Today we're going for one of my most favorite things ever...
Noodles!
Aw, look at how happy I am.
I don't yet know how terribly wrong this day is gonna go.
Literally any kind of a carb - If you're like,
"We're gonna go for pizza today!" Martina's like, "YUP"
"We're gonna go to a bakery today!" A Martina would be like, "YUP" Noodles!
"YUP" Noodle noodle noodle *tsh tsh ta tsh*
noodle noodle noodle *to the tune of Super Mario Bros. Underground Theme*
We're goin' for some noodles!
I'm going to eat no-noodle noodle noo noo noo noo noo-dle
S: Noodles are this way!
So right now we are heading to Takadonababa, which is like the college town
We're going there for daichi no udon and we're gonna show you what it's all about.
M: Is there something that you want to tell everybody Simon?
So, Japan has always these variable hours when it comes to (Angry Martina: Don't make excuses!)
lunches and whatnot. So this place is open from 11:00am to 3:30pm, and then it closes and reopens at 6:00pm
Right now it's 3:07pm. We're not gonna make that so...
M: So.. we're - we're not gonna have noodles today?
We can have them later just at 6:00pm, just not now. M: But we already paid money!
M: I think we should just go on an adventure to Takadonababa. S: Let's go see what they have in Takadonababa!
So, in order for Simon to console me because I REALLY wanted noodles
We are still in Takadonababa and we are heading to a lighter ramen shop. That's right -
We can enjoy noodles before noodles. S: Appetizer ramen! M: Appetizer ramen.
So we're going to Ramen Yamaguchi and it's about like a 15 minute walk away from the station
We will figure out what to do and report back to you once we eat noodles
S: Um, seems like you're eating mine now. Your bowl is over there. M: I had to try it because I accidentally fell - fell over there
I was like, "Oh no!" And then I didn't want to be rude to your bowl
So a really good way to make it through your day in Japan, if you got some hours to kill, is to go for some
Michelin star ramen. M: Yeah, why not? S: This was actually so good. I want to do a video on it by itself
And I think this is gonna hold me over for a good long time. M: What time is it right now?
It's 4:30 and we still have an hour and a half to go before we could film our video
Oh no
Oh no, ducky. It's closed
We got it
S: Did you though?
Yes, okay
So we got - we got two yaki-dango and then we're getting two kinds that are like wrapped in leaves
And one is like a washira-something mochi. I don't know what that is
anyways, except the mochi part. And the other one has miso. I think it's like beans and miso. S: We better not get super stuffed
S: and not be able to eat our udon, girl. Did you get three different kinds each?
Remember, how long is the udon shop open 'til? We don't have to be there at 6:00, you know. S: Girllllll
This could be lunchtime! S: Spending a whole day here? M: Brunch. Why not?
Last food. Yes. Thank you very much.
So our first problem today was that we decided to come here right when they were closed
so we have to wait a bit for our udon and now our second problem
is that after having some ramen, Martina decided to eat a whole lot of dango and
now somebody has a tummy ache and she might not be ready... M: You're not supposed to tell everyone this
...to film for 6pm, so we might have to delay our filming 'til 7pm
M: But it's not my fault. You told me we were going for noodles and all I had was a green smoothie.
Ooh, ah! We found a new place, ducky
that's so exciting! S: It is! M: We found a new place that we can be like
"I know this really good dango mochi shop." Like, it's so good! That's wonderful
that this happened. It was an exciting day for us even if things went wrong.
S: We went on adventures, we tried new things and we really liked it!
And! *motorcycle noise*
Scuze me, we're filming a YouTube video, don't you see?
Don't you just love the look of this place? This feels like a secret gem in the heart of the city
We are finally ready after many hours of stalling to go to Daichi no udon
M: Heck yes! S: I am so ready... M: I love udon! Noodles! S: ...for some damn-good udon. Let's do this.
This right here, that's what I'm getting
Oh yeaaaah
Alright
S: What do you want? M: I'm not sure yet, I might get the bukkake
S: Bukkake, yeah? Get bukkake. M: Yeah, I think so
M: Oh yeah S: Oh yeaah
So all the different regions of Japan have a different way that they make their udon noodles
So we thought that it was just like, you know
There's just one kind of udon, it comes in a broth, and it has radish on it
But that's not true at all. You can get it hot, you can get it cold.
You can get it cooked with starch-y water, you can have it with a raw egg,
you can have it with meat. There's tons of amazing things and different regions in Japan will do it differently
So really, it's just like ramen, where you could spend the rest of your life exploring prefectures in Japan trying their local udon
Even the noodles are different, ducky! S: When we are in Kyoto the noodles were very soft and very sweet
Sanuki udon supposedly has like, a toothier udon that has like more bite and a better
mouthfeel, you could say, to it. M: Bounciness. S: Bounciness, like you could chew on it and you really feel it.
Fukuoka udon - I really love broth there, but I found the noodles a bit too soft.
Supposedly the reason why they make noodles very, very soft is because you're not supposed to chew some of them
It's supposed to feel good in your throat. Take that Brooklyn nine-nine. You thought about mouthfeel? In Japan,
they think about throat feel!
S: Whoa, sugoi. Look at that! M: Arigato gozaimasu.
S: That is beautiful.
Voiceover Martina: I left the strange shaky clip in so that you could see Simon's eyes in slow motion as he
hungrily looks at my udon and realizes that his isn't out yet
This is the niku gobo udon. Gobo is
Burdock root or gobou and I've never seen it done. Like have you ever seen udon like this before? M: I haven't seen this before
This is my first time since - I don't even know to what I'm doing. M: Tempura crown
I don't know how you're supposed to - Do you just crush it through? S: Me neither. M: Do you pick it up with your hands?
Like, you've heard of tempura udon before, but this takes things
to a whole new level
What am I even supposed to...
What...
..is this mad- M: Oh wow super thinly cut. S: Yeah, very thin burdock root that
It kind - how do you..? M: He's struggling S: I'm struggling
Here we go. Nope, yep - No. Yes! Oh-ho
Wow! M: Nice and soft, and the broth?
I've never knew burdock root could taste like this. It's like, fragrant potato chip
Like imagine having a potato chip that's very, like onion-y on the back of your throat. This is really delicious
Holy Toledos. The flavors of this are just, so wild
It's so smoky and meaty. It tastes light and hearty at the same time
I feel like I'm eating this in the woods by a fireplace
M: Oh no. S: This feels like the manliest udon I can imagine
Ron Swanson in like red flannel shirts eating this with an axe in his hand, and I just never would have thought
to use burdock root like this. Put this on your list
I know when people come to Japan they think about ramen, but the things they do with udon here are
unbelievably creative. Those of you that are part of our Rainbow Ladder Support Team, you'll remember that we
mentioned some secret restaurants you should go to? That's a really good place as well. Make sure you check that one out, too
Ready?
That's the first time I have ever liked burdock root.
S: Yeah! M: Because they cut it so wafer-thin - you're absolutely right. If you try this
and then you try to try this somewhere else, it's gonna taste like... S: Yeah M: ...a stick vegetable
This is really like potato chips. You nailed it! S: Yeah!
M: Wow, regret. Well, not really because mine looks amazing. S: Yours looks pretty good also
Yeah, I'm gonna bukkake the heck out of this
Side note on bukkake. In Japan,
it means to splash or to pour something, because I've gotten my noodles here. They're cold and you pour it on top of it to
mix everything together
Yeah, I see what you mean by the slightly translucent S: Right? M: Yeah
This was absolutely worth it and I feel like I'm hoovering like a maniac, but the noodles are so
bouncy and light and I can totally get that feeling about like - almost like that mochi mochi feeling of something soft that you can just
swallow. It's not flowery. It doesn't taste like you're biting into a thick dough-y
pasta. It's light and bouncy and the flavors are so fantastic
Mine's got ginger, green onions, and it's got a bit of the dashi sauce they make which I've talked about lots
It's like the basic Japanese sauce. It comes together so beautifully. And also, I am gonna eat your soup
S: What? M: Just, I wanna give you a heads up right now. S: Girl mine tastes so good. This is really one of the yummiest udons I've ever tasted
Wow, look. You're right about this like transparent - even in this... do you see the way it looks?
Is it hot, by the way? S: Yeah, it is. Go for it. M: It is hot? S: Yeah.
Oh wow. Oh, my god, so light! The batter is so light. You gotta try this
Do you see how light that is? S: Oh yeah!
Now I know it might be like, a little unusual for me to be having a cold udon that's not even in any broth
But this actually makes for a really strong flavor-town experience
If you go, I love getting bukkake udon because the noodles don't overcook in the broth
And I find that if I'm eating like a hot soup I have to kind of like really power it down
So if you're doing something like, skiing or snowboarding, or out in the winter time, a hot udon is so nice
But for me what I want to enjoy it, when I want to taste all the flavors strongly... Look at this here
You've got big chunks of the katsuobushi, super smoky
I can taste it. Fresh green onions,
piles of ginger that really like, punch you suddenly. You've got a big huge pile of
grated radish that soaks up all the sauce and almost thickens it a bit, and then they've got the like
crunchy nori on top that adds that kind of seafood-y, umami flavor
So every bite you take is not an overcooked noodle, it's a bouncy, firm noodle
but with all these flavors like loaded into it. Perfect bukkake udon is a vehicle for these flavors, guys.
Bukkake all day long. You need to do it. S: You love bukkake
I love it. S: You're a bukkake girl. M: I'll be honest, I love bukkakes
I posted a picture to r/food on reddit and I got banned for bukkake udon because apparently bukkake is a bad word in North America
Everyone joked about it and then they're like you can't have jokey comments. This is a serious food thread
And I'm like, why did you ban me? I didn't make up the word, it's a real word! S: So we had ramen for breakfast
M: Yes S: And now we had udon. Should we go for the trifecta and go for soba right now?
Or she would save that for another video? M: Oh my god. And now we had savory,
so technically we should be going for more dango or ice cream or something.
I mean, math is math. S: How many desserts are you supposed to have a day?
M: Second breakfast? What about third breakfast? This is second dessert, its so normal
gosh
Wow yum-my
That was really great. Check the infobox below. We're gonna include the link for how you guys can get here
I've gone noodle crazy, crazy with noodles
S: Crazy for bukkakes. M: Love that bukkake. Love that bukkake udon. Who doesn't like bukkake udon?
You like bukkake udon!
Bukkake, yeah! I say bukkake, you say bukkake. Bukkake! S: Udon! M: Bukkake! S: Udon!
Oh, very nice! Splash, splash, splash the audience with this water cannon. Its bukkake!
Bukakke! It just means splash, get your mind out of the gutter!