Satoshi Nihonyanagi
Welcome to my blog, Green Tea Club !
I'll show you all the beauties and goodies in Shizuoka through this blog.
If you have any inquiry, please feel free to post your messages on it.
Hope to see you around in Shizuoka !
Main content starts here.
Selected tag :
Jump to :
02/28/2012 [Tue]
Fish Farming Tour at Uchiura Fishing Port, Numazu City [Numazu]
A unique tour has just started in Numazu City, Shizuoka. As you know, we Japanese love seafood and Japan’s fish culture industry is thus well developed in the world. Now, here is a great opportunity that you can learn real fish farming on the real fishing boat ! The tour takes 1.5 – 2.0 hours with wonderful Sashimi lunch ! Sounds good ?
The tour is carried out by the Fisheries Cooperative Association of Uchiura fishing port. They just held an experimental tour the other day and I, always crazy for seafood, joined it without any question !＾＾ As far as I know, this will be the only tour for fish farming in Shizuoka. If you are as passionate as I am about seafood, enjoy the morning fish auction of Numazu Port, too ! Anyway, let me go ahead about this tour.
It was a beautiful day. About 30 participants got on the boat and we left away from the port to the farming spots. Although Mt.Fuji cannot be seen from the port, we could find astonishingly wonderful & beautiful Mt. Fuji from the boat ! This can be definitely another part of this tour. It took us 5 minutes or so to the farm. They mainly cultivate Aji ( horse mackerel ) and Tai ( Sea Bream ) and you can also feed these fish on the spot. It was really overwhelming to see fish thronging around the bait. I tried many times to take nice pictures of sea breams in vain. You know, they were moving too fast !
After the boat tour, we were led to the fish-processing factory to see how Himono ( half-dried salted fish ) is cooked. We talked for a while to ask several questions and went back to the market to enjoy Himono outside ! Char-grilled. Mmm, delicious !＾＾
After the himono party, we had lunch with fresh sashimi of Aji & Tai. I could tell they had been alive a few minutes before from the texture of the fish meat. Trust me, I’m really kind of pro about seafood ! See the transparent-looking slices of sashimi. You can’t find it in supermarket nor even in fish market. Perfect in every aspect !
Anyway, this is the story about basic tour and some options are still available by your request. Sashimi cooking, fish catch and the like. Please feel free to ask us for further information. I show the details of the tour on the bottom.
Fish farm Tour at Uchiura Fishing Port
Tour Fee ： ￥3,500／adult ￥2,500／child ( Sashimi Lunch included )
Tour menu ： ・Fishing boat boarding. ・Fish farm tour ・Feeding ・Lunch
※ Tour available from 10 – 30 passengers
※ Lunch-only group acceptable
※ Booking required. ( R=10% for travel agencies )
Join us in Twitter φ(・ω・ )
“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English blog website for events & sightseeing. Always with you ! ＾＾
Posted by Satoshi Nihonyanagi at 14:13 Permanent Link Trackback ( 0 ) Comments ( 0 )
02/20/2012 [Mon]
Kuro-Hanpen of Yaizu City ― Yamashita Shoten store [Yaizu]
Kuro Hanpen ( literally means “Black Fish Cake” ) is a specialty of Shizuoka Prefecture and very popular among people, often cooked in Oden or deep-fried in itself. It’s manufactured most in Yaizu City and nowadays, “Kuro Hanpen of Yaizu” has become a brand-name for its outstanding quality. Since 80% of production is being consumed in Shizuoka, it’s not common yet even in Japan and lots of domestic tourists come for it to Yaizu in recent years and that’s why I, this time, visit “Yamashita Shoten”, Kuro Hanpen processing factory, to see how it is processed to be wonderful Hanpens.＾＾
Kuro Hanpen may seem almost the same as Kamaboko fish cake but there is a big difference between them. While Kamaboko is to be made from white meat fish, it’s made from blueback fish such as sardines and mackerels, all of which give you fishier flavor, I would say, the very taste of Yaizu Port, one of the Japan’s largest fishing ports !
Now, let’s see how it is processed. The main ingredients are several kinds of fishes, which are to be minced for 30 – 40 minutes until it becomes smooth enough. Then, the fish paste is molded and boiled for a while and cooled instantaneously in the fridge of -15℃ afterwards. This is how resilient texture of Hanpen is born. It takes about 1 hour to finish the whole process and they say they can work out 8000 – 9000 pieces of Hanpen in an hour !
It was really outstanding how they packed the productions, too ! No wonder because they, this season, perform as many as 30,000 Hanpens every day. ＾＾
Yamashita Shoten is a long-established store of 80 years specializing only in Kuro Hanpen. You can find it in the supermarkets or souvenir shops and what is more, for those who like to experience the process, they will make a business trip to let you have a chance to learn how to make it using real hanpen ingredients. Please feel free to inquire us for further information !＾＾ Also open this URL to buy their Hanpen through internet ( In Japanese, for domestic delivery only ).
Join us in Twitter φ(・ω・ )
“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English blog website for events & sightseeing. Always with you ! ＾＾
Tags :
Posted by Satoshi Nihonyanagi at 15:54 Permanent Link Trackback ( 0 ) Comments ( 0 )
02/13/2012 [Mon]
Let’s have fun making Food Samples ! ― Aoi Sample, Yaizu City [Yaizu]
What do you pay your attention to first when you stand in front of the restaurant ? Maybe, food replicas, right ? Faithful samples are now being hailed because they could affect their sales amount and there is a food-sample company “Aoi Sample” in Yaizu City, Shizuoka, where you can experience food-replica making. This picture is, to tell you the truth, also a sample. ＾＾
Two courses are mainly recommended. One of ￥1500 is to make “Food-sample mobile strap” and “Tempura”, and the other of ￥5000 is for full-scale replicas such as tantalizing Pasta, Stakes, Burgers as above, or lovely Parfaits. I tried that of ￥1500 on that day !
First comes “how to make food-sample strap”. You can choose one from among “Sweets”, “Oden” or “Kaisen-don” ( sashimi-topped rice bowl ). I took the sweets in no time because I’m the real dessert-lover.＾＾
It was very easy to make. Choose one basic model and attach tiny parts of fruits, crème and chocolates to it. I of no artistic sense thought too much and took more than 30 minutes, though.＾＾； But remember, this one is absolutely the only one in the world !♪
Next comes “Tempura”. It was just like a magic to me. You drop the melted wax on hot water and put the basic plastic food-model on it to wrap around. The point is that you drop the wax from higher point so that the wax on water surface “bloom” on impact, and this is what I made instructed. Looks real ? Nope ? ＾＾； You can make 2 Tempras to take home. Noted this is kind of old method of making. More improved technology has been applied in this day and age.
By the way, Yaizu is known for Kuro Hanpen ( fish cake − minced and steamed fish ) and this time, I was lucky enough to have another experience ! The replica of Kuro Hanpen is made from PVC. Pour the fluid into the mold of silicon which real hanpen was impressed, and cook it in the oven for 5 minutes. There you are ! Faithful hanpen will be right in front of you !＾＾／
I found there kits for food-sample making. It’s very surprising that they have prepared instructions in English, Korean, and Chinese ! Be sure to take one for your family or friends.
They also accept business call and small trip to schools or public halls around for, for example, Educational Travelers. Please feel free to inquire us or directly at Aoi Sample for further information. You can write to us or them in English !＾＾
For Japanese (871KB)
Aoi Sample
Access ： 20 minutes by bus, or 15 minutes by taxi from JR Yaizu Station
Sample Making Fee ： ￥1500 〜 （ booking recommended ）
Open Hours ： 9:00〜17:00 ※ Basically closed on Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays
HP ：http://www.aoisample.com/
Inquiries：info@aoisample.com （ English message acceptable ）
Join us in Twitter φ(・ω・ )
“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English blog website for events & sightseeing. Always with you ! ＾＾
Tags :
Posted by Satoshi Nihonyanagi at 13:20 Permanent Link Trackback ( 0 ) Comments ( 0 )