Behind the Counter at a Traditional Japanese Restaurant

this is behind the counter that a traditional Japanese restaurant [Music] okay so today we are in Ju gaoka Tokyo and we're going behind the counter at a traditional Japanese restaurant we're going to be doing this one just a little bit different because we're not going to start here but I'm actually gonna take you to the fish market in toyozu to start things off but like always before we start if you want to see what I'm doing on the daily check out my Instagram account if you guys want to help support the channel then definitely check out the Tokyo and Japan merch and if you have any questions about Japan or Japan travels then check out my Discord Community all right let's start this one at the fish market [Music] good morning so this is hirana-san I trained kaisaki Chef who started his own restaurant ushio focused on serving traditional Japanese dishes at a reasonable price which is why he's at toyosu Fish Market this morning in search of the highest quality seasonal ingredients for the best price oh damn that's Morrison from tempura good to hear so hirana Sun comes here two to three times a week personally hand selecting all of the ingredients for the shop and wow there seems to be a lot of people here but the truth is that the numbers are on the low side due to Japan's continued covet concerns either way though the market will start to get busy at around 6 a.m as this is on the intermediate wholesalers start selling the seafood they purchased earlier in the auction nice hit on us and find a great deal on the hairy crab so do you have a list of ingredients to buy this morning nice now he's looking at homo CEO which is a popular delicacy in Kyoto especially in the summer oh that's one of his kitchen workers hi hey despite his regular visits he gets excited to visit the market each and every time to see what's available that day while also taking the purchasing extremely seriously so he meticulously inspects the condition of each fish any ingredient to ensure it's always purchased at a fair price apparently his master always told him good profits come from good purchasing what did you buy what do you use it foreign [Music] relationships over the years it's provided him a deeper Insight on the best purchases and helped him hone his already experienced eyes yes [Music] what's that basically all the regular buyers like kiranasan are registered in a signed designated areas at the market where the intermediate wholesalers can conveniently deliver their purchase Goods now that all the seafood is purchased the two do what any civilized buyer would do grab a quick breakfast at the market that's what I'm talking about but how was the fish today is the restaurant gonna be okay so restaurants at the market are known to serve pretty amazing food probably even more understandable knowing that they also want to serve highly skilled and trained chefs like hirana-san they're still gonna shop separate from the fish market and located in different buildings there's other Goods like this conveniently located in a Toyota complex [Music] as a skilled Japanese Chef it's not only important to understand how to prepare and cook the food but the chef must also have a deep understanding of knowledge about each ingredient used [Music] around 9 A.M he's finally back at the restaurant so what do you need to do first let's do it what time did you come in today oh what have you been doing during this time I was like what oh [Music] so how long has it been since you opened this restaurant geez why did you decide to open during this time makes sense oh iced tea thank you [Music] so before starting this restaurant he was head chef of a well-established kaiseki restaurant managing more than 10 restaurants each with a hundred percent capacity and the workers here also work together with hirana-san at the time the group developed a strong bond and Trust during their time together so when hiranasan decided to open up this shop they all decided to go with him by the way what does Lucio means you must like the ocean too right now the workers preparing the rice using koshy curry rice from Yukata the rice itself has been washed and soaked since the morning and now it's finally cooked how much do you make every day wow you even spent time arranging flowers in the morning you must really like flowers Japan itself is naturally blessed with a variety of foods from the ocean mountains rivers and Fields helping create Japan's Rich Cuisine and to add to this experience it's common in more traditional restaurants are decorated with Japan's beautiful seasonal flowers and leaves to accompany its seasonal ingredients oh the workers making Dashi Dashi is definitely one of the key elements in traditional Japanese Cuisine there are so many different types of dashi broth like Bonito flakes kombu seaweed niboshi shiitake mushrooms Etc can help create the perfect Umami for each dish in fact that she is so fundamental that without a good Dashi the restaurants by many Japanese would not be considered worthwhile and hirana-san is well aware of this although originally from the Yamaguchi prefecture he started a study of Japanese culinary arts at 18 years old here in jugauka he later moved to a different part of Tokyo but the area made such a lasting impression on him that he decided to open up shop here knowing that there's a lot of great clientele so are you married most of us oh how long yep do you have any kids what does he do really awesome did you teach him how to cook do you see him hopping that's nice by the way if you didn't notice hirana use a specialized cutting board setup called the funagata sink a rather common design in many Japanese restaurants and fish shops situated just above the sink it allows the chef to prepare raw fish in a clean environment so before we continue on I want to give a quick shout out to the sponsor for this video subscribe space if you all don't already know SquarePants is the number one way to build your online presence in fact I use Squarespace for my website Tokyo zebra who are just some of the reasons why I love using Squarespace so much whether you're starting your passion project or building a business Squarespace has all the tools to get it done while also looking Ultra sleek and professional at the same time they support numerous portfolios and gallery designs which you can customize and even password protect so the right people see your work use its fully integrated blogging tools and commenting features such as threaded comments replies and likes to help engage your community and my personal favorite built-in analytics to see how your visits unique visitors and Page views Trend over time so there you go go to squarespace.com today for your free trial when you're ready to launch go to squarespace.com forward slash Paulo from Tokyo and get 10 off your first domain or website as hiran Hassan prepares the fish each dish that goes into the takeout bentos are prepared one by one so what's your hobby oh so you ride them what bike do you have I was like you know you ever hurt yourself foreign style unsweetened and Kansai style Sweden ones depending on the situation by the way how old are you oh how long have you been working as a chef what do you do when you're off what do you watch Hot Nuts like Pride I like watching it too I did a little Jiu Jitsu too so who do you like watching damn small world hey so is your son gonna take over the business oh really [Laughter] yeah Fried Chicken time this also goes into the Bento by the way what does your wife do that sounds fun we'll leave it at that do you have a prepping for the knives you use ouch [Music] apparently the shop doesn't always have been to order since they don't use delivery services like Uber Eats instead regular customers Place direct orders for their events today the Bandos are for a group getting together for a Japanese traditional dance there's so much Variety in that Bento Box how much is it just say it really that's it even though you spent so much time preparing people no cap what are you doing now now that the bendo orders are done they refocus on the lunch prep you have to mix that much for how long [Music] meanwhile hiranos and prepares the crabs for a chicken a traditional Japanese summer here in Japan it's customary to give presents to people who helped or had business with you that year and there you go all done [Music] oh he now tastes the Miso soup even something as simple as miso soup he takes the time to ensure that it meets his quality standards so what's your favorite food why is that so do you want to be a chef when you were a kid what kind of food he says that he wasn't planning to start his own restaurant but when he turned 50 he was somehow inspired around 10 30 just one hour before opening he prepares the storefront oh he's doing uchimizu a traditional Japanese practice of spraying water at the end of the day to signify the stories opening up [Music] Summer's here to pick up the Bento Box no doubt they'll enjoy this meal yo your hair is looking good so um you're making rice again just how I like it [Music] wow he's picking out the bones one by one gotta appreciate the details in Japanese Cuisine you're so good are they all for lunch traditional Japanese Cuisine is often called the cuisine of subtraction in Japan since it requires special techniques to prep ingredients which maximize The Taste and flavor with a minimum amount of seasoning hence the reason why they start the dinner prep in the morning why did you do that hello foreign [Music] AGI and the other raw fish dishes one of the workers focuses on plating while the other takes care of everything else that's teamwork [Music] oh wow that looks phenomenal [Applause] [Music] wow it got busy real quick since the orders require so many different dishes the team must work efficiently so all the customers receive their orders in a timely manner in addition to this when the customers finish it's also an extra load for the team to watch all the different dishes but since all of them have worked together for so many years it's almost second nature to them [Music] spent most of his career helping build other people's restaurants and although the workload was more considerable back then he says that being a restaurant owner now he feels even a greater pressure and responsibility in Japan there's a common saying customers are Gods which hit on the sun truly values but he also believes that for him his workers are also Gods having worked in the restaurant industry for so many years he's realized how crucial it is to create a strong relationship with his workers and satisfy their needs along with his customers excuse me can I bother you do you come here often cool what's your favorite here thank you [Music] [Applause] yeah lunch time is over you must be tired now they prepare for mac and I a shared meal between the workers while they clean up the shop [Music] hey how long the lead for where do you get them oh really from where holy moly that's a lot of food how is it oh yeah can you eat all of it by the way do you have anything you want to say to everyone okay then let the race begin after their meal they rest for a little bit and then start again for the dinner prep so that's another one in the books if you want to visit this shop and experience it yourself I'll be sure to leave a link in the description so there you go that is behind the counter at a traditional Japanese restaurant if you guys like this video like always help me out and hit that like button if you guys want to see more videos like this or anything related to Japan hit that subscribe button and the bell button and I'll catch you guys in the next one

Channel: Paolo fromTOKYO

Views: 1,733,561

Keywords: Paolo, Japan, Japan guide, Japan travel, tokyo, tokyo guide, tokyo travel, japanese food, japan behind the counter, japan food tour, japanese food tour, behind the counter, japan food documentary, japanese food eating, japan food, food documentary, tokyo hidden spots, ushio, traditional japanese food, typical japanese food, teishoku, japanese food culture, hidden japanese restaurant, japanese restaurant, tokyo restaurants in japan, tokyo restaurant food, toyosu fish market

Id: ybUiQJOd5MM

Length: 16min 42sec (1002 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 02 2022