KodoGuru S4 Ep.5: Drama Notes

[earth_colors]

Ep. 5: "Young fry anchovy tempura and Mixed rice with octopus of Himakajima, Chita, Aichi Prefecture"

Episode Synopsis:

Goro goes out of town to Minamichita, Aichi Prefecture. He is supposed to meet his client, Yamashita (Tokui Yu) at the latter's workplace, the Tourism Center at the Morozaki Port. However, he is told that Yamashita has gone to Himakajima, an island in the Chita Peninsula. Learning that it's just a 10 minute boat ride to the island, Goro rides the ferry over to Himakajima, to look for his client. There, he finds out that his client seems to be dashing off from one place to another. There are no taxis or bus on that island so Goro rents a bicycle. While chasing after Yamashita on his bike to try to pass an item he promised he'd deliver directly, Goro gets lost in the charm of the island's seafood such as the grilled octopus of "Kitchen Barca"... Later, he indulges in a delightful island feast at a dining facility by the beach called "Otohime"...

(info/pix: tvtokyo)


Drama Notes:

Featured Eatery 1: OTOHIME [乙姫] Address: Aichi Prefecture, Chita, Minamachita-cho, Himakajima, Nishiko (West Port) Tel. No: 0569-68-2107 How to get there: A) Take Meitetsu's Kowa Line to Kowa Station, Chita; Take a 20 min boat ride from Kowa Port; B) If you have a car, drive further down to Morozaki Port. C) Take a boat ride to Nishiko (West Port), Himakajima More pix: tabelog; nobuyukiasai (Official site) (map)

....

Featured Eatery 2: KITCHEN BARCA [キッチンBarca] Address: Aichi Prefecture, Chita, Minamichita-cho, Himakajima, Odo-chi 25 Tel. No: 0569-68-2895 How to get there: A) See left side instructions; B) Take a boat ride to Higashiko (South Port), Himakajima. More pix: official site, yamanatto (map)

Himakajima or Himaka Island. An island in the Chita Peninsula of Aichi Prefecture, administered by the town of Minami-Chita. Its PR name is "the Island of Octopus and Blowfish". Tourists come to this island to enjoy its beaches, to fish, stay in many of its budget ryokans, dolphin watching, and partake of feasts of fresh seafood caught in the bay. Octopus motif can also be found all over the island (pix above).
(info: wiki, officialsite) (pix: kimamanihiguhei)

How to get around the island. You can bring with you your car using the ferry. Or bring your own bicycle. Or you can just do what Goro did in the episode: rent a bicycle at Ikoi Bike Rental (500 yen an hour). Or if you prefer to walk, you can apparently go around the island on foot in an hour.
(info/pix: isuzukan)

Locals as themselves. The drama made an unusual move to let the shopkeepers and locals portray themselves in this episode. The oka-san of Kitchen Barca is the actual proprietress herself (she was a natural, wasn't she?). While her son, the shopkeeper of the long established shirasu shop, Maruko Co. also took part in the filming. The owner of the tourist hotel where the cast and crew stayed in, also portrayed himself, manning the front desk. For more pix of the filming, see here.

Urashima Taro. I already mentioned this in the drama notes of KnG's S3E1. Or just read again the wiki page. :)

Tsukudani. A dark condiment made of seafood, seaweed or meat (usually leftovers) simmered in soy sauce and mirin for a long time. It can be eaten as a flavoring, mixed with white rice. Here's a recipe from yoko of umimimart.
(info/pic: wiki)

Takomeshi. Octopus mixed rice. Here's a recipe from one of my fave yt channels: cookingwithdog.
(pic: aiaicafe)

Red miso soup. Miso comes in different colors and one of them is red. Acc. to thekitchn, red miso is "with a higher percentage of soybeans and/or a longer fermentation period." Red miso is popular in Nagoya, since they use it in their miso-katsu and miso soup. For a recipe, here's houseofjapan.
(info: thektchn) (pic: stakano)

Shirasu. Baby anchovies, salted and dried. It can be eaten with rice, or part of a salad, like aemono. For Shirasu Tempura, below is a translated recipe based on cookpad's pocky25:
(info: shizuokagourmet) (pic: wikicommons)

Shirasu Tempura
(recipe and pic by pocky25)

Ingredients:

Shirasu - around 1 pack

Perilla leaves - around 10 pieces, shredded

White sesame seeds - Moderate amount

Tempura flour (cake flour is okay) - Moderate amount ★

Water - Moderate amount ★

Lemon juice - If desired
Cooking oil

Directions:
1) Make a batter with ★
2) Combine shirasu, perilla leaves, and sesame seeds, dip them in the batter and shape into balls or patties.
3) Heat oil in pan. When it reaches 170 degrees, fry the patties.
4) Sprinkle lemon juice over them if you like.
5) After it is done frying, place on napkin to dry.

Seafood that were mentioned but weren't shown (Pix above, left to right; Except for tako-sabu, all pix are from Otohime's menu: tabelog, nobuyukiasai):
Shako. Mantis shrimp. In Japan, it is eaten boiled, grilled, raw (sashimi) or on top of sushi rice.
Sazae. Horned turban or turbo shells, a species of sea snails. Usually grilled and eaten with soy sauce. The liver from the large species are also a delicacy.
Ise Ebi. Japanese spiny lobster. A popular item in high-end Japanese cuisine.
Tako no Maru Yu. Boiled whole octopus. Here's a recipe!
Tako Shabu-Shabu. Octopus shabu-shabu. Here's a Japanese (Hokkaido-style) recipe from cookpad's shouko: Cut the octopus as thinly as you can. Have a pot of dashi-flavored soup (kelp and bonito flakes) bubbling on your table. Put in shredded carrots, daikon, spinach, wakame (kelp). Dip the octopus slices (it will cook fast) and eat it with your favorite dipping sauce (ponzu, sesame oil, etc). When done, you can cook ramen noodles with your remaining broth and eat it as a meal-ender. (pic: mikke)

Episode Index: (link)

Comments

[gankooyaji]

Great episode notes! Many, many thanks -- they make all the difference. Plus we get recipes. It's hard to find good octopus in Paris, but takomeshi is definitely on my to-do (to-eat) list.
By the way, where did you find the raw for the special?

[earth_colors]

Thanks Gankooyaji... My pleasure. :)
Oh, just noticed you got a dreamwidth account ^^
Here's the link:
http://www.nyaa.se/?page=view&tid=585711
The SP is still the same as the regular episodes, just 10 minutes longer.

[gankooyaji]

Ah, many thanks -- don't know why I didn't see that. Looking forward to your subs!

[earth_colors]

Just found out furransu has just released the sp now. :)

[davehikaru]

Thanks again!
The next day after watching I went to the market and made sure I bought a bottle of tsukudani :)

I thought Goro looked strange riding a bike haha. He seemed so stiff but it looked like a very nice place to ride a bike around!!!

Funny how when the music started and Goro started becoming an eating locomotive machine, he didn't even bother peeling the shells off the shrimp before chomping down!! Haha

I wish I could find some giant clams like that to try but here I'm lucky if I can even find live manila sized clams, which are the smallest size. Grilled tako on a stick to snack on while walking around looked delicious also!

[earth_colors]

Hey, dave. What are the seafood usually found/eaten in Hawaii? I was expecting it to be of a diverse range since it's an island after all... And how did the tsukudani taste like?
Oh, btw, Ep8 is Hawaiian-themed ^^. So it'll be right up your alley!

[davehikaru]

In the market for local stuff I can usually find Ahi(maguro), Opah(moonfish) and Ono(wahoo). Other fish choices like salmon come from far away.Shrimp and other shellfish like scallops or crab come from overseas altho here there is a shrimp farm that sells their Kauai Head-on shrimp to the stores so can get that. It looks like what Goro was eating in this episode in shape and size. Tako in the stores is usually frozen and from the Phillipines. What you can catch yourself if you're lucky at fishing from shore is Papio(skipjack) and a prized but rare fish called Moi. Super delicious and long ago only Hawaiian Royalty was allowed to eat that fish, not the commoners. I've never caught one big enough to keep, bummers. I have friends who are good at spotting tako lairs while snorkeling and can catch them with spears but I've never learned how. You never see the fresh tako in the stores. There is a prized crab we call samoan crab but I've seen it on TV I think and others call it mud crab. Big giant claws. A friend and I have caught many with his boat on the river setting traps but we've never caught one big enough to keep. (8 inches across the shell) So prized I've never seen it for sale in the stores either. There is a crab I see and buy in the stores sometimes called Kona crab which is caught out at sea with traps in deep water. It looks like a giant cicada almost haha. Also, when caught it is colored bright orange even before it is cooked! Hard to eat because the body compartments are so small and numerous but worth it!! Sweet and delicious!! Expensive and not often in the stores however.

The tsukudani was good! There are several types imported from Japan but no matter what it always looks like black paste haha.

Hawaiian themed eh? Interesting....