JETRO Toronto Job Opportunity The Japan External Trade Organization is currently looking to fill the position of Business Development Officer (Research Associate) at its Toronto office. The successful candidate will…
Are you a Japanese Canadian who is looking to explore your heritage and culture? The Japanese Canadian Leadership Programme is offerred by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan and will…
Missing good ramen with an atmosphere to match? Johnson Kong reviews this great new place in Baldwin Village.
Toronto ramen aficionados, rejoice! No longer do our stomachs have to gurgle with hunger and envy as friends in Vancouver or New York gush about their options for restaurants serving Japanese-style ramen. Nor do we have to put up with feeble renditions of “Irasshaimase!” when we enter a Toronto ramen restaurant, or make do with pale limp noodles and chewy char siew pork slices that disappoints our memories of delicious Japanese ramen.
Missing Japanese home cooking? Need some ingredients you can’t seem to find anywhere? How about checking out the many options we lucky Torontonians have at our disposal. Explore the various Japanese supermarkets in Toronto. Ashley Haley breaks it down for you.
J-Town
3160 Steeles East / 404 & Steeles
J-Town, should you be close enough to access it, should always be your first stop for authenticity. This shopping complex encompasses a supermarket, restaurant, bakery, fishmonger, cafe, izakaya, kitchenware store, cosmetics store, beauty salon…it is, essentially, a tiny Japanese mall. The prices are consistent with what you might find at Sanko, though slightly higher than the Korean grocery stores that stock Japanese products. Still, for the experience – especially for expats fighting homesickness – this place is the Promised Land. It’s also the only store I know of in the city that sells melon pan, fresh or otherwise.
Access it by the 53 Steeles East bus at Finch Station – the stop you want is “3381 Steeles Avenue East,” immediately afterWoodbine Avenue.
Sanko
730 Queen Street West / Queen & Bathurst
Sanko is the more well-known of the two purely-Japanese shops in town, open since 1968 and run by a local family. For downtowners, it is a much more sensible choice than J-Town, especially as it has a fantastic stock of both drygoods and fresh ingredients, including burdock root and shiso leaves. Rice balls and takeout obentou available too. Sanko also carries an extensive stock of Japanese dishware; priced for imports but of excellent quality.
Access it via the 511Bathurstor 501 Queen streetcars.
On July 6th nine new JETs, as well as four JAVA volunteers and two JETAA volunteers, participated in the 2012 PDOT cooking class. The menu included chilled somen, okomiyaki and strawberry daifuku. The day turned out to be hot and muggy, but hey, it’s a preview of actual cooking in Japan!
JAVA volunteers demonstrated how to make somen and daifuku. A couple of participants impressed everybody with their knife skills, while others got a knack in handling mochi dough (hint: cornstarch is your friend)