Kammui Adventures follows James Beard award winning chef Stuart Brioza’s (State Bird Provisions, San Francisco) journey across Hokkaido.
Episode 1 starts on the remote island of Rishiri, famous worldwide for its uni (sea urchin) and kombu (kelp).
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Kammui Adventuresはジェームス・ビアード賞受賞シェフ、スチュアート・ブリオーザ氏（State Bird Provisions、サンフランシスコ）とともに北海道を横断する旅に出発する。
エピソード1は、ウニと昆布で世界的に有名な利尻島から始まる。
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I’m Stuart Brioza. I’m a chef from San Francisco. I’m traveling around Hokkaido with Kammui on a culinary and outdoor adventure. Come join me. We start our journey on Rishiri, an island located off of Hokkaido. A hidden highlight for adventure seekers in Japan. Tamaki, our Kammui guide, is based here. As the initial stop in our visit, he arranged a meeting with a local fisherman. With mineral-rich waters and an abundance of nutritious kelp, Rishiri is top of the food chain for several specific ingredients, the first being sea urchin, or uni in Japanese. How are you? Nice to see you. I’m Stuart. I’m Shuichi. Good to meet you. Let’s go talk sea urchin. It’s multitasking here. He’s holding the mask with his mouth, with his teeth, and he’s using this to navigate the waters. Then he’s got his tool that he pokes and scoops and brings it up. This is the measurement tool. If they’re under 5 centimeters, then they go back into the water for next week. They take really only pre-orders for the sea urchin. I think that’s fascinating. You know how much to go and harvest from the sea before you leave the dock. You go out and then you fulfill the order and then bring it back to your team, And then they harvest, pick, it gets processed immediately. So less than 2 hours out of the water the urchin is being processed. I am excited. We are at ground zero for the best uni in the world. Mmm. Sorbet of the sea. The other important ingredient is wild kombu, a type of seaweed which is the base of all cooking in Japan. Harvesting usually only takes place during the summer months of July through September. After harvesting, it is laid out on rocks to dry. Then it is taken indoors and undergoes a maturing process known as kuragakoi, or cellar conservation. This process improves the flavor of the kombu and removes its distinctive seaweed odor. I wanted to know more about kombu, so our guide introduced us to a local master who has been making tororo kombu for 50 years. I mean, look at this. Wow. I mean, it’s like silk. Amazing technique. Wow, look at this machine. Tororo kombu are thin and long flakes made by shaving dried kombu that has been seasoned in rice vinegar and pressed together in hundreds of layers. This delicate technique creates floating angel’s wings, so light and ethereal. Shaking hands? Yeah. Thank you so much. Arigato. This is beautiful. Yeah. After a busy morning, I was starving, and I couldn’t wait to try the local ramen shop, Miraku. I finally savored the Yaki Shoyu ramen with a broth enriched by copious amounts of the exquisite Rishiri kelp. As a side dish, of course, there was Tororo Kombu. The texture changes so much when you add it. Yeah, this is fantastic. Nothing like a closeup. I always like to do activities when I travel. It helps to offset the delicious food. Our cycling escapade on Rishiri was nothing short of a dream. An experience beyond the grasp of words. To capture the sheer beauty of the island, navigating through the mountains, traversing dirt pathways, all under the majestic presence of Mount Rishiri. This is a perfect way to spend the day. A local fisherman invited us to join him on his boat, offering an exclusive tour of the bay. To see Rishiri from some of its other vantage points, you truly get it. The blue pearlescent purity of natural wonderment concludes as to why this island produces some of the finest seafood in the world. On our final morning on the island, with Tamaki-san’s expert guidance, we picked up some seaweed, uni, and eggs. It’s time for breakfast. Negi. A lot of butter. Some nori. I’m going to cook these negi to soften them. This is local nori. We’re just going to let that toast a little bit. We don’t stir. We’re just push and pull. This is the bafun uni, the type of uni in Rishari that is most highly coveted. Perfect. Whisky production in Japan began around 1870, but it is relatively recent that it has become known internationally. The popularity of Japanese whiskey in plentiful water has led to a host of new distilleries emerging in Japan. This Rishiri distillery takes things up a notch by using volcanic spring water, making a distinctive whiskey.