Vendors I Got: Inarizushi, HGG Tang Hulu, Catmint Wheel Cake
Price: $$$
Location: Various Locations Throughout NYC
Review:
Japan Fest is a one block street fair with all Japanese vendors. From February to November, they host various fairs all over NYC. Although the vendors change from fair to fair, there are many that repeat (some every fair, some occasionally). You can check out their website to see the vendors for a specific date. All the vendors make incredibly crafted and delicious foods! Many make unique dishes that are hard to find nearby. There are so many cool foods to try it is hard to choose what to get! As I attend more fairs and try more vendors, I will add to the post!
Inarizushi – The Inarizushi stand sells freshly made inari sushi in a variety of flavors. Inari sushi is a soft, fried tofu pocket filled with vinegared rice, sometimes topped with additional fillings. The base of the inari sushi was flavorful and delicious! The tofu pocket is tender with a perfect sweet and salty flavor. The rice is fresh and light with a hint of tangy vinegar flavor that balances out the sweet tofu pocket. I got four flavors: tamago yaki, unagi, crab, and tuna. The tamago yaki inari sushi is topped with seasoned scrambled egg and a drizzle of mayo. I always love the combination of rich, savory eggs with light, subtly sweet rice. This little pocket of egg and rice is tasty and satisfying. The unagi inari sushi is topped with cubes of grilled eel coated in a sweet, salty unagi sauce. The eel is crisp on the outside with a buttery, rich interior. The sauce coats the fish with its sticky, sweet and salty goodness and melds beautifully with the rice and subtly fishy eel. The crab inari sushi is topped with shredded crab lightly coated in mayo with a scoop of tobiko in the center. The crab is sweet and flavorful with the mayo adding a hint of richness and umami. This crab inari sushi is light and refreshing. The tuna inari sushi is topped with tuna salad with a light amount of mayo and black tobiko. The tuna salad is high quality with fresh and flavorful tuna. The tobiko elevates the tuna with its rich flavor. This inari sushi is absolutely delicious. I love the many flavor choices. They look beautiful as well. It is a great meal or snack to share!
HGG Tang Hulu – Tanghulu is a traditional Chinese treat that is also popular in Japan. It is made of skewered fruit with a crisp sugar coating. This stand offers a variety of fruits including grapes, hawthorne, strawberries, clementines, blueberries, and more. I got the mini tanghulu with a medley of fruit. All the fruit is incredibly sweet and juicy. The crispy sugar lends the tanghulu a dessert-like sweetness that is balanced out by the bright, fresh fruit. My favorite part was the muscat grape. Muscat grapes are extra large and are some of the sweetest, most refreshing and juicy grapes you will ever have. They also have an amazing firm flesh and crisp skin. I will certainly be getting the grape tanghulu next time! Whatever fruit you choose, you can’t go wrong with this delicious treat!
Catmint Wheel Cake – The wheel cakes, also known as imagawayaki, were by far my favorite treat I tried. Wheel cakes are made with a fluffy, pancake like batter in a special “grill” with circular shaped idents. The outside of the cake is cooked to become golden and crispy on the outside, and the filling inside is gooey and warm. I had three flavors: a plain cake with custard and boba inside, a matcha cake with mochi and red bean inside, and an ube cake with ube and custard inside. The boba filled cake is light and tender with the warm, rich custard in the center. The boba adds a satisfying chew and the deep caramelized brown sugar syrup melds into the rich vanilla custard. If you are a boba fan, this is the flavor for you. The matcha and red bean cake has an excellent earthy flavor. The smooth, sweet, nutty red bean compliments the earthy matcha cake, and the warm mochi is ultra gooey and delicious. The mochi adds a subtle rice flavor that blends nicely with the red bean and balances out its stronger flavor. The ube cake is filled with real pureed ube with the most delicious sweet potato flavor. It blends with the gorgeous cream making the perfect harmony of vanilla cream and earthy, nutty sweet potato. This is my favorite ube dessert I’ve ever had because of the real pure ube inside as well as the incredible cake and custard. These wheel cakes are one of the most delicious desserts I’ve ever had! You absolutely must try them!
Hangry Hansen 