Wining and Dining

Well, we all know how famous japanese food is around the world but there are a lot more dishes to be appreciated than we can imagine and only when you are here you can have a realistic idea of how diverse their cuisine really is.
A couple of days ago I went to meet my girlfriend's mom in at her home in Chioda, a little rural village in the middle of the mountains a few k's from Hiroshima.
They eat what they harvest, rice, spring onions, all sorts of vegetables etc...
Home style cooking in Japan is just sooo good... and Rieko San, my "mother in law" was proud to say it was all organic and fresh, noticeably by the way.
We ate Red Mackerel Sushi, Fish Paste and Spring Onion soup, a fresh salad of all sorts picked right from her garden and sea weed, a must in japanese cuisine.
I visited a 250 year old temple from the village and said my prayers thanking for the hospitality and good food.
When we came back to Hiroshima the following night we went dining with her other sister Humiko in a restaurant that serves Chabu Chabu, a bowl of spicy water boiled right there in the table, and come the fresh vegetables and raw pork and/or beef slices, very thin, which you pick up with ur chopsticks and and gently shake and turn inside the bowl cooking them as you eat. The waiter keeps bringing tempura oysters (absolutely delicious), scallops in sauce, teriyaki chicken, egg rolls, tempura shrimps, Gyuno Tataki (one of my favourites, which is raw beef slices seasoned with garlic, onions, spring onions, pepper, lemon and vinegar) and a couple more trays of sliced pork which I gulped down mercilessly until I was absolutely full. I must remind you this is Japan so the restaurants have no chairs and you have to find the best possible position on the little pillow under you, a bit uncomfortable for westerners but definitely worth it! I kid you not when I say it was one of the best dining experiences of my entire life!!!
And do you wanna know the best part? It cost 2000 yen (around 20 dollars) per person for an unlimited serving (yes, that's right, if you keep eating the food keeps coming), isn't that amazing!?!?!
I can't forget about the sushi experience which I learned to love and enjoy. They are carefully prepared and look so cute you don't even want to touch them, just look.
There are so many: salmon eggs (my favourite), octopus, salmon, tuna, mackerel, snapper, all sorts of shrimps with wasabi (strong root, really strong), japanese mayo, onions.... its just endless.
Last night my girlfriend and I met some long time friends of her in another traditional restaurant in downtown Hiroshima and along came all that food again, I even ate raw tongue and beef.... from a horse!!!!
Japanese food is so sophisticated in its simplicity that it gives meaning to the word "art".
Gotta love it!!!