Konnichiwa Adventures: Eating Our Way Through Hokkaido

Sorry for the delay. Ironically, I was somewhat distracted from finishing this post about the fabulous food in Hokkaido by my addiction to the Hunger Games trilogy (thanks Sandy!)

OK, here goes. I'm afraid all my previous food mentionings have set the bar too high. And since I am not an eloquent food writer, there is virtually no way I can transfer the delicate tastes to words on your screen.

But, Anthony Bourdain might be able to help. Turns out he's been to Niseko too and we went to both of the restaurants he profiled in his show No Reservations. Check out the link!

These ain't no ordinary chicken skewers

Torimatsu Yakitori was the first restaurant profiled in the clip. Yakitori is everywhere in Japan. Basically grilled chicken skewers, which doesn't sound all that exciting, but this place was out of this world. We weren't actually planning on going there, but we just happened upon it and LOOOOVED it. In fact, we went there twice in our four days in Niseko!

It is a small, local izakaya (traditional Japanese bar). That's what I loved the most about it. We sat at the bar just inches from the yakitori master and his hot coals and everyone around us was happy (and drinking) and chatting with us (as much as possible with our Japanese language limitations). The first day we were there, this old guy sitting next to us ordered us his favorite, chicken wings, and another couple kept giving us tastes of everything they ordered and buying us beer. So much fun!

The second time we went, we were sitting next to a little old lady, who said several times "they have good beer here", told me that she teaches aerobics at her apartment, and that she has lived in Niseko for more than 80 years. And I'm pretty sure I understood all that correctly. But then again, I could be wrong.

And both times we went, the check consisted of a small piece of white paper with a single number on it. No receipt or list of what you ordered or tabulation of individual items - just a single number. And that's what you paid.

We tried several different things on the menu, and it was all so delicious and so amazingly simple, that we didn't even bother trying the more exotic stuff. Kevin and I kept asking each other, how and why is this very simple food so darn delicious? Our favorites were anago (saltwater eel), chicken skin (seriously the chicken skin was delicious!), and juicy pork...

And the yakitori master was a kind soul with a big smile, yet serious about his art of yakitori.

I kinda wish we would have tried the ostrich sashimi but surprisingly, despite all the strange things I have eaten in my life, I'm not sure I want to try horse (or horse tongue, for that matter). Not really sure why that is. As Uncle Dennis said, "it's just a tall, skinny cow."

The menu included:

chicken
pork
chicken skin
chicken gizzard
chicken wings
chicken heart
pork tongue
pork lean meat
pork liver
pork heart
juicy pork
chicken tail cartilage
pork stomach
pork offal
horse tongue sashimi
ostrich sashimi
raw horse
raw whale
octopus
squid
anago - salt-water eel
fish sperm sacs

Note: We actually had chicken heart, stomach, and liver yakitori last weekend while out with some friends. We quite liked the chicken heart, but the stomach and liver were not our favorites.

The yakitori master at work...

Soba - handmade right before our eyes

We arrived at a rustic wooden building, not really sure if we were in the right place. We walked along wooden footpath to a small house in the back and found the restaurant called Rakuichi and the home of the Soba Sensei, Tatsuru, and his wife, Midori.

Midori, in a full kimono, and Tatsuru, in a traditional yukata only added ambiance to our dinner adventure. There are only 12 seats in the small restaurant and we were the only ones there for the whole night. I think it's by reservation only for dinner, so they weren't surprised, but we were.

Kevin and I had the kaiseki (multiple course dinner), which basically meant that lots of small, exquisite dishes kept appearing. Tatsuru-san was busy at work in the small kitchen behind the counter while Midori-san served us quietly and with great kindness. Or at least it felt that way.

I can't even tell you what we ate, as the dishes seemed quite complex and beyond our Japanese capability. It is a set menu based on what foods they find fresh in the market, so we just marveled at what they brought us and were relieved of any dinner decision-making. There was some herring (nishin), tempura, seaweed soup, saltwater eel, among many other things.

The most amusing part of the evening was that we learned that Ryan is quite the gourmand. He was enamored by the fine foods coming across our plates and tasted and loved most of what we were served. Poor Kevin was sitting next to Ryan and ended up sharing much of his dinner with him. It's the little things you learn about your kids... I guess we have not been feeding him foods up to par for the last 4 1/2 years of his life. Alas...

Because we were in a famous soba restaurant, I had my first sake - served with soba water, as this is a traditional way to drink sake in these parts. Midori-san offered me a taste of her special plum wine, that she makes herself and had been fermenting for 5 years (I think that's what she said).

The grand finale was the Soba Sensei making the handmade soba. He mixed it in a big, black bowl in front of us and then rolled it out and cut it strand by strand. It was mesmerizing to watch. The link above captures it much better than I can. And it was phenomenal. Despite all the "fancy food" they had prepared for us, the simplicity of the soba was, by far, our favorite. We chose cold soba, which means you dip it into a small bowl of dipping sauce and S-L-U-R-P. Though I loved the taste of the soba, I am not sure I will ever get used to the slurping - which entertains Kevin and the kids to no end because they know they can get away with it because we're in Japan.

Towards the end of the evening, I asked our hosts "Who cooks at your house?" "Half and half" they both said. And then Tatsuru-san, the Soba Sensei adds with a grin, "but if I want to eat something delicious, then I cook." And this was Japanese we could understand.

Walking to their home / restaurant

Our private dinner

Ryan, our little gourmand

Watching the Soba Sensei at work, rolling out the soba

Cutting the soba into strands

At last - the most delicious soba ever.
I even agreed to slurp-just this once!

More Hokkaido Specialties

So much delicious food! Here's a rundown of some more of our eating adventures.

Miso ramen, a specialty of Hokkaido
Hokkaido style ramen

Made with butter, corn, and a creamy layer of potato soup at a tiny whole in the wall that placed 7th in the Ramen World Cup (they take this stuff pretty seriously)

Sushi by the sea

I tried sea urchin, but was not a fan
Ethan discovered his love for maguro (tuna)
Kevin indulged in his love for otoro (fatty tuna)
We all noticed how HUGE the sushi servings were, compared to what we get in Tokyo

Craaaab

Unfortunately, the kids looooved the crab. We're in serious trouble with their appetites and the crab pricetag...

Genghis Khan lamb, another Hokkaido specialty

We thoroughly enjoyed our all-you-can-eat-for-100-minutes lamb dinner.
You ordered lamb marinated in different flavors, grilled it in the metal bowl at the table, and then indulged (and indulged and indulged).