(upbeat music)
- Black Shirt Day!
- Coordination.
- Today we're doing:
- The show where we go to one
uniquely worth-it place to
try one uniquely worth it food.
Today, we go to:
- [Andrew] It's a little bit North of Japan,
is that right?
- North of Tokyo.
- North of Tokyo, oh yeah. Not North of Japan.
That's the ocean.
Today we're gonna be eating foods in boxes.
- That's right. Bento boxes.
So today we're having a very
in preparation of this video,
we bought some
which are bentos you buys at the train station
and we're gonna enjoy that on the way!
- Do it.
I love train food.
- Let's go!
- [Rie] Let's go!
(calm travel music)
- We're going up on a Thursday.
To eat this very special bento box.
And what is a bento box, you ask?
- [Steven] It's like the Japanese version of a lunchbox.
- You can buy a bento box at a train station
but different train stations throughout the country
will have different bento boxes.
I'm gonna get this one.
- Got this big one.
Yeah. - The fancy one.
- Tofu and sushi.
- It gives you the allergen information with
these great, little drawings.
- Wanna de-sleeve this?
- Yeah, de-sleeving.
Oh yes.
- Alright.
No regrets.
- This one's got the pickled plum at the top.
- I've got the trifecta of cucumber, egg, and crab.
Can I have one of you-
- No.
(groans)
That looks good.
- Oh, it is good.
- Can I smell it?
You didn't even eat it, yet!
You need to go.
(upbeat music)
[Steven] We made it!
- [Andrew] Yes!
- We're at Niko-Niko Honjin.
Where are the bento boxes?
- Right there.
- Let's go.
Peaches!
Melons.
Watermelon.
- Ohh.
Sake.
- And here we are.
- We made it.
- [Rie] 187 yen.
(laughs)
- [Andrew] Yeah, look at this fish illustration.
That's got Adam written all over it.
Rie, what can you tell me about this one here
that comes with a shovel?
- [Rie] It's a chirashizushi. It's kind of type of sushi.
- Ooh.
Like Chanel.
- Arigato.
Whoah, it's heavy!
(laughing)
About ten pounds.
- I didn't expect it to be swaddled like this.
- Yeah it's beautiful cloths.
- Let's go buy this.
- We've got the gold.
So can you tell me, how did
you get into start making bento boxes?
What is a bento, and what does it mean to you?
This is a sake that they make here in Nikko.
- I believe it's unpasteurized so
it needs to stay refrigerated or else it'll spoil
which is, I think, pretty unique.
- And I just learned from Rie,
that when you pour sake, you hold two hands, label up.
Teamwork make the dream work.
Kanpai.
- Alright, let's do the bento.
- Do the bento? Is that a dance of yours?
- We'll find out later if it's a dance or not.
- So here we're starting with the Hidden Gold bento.
Look at this. - Nice. Okay.
- A little stamp with the date it was made.
Ready?
- Ready!
- Oh yes. - Oh!
That's a cute shovel!
- Oh, it's got a nice heft to it.
- I could definitely eat a lot of
fried rice with this thing.
- Should we open both levels?
- Yeah, I think this is double-decker we got here.
Let's focus on the first layer here.
You have a piece of egg inside a bed of,
is that cheese?
- It's like omelette but it's very thin.
- Wow so it's an egg on a bed of egg!
And underneath is a bed of rice! Wow.
- You know how like Disney Land
has themed deserts and treats?
This outdoes any of those.
Itadakimasu.
Oh wow.
It is very reminiscent of like packaged cheese
but that fact that it's egg is like -
This is egg, Annie.
- Beef. Itadakimasu.
- Itadakimasu.
- It's a little fatty.
- Wow, there's like caramelized onions in it.
- The next bento, the one we came
all the way to Nikko for, lay it on us.
Tell us about what this bento is.
- I mean, if you look at wrapping paper,
this is clearly the superior, original version of that.
- Alright, I'm going in.
And look at these beautifully engraved chopsticks!
- I didn't see the craftsman's mark on the back.
- Alright, you ready for the box?
- I love just moving my head around to see
how the light changes and hits it.
Like it really has this 3-dimensionality to it.
Do this for a second.
You see that? - The bento box dance.
- Are you ready for the big reveal?
- I'm ready.
- Okay. (laughs)
So there's another protective layer.
- Wow!
This is the king of bentos!
- The ingredients here are assembled
because they're his favorite foods.
- Yeah.
- Tofu skin time.
Whoah!
- You know those towels that when
you pour water on them they expand
and become a full sized towel?
Kinda reminds me of that.
(laughs)
- Is it too juicy?
That wild bird?
(laughs)
- It's very juicy!
I'm not sure what it's dressed with but
it's the savoriness is heightened.
Did you have a mushroom?
Shitake mushroom.
- Your favorite.
- Yeah, because I'm a fun guy.
It's gently marinated.
Mushroom cap.
Now! - Chateaubriand.
- The Chateaubriand.
- This steak!
I would almost say it has no business being in a box.
- I need to have another bite, I don't
even know what happened to me just now.
Don't go too hard with those chopsticks, Steven.
- There's the inside.
I bet I could get a cleaner bite than that.
- Look at that.
Here you are.
Literally a marshmallow of meat.
- Him?
(laughs) - Yeah!
Yeah both.
(laughing)
- Okay. - Next up, shrimp.
- Peel the shell.
- All of its little legs are still here.
- Come to me, Prawn.
- Remember when we had to peel the grapes?
- Itadakimasu.
- It's so sweet!
Sweet shrimp meat!
And alive moments ago.
Let's go for this back row.
This is what is in their award-winning bento box.
- Oh.
- Is there a particular name for what we're having here?
- Which is a pressed, trout sushi.
- I've never seen sushi like this.
Almost like the cars in Japan.
All blocky.
Wow.
- Yeah, the flesh is very grapefruit like.
This is not a one-biter for sure.
- I'm doin' it.
(laughs) no!
- Lego block of trout.
Rie's shaking her head! You know what that means.
Really good.
- It's so tall. It's so satisfying to bite through.
Oh my goodness. Look at that!
Look at it.
(laughing)
It's so satisfying that it's compressed like that.
So here we have tofu skin mounded with caviar.
And then gilded with a touch of gold.
- Is it shovel time?
- Do we bring the shovel back into play here?
Here we go.
(both gasp)
Oh god.
Oh sorry. I almost got all of the caviar.
We're about to finish a jar of caviar
in about two bites here.
- You got a lot of gold!
- Yeah, a lot of caviar, too.
- Oh, wow.
It's such an interesting texture.
It looks like you pulled your linen out
of the laundry machine too early and
it's still glistening with soap.
- Caviar is really good.
- Yeah, it's literally bursting with flavor.
- Last but not least,
- Crab time.
Did you see this crab when it was alive?
Dragon.
It is like the closest thing to
a prehistoric thing I've seen in real life.
Wow, look at how thick and plump!
Oh my goodness.
Itadakimasu.
- You know what's amazing about the crab?
Is that all if its meat is good to go.
You take away its shell and
then the rest of it is delicious.
Here's where shovel time comes to play, ready Annie?
Hols this crab meat aside. - Oh!
And we've struck rice.
I'm gonna build one for Annie here.
I wish you the best of luck.
(sighs)
Let's do dessert!
This bento box comes with a side of desert.
(gasps)
Oh it's a two layer thing here!
- Oh, wow. - What!
This is like in The Office when Jim puts
Dwight's staplers in the jello.
What is inside?
Sweet beans.
(gasps)
Cheers.
Whoa!
- It's like a bath bomb of flavor!
- This is crazy! Here, you can have the rest of this.
- Thank you.
- It's so good!
- So here we have this, this is mochi wrapped in tea leaf.
Smell that, look at that.
Oh, big and juicy.
That is, wow, that's incredible.
- Last, but not least, sunflowers.
I don't know what's in here.
It looks like a cake.
- This is a sunflower because now we're in summer
and they'll change this flower depending on the season.
- Bento boxes...there's so much more than just food.
And I think that it what makes it so beautiful.
It's artistry and personality and love.
- The things that you really cherish
you place in this box.
It's less of a delivery method
and more of a hallowed place for it to reside.