this is a day in the life of a Japanese
hot sauce maker
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this is Kento 43 years old living in
Japan's heavy snow region of Moko nigata
and he's just waking up for
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work kentro has a wife and son but last
night he spent the night alone here at
the shatu company housing in Japan many
companies often have these residential
facilities for their employees to stay
or even offer permanent lower cost
housing as a part of their benefits he
had to work quite late last night so he
decided to stay here because it's a lot
closer to
work he usually makes breakfast for his
family but today he's just cooking
something quick for
himself I guess he's eating rice with
eggs sausage taan radish and freeze
dried instant miso soup
do you usually eat a lot for breakfast
yeah well you got a big day ahead of
[Music]
you oh that's an ultral light down from
Unico a very common wear for Japanese in
the winter due to the country's
exceedingly cold Winters
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luckily it's not snowing today so he's
leaving on time but on heavy snow days
he often wakes up much earlier as it
takes him twice as long to commute to
work in fact Japan is the snowiest
country in the world with Japanese
cities taking the top three positions
for annual snowfall worldwide in this
mioko area alone there are 142 snow days
in an average year hey I noticed you've
got basketball shoes in the
back nice how's the
team well that's important who's your
favorite
player good morning everyone I'm back
with another day in the life and I'm
beyond excited for this one because I
also get to share with you the makings
of my new original made in Japan Po from
Tokyo Hot Sauce this has been one of my
dreams for such a long time now and one
of the people responsible for helping
make it all happen is Kento who should
be arriving
shortly good morning did you sleep well
last
night this is his workplace Ki a family
own small batch producer of a
one-of-a-kind fermented chili paste also
named kidi its original form dating back
more than 400 years as the nigata people
carried it into battle as a way to
supplement their nutrition and warm
their bodies still undiscovered by much
of the world this spicy Umami Rich
ingredient is widely known among
culinary experts and chefs throughout
Japan and Kento has been working
tirelessly for the company for the last
9 years in sales along with 18 other
Artisans and staff to make it all happen
[Music]
the first thing he does is clean with
all of the other workers it's a typical
part of Japanese office culture as they
believe that it will brighten the
workplace and improve work efficiency so
much so that there's even a common
saying in Japan make it cleaner than
when you arrived
hey what's
that isn't that
[Music]
safe oh they're studying CH a typical
Japanese morning meeting that's attended
by everyone in the company after
practicing formal greetings and
discussing the day's agenda like most
other companies here they read from
their workplace education booklet as
they believe that this form of proactive
participation energizes the atmosphere
and fosters a strong sense of unity
now he has some desk
work so what do you exactly
do ah are you the only
salesperson so what's the most
challenging part for
you unlike widely understood Japanese
condiments like Wasabi or miso which are
produced by a multitude of companies
they're the only ones in the world who
produce kanui it's a massive business
challenge for a local producer like
themselves to introduce their product to
a wide domestic customer base let alone
the rest of the world yet it's kento's
primary responsibility to get it done
and when he does he says there's nothing
like seeing his new customers fall in
love with kanui after just the first
taste which is exactly what happened to
me and why nothing brings me more joy
than to be able to help and support
local Japanese Artisans like them who
perfected their rare aircraft hey what
are you
doing wow
[Music]
interesting now he has a meeting with
Artisan responsible for crafting their
hot sauce so what are you two going to
talk about
it's truly been an amazing experience to
be part of this meticulous journey to
create the perfect bottle of hot sauce
in fact these are just some of the final
Blends as many more samples were created
before this the ultimate goal to craft a
premium fiery hot sauce with a deep
Japanese Umami flavor that I'd be proud
to share with all of you we experimented
with various types of Chili Peppers
premium shoyu ja soy sauce and even
premium kanui chili paste aged for at
least 6 years to get the Perfect Blend
of spiciness taste and consistency and
now they're reconfirming my top selected
Blends Kento what do you think about my
favorite
blend perfect Can I taste it again let
me just double check that this is the
one
that is the Umami in fire right there
this I think it's the one you can tell
I'm already is sweating just a little
bit seriously there is no hot sauce like
this in the world the Umami is so
flavorful and then the fire is unmatched
no doubt this is
[Music]
it so it looks like Kento is going to be
doing a little bit more desk work over
here so while he's doing that let's see
what's cooking up around
here so now that I'm suited up let's go
see what's going on in the
factory hi what are you
doing apparently the blending only
happens a few times in the winter months
kidi itself is a chili paste that's been
fent for at least 3 years crafted from
four simple ingredients rice Koji from
nikata fresh Yuzu from Koji prefecture
aloho sea salt and snow bathed red chili
grown on their own nearby Fields wow you
can really smell the Yuzu one of the
elements that sets kudi apart is its use
of fresh Yuzu producing a captivating
zesi Citrus flavor which pairs
harmoniously with the spiciness of the
red
[Applause]
chilies hot damn look at that fiery red
chili pepper they're newly planted
locally every year with seeds from the
previous Harvest this ensures a high and
consistent quality but it also means
that the quantities are highly
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limited the blend is fermented in age
for at least 3 years which elevates its
Umami to new depths forming a unique
chili paste infused with Yuzu Citrus
notes a technique that these Artisans
have refined and mastered over the last
half century now let's go to the kitchen
where they craft the hot sauce hi what's
cooking nice what do you need to be most
careful
about thank
you so apparently just before this I
missed the skilled Artisan's hand
blending what's going to be the red
kamuna hot sauce made with kanui aged at
least 3 years Habano Chili Peppers and
show you but maybe next time that I
visit I can dare I say show you
so this is where my hot sauce is going
to be
bottled well that's if it all goes well
later today with the owner then my
signature poo from Tokyo premium commady
hot sauce will go into production made
with an original blend of their premium
kamti chili paste Aid 6 years for a
deeper Umami locally grown Carolina
Reaper peppers for that extra fire and
show you a Japanese soy sauce and it'll
be bottled just like this by one of The
Artisans inspecting each Empty Bottle
one by one to ensure that there are no
breaks or defects and it was only just
recently they install the labeling
machine before this each and every label
was applied by hand although now faster
than before much of the hot sauce
crafting process today is still
performed by The Artisans themselves
which is why they can only craft small
batches of 1,200 bottles at a time but
this guarantees the utmost attention to
detail and an unrival taste experience
[Applause]
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so apparently right by the factory
they're laying out the
chilies this extraordinary technique is
performed by only these Artisans known
as Yuki sarashi Yuki meaning snow and
sarashi meaning to lay open handpicked
sea salt pickled Chili Peppers are
spread over the pristine snow covered
fields at the foot of the Majestic Mount
Moko during the coldest days of winter
left undisturbed for a period of 3 to 4
days these Peppers undergo a remarkable
transformation developing their inate
Umami flavors in perfect harmony with
nature ultimately becoming the
foundational ingredient for kanui chili
paste what are you doing
[Music]
now so Kento needs to go out for a
delivery to one of his customers who
runs a local business his first stop is
at tonu restaurant tachibana it's
typical in Japanese sales culture to
have regular face-to-face interactions
to show customers that they are highly
valued as customers generally feel more
comfortable when they work with someone
they know but a Japanese salesman
building relationships is the most
critical part of their
job and he's having lunch
here by the way what's your favorite
food me too it's smells so good I guess
he's having a set with tonu pork soup
with vegetables and of course he's
eating it with
Ki many local restaurants are ki's
customers as it's very much a local
specialty so he often eats lunch as he
stops by for deliveries he says that
being able to get to know all of his
customers is one of the things he enjoys
most about his
job now off to the next delivery this
time it's at the station
[Music]
since kidi is such an iconic n got the
souvenir item he has several customers
here at the souvenir
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section what's
that perfect drinking food
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hey aren't you
cold I guess you're used to the
weather now he's going to prepare for my
hot sauce presentation to the owner the
box designs are still being drafted but
he wanted to handmake a demo to show
what the final product may look
[Music]
like oh wow they could be the real deal
oh it seems like he's discussing an
important business matter as a Japanese
salesman is important that he's able to
quickly address and solve customer
issues that may come out of the blue it
helps cultivate trust and reliability
with his
customers so what
happened oh good to hear
so it looks like K has to take a call so
while he's doing that let's explore a
little
bit let's ask that guy some questions oh
that's the owner hi can I bother you so
you're wit generation
again nice and what's the most
challenging part of your job
ah that makes sense thank
you just through the door right here it
looks like they have their own store
built into the shop they seriously have
so many kudi
products they have set kanui boxes over
here they have kanui sausages there's
even kanui in in the gelato oh look and
these are the Carolina Reaper the Habano
chilies and these are the chilies that
they use to make
kanui we even have a kanui curry maybe
we'll have to make our own Curry and
snacks as
[Music]
well okay the Moment of Truth Kento is
going to present My Pal from Tokyo Hot
Sauce to the
owner I hope he likes
it you're obviously okay with spiciness
right
[Music]
wild he approved the production thank
you so
[Music]
much okay so I'm so excited they just
approved the bottle this is what it's
kind of going to look like so by the
time you see this video My Pal from
Tokyo premium kamady hot sauce is going
to be available go to PO from tokyohot
sauce.com to purchase the hot sauce the
plan is to initially produce a limited 2
400 bottles all handcrafted here in
Japan I'm telling you I've searched far
and wide and there is no hot sauce in
the world that has an Umami and fire
like this one just a fair warning it's
hot maybe not Weser and it's going to
kill you to death kind of hot but it's
Japanese hot so if you don't want to
wait and you want to be one of the first
ones to try my Pao from Tokyo premium
kamti hot sauce check out the link in
the description the pin comment or the
icon in my merch store just below this
video
at the end of the day it's part of
kento's daily routine to ride a log for
himself which helps him remember small
events that will hopefully Drive future
sales are you
done y finally
finished after work he usually goes to a
son's school to pick up come up at
basketball practice or go straight home
to have dinner with the family but today
they're having company drinks called a
nomikai at an isaka drinking restaurant
where they also serve
[Music]
dinner nice everyone is
here what's
that it's UK no chicata a turmeric drink
that's supposed to help prevent
hangovers this is the go-to pre-drink
for many Japanese before a heavy night
of drinking
a
[Music]
is and fun little fact back in Japan's
Edo period restaurants didn't offer
alcohol so people instead drank at
alcohol stores sipping the drinks that
they just bought there eventually named
isake which is where the term isaka came
from so it looks like Kento and his
friends will be drinking here until 9:00
and then after that they'll probably
find another and drink until maybe
around 11: finally they'll take a Dao
taxi home and then that's pretty much a
day in life of a Japanese hot sauce
maker if you guys like this video help
me out and hit that like button if you
guys want to help support the channel
then definitely check out my hot sauce
go to Paulo from tokyohot house.com to
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you guys in the next one