Grand Japan – Otaru

Otaru port today… Renown for fresh seafood, boutique breweries and hand made glass wares.  So we wanted to check it all out. 

First stop the award winning Kikkogura Sake Brewery and Musuem, where we followed The Sake Story (below), as best I can make it out!

The rice used to make Sake is larger than the regular rice used for eating – the best sake is made from only the white centre of the rice grains.  80% of Sake is just water – the water is essential for making Sake, and Otaru Sake breweries use the all natural cold, pure ground water that is plentiful in Hokkaido.  So steps to make exception Sake:

First Polishing stage – 30-60% of the rice is polished to brewing quality standard, this takes the husked rice through to a fine powder state.

Washing stake – the rice is then washed and steamed. 

Koji stage – Koji bacteria is added to turn the rice starch into sugars, which takes two days in a hot humid room.  

Cultivation stage – the Syubo ‘Mother of Sake’ ferments the alcohol for ten days.

Mixing stage – the Koji is added into the Syubo with steam rice and water in three layers. At 10C it takes 30 days to slowly ferment in a large vat.

Squeezing stage – The sake is then squeezed to separate the sake from the Lees (dregs).

Next it is Stored… Bottled… Shipped… and ready to drink! 

(*at the bottom of this post I have listed all the differnt types of sake for anyone who is interested – it is quite extensive

      

This brewery has been in operation since the 1890s and has a step by step guide to how sake is made. The lovely fresh spring water in the region has made it Hokkaido’s most famous sake region.           This pic shows the rice being laid out for two days in a hot humid room to turn the rice starch into sugar.                   

Next stop the canal area where there is a plethora of traditional Japanese sushi restaurants in ‘Sushi Town’ where the abundant and unusual seafood can be sampled at over 130 restaurants with freshly caught delicacies at lower prices than many larger cities.  

  

  

  

  

  

 Have I mentioned how much I love all the bright colored plastic food signs outside the restaurants!  Very cute and they’re everywhere. 

   
 

After that we wandered the glass shopping district –  all of it so beautiful and so hard to get home! 

             

Different Kinds of Sake

All the sake listed in between Ginjyo-shu an Taru-zake are required by law to met the indicated standards.

Ginjyo-shu – sake brewed with white rice polished less than 60%, rice malt, water and alcohol for brewing. It has an excellent aroma and a beautiful colour. Ginjyo-shu Ginjyo jyunmai-shu, Dai ginjyo-shu are all produced by experienced brewers with their superb techniques, such as fermenting sake at low temperatures for a long time and removing most of the rice grains from the sake. These are called “masterpieces of sake” and are displayed at sake exhibitions. (Best: cold, or on the rocks – never add water).

Ginjyo jyunnmai-shu – Ginjyo-shu brewed only with white rice, rice malt and water. (Best: cold or on the rocks).

Dai ginjyo-shu – Ginjyo-shu brewed with white rice polished less than 50%. (Best: cold or on the rocks).

Tokubetsu jyunmai-shu – Jyunmai-shu is made with white rice polished less than 60%. To be called Tokubetsu jyunmai-shu, the rice used in brewing, production methods etc, have to be different to other Jyunmai-shu produce in the same factory. Those distintions are explained an indicated on the product. (Best: cold or hot, or on the rocks).

Hon jyozo-shu – sake brewed with white rice polished less then 70% rice malt, water and brewing alcohol (while only the amount less than 10% of the total rice weight can be added). It has a nice aroma and a beautiful colour. (Best: cold or hot, or on the rocks).

Tokubetsu hon jyozo-shu – Made with rice polished less than 60%. The rice used in the brewing production methods have to be different from the other Hon jyozo-shu produced in the same brewery. Those distinctions are to be explained and indicated on the product. (Best: cold or hot, or on the rocks).

Gen-shu – Undiluted sake. (Best: One the rocks, with warm or cold water added, never hot).

Nama-shu – Non-pasturised sake (Best: Cold, or on the rocks, never hot or with warm water added)

Nama chozo-shu – Sake which is not pasteurised prior to the preservation but only before being marketed. (Best: cold, or on the rocks, never hot or with warm water added).

Ki ippon – Jyunmani-shu brewed only at a company’s single brewery. (Best: On the rocks or with warm or cold water added).

Taru-zake – traditional sake preserved in a wooden barrel, with a distinctive aroma. (Best: cold or hot or on the rocks).

Ko-shu – Sake preserved for more than a year. The year of preservation is indicated on the product. Sake stored over 10 years has sheer golden colour. It takes mellower but has an aroma specific to matured sake (Best: cold or hot).

Tezukuri-shu – Jyunmai-shu or Hon jyozo-shu which is brewed with the brewery’s handmade steamed rice, malt and yeast. (Best: cold or hot).

Funakuchi-shu – Sake bottled immediately after being pressed. It is strong and fresh tasting due to the carbon dioxide contained in the product. It is not pasteurized therefore cannot be kept for a long time. (Best: cold, on the rocks or with cold water added, never hot).

Kassei sei-shu – The colour of sake is white and cloudy as rice and rice malt are crushed and filtered with a cellular cloth. It is not pasteurized therefore cannot be kept for a long time. (Best: cold, on the rocks or with cold water added, never hot).

Amakuchi-shu – Sweet sake with a strong taste. (Best: Best hot or cold or on the rocks).

Karakuchi-shu – Dry and fresh sake. (Best: Best hot or cold or on the rocks).

Kyoto Kinkaku-ji Golden Pavilion

… and Bamboo Forest day.  🙂

ticket kinkaku-ji.jpgSo excited!  I have wanted to see Kinkaku-ji, also called the ‘Golden Pavilion’ for nearly 20 years now.  It is such an amazing building and is one of Japan’s best known sights.  I had seen a hint on an internet travel blog that getting there Monday morning bright and early was the only way to go in the summer tourist season, so out the door we were at 8:00am and hitting the buses (I say buses, because there were several!).  We arrived on site around 8:45am and the large wooden gates leading into the complex were still closed.  This is a map of the entire complex which includes Kinkaku-ji / Rokuon-ji Temple (aka Golden Pavilion…not sure why this place has three names, but it appears to), the Sekka-te Tea House, the Fudo-do Temple and the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen.

 

 

 

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The Not So Small Child, however, was not quite as excitied ands he had no idea what we were going to see – so he was busy trying to hook himself onto some free wifi while we waited… in fact, that’s his favourite past time in Japan so far; hunting for free wifi.  😛Kinkaku-Rokuon-ji-Temple-Golden-Pavilion-2.jpgThe doors opened and we were in a group of about 80 early bird tourists to make it in for hopefully unpeopled photographs.  We could see the tour groups in buses arriving as we were going in and I can only imagine that it got very packed very quickly.  I am unapologetically posting as many photos of this incredible spot as I can.  🙂  It was so peaceful and serene… the pavilion itself is simply stunning.

It was originally built in 1397 as a retirement villa for a Shogun named Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, but his son converted it to a Zen Buddhist temple.  The golden colour is from gold foil on lacquer covers on the upper two levels of Kinkaku, and a shining phoenix  stands on top of the shingled roof.Kinkaku-Rokuon-ji-Temple-Golden-Pavilion-3.jpgThe first level is built in the Shinden style of the 11th C imperial aristocracy, and the second level is built in the Buke style of the warrior aristocracy.  The very top level is built in the Chinese Zenshu-Butsuden style, but overall Kinkaku isrepresentative of Muromachi period architecture.  All of which is well and good but I read that in 1950 a young monk became obsessed with the temple and his obsession culminated in his burning the place to the ground!  So what we are looking at today is a 1955 reconstruction that was completed using the exact original design, but the golden foil covering was extended to cover the lower levels, which the original temple did not have.    Obsessed monks indeed…  Kinkaku-Rokuon-ji-Temple-Golden-Pavilion-5.jpgKinkaku-Rokuon-ji-Temple-Golden-Pavilion-6.jpgOh, and forget yesterday’s Hojo Gardens at Choin-in Temple… these are far and away the most impressive gardens I have ever seen.  So immaculately kept and so beautifully laid out.  With so many people coming through I can well understand why there are no seats around for people to loiter on, but it would be absolutely amazing to be in here alone under a tree, watching the nearly 50cm long carp and koi plopping in the water occasionally and listening to the breeze in the trees.  Just stunningly gorgeous.  Makes you wish you had a few hectares at home to make a garden of your own… oh, and the resources to pay the 20 plus gardeners you’d need to keep it looking so lovely and orderly.  It has literally just dawned on me why I feel these gardens are so pleasing – they’re orderly.  They’re not strategically overgrown English cottage gardens, which have their own appeal in their own right… they’re precise, expertly pruned, well kept and very, very orderly.  Which suits my sensibilities perfectly.  Kinkaku-Rokuon-ji-Temple-Golden-Pavilion-7.jpgKinkaku-Rokuon-ji-Temple-Golden-Pavilion-9.jpgOff to the side of the pagoda is a little patio/landing where Sayuri is finally united with the Chairman at the end of the film, ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’… going to have to watch that again and see how much of Kyoto, and Gion in particular, is familiar.  🙂
I mean, isn’t that one of the main reasons why we travel?  So we can go to the cinema and annoy our movie going companions by whispering, “I’ve been there!” at various exotic destinations.  Back me up here, BigSal?   😛 Kinkaku-Rokuon-ji-Temple-Golden-Pavilion-8.jpgThis sign probably says something hideously practical, like, “Tea house This Way”, but with my in-ability to read Japanese and my current effusive state of mind, I am going to choose to think it reads, “Stairway to Heaven” today.  Ask me again tomorrow, and it might read, “Please refrain from using these steps, as you can see they are dangerously worn away from hundreds of years of hundreds of feets using them” … yes, all that in just four characters!stairs-at-Kinkaku-Rokuon-ji-Temple-Golden-Pavilion-2.jpgNext thing we saw was the Ryumon Taki, I have no idea what that means, but the tourists have taken it upon themselves to throw coins into the curved stone bowl, and a strategically placed steel bowl that made a satisfying ting as you coin bounced out of it.  Of course we all threw a ‘temple coin’ (aka shrappers) into the bowl.  Only Mr K got it in one… and he made a wish for good health, because of course we are on the go, go, go which means he’s coming down with something.rock-monument-coin-toss.jpgEven gorgeous just peeking through the top of the trees…Kinkaku-Rokuon-ji-Temple-Golden-Pavilion-10.jpgAt the Fudo-do shrine, we saw a row of weird little Fortune boxes, and around the corner, English Fortunes, Chinese Fortunes, and Portuguese Fortunes!?  Seemed like an opportunity too good to pass up, so we threw in a coin and a genuine ‘Fortune’ came out.Rokuon-ji-Temple-Fortune-1.jpgRokuon-ji-Temple-Fortune-2.jpgEt, voila!  My fortune… “An unexpected misfortune will happen to you, but you can get over it if you can behave yourself and are prudent.”  Well, so much for that… well behaved and prudent.  What are the odds?  🙂 Rokuon-ji-Temple-Fortune-3.jpgA little baby Shinto shrine, that was around the back of the Fudo-do shrine… I really wish there was ore information on what each of these are for – the complete inability to read anything really makes you feel like you are missing stuff. baby-shrine.jpgMr K contemplating the down hill stairs – there may or may not be a bit of delayed onset muscle pain going on after the Mr Fuji adventure… everyone’s a little sore and double thinking things (the way I do every day, it’s kinda cute).Steps-down-from-Kinkaku-ji.jpgSteps-down-from-Kinkaku-ji.jpgsA3e3WfCgV5uepUV.jpgAfter we left Kinkaku-ji, we were heading for the famous Arashiyama bamboo forest – so famous, it graces the cover of the current edition of the Lonely Planet for Japan that nearly everyone we meet is carrying around (as are we).

On the way, we took a wrong turn from Arashiyama (*mutter mutter* no signs in English anywhere), and ended up wandering over a bridge completely in the wrong direction.  In a park, I saw a lovely lady dressed in a formal kimono having some formal photographs taken.  Being friendly and REALLY wanting to take her photo, I walked up to them and told her how beautiful I thought she looked and asked the photographers if they were taking photos for a magazine or something.  It turns out that this couple are getting married on the 22nd July, and this is their ‘pre-wedding’ photo shoot.  Novel idea, but it seems it is quite common here to get your photos taken before the wedding so as not to use up time on the day.
wedding-couple.jpgwedding-couple.jpgMy compliments and congratulations on their upcoming wedding were well received and they were happy to let me take their photo.  The blushing bride looked absolutely perfect – though lord knows how she did, given it was 36C, over 70% humidity and nary a breeze to be hard.  She must have been so hot under all that, but she just looked so lovely.Blushing-bride-1.jpgBlushing-bride2.jpgEventually we wandered back up in the correct direction, via a stop for kiwi fruit ice creams, and found the relative coolness of the bamboo forest… and I mean relative.  It was probably still 30C something in there, but at least you could take your hat off for a few moments and try cool off.  It’s not quite as picturesque as the pics on the guide book, but was a very pleasant stroll nonetheless.  I did wonder though that with the hundreds of people also wandering through the grove (that I worked very hard to try and keep out of my pics), why haven’t the city/council, just planted another five or six more bamboo groves in various areas of town?  Curious.
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bamboo-forest-2.jpgSome lovely ladies we saw at the train station – apparently it is quite common for tourists to rent a kimono for the day and have their hair done up to tour various sites, and it is very popular with Chinese visitors.  kimono-ladies-at-train.jpgAfter all that – about 5-6 hours wandering around in just draining heat, we came back to Gion and had some quick lunch… followed by a nap for those of us who had completely lost their ability to deal, and The Last Samurai on Blu-Ray for Angel and me.  Lunch boxes here are fantastic – so cheap and full of yummy fresh sushi, and available at the 7-11.  Wish we could get this sort of thing at home.  🙂 lunch.jpgEscaping from the heat for the afternoon was a good plan, we didn’t head back out until after dark when it was a far more tolerable 26C and still 70% humidity… and only then to go have a quick look around the area at night and try to find some ramen noodles.  We found several places open just up the street – it’s weird how many tiny little restaurants there are everywhere here, in amongst the houses and down tiny alleys, great little bars and restaurants that barely seat 10-12 people.  We also have vending machines with coffee, soft drinks, water and sports drinks just at the end of the driveway that leads into the apartment, and they seem to be on every other corner.  But I digress, we found a great little ramen place about 100m from here (after passing three other restaurants!), and had some delicious traditional (according to the menu ‘traditional 1970s style ramen noodle’… lol) meals.  Very quaint little place.  🙂

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Not sure what we are doing tomorrow, but no doubt it will involve more sight seeing in the morning, hiding from the heat again in the afternoon, and then going out into Gion to check out the preparations for the festival which starts in two days!  🙂  Lots of lanterns, parade floats and people in the streets, it should be a lot of fun.

Fish Markets and Bullet Trains and Okonomiyaki, oh my!

Got up this morning, it’s a transit day – we are off to Kyoto by bullet train around lunch time, but had so far missed an opportunity to go see the famous Tokyo fish markets. We had planned to go on Wednesday, but found out that (very oddly) the fish markets are closed every 2nd Wednesday of the month, so it was go this morning or miss out.

We hopped a cab to head the few kilometres over to the fish markets – with four of us, sometimes it works out cheaper to use a cab than to all whittle down the credit on our Suica cards – and were dropped off right outside the market area. The smell of fish in the air was immediately noticeable, but given that it is quite hot today, not as fishy as you would expect… fresh seafood smells, not rotten ones. We went for a wander through the markets and saw just about every seafood known to man… enormous tuna, salmon, lobsters, crabs, eels, squid, octopus, scallops, urchins, sardines, oysters, pippis, large fish of unknown species (damn not being able to read signs) and so many other delicious fishy type things.

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Saw some other market stalls selling knives, kitchenware, ceramic serving dishes, bowls, cups, chopsticks. SaucyMary picked up some little Japanese garden shears that apparently make a very satisfying ‘ting’ noise when you use them.

Knives!

Knives!

Ceramics

After wandering the markets for a while we went hunting for breakfast in one of the hundreds of sushi restaurants serving all the lovely fresh fish that comes right from the wholesale markets. The line ups were incredible. Hours long some of them to get into a sushi restaurant. We had no idea which ones are better than others, so we chose a place where 1) we could stand in the shade and 2) had a relatively short line. One of patrons already waiting to go in, told us the line was very short because this restaurant was relatively new – so ‘no reputation yet’, but he assured us it was very good.

*CUE WAITING MUSIC*

Thirty minutes of standing around later… and we finally get in the door. The restaurant was tiny, about the size of my entry way and ensuite at home, with three chefs and a row of tables and tiny stools. We were given the obligatory hot hand towel to freshen up before the meal, which was much appreciated, and food was delivered one piece at a time as the chef made it, onto wooden serving platters that were placed in front of each person. It was crazy expensive seeing it was so close to the source of all the ingredients – ¥2500 per person for the ‘sushi special’ or ¥3600 for the ‘chef special’, but absolutely worth it.

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We tried the sushi special which consisted of fresh tuna, cuttlefish, eel tail, salmon, prawn, sardine, salmon roe, tuna rolls, some mystery fish that I have now forgotten the name of, and some green tea and the best miso soup I have ever tried. The chef was adamant that none of the sushi be eaten with soy… right up until the end where he gave us the little tuna rolls, and said, ‘Ok, now sauce.’  Weird that they feel wasabi doesn’t impact the taste and enjoyment of the fish, but definitely no sauce!  The chef special included some urchin and scallop, and while I love scallop, I personally don’t enjoy the texture of urchin having had it fresh off the beach in NZ many years ago. All up, a delicious breakfast of the freshest and tastiest fresh sushi I have ever tried – very happy with my wash! 10/10. Would definitely go again and drag all my friends along.

After that it was back to the apartment and collecting all the luggage – compared to other travellers about the place, we seem to be carrying a LOT of stuff. Part of that I think is because when Australians travel, we don’t just go somewhere for a week or ten days… everything is too far away and that involves expensive and tedious long haul flights, so once we are away, compared to other travellers, we tend to stay away as long as our leave and our budgets will allow. So with a 47 day trip that involves trekking up mountains gear and clobber for formal evenings on a cruise ship, that tends to cause a fairly significant packing challenge, and I find myself cursing the fact that we’re not travelling lighter.

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Anyway, back to the train, then off to Tokyo Station and switching to the Shinkansen Train – bullet train for the win! 🙂 Mr K, our transport logistics expert was pretty damn excited to be getting on the bullet train. The trip to Kyoto is 513.6kms and is covered in 138 minutes flat. Love it – clean, fast, efficient and goes every 10 minutes or so. We arrived in Kyoto much sooner than I was expecting, the scenery just whizzing by outside the window, and then it was off to rapidly learn a new transit system to make our way to accommodation, which is here – 知恩院前のバス停 if anyone wants to look it up. 😀

Shinkansen

Shinkansen

Shinkansen

We’ve got a lovely apartment with all the mod cons, right in the centre of where the Gion Festival is happening this week. But after a long day, we decided to get take out okonomiyaki from a place called Arachan that our Airbnb host recommended. Shared a seafood one with SaucyMary for dinner and it was absolutely delicious, full of prawn, octopus, squid and fishy bits. Best okonomiyaki ever. I’d say that we should totally have some for dinner again one night next week, but there are too many other things to try. 🙂

Okonomiyaki

Favourite Texas Pulled Pork

teaspoon vegetable oil
1 cup barbeque sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chilli powder
1 extra large onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
8 hamburger buns, split
2 tablespoons butter, or as needed
1 teaspoon of liquid smoke*

  1. Pour the vegetable oil into the bottom of a slow cooker. Place the pork roast into the slow cooker; pour in the barbecue sauce, apple cider vinegar, and chicken broth. Stir in the brown sugar, yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, onion, garlic, and thyme. Cover and cook on High until the roast shreds easily with a fork, 5 to 6 hours.
  2. Remove the roast from the slow cooker, and shred the meat using two forks. Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker, and stir the meat into the juices.
  3. Spread the inside of both halves of hamburger buns with butter. Toast the buns, butter side down, in a skillet over medium heat until golden brown. Spoon pork into the toasted buns.

texas slow cooker pulled pork*add liquid smoke if you want, it’s not necessary… and don’t tell Mr K, I’ll end up divorced!

Recipe – Indian curried Chicken on Rice

chicken

1kg chicken thigh cutlets, skin removed
2 tablespoons mild Indian curry paste (see note)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 brown onion, chopped
1 1/4 cups SunRice White Long Grain Rice
1/3 cup sultanas
1 granny smith apple, cut into 2cm pieces
1 medium tomato, cut into 1cm pieces
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
Fresh coriander leaves and plain
Natural yoghurt, to serve

Step 1
Preheat oven to 220°C/200°C fan-forced. Place chicken and curry paste in a large glass or ceramic bowl. Stir to coat chicken.

Step 2
Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken, in batches, turning, for 4 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a plate.

Step 3
Add onion to pan. Cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes or until softened. Add rice. Stir for 1 to 2 minutes or until rice is coated. Stir in sultanas, apple and tomato. Transfer mixture to a 10 cupcapacity, 25cm (base) round ovenproof dish. Arrange chicken over rice, pressing down gently. Pour over stock. Cover tightly with foil. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until rice is tender and chicken cooked through.

Step 4
Top with coriander. Serve with yoghurt.

On second thoughts, fuck off with that coriander shit – no one likes it.