Author: TabemonoJourney

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Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 8 – Shakotan – Misaki for the Best Uni Don in Japan

Continued from post here.

After leaving Otaru, we drove along the beautiful coastal highway route leading to Shakotan.  Located in the western peninsula on Hokkaido’s west coast, the water is pristine, cool in temperature, and rich in nutrients due to the water currents.  As a result, the konbu (kelp) here are some of the best in all of Japan, and prized in many kaiseki restaurants.  Rich in umami, it is this kelp that the sea urchins feed off of along Shakotan. As a result, the uni here has a taste that is richer and sweeter than sea urchin caught anywhere else.  In fact, Shakotan uni is known to set the price in fish markets like Tsukiji and throughout Japan.  Unfortunately, the uni fishing season here is very short, only from June to August.

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Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 8 – Wakadori Jidai Naruto Honten – Otaru’s Famous Fried Chicken

Being in Hokkaido, you would ask why would anyone think of eating fried chicken, when you can have some of the freshest seafood in the world. Otaru in particular, has a famous Sushi sweet with over 25 shops.  But, if you are in Otaru, you have to visit Wakadori Jidai Naruto Honten to find out why this fried chicken is so special.

I visited the Naruto Honten (main branch) to try what some consider Otaru’s treasure, as they have been part of the city’s community for a long time.  They are known for serving a hanashinage chicken, which is a whole half of a perfectly cooked, golden-colored fried chicken.

Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 8 – Wakadori Jidai Naruto Honten – Otaru’s Famous Fried Chicken”

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Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 8 – Otaru – LeTao Cheesecake and Squid Ink and Uni Ice Cream

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We checked out of the Sapporo Grand hotel in the morning and all got on our car.  Our plan was to drive to our ryokan in Niseko called Zaborin, which was a three and a half hour drive away.  We planned to make stops at Otaru and Shatokan along the way to break up the trip and enjoy the coastal towns and key attractions along the shores of the Sea of Japan.

First up is Otaru which is a 30 minute drive northwest of Sapporo.  It is a small port town famous for its beautifully preserved canal and the many old converted warehouses that are transformed into restaurants and shops.  It is also known for its glasswork, music boxes, and sake distilleries.

Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 8 – Otaru – LeTao Cheesecake and Squid Ink and Uni Ice Cream”

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Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 7 – Miso Ramen at Ramen Yokocho , Kinotoya Bake Cheese Tart, and Sapporo Night Scenery

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After Yoichi, we headed back to Sapporo to rest up back at our hotel.  Our plan for dinner was to visit one of the several ramen areas to have miso ramen.  Miso ramen is a specialty of Sapporo.  The typical soup is rich and oily and usually made with pork bones and flavored with a miso tare.  What is also unique about Sapporo miso ramen is that they would use a wok to first stir fry some vegetables in lard, then add hot stock, which deglazes the wok and adds a nice caramelization flavor profile to the soup.

There are over 1000 ramen shops in Sapporo, but there are two famous ramen streets where over 17 ramen shops are concentrated.  One is called Ganso Ramen Yokocho (original alley) and another is called Shin Ramen Yokocho (new ramen alley).  They are both a few blocks of each other.  Our target for dinner was Ganso Ramen Yokocho.

However, prior to going to one of the ramen alleys, we stopped by Kinotoya Bake shop which is famous in Sapporo for their cheese tarts at the JR Sapporo Station.  Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 7 – Miso Ramen at Ramen Yokocho , Kinotoya Bake Cheese Tart, and Sapporo Night Scenery”

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Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 7 – Yoichi Distillery

Continued from post here.

After the Curb Market, it was time for something I really wanted to do, and that was to visit the Yoichi Distillery. This was a real treat for me as I am a big fan of Japanese Whisky.   I have in my collection bottles from the popular Suntory (makers of Yamazaki, Hakushu, and Hibiki),  Nikka (Yoichi and Miyagakyo), and Ichiro’s Malt (including a bottle of Hanyu).  So visiting a distillery for the first time was a major treat of our vacation.

According to Stefan Van Eycken, author of “Whisky Risking”, Yoichi was founded by Masataka Taketsuru, who many recognize as one of the  founders of what is Japanese Whisky today.  If your are interested in the book, you can purchase it at amazon, which I linked here.   It is claimed that Taketsuru felt that Yoichi is the perfect place to set up a whisky distillery as the climate and terrain is similar to  Scotland.  Taketsuru based this on the fact that earlier in his career he worked in a Scotland and even married Rita (Jessie Roberta Cowan) who is from Scotland.  Rita is also notable in that she is recognized as the “mother of Japanese whisky” as there is a recent daily soap opera featuring Rita’s life that was won a large following in Japan.  I’m sure this soap opera also helped to popularize the branding of Yoichi’s whisky, as a bottle of Yoichi 20 year costed about $220US back in 2014, but now cost about 4-5x as much due to both it’s popularity and it being discontinued.   Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 7 – Yoichi Distillery”

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