Day 62-65 Cycling Through Onions to Octopus in Awaji
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Loading ...I was stuck. Stuck in the fog with Sakura, my pink bike. From the city of Naruto in Tokushima Prefecture, I was planning to take a 5 minute ferry to cross the sea to Awaji Island. It was supposed to be a quick, easy hop. The night before doing so, I found out that the ferry company was no longer in operation due to its low demand. Everyone these days cross the bridge on the highway by car, but that highway does not allow cyclists.
Then I thought, I could disassemble my bike, put it in a bike bag and take the highway bus with all my luggage to get over the bridge. Sure, it would be a hassle, but there was not much other choice. I cycled back and forth in search of the right bus stop, hoping that I would make it in time for its departure.
“DO NOT ENTER”
When I finally got to THE entry way to the highway bus station, I was appalled to see it closed off. Was this some kind of a sign? (It was, but you know what I mean.)
Disappointed, I cycled up to the entry of the highway toll station, thinking that maybe I could hitchhike. I did not like the idea of not knowing who was going to pick me up, but that was my next choice. Boy, these cars and trucks zoomed by me and Sakura fast, and all the sudden I became too shy to stand my thumb up high to stop one of these with enough space for me and all my stuff. After having been staring at mostly small cars and large trucks full of whatever they were carrying, I sat there small. As I looked down at the area tourist map, the list of Awaji’s taxi companies were glowing at me.
Half hour later, I was crossing the bridge with Sakura being sandwiched in the trunk of a cab. It wasn’t the most adventurous picture, but I did what I should have first, I nodded. Though all I needed was to cross the bridge, the nice driver showed me around the area as he headed back to his taxi parking lot without charging extra, which was further out on my way forward.
As I cycled the rest of the day, I could feel the change in season. It was real muggy and no longer felt like spring. In the end was dumping rain on me and Sakura. It was one of those days. It felt nice and cool though, aside from the fact I could barely see my way out.
Awaji Island is actually a good place for cycling and sports, but I got rained on for the next few days. I rested, wrote, and then cycled through their onion fields. They grow lots of it. I remembered the time I helped harvesting the sweet onions in Iheya Island a month prior to this.
Thankfully, the other end of the island had a ferry in operation. I crossed the Akashi Strait on a super fast boat to reach Kobe. On the way there was the port of Akashi. The fish market I happened to cycle by was a lively scene with the rhythmic sound of the fish seller. With the secret hand signals between him and the buyers, the fresh fish of all kinds moved down very quickly. Although this was a serious business, it looked like they were having fun with this whole process. It was as if I was listening to a song in another language.
The market of Akashi was as lively as the fish market down the road. Their fresh seafood, particularly octopus, was sold in many ways. Some were simply boiled, others were cooked with sweet and savory flavor.
These were dried with mirin (sweet cooking sake).
I was looking for something particular with octopus inside. This looks like takoyaki, but no, it is called Akashi-yaki, or tamago-yaki, they call it.
Some of you would know takoyaki, a common street snack you would find all over Japan, which looks much like this, but with thick sauce on top and cabbage inside. This Akashi-yaki is similar in the shape and the fact they have octopus pieces inside, but its batter is different. It is beaten eggs with no vegetables, the very reason why it is called tamago-yaki (tamago = eggs). Tamago-yaki in all other regions of Japan would mean a completely different dish, but I’ll leave that for another article. The lady flipped these small balls in the pan with long sticks, and turned the pan on a wooden plate.
Here’s my first Akashi-yaki! You dip this in dashi (stock) and eat it. It is fluffy, airy, juicy, and you get a small piece of boiled octopus in each ball. It is literally melt-in-your-mouth good!
This island country has been enjoying many fish dishes for centuries, and this is a glimpse of it in a picture. These are ground fish products of many types of fish, some mixed with vegetables.
The ocean can sometimes be a hassle to cross, but it sure offers plenty of enjoyment to make us smile! 
About the Author: Sachi
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