this is behind the counter at a local
gyoza restaurant in japan
[Music]
so today i'm in chimbashi one of the
most popular drinking spots in tokyo
especially for salaryman and today i'm
taking you behind the counter at a super
local gyoza restaurant here in this area
but like always before i start if you
want to see what i'm doing on the daily
check out my instagram account if you
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that said this one is going to be a
little different than the ones i've done
before and in fact it's probably going
to be a little more challenging but you
know we're always up for a challenge so
let's get this one started
so here we go back again with another
behind the canner i'm going beyond my
wheelhouse on this one as i take you
into ichimirini a popular local chinese
gyoza restaurant in tokyo that draws its
roots from a recipe handed down by
grandma located just a minute walk from
the jr shimbashi station karasumori exit
in tokyo good morning
these are the chefs they usually arrive
together at around 10 a.m to start the
kitchen prep
so the kitchen chefs apparently don't
speak much japanese and my chinese is
non-existent so yeah i'm a bit anxious
about this one i guess if you want to
see me struggle in a video then keep
watching
oh another worker is here and the owner
kamiyama-san what time do you open today
thank you
so the restaurant was originally opened
by kamiyama-san more than 20 years ago
in 1987 in tokyo it was just her at a
small counter bar but after some time
the word from her customers about her
amazing gyoza dumplings started to
spread so much so that all the new
business helped her move and open up her
very first restaurant at this location
or in today in fact in japan chinese
food is very much part of japanese food
culture making up about 14 of the
restaurants which is even more than
sushi restaurants at eight percent
oh now the chef is chopping up white
leeks which are used in many of their
dishes apparently to keep things fresh
the kitchen cuts many of the ingredients
just before cooking so they don't spend
much time cutting in advance
are you done with the prep
oh damn i really wish i understood
chinese he now prepares a soup that
comes with the lunches i believe that's
egg drop soup
now all the prep is done that was pretty
quick
oh thank you you gave me some coffee
what are you drinking oh aojiru i drink
that too what did you add though
oh honey that's so healthy good for you
what's that wristband for
uh
energy
oh it helps with sore shoulders
since the chef has a bit of time before
the lunchtime rush he goes to check on
the central kitchen nearby where they
make the gyoza dumplings
here the workers make all of the gyoza
from scratch and once finished the
freshly created gyoza are delivered
directly to their restaurants or in
tokyo what in yokohama and even made
available on their online shop this
central kitchen is the heart of their
operation and is the reason why
kamiyama-san is able to consistently
produce and maintain the quality of her
signature mouth-watering gyoza that our
customers have come to love
[Music]
he's mincing the meat they use a fresh
branded pork called biton from fuji
kogen
oh there's kamiyama-san
with skilled self the small central
kitchen can produce about four thousand
to five thousand gyoza in one day even
the gyoza wraps are made from raw
ingredients which is why the gyoza
itself has its own unique playful plumpy
texture in fact kamiyama-san even today
is very much involved in the production
of her signature gyoza and can often be
found here working away
so did you adjust your recipe for the
japanese taste
[Music]
yeah i love your gyoza it's so good
she's originally from shenyang a
prosperous city in northeast china known
to be the birthplace of gyoza she grew
up with a grandmother who was skilled at
cooking amazing meat buns and dim sum
and who taught her the traditional
chinese gyoza recipe that she uses today
inspiring her to follow her true passion
to cook
[Music]
oh now the chef's back at the restaurant
[Music]
so before the store opens for lunch the
chef makes food for all the workers
apparently the restaurant closes at
midnight and some of the workers stay
late so they prefer having a later
breakfast with each other just before
the lunchtime rush
wow look how fast he cooks my man's got
skills
[Music]
this is a popular summer stir fry dish
with egg cucumber pork and kikuraki aka
jelly here
oh the other workers are here from the
central kitchen just down the street
it's really like their one big family
kamiyama-san
i guess after their meal all that's left
to do is wait for the customers to
arrive at 11 30.
hey what's your hobby by the way
[Music]
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[Music]
is explaining the menu to the customers
herself although there's a waitress she
says that she still enjoys talking
directly with customers and telling them
about her food i guess this is another
reason why so many locals just love this
place and of course the customer is
ordering their famous gyoza
that yellow ingredient in the water is
corn powder which helps to create the
crispy outer shell while still
maintaining the juicy flavors inside
oh nice the gyoza is ready hot damn it
looks good seriously their gyoza here is
dripping with flavor that you don't even
need sauce but i do love to get saucy
with it here and alternate between their
various offerings to mix up the flavor
profile either way their gyoza is
addictive so how many gyoza do you sell
a day
interestingly boiled and steamed
dumplings are more commonly eaten in
china and the leftovers are pan-fried
and eaten the next day at least that's
what i understand this shop of course
has many different kinds of dumplings
but since a majority of japanese prefer
pan-fried gyoza dumplings it's become
the most popular ivamata shop
[Music]
now the chef is making subuta so eating
sour pork
so if you haven't figured out by now
he's the main chef at this restaurant he
originally studied at a cooking school
in chiang chong china which is just
north of kamiyama-san's hometown after
building and honing his skills as a chef
he moved to japan in 2008 and has been
working as a chef now for about 30 years
with so much skill kamiyama-san was
eager to hire him three years ago as a
head chef at a main restaurant
[Music]
that's actually one of the most popular
dishes on the menu shrimp fried rice and
of course it's usually ordered with her
gyoza
[Music]
oh and once again he's flying he's just
so efficient with his movements and he
washes the pan fast as well i guess it's
nice to have the water faucet right next
to the cooking stove i didn't notice
this a lot in japanese kitchens but i
believe the design is pretty common in
chinese restaurant kitchens
they're getting quite busy let's go talk
to the customers excuse me is this your
first time
so what do you like here
oh the chef is making mabodofu now
the smells from the spices are
intoxicating in fact the head chef
blends the shop's original spicy oil
called balajang used in their mapa tofu
in addition to their signature flavored
oils like scallion oil sancho pepper oil
and garlic oil which is bought by
kamiyama-san herself in china to
guarantee the true taste of her homeland
you're working so hard aren't you tired
i guess not
take me down
now the lunchtime rush is in full swing
and the chefs are in sync with one
another cooking one dish after another
at incredible speeds it's like watching
a formula one pit crew on repeat
apparently though night time is far
busier than lunch as many locals and
sally men in the area come here in the
evening after work to enjoy gyoza and
drinks sounds like a fun night to me
oh the chefs are also responsible for
washing all the dishes here they really
do everything in this kitchen
that's the last customer
[Music]
so after lunch the chefs take a break at
two o'clock until they need to start
preparing for dinner at four after such
a high paced work shift they definitely
deserve a break taking advantage of the
time to sleep or work on their hobbies
they're really all like one big family
so that's another one in the books if
you want to visit this shop and
experience it yourself i'll be sure to
leave a link in the description so there
you go that is behind the counter at a
local gyoza restaurant here in japan if
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in the next one