Americans are so polite. All of us! I do think Americans are more polite than
British people sometimes. Yeah. And friendlier. Definitely friendlier. A lot of British people aren’t very friendly
though are they? No we’re horrible. Absolutely horrible. Japan is home to arguably the finest cuisine
in the world. Prepared with the freshest ingredients At the hands of some of the the world’s most disciplined chefs. Now all we have to do now is get out there
and eat it all - which is a sacrifice, I’m willing to make. I recently won a competition called Tohoku 365 To travel around the entire northern region of Tohoku, through 6 different prefectures In search of the very best local food. In the last episode we explored Miyagi prefecture,
eating our way through 6 delicious must try local dishes. 6 prefectures. 6 dishes. There seems to be a worrying pattern emerging
around the number 6. This week we’re continuing our journey around
to Iwate prefecture, Japan’s second biggest prefecture Where I’ll be catching up with
Natsuki and trying one of my favourite Japanese dishes And meeting a local expat from America, who’ll be showing us around one of Iwate’s biggest street markets. But like all good trips, we start off with
a bucket of Genghis Khan… Like the Mongolian dictator? What. I won’t lie, I was pretty excited when I
heard of a local dish in Iwate, called Genghis Khan. I was even more excited to discover the dish
involves barbequed lamb A meat which is pretty rare to find in Japan. Despite the name Genghis Khan is a Japanese dish It got its name as Japanese people commonly associated Mongolia with sheep. And naturally it made sense to name the dish
after a historic dictator from the same country. My only criticism was the dish didn’t come
with a side of Chairman Mao. It’s the only time that I’ve had lamb
in Japan. Lamb is actually my favourite meat, but I’ve
done without it since living in Japan. It’s nice to finally get hold of some - and
cook it on a bucket. The best place in Iwate to enjoy Genghis Kan,
is the countryside town of Tono. It turns out people in Tono like to wander
off into the countryside for bbq’s And the bucket is their answer to a portable bbq. What I like about this is you put the lamb
on top and the fat on top And then the juices run down into the vegetables on the side to give them a meaty flavour. And you’ve got this sauce here which is
soy sauce mixed with ginger That goes really well with the lamb. Very good. The future is buckets. With a population of 300,000 Morioka might
not be a large city by Japanese standards, but it’s certainly bustling with character. And as luck would luck would have it, I’ve
managed to find myself a tour guide; a local American expatriate called Quinlan, who I’ve
met through Airbnb. It’s worked out pretty well as he’s kindly offered to show us around the Morioka’s bustling street market. Glorious American hospitality. I’d recommend getting some of these. You’re hungry right? I’ll get five of these. One of the most popular stands in the market
is a stall selling smoked goods. Mr Toyama sells a variety of food that’s
he professionally smoked himself Ranging from fish to vegetables and even cheese. And it's not long before I’ve snapped
up a plateful of smoked camembert. He’s got a lot of smoked internal organs
if you’re feeling adventurous. Smoked internal organs? Yeah. That sounds appealing… I think I’ll stick with the cheese. Yeah I’m with you. It’s funny I always talk about how there’s
no cheese in Japan and yet we’ve found cheese in Miyagi prefecture and now cheese in Iwate
prefecture as well. Clearly I’m wrong. I haven’t been looking hard enough for the
last 4 years. I could take you to see cows tomorrow? If you’re still entranced What an offer! There’s some
dairy farms around here. I could take you to see some cows tomorrow. That’d be a great chat up line! How would you like to see some cows? I can take you tomorrow. With that dashing accent, definitely. Americans are so polite. All of us! 100% of the time. I do think Americans are more polite than
British people sometimes. Yeah. And friendlier. Definitely friendlier. A lot of British people aren’t very friendly
though are they? No we’re horrible. Absolutely horrible. So what’s this Quinlan? That is a Tofu Dengaku. What does Dengaku mean? Lightening study. No, it means smeared with Miso and then fried
or grilled. I like the sound of lightening study. So Tofu with miso smeared on it, cooked over
charcoal. Like a Tofu lollipop. It’s very salty. Tofu is flavourless, so it’s nice to have
a bit of flavour on it. It’s coming off. Quite healthy? Yeah Tofu’s healthy. This is a Vegans dream - a tofu lollipop,
and it’s slowly going down the stick. Not the easiest thing to eat. Being a Vegan isn’t easy. Being a Vegan isn’t easy! Having officially lived a difficult life as
a vegan - for 90 seconds I’m going in search of Morioka’s most famous food. Morioka might not be huge, but it still has
quite the culinary identity The city is well known for it’s three famous noodle dishes; each of them surprisingly different. You might already know the first noodle dish,
Wankosoba. Wankosoba is less of a dish, more of a hardcore challenge Whereby you're given an unlimited amount of buckwheat soba noodles served in tiny bowls And have to basically shot them continuously until you either give up or are physically sick. It's said that a real man should be able to
eat 100 bowls Which I was able to do when I challenged my friend Ryotaro on a trip last year. For more details on Wankosoba, and to see
who won the challenge, be sure to check out our video. The second type of noodle was named after
your favourite Star Wars character. That's right, Jajamen, and no I'm not making
that name up. Jajamen is a dish comprised of thick noodles,
similar to udon, covered with a meaty miso sauce and cucumber. My first impression upon trying it was
"It's the closest thing I've had in Japan to spaghetti bolognese". But as well as being named after your favourite
Star Wars character, it's also a 2 in 1 dish. Once you finished 2/3 of the bowl, hand it
over to shop staff who will add the hot water used to cook the noodles, and convert the
dish into a soup called Chi Tantan. It's honestly one of the most unique and delicious
dishes I've had in Japan so far. The last of the 3 famous noodles is Reimen,
a cold noodle dish originally from Korea. The noodles are rubbery in texture and somewhat
translucent, with the cold soup served typically with beef, kimchi, cucumber, and a piece of
fresh fruit. In my case, watermelon. Yay, watermelon. The soup is a little bit spicy, hence the
fresh fruit to soothe your mouth. But for me, the best of the 3 great noodle
dishes of Morioka has to be Jajamen Not just because it brought back nostalgic memories
of my favourite Star Wars character But because it's like nothing I've had in Japan before
with the thick meaty miso sauce Being the perfect combination with the thick noodles. There's no better way to end your day with
a bowl of Jajamen, and a bucket of Genghis Khan. Food with names. I've been looking forward to this all week:
visiting restaurant Wakana, one of Morioka's top Teppanyaki restaurants. There are 2 ways of preparing beef in Japan. First is through a hotpot called Sukiyaki. The second is Teppanyaki, which literally
translates as iron plate grill. And in my opinion, Teppanyaki is the best
way to enjoy wagyu beef. Oh, it's really cool we got our own little
dining area. Our own little walled off dining area. Like a garden or something, with a big brick
wall. The highlight of Teppanyaki is the sense of
theatre. We'd have our own personal chef cooking us
a succulent cut of Maesawa beef Iwate's most famous beef, and amongst the top 5 cuts of
beef in all Japan. Maesawa beef, you know? Maesawa beef, it's art, and the world. I say theatre, it can also feel a bit like
torture. Watching the juicy cut of steak being prepared
in front of you for 20 minutes. Finally, the steak is sliced into bite sized chunks And served with a spicy chili miso sauce. Eating the steak is a sensation difficult to put into words But fortunately we’ve got Natsuki on hand to deliver his premium verdict. Before I try it, I want to see how Natsuki
reacts. 1 to 10? Maybe 10. 10? 10! In one word - one English word - how would
you describe it? Justice delicious! That’s two words Justice delicious! That doesn’t make sense! Justice delicious Oh number one! Tohoku number 1. Justice delicious. You heard it here first, Maesawa beef. Not justice! Trust me! Trust you. You could be a great food reviewer. Trust us. I feel like I’m eating something that’s
been sent from God. Like a river. Like a slowly river. Like a quiet lake. Like a quiet lake or a slow river. It’s art. It is art. It looks like art, it tastes like art. It’s so good, eating it feels like you’re
doing something terrible. I feel like I should just sit here and admire
it. 1 to 10 you know. It’s over 10 for the first time. That’s impossible! I can believe. In our next journey with Tohoku 365, we’ll
be visiting the prefecture of Aomori. Where Natsuki gets up close with Jaws. Nice dental. Nice dental? I create the ultimate bowl of sashimi at an
innovative all you can eat fish market And an entire city is brought to a standstill,
by a tortoise randomly walking down a street. It's the sort of exciting, surprising, bizarre
things you sometimes see everyday whilst walking around Japan. Many thanks for watching guys, we'll see you
next time. Maesawa beef, you know? Maesawa beef, it's art. And the world.
