Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish (Outer) Market with a Guide – Trying Japan’s best (most unique) Street Food! 🇯🇵

Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish (Outer) Market with a Guide – Trying Japan’s best (most unique) Street Food! 🇯🇵

Hey guys, welcome to the Lens Cap Chronicles. My name’s Amanda and we are in Tokyo, Japan. I’ve had such a great time wandering around the streets already. I’ve documented my 5-day epic itinerary and I’ll put that in the link above somewhere here, which will show you exactly how to fit in all the things you need to do in Tokyo in 5 days. But this morning, I have an extra special treat. We are going to Skidy Fish Market. And this is Japan’s oldest fish market. It has actually been moved to another site, but we are going to the original existing one for a walk around. I cannot wait to try some of my favorite foods in the world. I love my seafood. Let’s go and explore Skijji Fish Market. A fairly straightforward 30-minute journey from Shibuya on the train and our tour group is meeting at a very traditional Japanese [Music] Starbucks. Skijiji Market, which was also known as the Inner Market, was once a wholesale fish market famous for its loud and theatrical tuna auctions. Located in Skukiji in central Tokyo between the Sama River and the upmarket Ginsa shopping district, the area contains retail markets, restaurants, and associated restaurant supply stores. Formed in 1935, it was only available to large companies, buying and trading in whopping large tuna sales. In a shroud of controversy, it closed in 2018 and moved to a new site in Toyosu, where it reopened as Tyosu Market. To this day, guests can get up at the break of dawn to watch the tuna auctions at Tyosu. But at this site, you can only buy fish in bulk or attend to witness the auction. If you are, however, interested in sampling as many strange and exotic foods in small proportions as possible, then you’ll need to visit the sprawling site of the oldi market, the outer market. Skijiji Market is Japan’s food town where one can encounter all kinds of traditional Japanese foods. Some of which I enjoyed and others, well, the taste just wasn’t for me. A mixture of wholesale and retail shops along with numerous restaurants line the streets and new culinary trends are born here. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to sell this as a calm and orderly process. Skijji is frantic, overrun, overpop populated, and where locals buy their fresh groceries, as well as where tourists cram into tiny stalls and alleyways to sample exotic and highquality samples of Tokyo’s best seafood, snacks, and desserts. Did anyone say strawberry mochi? And so it was with unbridled enthusiasm that I set off early, but not too early, one Saturday morning on a tour of Skiji’s outer market to try as many unusual foods as I possibly could. It’s 9:00 a.m., but already this place is absolutely crammed with people. And the smells coming from the stalls are magnificent. Everyone is out getting their fresh vegetables. This is the largest market, the largest fish market in Japan. Websites generally recommend getting to the market early or on weekdays to avoid crowds. Some shops open as early as 5:00 a.m. and they generally close around 2:00 p.m. Whilst this sounds like a good idea, my guide mentioned that it’s impossible to truly avoid crowds at Skukiji. And coming too early can sometimes mean not all shops are open. Knowing to expect crowds will help you though, because it took me by surprise how many people could fit in the small alleyways all at one time. If you go into the experience anticipating a chaotic, messy street vibe, then you’ll at least have your expectations met. We are on the main street of this market. There’s so many people here, but sometimes you need to be aggressive in Japan. Our guide has just told us that sometimes in Japan, we do need to be aggressive. So he’s leading the charge, creating a file for us to pass through on the main street in Sydney. If you want to drink whiskey, you can walk around holding alcohol so you can have your morning beer, a breakfast beer, and not get in trouble with any authorities in Skiji. At Skiji markets, guests will find a wide variety of fresh seafood dishes, including sushi, sashimi, and almost any seafood on a stick. Famously unique things to try from the street vendors include eel, sea urchin, wagyu beef, and the freshest of fresh sashimi. Street vendors sell seafood in every form imaginable, on skewers, in sandwiches, over rice, and of course, raw. However, one of them has become an online sensation for turning seafood like shrimp into massive rice crackers. They’re made by pouring batter on a griddle press, then adding on whole shrimp. When the grill is shut, the shellfish are preserved like fossils. These giant seafood senbe can be made with scolop, crab, octopus, and fish and are a visual sensation. The craze has gone viral and these mammoth rice cakes can also be found in Bangkok, Sydney, and New York City. Walking past a chef preparing a huge station. I think it’s a crab. I can’t quite see, but the smells coming from the store are simply amazing. The markets are also seemingly popular with locals who come to stock their homes and restaurants with fresh vegetables and seafood. So these are like a real wasabi right here. These ingredients for special stock is really important for us. Cap seaweed is our main and then also what is that? Uh bonita flakes. Bonita flakes and then cap seaweed our main ingredients for stocks. And sometime we use a dry scallop and then very sometime we also use a dried abalone and see cucumbers for broth [Music] also. Soon after arriving at I attempted to start my food tasting process with some sashimi. But the alleyway we began in was so overcrowded that I was being pushed and pulled in so many directions. I lost my audio equipment for this video in the hustle and bustle of passes by and felt completely overwhelmed with the process. Is this your favorite sushi place? Is this a line or Okay, I think this might be an experience for another time. Uh just get pushed out of the way. Let’s go back to try some sushima, but might have to come back for that one. It’s very busy here and there are people walking past with all of their trays and big carts trying to get into the stores. I decided to move on to the next stall with my tour group where we started proceedings with an illcure aka unagi which came in at 400 yen. As a lover of the TV show Friends, I had waited many years to try the food called unagi, which became famous when Ross explained it as a state of total awareness he had learned during karate training. He was of course referring to a different word, zansin, but nevertheless, I had wanted to try eel or unagi since this moment. Okay, eel incoming. Let’s try it. Here we go. Eel inje. I have never tried it before. It’s very soft, very oily, very fishy. Nice. I like it. Our friendly guide now then provided us with a few pellet cleanses, directing us towards some stalls offering some Japanese snacks. Civil Thank you. Thank you. Princess. [Music] Next up, very dry. [Music] [Music] jerky. Wow. I have wasabi peas, fishbone, and eel jerky. Let’s give it a try. It’s not quite as flavorsome as the eel on a stick, but still good. Sabi Beast. Excellent. [Music] Black soybeans. This just roasted and this sweet sugar coated. Roasted black soybeans and black soybeans. Sugar coated women say. Okay. Stuffed and sugarcoated black [Music] beans. Sweet and chewy. Sweet chewy goodies. And if you buy more than three bags of the grape, it’s got me a 1,000 for one bag. Sakura. Wasabi. Sakura. Thank you. That’s a coffee, black sesame, wasabi, bi and skin cashew. What was this one? That’s a cherry roast. Okay. Cherry. You got black pepper. No more black pepper. Did you guys get a black pepper? And the coffee peanut. This is a coffee peanut. Did you guys share? Yeah, we share. Yeah, it’s fine. Thank you. This is a very Japanese taste. Oh, my favorite soybean powder. It’s called powder. Peanut. Nutty and [Music] flavorsome. Orange. Any of you guys want try? Thank you. Now then took us to try some of his favorite and most cost effective Wagyu beef. That might sound cheap, but if you’ve been to Skijiji, you’ll soon realize that for a lot of yen, you’ll get not much beef. The most common price is around 3,000 yen for a skewer of coobe Wagyu beef. The prices for Skid Market Wagyu do seem insane at first glance, and it pays to have a guide direct you to the quality cups that are not going to break the bank. Now, a select vendor sold us one beef skewer for 1,000 yen, and it’s something you do not want to leave off your culinary hit list. As well as being fun to watch them cook the skewers, the actual Wagyu was like butter, dissolving immediately on my tongue. Next up in Sydney is the Wagyu beef skewer. This is the one of the cheapest places, I think, to buy it. This was 1,000 yen for a wacky skewer. Let’s give it a go. That is so good. Divine, delicious, cooked to perfection. Skijiji has been labeled somewhat of a tourist trap with respect to its Wagyu beef. So look around for a good price before committing the last of your cash, which you’ll definitely need for more delicious foods at this market. If you only try one Japanese sweet, then it most certainly has to be mochi. These little gelatinous gems were already a favorite of mine back home, but there is nothing like trying foods at their place of origin. And wow, the mochi are huge and come in an assortment of flavors. One of the most popular is strawberry and another is green tea or matcha flavored. This presented a quandry in selection for me, but I went with strawberry. 800 yen for each mochi and 800 yen well spent. I still have a little bit of room left for some strawberry mochi ice cream with jelly around it. So good. And our tour guide is taking us to his favorite spot. Can I please have the strawberry mochi, please? Sorry. Okay. 500 yen. Thank you. Is it okay? I’m sorry. It’s 4,000. Thank you. Okay, I have the thing I’ve been waiting most to try. A strawberry. This is like a gelotimus uh casing for strawberry. 8,000 yen. So, not cheap. But the strawberries in Japan are meant to be top quality. So, let’s give it a try. break my phone. Wow, that is so sweet and so tasty. The strawberry is so fresh. Japan. You can go. This is amazing. So you just get one. Waiting for my turn at the table. This is my first time. We don’t have I think that’s an acquired taste. Okay, I’m very sorry, but I’m going to have to leave this. It’s um it’s understandably a delicacy. It’s cauldron here in Japan, but it’s just not my taste. Never mind. Strawberry mochi was amazing. Let’s go get another one right now. Well, now loved it. So, he finished off my urchin, Bobby. An important note when visiting Skiji is to bring cash. Many vendors will not accept credit card, and you definitely don’t want to miss out on trying the many delicious and unusual foods. I’d recommend between 3,000 to 4,000 yen, particularly if you want to try the Wagyu or Sea urchin, notoriously a little bit more expensive. Knives. Let’s talk knives and more specifically Japanese knives. When it comes to kitchen knives, Japanese steel is highly regarded among chefs and home cooks alike. But what sets these knives apart from others on the market? I read that when it became illegal to be a samurai, many sword makers switch to kitchen knives. Western knives are fine and have their place, but Japanese knives are unlike any others that are stamped or machine-made because they are forged by hand. They are typically thinner, stronger, and have some epic patterns. The process of making a Japanese knife involves heating the steel to extreme temperatures and then hammering it into shape. The repeated heating and hammering of the steel creates a blade that is both strong and flexible. The techniques used to forge these swords were passed down through generations of blacksmiths, and many of these techniques are still used today in the production of Japanese steel knives. Be sure to take one home for your kitchen collection. [Music] Thanks to now for an epic tour through Skiji Markets and also for finishing off my sea urchin for me. Apologies for being so rude. Just was not my thing. But I know that you loved it now and I’m so glad that you could finish it. I would highly recommend a tour through Skiji. Even though you can just wander around the streets incredibly easily by yourself. He has shown us the best and cheapest places to go. So, we found some incredible local delicacies from his wisdom. So, thank you. Now, we’ve had a wonderful time on this tour with you. [Music] Well, our tour is finishing up now and final impression of is that it’s an incredible So many tastes and flavors, huge sprawling market, but it’s not cheap. Uh you could easily spend 3 to 4,000 yen here. It easily racks up if you want to try all of these delicacies here on the street. Nevertheless, when in Japan, simply must be done. Very difficult to get through some of these alleyways. I’ve heard it does pay to get here early if you want to beat some of these crowds. We came at 9:00 and our tour finished at 11:00 a.m. which is the time now. And it’s still heaving with people. So, I’m not sure there is a best time for no people, but it is definitely worthwhile coming. I hope you’ve enjoyed this video. If you have, please give it a like and stay tuned for more upcoming videos in this incredible country of Japan. [Music]

I spent 5 days in Tokyo, Japan, and one of my favourite mornings was spent experiencing the Tsukiji Fish Market! This was the original site of Japan’s largest seafood market – where fishermen would trade and engage in epic-sized tuna auctions. The large-scale tuna auctions have now moved site to Toyosu, but the Tsukiji Outer Market remains home to hundreds of local vendors, who sell smaller-portioned samples of the unusual and unique foods found in Japan, to visitors and restaurateurs. We’re talking octopus, eel, sea urchin, mochi, a huge arrangement of snacks and the most delectable wagyu beef.

In this video, a local guide takes us to his favourite (and least expensive yet quality) stalls. His nouse and knowledge of the market helped us experience Tsukiji to its max and yes, we tried some gnarly foods …

I hope you enjoy this culinary tour through one of Tokyo’s busiest markets. Some of the video is filmed on my iPhone due to the sheer freneticism of the market, particularly after I lost my audio in the hustle and bustle!

Stay tuned for more incredible adventures through Japan!

Love, A. xx

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