Beefy Update

I've now lost 40+ lbs. since I've been in Japan, so to celebrate I put a half of one back on. I had asked several Japanese people in the area what their favorite food or restaurant was, and although the answers varied, one answer surfaced more that any other; Sawayaka, a chain restaurant. So tonight Dan and I stopped by on our way home from Hamamatsu to see what the fuss was about.

Now, to be honest, this was the third time I had been, but it would be the first time i was willing to try the genkotsu hambaagu, which was what all our Japanese friends had raved about. The genkotsu hambaagu is a 1/2lb piece of pure ground beef that is lightly browned on the outside and covered with an onion sauce, the inside remaining completely raw (it was explained to me that Japanese prefer ground beef to be rare since fully cooked beef is too tough). After ordering, we recieved a paper placemat that had a picture of a little kid getting hit by his fathers fist and a statement saying that the genkotsu hambaagu was like your fathers fist when he hit you. although my Japanese is still poor I gathered the comparison lie in that both were big, round, meaty, and full of love, I guess? Weird.

When we were served, the waitress asked us to hold up the placemat to prevent grease from splattering on our clothes, but I think it was also to guard against any cow parts that might kick us while still in it's death throes. When the sizzling sounds subsided we lowered our placemats/grease-shields I noticed that the paper was indeed be-speckled with a fair amount of grease. I would have been a little disgusted had it not been so damn good.

Notice that the plate/grill is a cast-iron cow. It gazes at you with dreamy eyes as you eat the beef that rests in its stomach. In this way the entire experience was very zen.

After polishing off the slab of beef laid before me, I thanked the iron cow by wiping him clean of onion juices with my dinner roll. We paid for the meal and left the restaurant in a meaty haze of raw satisfaction.

Now, sawayaka means "cool or refreshing" in Japanese. Hmm, who would have guessed that a snow cone and a half pound of raw meat could share a common adjective?