Rokkomichi's kitchen cars: My first food truck park experience in Japan
It is a great sadness of mine that I missed the food truck revolution that exploded in the USA in the mid-2000’s to the mid-2010’s. I couldn’t participate in the conversations my friends had about the Kogi Korean tacos or the Jogasaki sushi burritos—food trends sometimes lag when travelling internationally. To my delight, right in my neighbourhood there popped up a food truck park, what Japan refers to as a “Kitchen Car Event” (キッチンカーイベント). Every day the park rotates its selection of trucks with that information easily available online.
As seen on TV, angelic warabimochi (Image credit: Eugene Lee)
Of course, the fried chicken sandwich and Korean cheese dog trucks are on my list of must-try venues, and on this particular day I was lucky enough to pick up some delicious morsels at the une-raclette (アンラクレット) and MONKITCHEN (モンキッチン) trucks.
Cheese, bread, lettuce and bacon, perfectly balanced as all things should be (Image credit: Eugene Lee).
une-raclette provides the wonderful spectacle of a melted, raclette cheese waterfall draping over bread. Not only was it quite spectacular to watch, with coos of amazement from passers-by, but the sandwich was fantastically portable. I, very happily, chose the bacon and lettuce option on a half baguette (¥1,100), but roast beef and salmon options were also available. Toasted cheese on a chewy baguette with crisp lettuce and bacon? Of course, it was delicious— the toasted raclette cheese had a nutty flavour, and the crispy dark bits became almost parmesan-like in taste.
Deceptively light, like a dusty cloud (Image credit: Eugene Lee)
MONKITCHEN provided me with a fabulous and quintessentially Japanese dessert experience with its “angelic warabimochi” (天使のわらび餅) for only ¥698. Warabimochi is a very soft, jelly-like version of mochi coated in a sweetened soy powder (きなこ kinako), which provides a nutty and toothsome texture. The mochi’s texture can vary from gummy bear-like to the ephemeral mochi at MONKITCHEN. It is a dessert that almost defies logic in its ability to bend physics. The mochi, when picked up with chopsticks, seems to be quite firm but disappears in the mouth as if it were held together with magic.
Perhaps my excitement about my first food truck experience in Japan is overblown. I am just excited about the possibilities of a food truck future in Japan. This blossoming food truck industry is something that is truly wonderful for cuisine. It allows vendors true freedom in their menu. The une-raclette truck already offers a unique cheese and strawberry iced tea on their menu. This culinary freedom can only lead to wonderful, crazy, and wildly creative dishes to come.
Header image credit: Eugene Lee
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