Food & Saké Tour

Oct 24, 2016
4 min read

Chris & I ate an early breakfast then headed out to meet a guy called Jason, who was going to be taking us on a food & saké tour.

Jason is an American who had been living in Kyoto for seventeen years after visiting his sister, who was teaching at the time, & falling in love with the place. There were thirteen of us in total on the food tour; six from California, four from Australia, and one from Hawaii, then Chris & me. We tired a whole bunch of traditional Japanese foods from family run shops & businesses - one business had been in the family for thirteen generations! We had different types of tempura (天ぷら) (mushroom, burdock, spinach, & plain), then went on to a tea shop & had proper matcha (抹茶). Next was takoyaki (たこ焼き) (friend dumpling of batter with a piece of octopus inside), okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) (a type of savory pancake), & imagawayaki (今川焼き) (a thick pancake with a filling - I had white bean paste, & Chris had custard) which I'd been wanting to try. We had some brown tea & a korokke (コロッケ) next (Chris had beef, but was surprised at how good my pumpkin one was!) before moving on to our next shop, which was actually a florist that sold pickled stuff. There was cucumber, plum, aubergine, & kasuzuke (粕漬け) (pickles preserved in a mixture of lees left over after filtering saké) & something else I can't remember! The family who owned the shop were very sweet - the elderly couple had made origami cranes for us all, & was telling Jason about when they went to England. Typical old people; they were adorable & every so friendly & eager to please. A 'river' seafood fish mongers was next, where we had umaki (an eel omelette). Not a fan. It could have been okay if I didn't know what I was eating, but the idea of eel was just too much & egg that tastes of fish is a little weird. I managed to force myself to eat the omelette part but it wasn't pleasant. Omelette shouldn't taste of fish! We then went into a little store & sat round table to eat in a traditional style. Five small bowls were in front of us - some burdock, small fish, cabbage, beans, miso soup, along with some green tea, & Japanese pears & boiled/steamed sharon fruit (or persimmon). Chris & I guessed right as to where the chopsticks should go when served a meal, & we were taught to say "itadakimasu" (which basically means "Bon appétit," or "Thanks for the food" before eating, & "gochisosamadeshita" afterwards (which basically means "Thank you for the food," or "that was delicious". Then we learnt more about seaweed, or 'kelp', & how to buy it, what it's used in, & how it tastes in sweet-form (very much like liquorice). We also had 'fish shavings', or ' Katsuobushi' (鰹節). Next was another fish stall but this was a 'sea' seafood stall, not 'river'. We tried four different types of raw fish, & Jason mentioned my reactions to eels to the woman, who then went & produced one! A dead one, which was fine from a distance, but I like to overcome my fears & asked if I could hold it. I was brave & held the damn thing but felt so shaky & scared. The lady was ever so sweet, & the group we were with clapped & said well done, which was nice of them to understand my phobia. The last place we went to was another tea shop but the tea was different & brewed right there in front of us. I wasn't blown away by it, but the leaves we could eat afterwards were nice, & reminded me of spinach. We also had dango (団子), which are sticky dumplings made of rice flour. The taste is fine - it's the texture that takes a bit of getting use to. That was our last stop, & Chris & I were the only ones to carry on with Jason to go on to the saké tour.

The three of us went to an off license & had a taste of three different saké's & were taught how to read the labels so we could tell if it was a good saké with the "three un's" - unfiltered, unpasteurized, & undiluted. I could tell we were getting tipsy with just those! We then walked to a saké brewery & museum where Jason explained the process of making saké & some history, as well as trying three more - one of which wasn't really saké, but a plum wine - tasty! The last place we went to was actually a saké-tasting bar that use to be a wine bar but due to the popularity in saké-tasting, had changed over. We tried six types altogether & I soon realised that I don't like the unfiltered saké - especially when it's fizzy.

We said our thank yous & goodbyes to Jason, & headed back to the hotel, stopping at a supermarket on the way so I could buy veggies for feeding the rabbits tomorrow! Rabbit Island! SO Exciting!