Gardena Japanese Cultural Center Festival

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a big fan of festivals…mainly because festivals offer a chance to have foods that are only available at festivals!  Or maybe you can get those foods at other places, but that don’t taste half as good or satisfy as well as they do when they’re eaten in the open air atmosphere that only a good festival can provide.

A few weeks ago, I was blessed with just such an occasion: Gardena’s Japanese Cultural Center’s annual festival.  Not only was it a great opportunity to get some great eats, the venue was only a short bike ride away!

So Nicole, Katia and I mounted up and headed over to the festival.  It was warm that day, and while our ride was brief, the first thing we saw was one of the busiest tents in the plaza:  SNOW CONES!

Of course we had to stop and get a couple.  The cones were huge, sweet, refreshingly cold, and so reasonably priced at $2 each.

The next attraction was the heavenly scent of fried noodles wafting up from the yakisoba tent.

Beyond the noodle tent was another great treat, Okinawan style andagi.  These are sweet, deep-fried dough balls similar to some I had at an American establishment.  Only their, um, dough-balls are bigger and a little less sweet in comparison…but still tasty!

Also featured was a produce market with bargain prices that were out of this world.  I picked up three fresh coconuts (scored for easy opening); a couple large onions, and three huge potatoes for about $5.  It was a fundraiser so I almost felt bad taking the goods as they were priced.  I had to throw in another dollar or two to make myself feel better about it if not to help out their cause.

There was also a huge tent with multiple grills fired up to cook beef and chicken teriyaki.  We didn’t get any but I loved the signs!

What we did try, though, was some of the best spam musubi that I’ve ever had.  It was fresh, moist, and perfectly seasoned.  This is definitely a dish that I’m going to have to learn how to make.  If nothing else, it’ll give me a reason to buy spam without thinking about earthquake rations!

The final stop on our little tour was also the highlight: imagawayaki!  I had tried imagawayaki before but much like the spam musubi, this festival serving of it was some of the best I’d ever had.  The the crispy, pancake-like exterior was matched perfectly with the stuffing of sweet and smooth bean paste.  This was another great deal with two big buns going for just $3.

I’m glad to have spent a sunny Sunday afternoon riding my bike and having a ball at this festival; there were so many delicious foods to experience.  I’m already looking forward to the next one!