Kyushu Bike Adventure 6 – Nagasaki

Kyushu Bike Adventure 6 – Nagasaki

Yesterday, I dug into Nagasaki’s quintessential Turkish rice. A wild mix of omelette, spaghetti, meatball, crockett, and pilaf. Like somebody randomly tossed a bunch of Western dishes together and called it lunch. It’s like as if American, Italian, Turkish, they’re all the same thing. You wouldn’t expect it to work. It doesn’t. Not really. But the dish points to a deeper history, an opening of the door to the west, right here in this coastal port of Nagasaki. I’m staying in Minamyame, this residential area in South Nagasaki, a stepped enclave with footpaths leading up the mountain, ensuring that every house gets a view over the port. Among the local inhabitants is this band of street cats. The human residents treat them well. They’re fed, clean, happy. That little V-cut in their ear means they’re registered, and I’ve been hanging out with them every day. Further up the slope is Mount Nbecamorei Observatory and a view that’s hard to beat. Nagasaki’s port, harbor, the city, all hemmed in by mountains, white, green, and blue. It may well be my favorite view in all of Japan. Best cue the postcard asset. Then I walk north to the old European settlement where Thomas Glover’s house sits. Thomas Glover, a Scottish merchant, helped modernize Japan, bought in steam engines, dabbled in a bit of arms importing. I wasn’t sure how the locals would feel about him because I myself had mixed feelings. But after visiting Glover Garden, you get the sense that he loved Japan and the Japanese, they respected him, which is no mean feat in 19th century Japan. This area adorned with westernstyle homes but built using Japanese methods includes the old Giutai restaurant started by Jukichi Kusano, the first Japanese chef to introduce Western style cuisine to Japan. This is his first restaurant. By the time of his death in 1866, he had branches in Asaka, Kyoto, and Coobe. Heading back down the mountain, his love slope. It’s like stumbling into a tiny European village. Cobblestones and a church at the top of the hill. As a treaty port, Nagasaki developed this unique foreign interaction in a time where most of Japan was closed off to outsiders. In addition to the British Glover Garden, there was a Dutch slope and a Chinese settlement within the city. Minameyame, it’s almost perfect. I love it. But man, those steps are a workout. I’m pondering that and Europe’s influence on the city. As I play with the cats, and as night rolls in, then my stomach starts calling, calling me down the slope, through Chinatown, and toward the nightlife district. It calls me all the way into an izakaya. Good job, stomach. Tucker, it’s dinner time. So, another day, another izakaya. And now I’m in Nagasaki. Very happy to be here. And first impressions, I love this city. It’s very rugged and mountainous. And it’s just got a really cool east meets west vibe. This Isakaya is very interesting for me because they’ve got regional specialties here. There’s things on the menu that I’ve never seen before. And we’re going to start at the front with this chicken. Judorinoi no sumiaki. It’s like cooked in a net over charcoal and they cover it in chicken fat. So it gets this kind of smoky burnt outer just like that. That is just skin. It comes with this delicious yuzu pepper on the side. So let’s try this. That is completely delicious. Really nice and salty. And the skin is just grilled to perfection. So, it goes kind of crispy. And let me dip it in this red sauce. Is it a chili sauce? Not too sure. Let’s find out. The chicken has a toughness to it. So, that red sauce is like a spicy vinegar. Kind of got Sriracha vibes. Next, it’s a sausage. Looks like salami. So, charcoal grilled unzen ham, a specialty of the Nagasaki Prefecture. So, it’s local meat and I’m assuming it’s inspired by European influences. Let’s try it. Really nice porky vibes going on there. Not a strong flavor, but very succulent. Fairly full of fat. And I’m going to load it up with this grainy mustard on the side. It’s grainy mustard, but it’s got a vinegar hint as well. Super simple, but super delicious. Very much in the European sphere of influence here. And I’m absolutely loving that. But this next one is very Japanese. So by very Japanese, I mean it’s got natto in here. In this case, black natto, and it’s got raw egg, okra, cucumber, sesame seeds, and raw fish. And I’m just mixing all of that together. Now, I used Google Translate on the menu, and it came out as black natto bomb. So look at that. The slimy natto. You need a closeup, don’t you? So it’s a real mixture. Caught it. M super salty and then yokeky. It’s really delicious. Let me try this again. Just going to pop it onto here. Going to wrap it up and then pop it in. It has a richness and a complexity of flavor, but it’s sweet. Oh, it’s just balanced and it’s really nice dish and it’s running all over my hands. Now, if I think about it, when I was growing up, I struggled a little bit with okra. And the reason is because of the stringiness of it. And then years later when I was introduced to natto, well, that was even more stringy. So to have a dish with both of them in there, strings attached, I could see how this could be challenging. But as soon as I taste the flavor, that is a winner. [Music] All right, so I’m finishing with two more seafood dishes. I’ve got this sable fish here. It’s called grilled sable fish with mirin. And I got it because on the menu there’s a picture of it and it looked like miso black cod. So I’m sure this won’t be the same as miso black cod. But I’m very interested. So mirin sable fish. Let’s try black cob. So thank you Gro 3 for all of your help today. And a sable fish is known as black cod. I’ve had it at Nou and I’ve had it at Sukaya and it costs a fortune in Australia. Over here it’s like 11 bucks. M. That is melting buttery absolutely divine dish. Skin as well. Wonderful wonderful stuff. And now to something slightly more challenging. It’s shashamo smelt with row. So I’ll give that a dash of lemon. I have a feeling you just bite into it. So plenty of row inside and there’s a bitterness about it, but you get that when you’re biting through fish head, oily, grilled, and that kind of butteriness of the row. So an interesting dish. If you’re into eating whole sardines or whole pilchards or something like that, I think this wouldn’t be too much of a challenge. The eggs inside, they don’t have a strong flavor, just to kind of give it a butteriness. So all in all, delicious meal again. Miso black cod on another level. It’s amazing. After two awesome days in Nagasaki, I decide to stay another. There’s just too much history here. And I’m not done. Not by a stretch. Next episode, I’m exploring Dejima, the old Dutch island, and checking out how Chinese flavors have shaped Nagasaki’s food scene. Don’t worry, my fold is ready to roll again soon. Want to keep up? Do your thing. and let’s see more of Nagasaki together. [Music]

Flying from Jakarta Indonesia to Fukuoka Japan for a bicycle tour on a Brompton folding bike. Expect to see Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kitakyushu, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Kumamoto and plenty of towns in between. I ride, I eat, I ride, I eat, I rinse, I repeat. 18 episodes. Ramen, gyoza, onigiri, miso black cod, Imari beef, Takuro rice, kushiyaki, sashimi, combini, okonomiyaki, sushi, yakitori, yakiniku, tonkatsu, tonkotsu, tempura, soba, udon, matsunabe, sake, keiseki, not gonna lie, I do a lotta eating.

Against all odds:

Music: Bensound.com/free-music-for-videos
License code: FNMIBM8CMBB3SHOL

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