Nagoya Flavors

Nagoya actually has a couple of local specialties. As a matter of fact, when I told friends I'd be spending a few days there, I got more recommendations for dishes than I did for actual things to do or places to see (which was left to me to figure out.) To me, who, as you may know already, am not a real connoisseur when it comes to food, Nagoya seemed to have richer, more varied flavors than Tokyo, which to my knowledge has a more subtle type of cuisine. Here's what I ate!

Misokatsu
It's pretty much a twist on the classic Japanese dish, but adding a layer of sweet miso to the deep fried pork (or in my case, chicken) really gives it a unique flavor along with its red color. I actually enjoyed the way it was partly crispy, partly tender and soggy. The good thing, too, is that it's often served with a set like you'll see in the picture, accompanied by pickled vegetables and miso soup. So good I had to eat it twice.

Tebasaki Chicken
 That's actually simply the way you say "chicken wings" in Japanese. You can find chicken wings just about at any izakaya in Japan, but Nagoya claims the dish as one of its local specialties, and it's easy to see why. The Nagoya chicken wings are topped with a rich combination of spicy peppers, giving them a whole lot of bite. For a Japanese dish, it's actually quite spicy, which isn't something common in this country.

Kishimen
The local twist on the common udon dish has the large noodles in a flat, ribbon-like shape rather than its more often seen thick noodle cousin. I wouldn't say this style of udon does much in terms of changing the taste of the dish itself, but it's nice to try if you're a fan of udon. Of course, just like any other kind of udon, it can be eaten cold and dipped into a cold broth, as pictured, or it can come served in a hot broth, not unlike soba.