What is Street Food?

Source:http://goasia.about.com/


Sometimes called hawker food, noodle carts, street carts, or hawker stalls, street food is served from simple carts that usually specialize in one dish or only a small handful of offerings. Because the cook solely prepares the same dish night after night, they master it well.


Don't expect a restaurant experience! Eating street food in Asia is about one thing: the food. With the exception of food courts where many hawker carts set up under one roof, you may find yourself perched on a simple plastic stool or even sitting on the dirty curb. Without the need to pay for real estate or hire staff, street food vendors have low overhead.


Time and energy are rarely wasted on ambiance; instead, the cook focuses on serving great food for the lowest price possible. While you may or may not have a comfortable place to sit, hawker food is always cheaper than similar offerings in restaurants. Rather than commit to a single dish, you can often nibble, sample, and try several local specialties without breaking your budget.
See these 10 budget travel tips.
Is Street Food in Asia Safe?


If you haven't encountered street food before, don't be afraid! Seeing raw meat hanging by the side of the road can appear a little daunting to the uninitiated, but hawkers often feed their friends, family, and themselves from the same cart; they don't want to make anyone sick.

Unlike the food cooked behind curtains in dirty restaurant kitchens, your cook prepares the meal directly in front of you within plain view. In places such as Penang, Malaysia, hawker food carts serving bad or dangerous food would never last long!


The best way to ensure a safe street food experience in Asia is to patronize carts that have a high turnover. The more customers served, the better your chance that ingredients are fresh because they must be purchased daily.
Learn more about the delicious food in Southeast Asia.

The best street food in New York

Forget hot dogs and pretzels, in New York you can eat like a king on the sidewalk, as the city's annual street food awards show.

Rafael Soler of Solber Pupusas picks up his award at the 2011 Vendy's; (below right) his Salvadorian patties; (above right) the Taco Truck won Best of New Jersey award

Who slings the best hash on the streets of New York? That question was answered on Saturday (24 September) at the 7th Annual Vendy Awards, the biggest and most ambitious yet, with over 1,700 people attending on Governors Island, half a mile south of Manhattan, and voting for five of the six awards.
The only judged award, decided by a panel of experts, is the Vendy Cup, which this year went to Brooklyn-based Salvadorians Rafael Soler and Reina Bermudez-Soler of Solber Pupusas (locations: Brooklyn Flea, Smorgasburg, Red Hook ball fields, Brooklyn. See video below). A pupusa is a Central American speciality of handmade corn patties stuffed variously with meats, cheeses and vegetables. Paired with sweet plantains, tamales, pickled onions and cabbage, jalapenos, and their own special sauces, and you have the makings of the best street food in New York.
Until fairly recently, it was difficult to find little else but hot dogs, pretzels and knishes on New York streets. But several years ago, a few upscale food trucks such as Treats Truck, Schnitzel & Things, Rickshaw Dumplings and Wafels & Dinges popped up, taking street food in the city to a new level. Their success brought about a whole new generation of food trucks to American streets. In 2011 alone, trucks serving lobster rolls have increased from zero to two, grilled cheese trucks from zero to three, and Korean taco trucks from zero to three, with Korilla BBQ taking home this year's Vendy Award for Rookie of the Year.
The first gourmet food truck in the US is generally acknowledged to be Kogi BBQ, serving Korean-Mexican fusion cuisine in Los Angeles. But while LA has a large and varied food truck scene, the diversity of street food in New York, and the ability to walk up to a food truck or cart instead of driving to it, makes New York the epitome of street food culture.
Desserts are also an important part of the New York street food scene, and the Best Dessert category at the 2011 Vendy Awards, won by Wooly's Ice, is another example of a new street cart making a big splash.
The treats from Wooly's Ice are inspired by Hawaiian and Taiwanese shaved ice stands, which the cart's founders visited while growing up. They beat a New York dessert staple, cannolis (Sicilian pastries) from La Bella Torte, cupcakes from the Cupcake Crew, Mexican paletas (ice pops) from La Newyorkina and soft ice cream with creative toppings from Miss Softee.
The Vendy Awards branched out in 2011 and added a new category for the Best of New Jersey, with some great new food trucks having opened across the Hudson River in Hoboken and Jersey City. The Taco Truck took home the award for its mouth-watering plates of tacos al pastor (adobo pork and pineapple), pescado (breaded catfish tacos) and elotes (corn on the cob with mayo, cojita cheese and chili powder).
While it was brutally humid on Saturday at the Vendy Awards, the rain didn't come and the food was amazing, and proof that you can now eat like a king on the sidewalk.


Source: theguardian.com

Athens' best street foods and stalls

Source: theguardian.com

Where should you go for a bite to eat on the streets of Athens? The Culinary Backstreets network can show you the way, for fresh koulouri breads and the Athenian twist on a hot dog

Koulouri, a sesame-covered bread that makes a popular snack in Athens. All photos by Manteau Stam

Before we get down to the business of discussing the best Athens street food, a disclaimer: Athens is at a disadvantage when it comes to streetside eats. For one thing, a lot of venues – souvlaki joints, pizza parlours and even offal soup places – are open all night or even 24/7; they are just not serving on the street, though. Whatever the reason, there are really just two main street foods in Athens: koulouri (sesame bread) which is eaten early in the morning or really, really late at night, and old-fashioned hot dogs, for people who have had a bit to drink and are looking for something greasy and filling.

Koulouri

Greeks are not a nation of breakfast eaters, so koulouri, a plain, circular bread topped with sesame seeds, tends to be the morning fare for most people. There is something seriously sweet and fresh about these bread rings, which are sold on most street corners in downtown Athens. The bread must be eaten fresh, so it is best consumed early in the morning or at places that have high turnover. In recent years, koulouri has evolved similarly to bagels in the US, with new flavours in addition to the traditional plain variety. There is now koulouri with cheese (usually feta), koulouri with chocolate (not our personal favourite), koulouri with cream cheese (an interesting option but not for the summer months, as it tends to melt) and, our absolute favourite, koulouri stuffed with black or green olives.
Though there are numerous koulouri vendors in Athens, three in particular stand out for us. Our preferred stand usually runs out before 2pm, thanks to its central location opposite the old Church of Agii Theodori in downtown Athens, at the intersection of Dragatsaniou and Evripidou, an area home to a number of banks and public services. What we love about this place is that the guy also sells small portions of yellow cheese or triangular white cheese (good old Laughing Cow) to go with your koulouri. Though nothing fancy, it turns out to be quite a lovely breakfast on the go.
For pure freshness, another perennial favourite of ours is the stand outside Zara on Ermou Street in Syntagma. The man who runs it always asks how you prefer your koulouri (well-baked or not so well-baked). We're also partial to the koulouri stand located just where Stadiou meets Paparigopoulou near Klafthmonos Square. This guy is famous for two things: the first is the quality of his koulouri, which is made with extra leavening and has more of a sourdough taste than most versions; the second is the guy's fantastic banter. When you ask for koulouri, he asks you how many. If you reply "one", he always says, "One equals none."
These days, a bakery named To Koulouri tou Psyri (Agias Theklas 23) – in the once hip and happening neighbourhood of Psyri – supplies koulouri to most of the street stands around Athens. It started in the 1990s as a tiny, humble, hole-in-the-wall bakery for all of the young people who partied in the area. Psyri may no longer be fun and hip, but the bakery has become one enormous shop that is open virtually 24/7, and it makes a great stop after a night out drinking.

Hot dog trucks

Our two favourite vromiko – a colloquial term for food trucks – are both located in downtown Athens and serve hot dogs and sandwiches until the early hours. We're also quite fond of two other hot dog trucks, the first of which goes by the name Johnie Hot Dog (136 Andrea Syngrou). This bright red truck is parked on busy Syngrou Avenue outside Panteion University, the city's university for social and political sciences. Almost a gourmet hot dog truck, it offers four types of sausage and a number of "exotic" extras, such as jalapeños. Our favourite is the Athenian version of a corn dog, a frankfurter sausage served with sweetcorn, cheddar cheese and mayo. At night there is often mayhem here as Syngrou is home to a number of strip joints, bouzouki places and nightclubs.
The infamous Meraklis food truck is stationed at the edge of the Phaleron neighbourhood, close to both the marina and the tram lines. Meraklis specialises in what one could call the down-and-dirty version of a giant charcuterie sandwich, which is a veritable protein fest – salami, mortadella, ham, smoked bacon, turkey and gouda cheese (you can even opt for blue cheese for that extra kick), all in the same sandwich. This is a meat-lovers' sandwich for those who are either super-hungry, excessively drunk or, as is usually the case, both.

Five new street food trends

Source: theguardian.com

Street traders are the first to offer the latest food trends, from friands (the new cupcakes) to agua frescas (Mexican drinks). What's cooking on a street near you?

Tinderbox: taking smoked food up a level.

Blondies are the new brownies. Burmese is the new Vietnamese. And tea is the new coffee. That's what the trend predictors said about 2013, and street food traders are doing their best to keep up with it all. Whether it's waffles, empanadas or pambazos, the first place you'll find the latest food trend is on the street.

1. Friands

We used to get excited about cupcakes – not any more. We're over them. So, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the friand. These small French cakes, made with almond flour and egg whites, are light but beautifully chewy and moist. Baked in distinctive banquette moulds, they look like spongy little gold bars. They're what teatime was made for.
Visitors to the Friand Cake Company in Edinburgh are tempted with a huge array of flavours including chocolate, fig and amaretto, and raspberry and pistachio – and baker Karen Kennedy's gooey fillings add a vivid splash of colour. There is a real sense of craftsmanship to Kennedy's cakes, particularly the beautiful selection boxes filled with five varieties scaled down to miniature, bite-sized morsels.

2. Agua frescas

In Yorkshire, people are prepared to take two buses to try Chinampas's agua frescas. With good reason. Agua frescas – literally translated as "fresh waters" – are the drink of Mexico. Ice-cold and colourful, they're everywhere from Chiuahua in the north to Chiapas in the south. Following notes scribbled on napkins from generous traders up and down the country, Chinampas is now showing the UK there's more to drink in Mexico than tequila. Try the Flor de Jamaica (hibiscus), Tamarindo or Horchata (rice milk with almond, cinnamon and vanilla).

3. Jian bing

Heard of the jian bing? It's not quite a crepe, not quite a burrito, and Mei Mei Street Cart is the first to offer it up in London. The soya milk pancake is cooked fresh to order, sprinkled with spring onion and coriander, brushed with hoisin sauce, chilli and soya bean paste, and folded around roasted duck or char siu honey roast pork. Topped with a fried wonton cracker and it's good to go. See? You want one.

4. Arepas

People will queue for arepas from Guasacaca in London without knowing exactly what they're queueing for – such is the buzz around them on Twitter. Arepas are round cornbread patties from Venezuela, two fists big and the team stuff them with shredded beef, black beans, grated cheese, avocado and chicken. Just don't forget the picante sauce.

5. Smoking

Pickling, brining and smoking were picked out as THE hot trends for Britain this year. But the street isn't really the place to pickle and brine. Smoking, however – with all its attendant stoking, coking and poking – provides enough theatre to draw a crowd. And the smell will fill a high street. Hall's Dorset Smokery has been doing it at festivals for years.
But newcomers are taking it up a level. In their effort to stand out, The Tinderbox in Surrey roast their pork in a unique, handcrafted "teardrop" caravan complete with a traditional wood oven. There's a versatility to their menu, which offers up everything from stonebaked pizza to fish cooked on the bone. But the slow-roasted, BBQ pulled pork with two-root slaw will change your life.

10 of the best street foods in Mumbai

"Your arteries will tighten at the sight, but your stomach will thank you." Pav Bhaji being made. Photograph: Rajkumar Kandukuri/India Pictures on flickr/All rights reserved

Pav bhaji @ Sardar's

A five-minute walk from Mumbai Central station, Sardar's Refreshments specialises in straight-from-the-streets, finger-licking pav bhaji. It's hidden behind white barriers, but mutter "Pav bhaji?" to any passerby and they will point you in the right direction. Two metal plates arrive within minutes: one containing thick vegetable masala straddled by a slab of butter, the other with fluffy rolls so well buttered the bread's yellow. Your arteries will tighten at the sight, but your stomach will thank you. Squeeze some lemon on top and dig in with your fingers.
• Sardar's, 166-A Tardeo Road Junction, Tulsiwadi, near Tardeo bus depot, +91 22 2494 0208, £1 a serving. Open noon-2am

Kebabs @ Sarvi

Photograph: Richard T. Nowitz/Corbis Mohammed Ali Road is the benchmark for skewered kebabs, which hang from smoking stalls like sizzling curtains. But towards the north end, veer left on to Dimtimkar Road and head to Sarvi. It's been around for 90 years, has no sign, looks fire damaged, and grills the most tender beef seekh kebabs in the city. Crisp on the outside and melting in the middle, with a hint of mint – rumour has it they grind papaya into the meat. Get there early evening, as they sell out fast.
• Sarvi, 184/196 Dimtimkar Road, opposite Nagpada Police Station, Byculla West, +91 98 3353 3305, from Rs78 (£1) for four kebabs. Open 9.30am-11.30pm

Vada Pav @ Anand

Photograph: ARKO DATTA/Reuters/Corbis It's every Mumbaikar's grab-and-go snack. Potato patties mashed with garlic, chillies and coriander are dipped in chickpea flour, fried golden, then laid in "pav" – a springy white bap that's well buttered, spread with coriander chutney and sprinkled with garlic and chilli powder. Everyone from students to businessmen flock to the Anand stall, under a purple and green awning, which whips up more than a thousand a day. An added touch is a plate of rock-salted fried green chillies, which aren't nearly as fiery as you might think. Cool off with mini bottles of sweet lassi from the stall to the left.
• Anand, opposite Mithibai College, Gulmohar Road, Vile Parle West, 20p a bap. Open 7.30am-11pm

Pani puri @ Elco Pani Puri Centre

Photograph: PDX on flickr/All rights reserved The craft is part of the fun: vendors poke a thumb into a crisp fried sphere, fill it with potato, chickpeas, onion and sprouted lentils, then dunk it into a sweet-and-sour mix of tamarind and jaggery, then a liquid blend of coriander, mint and garam masala. Eat it whole, and unless you have a stomach of steel, don't go anywhere but Elco Pani Puri Centre, where they use mineral water. Pull up a red plastic stool and sit on the pavement with Bandra's locals, and the occasional Bollywood actress.

Chicken tikka rolls @ Bademiya

Photograph: usheng on Flickr/All rights reserved No Mumbaikar seems to have been to Bademiya before 3am – a testament to the late-night allure of its charcoaled, meaty goodness. A glorified open-air kitchen on wheels, Bademiya sits in a backstreet directly behind the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. Waiters in red aprons appear from a cloud of smoke and hand over plastic menus, but the chicken tikka rolls are the best option. Slid off skewers, the meat is wrapped in a steaming roomali roti – as thin and soft as a handkerchief – and topped with strips of fried onion. No sauce required, its juices are enough.

Bhel puri @ Sharmajee's and Badshah's

Bhel puri is one of the most common all-day snacks: a crunchy, cold, sweet-and-sour mix of puffed rice, sev, chopped onion and potato, and tamarind chutney. It has to be mixed and eaten on the spot, and most vendors will concoct their own variations. Chowpatty Beach is the home of bhel puri, where it should be eaten while strolling along the shore. Try Sharmajee's (No 22) or Badshah's (No 11), amid the cluster of stalls opposite the Levi's Store, where rugs are spread out and bhel puri "touts" will bring it over to you.
• Sharmajee's and Badshah's, Chowpatty Beach, near Charni Road station, 30p per plate. Open all day

Kheema Pav @ Olympia Coffee House

Photograph: drum881 on flickr/All rights reserved Forget trawling Colaba's tourist spots for fry-ups and cereal, and try breakfast the way the locals do it – with a plate of fried minced meat and hunks of bread to mop it up. Directly opposite the infamous Leopold's, Olympia does saucers of delicious masala kheema – and don't forget, this is a coffee house, so top it off with a short, sweet cup. Olympia is a local Muslim haunt with not a female in sight, but female visitors shouldn't be put off: the waiters and customers are friendly, courteous and no one bats an eyelid.

Channa bhatura @ Cream Centre

Photograph: hue.finder on flickr/All rights reserved As a rule, restaurants with laminated menus showing photos of their food aren't to be trusted. Cream Centre is an exception. It does a version of channa bhatura that's a bit on the oily side, but it's rated the best in Mumbai by the hordes of students, families and workers on breaks. Sit tight in your booth as a football-sized, deep-fried puri arrives alongside a bowl of creamy masala chickpeas, diced potatoes and onions. Poke a finger in the top and watch the puri deflate slowly into a chewy bread for scooping up the masala.

 

Crab @ Mahesh Lunch Home

Photograph: Kirti Poddar on Flickr/Some rights reserved Strictly not street food, but it's a sin to come to Mumbai and not eat crab. Trishna is excellent, but full of expats and tourists, so try Mahesh, around the corner from the Mocambo Café, in Fort. Order the jumbo butter garlic crab with a roomali roti to wipe up the crunchy bits of garlic and chilli. If you're unsure about portions, waiters will happily bring your crab to the table to wave a leg at you. There's only one way to eat it – with a bib and both hands, making as much mess as you like.
• Mahesh Lunch Home, 8-B Cawasji Patel Street, Fort, +91 22 2287 0938, £10. Call for opening hours

Juices and milkshakes @ Bachelorr's

Photograph: jvanslem on Flickr/All rights reserved 

  Bachelorr's (yes, they've added an extra "r") is the definitive hangout for smoothies, shakes and juices. It's been in business since the 1940s and has generated a loyal following, who gather by the roadside kiosk during warm evenings, perched on car bonnets and in open boots. The cream-and-strawberry milkshake is a classic, but it also churns out numerous chocolate variations – from Classic Chocolate and Black Gold Premium to Liquid Marble – along with a host of fresh lime, coconut water and lychee juices.

Shanghai's best street foods and stalls

Source: theguardian.com

With the first World Street Food Congress kicking off in Singapore, the Culinary Backstreets network is celebrating the best street food and stalls in the cities covered by its bloggers, kicking off with Shanghai.

Da Hu Chun specialises in juicy pork buns. Photograph: UnTour Shanghai

Shengjianbao

A Shanghai speciality, shēngjiān mántou – or shēngjiān bāo, as they're known everywhere else in China – are juicy pork buns wrapped in bread dough, then arranged in a flat, oil-slicked wok in which the bottoms are fried till they are crispy. Although shēngjiān mántou can be found on most street corners in the morning, we're especially fond of the delicious misshapen buns at Da Hu Chun (11 Sichuan Nan Lu, near Yan'an Dong Lu). An officially recognised Chinese Time-Honored Brand, Da Hu Chun has been splattering grease since the 1930s and, nearly 80 years later, has six restaurants across Shanghai. The venue's chefs use the rare "clear water" technique, frying the pinched side of the dough face-up to create little Frankenstein buns that might not be as photogenic as the more common "troubled water" variety, but that have a thinner skin that gets extra crisp – and we'll sacrifice good looks for better flavour any day.
• Original location at 11 Sichuan Nan Lu, near Yan'an Dong Lu, +86 21 6330 8402. Second location at 71 Yunnan Nan Lu, near Jinling Dong Lu, +86 21 6249 3683. Hours vary, but usually about 7.30am-8pm; Chinese menu only

Guotie

A popular morning snack that gets your arteries clogging early in the day, guō tiē translates literally as "pot stickers." Like their thicker-skinned cousins, shengjianbao (above), they are first fried on the bottom to create a crunchy foundation for the pork filling, then steamed with water under a wooden lid to soften the dumpling skin and cook the meat. You can find vendors hawking both shengjianbao and guotie out of the same shallow wok, but for the best bite, head to the specialists: Huji Potstickers. They fire up their woks at 5.30am inside a narrow alleyway kitchen in the former French Concession, usually selling out well before the lunchtime rush. Packed in like an edible jigsaw puzzle, nearly 100 dumplings line the shallow wok, manned by a laconic cook who spins the pot with a pair of greasy pliers, ensuring that each guotie base gets a liberal swirl of oil and ends up a delicious golden brown. Be warned: these greasy pork-filled bites come out sizzling, so take a small nibble (or chopstick poke) and suck out all the juice before popping them whole into your mouth.
• 209 Pu'an Lu, near Taicang Lu, no phone. Open 5.30-11am; Chinese menu only

Congyoubing

Mr Wu at A Da Congyoubing. Photograph: UnTour Shanghai Cōngyóubing, or scallion oil pancakes – savoury golden rounds slicked with lard, stuffed with salty pork and bright green scallions, then pan-fried in standing oil – are a common breakfast treat in Shanghai, but you haven't tried them until you've sampled the ones from A Da Congyoubing. The grizzled chef, Mr Wu, is one of the few street vendors in town who can command a following that will line up patiently for over an hour just for a bite of his edible wares. He huddles over a scalding grill for up to nine hours a day – no easy task, especially for a man who was born a hunchback. But without fail, Mr Wu single-handedly churns out the best scallion oil pancakes in the city six days a week, using a process he's perfected over the past 30 years. The secret is crisping them up at the end, which he does by rolling back the slick griddle and placing them inside the makeshift 40-gallon barrel, where they are licked to a dark brown crisp by the kerosene-fueled flames.
• Lane 159, back door of no 2 Maoming Lu, near Nanchang Lu, no phone. Open 5am-2pm, closed Wednesday; Chinese menu only

Shaokao

Head to any well-trafficked bar strip in Shanghai and you'll find plumes of smoke rising above the drunken revelry. Shāokao is Chinese barbecue – and the perfect late-night snack. Hungry patrons pick and choose from tables laden with bamboo skewers (chuànr) threaded with a grocery store's worth of meat and vegetables, putting their choices on a silver tray before handing it to the guys manning the grill. They nestle the skewers into the narrow charcoal grill, painting oil on to the kebabs and sprinkling their secret barbecue powder (usually a combination of ground cumin, paprika, chili powder, red chili flakes and Sichuan peppercorn) onto the grilled goods while wafting handheld fans at the coals for a smoky finish.
Try the juicy lamb from Xinjiang province (yángròu): the skewer is pushed through two chunks of meat, then an unctuous cut of fat before being capped off with two more chunks of meat – it's the perfect flavour ratio for glistening meaty kebabs. Or opt for whole yellow croaker fish skewered from tail to tongue (huángyú). Cruciferous veggies like cauliflower and lotus root hold up best to the flames, but leek is another surprisingly tasty option, with its slender green shoots adding an earthy flavour to the mélange.

Jianbing

Sometimes called Chinese crepes, flapjacks or burritos, jiānbing are served up streetside on flat griddles. Originally from Shandong province, jianbing were invented almost two millennia ago – according to legend – to fuel a wok-less army, who fought their way out of an ambush after this simple but efficient meal. While the original version of jianbing consisted of little more than flour mixed with water and cooked on a flat surface over a blazing fire, today's are beefed up with a scrambled egg cracked atop the millet flour pancake. Coriander, green onions and pickled mustard tubers are sprinkled over the egg as it cooks, adding a burst of green freshness. The pancake is folded in half, then slathered in umami-laden soybean paste and spicy chilli flakes. Add a deep-fried wonton wrapper – or sub in a yóutiáo, or fried dough stick, for extra crunch – and then watch as the pancake is wrapped around all the ingredients and thrown into a plastic bag, making for a great handwarmer on a cold winter's day, and the perfect on-the-go meal for any season. Streetside jianbing slingers can be found every few blocks in the morning, but after 11am it's darn near impossible to find a vendor, except for one entrepreneurial woman who caters to all-day jianbing cravings outside the wet market on Wulumuqi Lu.

Fun dining at Japan's street food stalls

Source: theguardian.com

Japan is famed for its elaborate fine dining, but tough economic times means that street-food culture is flourishing in cities such as Kyoto and Tokyo.

Street food in Memory Lane - or Piss Alley - in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Photograph: Jon Arnold/Corbis

My eighth amuse bouche arrived in a porcelain bowl that looked like it belonged in the British Museum. The "potage of Kyoto red carrot in the image of New Year's rising sun" was from a 17-course kaiseki menu – the haute cuisine of Japan, derived from the elaborate 16th-century rituals of the tea ceremony. The highly-formalised style has been an inspiration to the likes of Heston Blumenthal to Ferran Adrià. But with dinner at Hoshinoya in Kyoto costing ¥42,000 (around £330), such sophisticated formality comes at a price. And in a country facing economic stagnation, it's a price that not everyone wants to pay.
The kaiseki style is old-fashioned – deliberately so. Like the shojin ryori menu at the city's Kanga-an Temple. Sitting at a low table, designed to make everyone equal, I ate a bowl of soy bean milk skin, and an imitation chestnut. The prickly exterior – made from buckwheat noodles coloured with green tea – gave way to a sweet potato interior. I admired the artistry of the chef, but I didn't want to eat the food. And, as course followed course, I started to feel trapped by the confines of this Zen banquet. I longed for the freedom of street food.
Street food has never flourished in Japan. The Japanese still see it as rude to eat on the go. But that's starting to change. Sushi started as Tokyo street food, and the best places to eat it are still down by the city's Tsukiji fish market. At one tiny stall, with four stools, I tried chirashi – "scattered sushi". It was the off-cuts of the sushi (mine arrived with salmon, tuna and salmon roe) artfully presented on a donburi. A Tokyo speciality, and – right on the doorstep of Tsukiji – the freshest leftovers I've ever tasted.
The best places for ramen – the delicious Japanese noodle dish – are also on the squares down by the fish market. Inoue for instance (4-9-16 Shin Ohashi Dori, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo), serves a light ramen based on chicken stock – a real treat to eat among the shoppers and market workers. If the weather's cold, head indoors for a heavier ramen at Menya Musashi (Shinjuku-ku, Nishi Shinjuku 7-2-6, Shinjuku, Tokyo) – it's a proper sit-down do, studded with fat pieces of well-marinated pork belly.
Under a nearby railway arch, and running along the pavement (Higashi Gotanda 1-26-8, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo) I had my Lost In Translation moment as a waiter tried to help me identify the skewered meat I was pointing at. "The bit of the bird that gets rid of the grit" he said. Once I had banished the image from my mind, I ordered the gizzard. It was delicious. And only ¥100 (80p) per skewer. I followed it with chicken thigh and pig tongue. Washed down with a soup of radish, carrot and liver. At least I think that's what it was.
But, for me, the spiritual home of Tokyo street food is the maze of tiny 10-cover establishments down Piss Alley. The authorities don't like the name, and are trying to rebrand it "Memory Lane" – without much success. To be honest, they would rather that Piss Alley didn't exist at all. They see street food as poor people's food, and a reminder of a time – straight after the second world war – when Japan didn't have enough to eat. Now that Tokyo has a reputation for high-end restaurant food – including shojin ryori and kaiseki – they don't want to go back.
Mercifully though, the good people of Japan have other ideas. On a Friday night Piss Alley is heaving. It's like a film set of tiny buildings, with staircases leading nowhere. The place feels like it's painted nicotine brown (no smoking laws don't seem to apply to Piss Alley), and then spritzed with a hot, savoury steam. It's beside the railway (at one point, there's a rusty ladder up to the main train track out of Tokyo) and the rumble of trains never goes away. Nor does the smell of fried food and sake, as salarymen eat and drink their fill.
There's Horaiya – an offal shop established in 1947. And Isuzu, which has been hiding behind its wall of beer kegs since 1948. But next door (nobody spoke enough English to tell me the joint's name) they do a huge ball of tempura vegetables – called kakiage – laid to rest in a wonderful savoury broth. The ball was held together with a lot of flour, which is why they only needed to charge me ¥380 for the privilege. But it was so much better at soaking up the broth. And, as I found out, slurping on your broth is deemed good manners.
At Ebisu Yokocho (1-7-2 Ebisu, Shibuya Ward), a version of Piss Alley is being reinvented for a new generation. Here stalls are separated by curtains of plastic, and a cool crowd sit on crates and soap-boxes. At Ebisu Yokocho they have attempted – and succeeded at – what retailers round the world are desperately trying to do. They have put street food indoors. It is a lively food arcade, stuffed with tiny yatai food stalls. Each with its own atmosphere and decor. Yakitori is next to kushikatsu. But it doesn't feel Disney. Expect to see this version of Japanese street food in a town near you sometime soon.
Japanese street food isn't all about Tokyo, however. Osaka has a strong street food culture, and the batter-based okonomiyaki pancakes are city specialities. And in Kyoto, I found something of a bygone era about a sweet-potato seller. Even down to the hawker's cry – "ishi-yakiimo-ya" – announcing his arrival. The sweet potato has held a special place in Japanese culture since it saved the country from famine in the mid-18th century after the rice crop failed. The fact that in Kyoto it comes deep fried, and candied with a sweet-salty syrup certainly helps.
Nishiki is Kyoto's covered market, and home to its best street food. I found a baby octopus served on a lollipop stick. And I tasted extraordinary mochi – soft, round, rice cakes – stuffed with red bean paste and grilled. They were somewhere between sweet and savoury, and a reminder of how different the Japanese palate is from our own. And I watched a proud biscuit maker wielding his waffle irons over hot coals like a Samurai warrior. Japan's culture already fascinates the world – its street food has the capacity to do the same. If only the authorities can learn not to be so embarrassed by it.