Behind the Counter at a Japanese Onigiri Shop w/ +50 kinds of rice balls

this is behind the camera at a local Japanese handmade onigiri shop [Music] good morning everyone I am back here at JoJo Ginza in Tokyo and it is super early it is 3 50 in the morning right now and we are having an early early day I'm taking you behind the counter at a local Japanese onigiri shop where they make everything by hand I've actually featured this lid before in one of my street food videos but this time we're gonna get to go inside of the kitchen this shop actually opens at 6 30 in the morning so I had to come here super early because they start the prep at 4 30. all we have to do now is wait for them to arrive today I'm taking you behind the counter at one of my favorite specialty onigiri Japanese rice ball shops in Tokyo kamataya hidden behind the JoJo Ginza shooting guy on a side street about a five minute walk from JoJo Ginza station this onigiri Lover's Paradise has been warming the hearts of customers while also filling their stomachs with a unique variety of their culinary Delights for over half a century and of course I'm going into their kitchen to show you how it's all made [Music] who's continued on the family business after his father this morning he's actually the second one to come in as his mother is already here so how old is the shop oh wow and how did the shop get its name [Music] I see all right first things first the rice the heart and soul ingredient of any onigiri apparently to maintain the Shop's high quality standards the shop carefully selects the best rice made in Japan each year to use in their onigiri but with more than 800 rice cultivators in the country it could be quite a task I guess that's what it takes to make some of the best onikiri in Japan so what kind of rice are you using something how much rice do you go through in a day [Music] foreign [Music] 's mom is already making onigiri what time did you wake up damn that's so early definitely no question about her dedication as she's been working here since the shop first opened so what's the most important thing when making origami good answer wow he's already steaming the second round of rice apparently this is non-stop for the rest of the day [Music] hi how long have you been working here do you ever think you'd be working in an Oni Kitty shop let's see if you have any kids oh how old are they she says that one works in logistics another system engineer and the third one works in travel wow really must have been tough during covid foreign [Music] oh that I'll notice you read in the fry batter smells phenomenal I guess I do so the shop set itself apart from many other spots is it handcrafts more than 50 kinds of onigiri with some of them making use of fried ingredients so how long have you been doing this sweet bees have you wanted to do this since you were a kid yeah then what did you want to be oh really he says that before this he had a regular job but ultimately decided to continue on the family business apparently since the shop wasn't doing well he decided to add shrimp and put it onigiri to their menu and it was a hit motivated by the success in his natural passion to create he soon found himself in the onigiri business with an expansive menu of over 50 different types of onigiri even crafting seasonal items drawing inspiration from the seasonal vegetables and proteins available on the market so in Japan onigiri rice balls can be found in every part of everyday life from breakfast to a quick snack lunch bentos and even dinner but it didn't become an everyday food until Japan's Edo period onigiri was only available to noble families in the heian period or the samurai is part of the high-ranking social class who started to eat it as a portable food during Wars by using humeiboshi pickled Plum salt and miso to preserve the cooked rice which are still eaten as fillings today hey what's that picture [Music] so what do you do when you're off oh you're a teacher what age do you teach cool so what's important to know when making onigiri I guess love is a powerful ingredient [Music] around 5 a.m one more worker arrives to help the team so how long have you been working here how did you find this job [Music] is the shop still hiring okay so for you what's the most challenging part of making onigiri um they all look pretty good to me though these days the price of roasted seaweed in Japan has drastically increased not only due to recent inflation but also to the poor harvest in the top three seaweed production prefectures Saga fugoka and Kumamoto who all experienced red tide cutting the usual production in half resulting in higher prices and a lower quality product for consumers and small onigiri shops like this one oh she's making Inari Sushi a seasoned rice stuffed in a sweet and sour bean curd skin one of my Japanese wife's favorites hey don't you get lonely here all by yourself well your focus is sure making me hungry so what are you gonna do with the ripped bean curd Japanese Cuisine typically puts a great deal of emphasis on presentation so it's often required to remove any imperfections however skill chefs always find a way to utilize the discarded parts to ensure that no food goes to waste [Music] thank you the shop has about 30 minutes until it opens so they work quickly to get the onigiri ready look at them work so efficiently with three to four people the shop can produce around a thousand onigiri in one day that's a miso used and their most popular onigiri NASA miso fried eggplant in a sweet miso this sweet miso blend is a Shop's original signature blend made with miso sugar medium and other secret ingredients the recipe was passed down from suenosan's father thank you so convenience store onigiri has been very popular in Japan for many decades but I've never seen this combination before which is probably why it's a favorite among the locals oh so when the sun has finished with the frying and has moved on to the Mochi rice for the ohagi he's not even finished cooking it yet but I already want to get a piece so before we continue on I want to tell you guys about the awesome people at boksu who also sponsored this video I know that many of you have already subscribed but for those of you who don't know they provide a gourmet experience of Japanese snacks candies and tea pairings delivered to your front door working with century-old family businesses to provide you with authentic Japanese flavors first time you just will get a Seasons of Japan box and after that you'll get a box like this one this month's theme is Midori summer celebrating Japan's green green during this rainy season enjoy the Luscious country scenery with a beautiful green snacks you even get this green booklet that takes you through each one my favorite this month is a yogurt kiwi chocolate which you can try for yourself so get 15 off your own authentic Japanese snack box subscription from booksu by using my code Paulo and Link in the description thank you [Music] it's right before the store opens and he starts making Yaki onigiri grilled rice balls generally it tastes best when it's freshly made so it usually grills it around this time nice this one is seasoned with their signature sweet miso the seasoned rice on a crackling pan creates such a mouth-watering aroma so what food do you like oh me too so what happens when you get sick oh when's the last time you got sick have you ever been admitted to the hospital oh snap what happened for sure have you ever thought of hiring an apprentice cover for you thank you [Music] yeah the store is finally open even before their 6 30 a.m open customers are already waiting on the street to get the freshest onigiri possible customers waiting this early in the morning is definitely a sign that the shop is doing something right in fact it's part of many of their customers routine to stop by the shop to pick up their breakfast or even their lunch on their way to work everyone seems so busy so let's go see if we can talk to someone hi can I ask you a question hi if you come here often so there's a horrible mind oh wow what's your favorite how long have you been going here sweet are you on your way to work thank you come on oh the rice delivery is here to ensure that the shop never runs out they come twice a week so are you almost done ohagi is a super popular Japanese confection made with a blend of glutinous rice and regular rice wrapped in red bean paste they received an order from one of the regular customers who plan to give it as a gift to their friends so innocent says Confections were a challenge for him when he first started but eventually learned how but over time he discovered his true passion was in creating onigiri some of which are difficult to find anywhere else [Music] by the way is there any giddy that you created that didn't do well oh rice sounds delicious to me why didn't itself oh yeah that might hurt excuse me can I bother you I what did you buy oh you're the one that made the special order you didn't buy onigiri here [Music] nice thank you foreign indicator oh that's cool so now after already making hundreds of onigiri he can finally take a break but since the mornings are a peak customer time he can't go for too long as he needs to get back and continue to make his highly sought after onigiri so did you raise your kids in this house you must miss them moving out thank you do you take any vacations what about Golden week damn it still amazes me today how dedicated Japanese are to their craft and how much they take pride in their work it's no surprise that 33.6 of Japanese workers today don't even know how much annual leave they have oh wow nice camera so what do you take he says photography has been his hobby for a long time and he voluntarily does camera work so he can use the photos on his website Tokyo Frontline [Music] I'm sure so do you have a hobby oh you like a lot of things [Music] now he's back in the shop tirelessly making onigiri with the other workers until they run out of ingredients for the day interestingly their business hours are until 3 P.M but the shop closes much earlier than this as their only giddy usually sells out every day [Music] and that's another one in the books if you're interested in checking out this shop I'll be sure to leave a link in the description so that's behind the counter at a local Japanese onigiri shop if you guys like this video help out and hit that like button if you guys want to help support the channel check out the Tokyo merch and if you guys want to see more videos like this or anything related to Japan hit that subscribe button and the bell button I'll catch you guys in the next one

Channel: Paolo fromTOKYO

Views: 1,563,001

Keywords: Paolo, Japan, Japan guide, tokyo, tokyo guide, tokyo travel, rice balls, rice ball, japanese rice balls, japanese cuisine, how to make onigiri, japanese food, japanese cooking, making onigiri, rice ball fillings, japanese rice balls street food, making onigiri by hand, japanese rice balls onigiri, japanese food cooking, japanese food street, behind the counter, japan food, jujo ginza, kamataya, tokyo food tour, tokyo food, onigiri, hidden gem, tokyo hidden gem

Id: LNAGKLbMDqE

Length: 15min 2sec (902 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 09 2023