohana Batake means something along the lines of “field of flowers“, probably based on how the bowl looks? I’m sure “FOY” Junichi will correct me if I’m mistaken. Actually, this was not bad….I enjoyed the ikura which added some nice, briny “character” to the dish. And I think the price was quite reasonable for these days.

If you recall, I used to enjoy the karaage from Nijiya. Until they changed their recipe a couple of years ago. Well, last week, I noticed that the karaage looked a bit different.

It’s still doesn’t look like it used to, but I was curious so I bought some. Crisped up in the air fryer, I had it with some soba I made with some Moroheiya (GreeNoodle).

Much better than what I’d had previously, but still not as good as what Tokyo Central now has….so long you get the “correct” karaage. Still, with more shoyu flavor, better texture, this was an improvement.

Nijiya Market
3860 Convoy St Ste 109
San Diego, CA 92111

Speaking of Tokyo Central……

I was doing some shopping at Tokyo Central last Sunday morning and walked over to the deli case. I must not pay enough attention because I never really noticed that they sell Yakitori. Not that I would really get some….but on this morning it was 20% off. I’m guessing that it was leftover from the day before? A no-no with regards to most items….but since we have the air fryer…..

So priced at $6.39, I thought it might be worth a try.

It looked fairly mediocre, and I had a taste of the tare, which was ok….truly bottled stuff, but decently salty-sweet.

What I did was microwave the skewers for a minute…then rub in whatever sauce had dripped off and what was left in the container…then went full blast in the air fryer. The result of which was definitely worth the six dollar price.

I thought the “momo” and negima…both the chicken thigh skewers were pretty good. The Missus actually enjoyed the very chicken-y tsukune.

Well, with prices these days, I’m going to be on the lookout for those 20% off specials.

Tokyo Central
8125 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111

Like I said, current prices have had an affect on our shopping and eating. Have they had the same effect with all of you?