Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Go
CNNGo in Japan: Wagyu, Ramen, Sake
Aired November 08, 2014 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
YUKARI SAKAMOTO, FOOD WRITER (voice-over): My name's Yukari and I'm the author of Food Sake Tokyo.
So today we're going to Panko (ph), which is a second-generation tempura restaurant and one of my favorites in the city here.
It's been covered up on these side streets and it's very hard to find. But I found it. And here it is.
So this Arai-san of Panko (ph) Tempura. He's actually a second- generation tempura chef. He'll start making the batter. And this is very interesting. He doesn't use the whole egg. He uses just the egg yolk.
HITOSHI ARAI, TEMPURA CHEF (voice-over): (Speaking Japanese).
SAKAMOTO (voice-over): But when he first puts it in the oil there's actually a lot of water so you hear the -- you see the large bubbles but
also you can hear the sound of the water coming out.
This is tempura (INAUDIBLE).
Tempura is something that everyone loves. Anyone who comes to Japan, you will always want to try tempura. It's something that they probably all
had at home, but they never had it this level, where it's so nice and so exquisite.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
SAKAMOTO (voice-over): I'm so excited because we're at Narisawa, one of the most famous restaurants, not only in the world, but also Chef
Narisawa has been voted top chef in Asia.
And what's very special about this place is even though we're in the heart of Tokyo, in a city filled with Michelin stars, there's such a
reverence for the ingredients that we can feel like we're actually in the forest. And you'll see what I mean pretty soon.
How are you, Chef Narisawa? Always a pleasure. (INAUDIBLE).
So he's going to assemble the first course here on top of the tree that he's actually taken from the forest.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHEF NARISAWA, NARISAWA RESTAURANT: (Speaking Japanese).
SAKAMOTO (voice-over): Oh, my God, it's so cool. So he takes trees, the actual tree and just puts it in water and then he's (INAUDIBLE) essence
of this tree.
You see the vegetables -- yes. I can hear it, yes. Where is that coming from? This is the -- we're in the forest. You can hear the birds
singing. Oh, it's coming from the wood.
Really?
(Speaking Japanese).
Really?
NARISAWA (voice-over): (Speaking Japanese).
(LAUGHTER)
NARISAWA (voice-over): (Speaking Japanese).
SAKAMOTO (voice-over): Oh, this is live? It's actual live (INAUDIBLE).
I don't know how to begin.
So we have one of Chef Narisawa's most famous signature dishes. And it's called soil soup and it's one of those dishes that when you -- when
foodies get together and they talk about it (INAUDIBLE) they'll all say, "And have you tried the soil soup?" And this is.
(Speaking Japanese).
(MUSIC PLAYING)
SAKAMOTO (voice-over): We're in Ginza, in the heart of Tokyo. Mitsukoshi is one of the most beautiful department stores. And we're at
the (INAUDIBLE). Mitsukoshi actually means department store and basement.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
SAKAMOTO (voice-over): This gentleman's not always here so it's kind of fun to see. He's actually making the sushi rolls, (INAUDIBLE).
There's a huge culture around sushi (ph) in Japan and there's a true appreciation for not only classic French pastry but Japanese treats (ph) as
well.
Living in Tokyo the port's (ph) always so exciting because you -- we have places like (INAUDIBLE). We have the high end Michelin-starred
restaurants but also what's so great about visiting Tokyo is that you can visit (INAUDIBLE) and under one roof you will see all of it.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
SAKAMOTO (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) is one of my favorite sake (ph) shops in Tokyo. And it has an owner, Okama-san (ph), who speaks English.
So when you come into here, you feel like you've found the gold pot at the end of the rainbow.
In Japan, you never pour sake for yourself. If your glass becomes empty and Okama-san (ph) and I are out, it's his responsibility to fill up
my cup.
This is great. I love this.
Kanpai (ph), which is cheers in Japan, kanpai (ph).
I love the Shinbashi (ph) area because you have so many little (INAUDIBLE), these small drinking places in this area. And what's fun is
at night around 5, maybe 6 o'clock, you seem them all coming out of the office buildings, on their way to the station, but on their way to the
station they fall into these little restaurants.
Oh, this is great. Oh, my God. I think this is the smallest restaurant in Japan --
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
SAKAMOTO (voice-over): Oh, this is cool.
So one nice thing is even if you don't speak Japanese, when you come into a place like this, you just need to know one word, and that's
"Omakase." And it's the same word that you say at the sushi counter.
It's the same word that we can say tonight, omakase. So Wakabayash- san (ph), omakase shimash (ph). We leave it up to him and he will create the menu for us.
It's great. This is all about seafood. And seafood, of course, is a great partner with sake and that's what this whole (INAUDIBLE) culture is
about. It's about drinking good sake and having good food that pairs well with the sake.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
MARIE UDONO, RESTAURATEUR (voice-over): Hello, I am Marie Udono.
UDONO (from captions): This is the most famous region in Japan. Let's take a look inside of the brewery.
The reason why this region's (INAUDIBLE) is so famous is that it's made by the combination of pure spring water from the Rokko Mountain and
the rice meets the highest standard of quality.
Putting those two ingredients together is what creates the sake in the region.
UDONO (voice-over): Nice to meet you.
MASAKAZU MINATOMOTO, SAKE SOMMELIER (voice-over): (Speaking Japanese). Thank you very much for coming.
This brewery established in 1751 (ph) (INAUDIBLE) years ago.
UDONO (from captions): Wow, look at this. Washing the rice.
MINATOMOTO (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) too hot (INAUDIBLE) so we have to (INAUDIBLE). (INAUDIBLE).
We need two weeks, 2-3 weeks to make the sake.
(INAUDIBLE).
UDONO (voice-over): (Speaking Japanese).
UDONO (from captions): And then after this what happens to the rice?
MINATOMOTO (voice-over): The rice will be melted (ph) and then (INAUDIBLE).
How about it?
UDONO (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE). I like it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Japanese).
UDONO (voice-over): Beautiful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very clear.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
MAKO TANAKA, FOOD BLOGGER (voice-over): Hi. I'm Mako Tanaka. I love it here in Kobe. I know you've heard about Kobe beef, the best beef in the
world. Well, we're actually here on a Kobe beef farm today. They're very strict as to who comes and who goes from this point. So OK. I'm ready to
go. (INAUDIBLE).
Wagyu, the active translation used by Japanese beef, the beef. (INAUDIBLE) labeled as Kobe beef.
Konnichiwa. (INAUDIBLE). This is Dai Yoshida, the general manager of the farm here. A lot of people seem to think that Kobe beef is made by
giving the (INAUDIBLE) giving beer to the cows. But that doesn't actually happen. They are fed specifically the right type of food.
Once they come here, they need to control the amount of the fat on the body for the perfect marbling. So they put four bulls in one area so that
would give enough room but not too much exercise to make sure that the amount of fat is perfect (INAUDIBLE).
He can judge how good the meat is by looking at the shape of the curve of the cow's back. And if the back has a nice curve, like almost a full in
the middle, then he says the curve (INAUDIBLE) great steaks.
The prefecture of government and the association, they (INAUDIBLE) bulls who will become fathers to all of the cows that then will grow up to
be Kobe beef.
For a long time Kobe beef was not exported to anywhere in the world. It's only since 2012 that they started exporting only to specific
countries. So if you had Kobe beef before 2012, chances are 100 percent it wasn't real Kobe beef.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (from captions): We're here. This is Patissier es Koyama located in Sanda City. It takes about an hour to get here from
Kobe. This shop is so famous in Japan. People come from all over the country just to buy sweets here.
My favorite is Koyama Roll, the roll cake.
Yes, this is the one.
Sometimes people wait and line up for 2-3 hours to buy it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Japanese).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
TANAKA (voice-over): God, it looks so good. Yes, please. (INAUDIBLE).
Very tasty. It melts in your mouth, but it's not that oily and the best part is actually nice and chewy but the (INAUDIBLE) is sort of
automatically instantly melts on your tongue.
And here's the Kobe beef before it's cooked and look at the stamp. That's proof that this is real genuine Kobe beef.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
NICK SZASZ, PUBLISHER (voice-over): My name's Nick Szasz. I've lived here in Fukuoka for 28 years. And one of the reasons that I live here is
because of the great food.
So here we are, bright and early. It's 5:00 am and we're at the Fukuoka Central Wholesale Market for seafood.
This is one of the largest fish markets in all of Japan. In fact, in terms of handling live whole fish, it's number one in Japan. People ask
why Fukuoka is known for great seafood. Well, this is it. This is the behind-the-scenes story.
That gentleman over there looks like he's one of the linchpins here.
He's been working here at this market for 50 years now.
He's just been telling me how this is the best quality fish. There's a number of things to check. First of all, is the fish still alive? This
one's still alive. Another thing is the eyes. So there's the color of the eyes here, just has a really deep black color here. This one here is a
little bit cloudy, a little bit cloudy. This fish is better.
Next is (INAUDIBLE) is the gill. And look inside here and you can see the really bright red color. This fish is in really good condition.
Yes, actually you can see right here, it's quite clear. These are -- this fish here is the same kind of fish, but this one's just bright and
glowing and has a nice full hue.
I'll take this one. I want this one.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
SZASZ (voice-over): We're in Ichiran, Shibuya (ph), just outside of Fukuoka City in Itoshima City, it's called. Itoshima's famous for all the
fresh, organic, tasty veggies growing here in this area.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
SZASZ (voice-over): Ichiran is one of the most famous Fukuoka based ramen shops. For an Ichiran fan or for a fan of ramen, this is a really
special place.
This is Mr. Manabu Yoshitomi (ph), and he is the founder and president of Ichiran Ramen.
Ichiran, all they do is ramen. That's their only product. So they do show a bit of the factory, but only about 5 percent (INAUDIBLE) because
there's a lot of secrecy, a lot of top secret techniques (INAUDIBLE) involved.
YOSHITOMI (PH) (from captions): Ichiran specializes in tonkotsu ramen. This is a tonkotsu ramen museum.
SZASZ (voice-over): I'll show you how it works. The first thing you do is you put some money into the machine like this. And then all your
options will appear here and I think that I'll go for just the classic tonkotsu ramen.
Got my change, got my tickets and time to eat.
These are what are called the concentration booths. This is one of the things that makes Ichiran so unique. What happens is you're served.
The bowl comes out behind the curtain here by staff and you sit in your own little cubbyhole here and you can concentrate on the flavor of the ramen
here.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
SZASZ (voice-over): Whenever I have visitors from overseas visiting here in Fukuoka, one of the places I really like to take them to are the
yatai. The yatai are the outdoor mobile food stalls. All in all there's about 125 of them here in Fukuoka, which is more than all the yatai in the
rest of the country combined. So it really is the yatai capital of Japan.
We're sitting on the sidewalk here and he's got a full-blown kitchen going on. It's amazing what they do in such a small space.
Food on the menu varies from yatai to yatai. But the standard dishes are ramen. This is Fukuoka of course, so of course you're going to have
ramen. Another thing about yatai that I really enjoy is when you come into the yatai, first of all, you open up these -- you pull back the curtains
here, becoming -- you have no idea who you're going to be sitting beside.
You just come in here and you take the empty seat and beside you, there's someone new to meet, someone new to talk to. And this is how
everybody gets drunk in Japan. Kampai. Kampai (INAUDIBLE).
This is where you can taste the local flavors, meet the local people, just have a great time.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
END
