Stimulate the senses
Tim Anderson, winner of Masterchef in 2011, turns to his love of Japanese food for his latest book, Tokyo Stories
Have you heard of Paris syndrome? Paris syndrome is a temporary mental condition that strikes when bitter disappointment and extreme culture shock collide on the Champs-élysées. It refers to the emotional distress that can occur when one visits Paris for the first time and finds that it falls far, far short of expectations. Bad cases of Paris syndrome can apparently result in anxiety, tachycardia, paranoia, vomiting, hallucinations and even death. Wait, no, not death. But still! It’s real and it’s crazy. And I love Paris, but I get how this could happen.
I mean, can you imagine expecting – actually expecting – a glistening romantic fairytale wonderland like something out of An American in Paris and instead finding dirty streets filled with cynical tourist traps and second-hand smoke? How upsetting.
IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE THIS HAPPENING IN TOKYO.
There’s no such thing as ‘Tokyo syndrome’, and if there were, it would probably be something awesome, like a fantastic psychedelic drug trip with no fuzzy after-effects. In fact, if Tokyo syndrome did exist, it would probably be the opposite of Paris syndrome. Tokyo is a city so overwhelmingly impressive that it can be hard to cope with, especially on your first visit. So you’ve been to London and you’ve been to New York and they’re big and fabulous, but NO. They are like quaint provincial hamlets compared to Tokyo. But it’s not just because Tokyo is big – it’s also because Tokyo is bonkers. There’s just no other city so reelingly vertical, so colourful, so fastpaced, so crowded and dense with diverting stimuli at every turn. n
Teriyaki chicken and boiled egg sando
This teriyaki chicken and boiled egg item was probably my favourite conbini sando when I lived in Japan, and maybe the only one I actually have cravings for from time to time.
Makes four sandos
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Boil the eggs. What you want are eggs that are medium boiled – they need to be firm enough to slice, and the yolks should be mostly set, but still ever so slightly gooey in the centre. Here is what works for me: I keep my eggs in the fridge, use medium eggs and always start with water at a rolling boil. Lower the eggs into the water with a slotted spoon, and cook them for 7½ minutes (7 minutes for small eggs or 8 minutes for large eggs).
Drain the eggs and chill them in cold water. Let them chill thoroughly, as this will make them easier to peel.
Combine the soy sauce, mirin, sake, brown sugar and garlic in a deep frying pan and bring to the boil. Stir in the cornflour slurry to thicken, then add the chicken thighs. Cook in the sauce for about 10 minutes, basting continuously, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has reduced slightly and glazed the chicken nicely.
Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Slice the chicken and the eggs. To assemble the sandwiches, spread one slice of bread with the mayo, then add the lettuce, then the sliced chicken, then a little more sauce, and finally the eggs and the other slice of bread. Like all conbini sandwiches, this will be good fresh but also equally good after a day in the fridge.
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5 Mapo ramen (Sichuan-spiced tofu noodles)
Ramen is a dish that in Japan many still consider Chinese, but that can now be found all over China, sold as a distinctly Japanese dish. Mapo ramen is a combination of Chinese dish (mapo tofu) with a Japanese version of