John Daub: This is chicken nanban.
Juicy, creamy, even crunchy Japanese fried chicken.
In this episode I'm gonna be taking you
from the farm to the kitchen to the
table to try this delicious dish.
As well as some other amazing chicken dishes.
I can't wait to sink my teeth into this one.
This is gonna be an amazing food adventure.
[Intro music]
Irrashaimase! (Welcome!)
Peter von Gomm: ONLY in JAPAN
John: Miyazaki is on Kyushu island.
A 95-minute flight southwest from Tokyo.
It has warmer temperatures, more sun here and it shows.
In the city center is Ogura Honten,
home of chicken nanban,
a very popular dish all around Japan.
We'll look at the history of this
Miyazaki chicken dish and try it.
But first, let's start at the farm.
A 30-minute drive from the city is
Shirasugao Jidori Free Range Chicken Farm.
This is Noda-san,
the owner who gave me a tour.
The farm is on the way to
Kirishima National Park from Miyazaki,
a quiet area of the prefecture.
The different chicken coops down there
have groups of chicken at different ages.
Let's start with the baby chicks.
From hatchlings to about one and a half months,
they're here in this covered house.
It's important here not to make
any loud sounds which should cause them stress.
The wood panels open up to add space as
the young group gets older.
You can see they have the space
to be playful here.
I also noticed there isn't as strong
a smell as I had expected.
It's quite clean.
More on that shortly.
This group of jidori chickens came in
a few weeks earlier.
They're bigger.
They are quite shy.
It reminded me of chicken junior high school.
Quite a diverse mix of feather colors,
almost like different styles.
They've all gone to one side to get a
good look of their silent visitor.
Free-range chickens will grow more slowly.
They will stay in this expanding
space their whole lives.
You can see the enclosures have enlarged.
More space, more freedom.
At about that one and a half month mark,
the enclosures will open up even more
and they'll fill the area outside.
Nets above to protect from intruders.
This group is the oldest.
Lots of space, excellent ventilation.
I could instantly see the boss.
The strongest and most handsome in the coop.
Boss Rooster: (Listen up!)
(It's all you can eat!)
(I want to see some meat on those thighs.)
(Eat up like your life depends on it.)
(Because it kind of does...hmmm.....)
(Sorta.)
John: They have a society very much like
people which you can observe over time.
The age they're processed is about
four months for males, five months for females.
This is much longer than intensive farms
where they can be processed in
as little as six to eight weeks.
The food they eat is a mix of corn, rice,
leaves, and grass outside.
I asked Noda-san the secret to raising
the best chickens.
Noda-san: (They eat, sleep and play when they feel like it.)
(That's the secret to raising delicious chicken.)
(We want them to have a stress-free)
(happy life here.)
John: (So with this freedom, the meat becomes more delicious to eat?)
Noda-san: (Yes, I really believe so.)
John: The ground in the chicken coops was full
of this special homemade mulch mixture
made from enoki and shiitake mushroom beds
and Japanese cedar trees.
Out back, Noda-san showed me a fresh pile.
Digging just a little bit in you get to this patch
which is steaming hot from the
microbial activity from those mushroom beds.
Spreading it out it keeps
the chickens warm and comfortable
reducing odor and bad bacteria as well.
An amazing innovation.
Oh!
That's hot!
There's a lot that goes into raising chickens this way.
Happy chickens means happy chefs
and happy eaters.
The best of them source their chickens from farms like Noda-san's.
Now let's go back to the city
to finish that original chicken nanban at Ogura Honten.
This dish looks more Western than Japanese.
It came with a fork and knife,
a little spaghetti on the side and
the rice on a side plate not bowl.
It smelled amazing.
Get a little of the famous
tartar sauce on that chicken.
All those flavors and textures just come
together so perfectly for an amazing chicken dish.
Chicken nanban started here
in Miyazaki by two chefs who made
breaded chicken cutlet like this.
One marinated in sweet and sour vinegar.
The other using tartar sauce, right here.
The two chefs went different paths.
This is Yoshimitsu Kai and his version of
chicken nanban is what's mainstream.
Ogura Honten opening in 1956 and the dish
continues to evolve nationwide today.
It tastes like sweet and sour chicken,
but it's better.
The outside is crispier; the inside juicier.
Most restaurant owners will use chicken thigh
but here they use chicken breast.
The entire piece is breaded, deep fried,
and it's got that savory,
very tangy taste to it.
A lot of different flavors mixed in there.
But that creaminess of the tartar sauce,
that deep fried chicken.
Oh, it's just so well done.
Miyazaki's chicken culture has many flavorful turns.
This chicken dish being
my favorite of them all.
But it's done in different ways.
Before heading to the Miyazaki
countryside for one of the best chicken
places in Japan, I hit a small city
restaurant for a bite.
It's a tight fit.
Grab a non-alcohol beer, I'm driving.
And get ready for Miyazaki jidori
char grilled momoyaki.
A comfort food here.
It takes the taste of the grill.
Perfect with a cold beer.
It's seasoned only with salt, sometimes a little pepper.
The chicken oil from the fat
makes the fire go wild.
It's chewy, juicy, salty, with a pleasant bitterness
and it tastes like chicken.
Of course I got a chicken nanban.
One for the road.
It's really done different here
than at Ogura Honten.
The dish has certainly evolved.
We'll get deeper into this dish at a
place I know in the forest an hour drive
away from Miyazaki City towards the
volcanic Kirishima National Park.
This is Kobayashi Jidori no Sato.
This is one of my favorite chicken restaurants
in all of Japan, here in Miyazaki.
Let's go in and have some lunch.
The restaurant has several huts to eat in.
Kind of looks like a chicken coop.
It's built around the woods.
The water and air are incredibly clean here.
Out back you'll see smoke rising.
They're cooking up some Miyazaki jidori char grill.
Bold statement: this is the freshest
chicken I've ever eaten.
In the kitchen, they're cooking up
some chicken nanban.
It'll require some eggs from the farm nearby.
The chicken thighs are breaded,
and dipped in egg.
Then deep fried.
When done they're bathed in a special
tare sauce with ginger.
The tartar sauce has egg, pickles.
And the deliciousness flows down the
golden crispy sides.
And that's topped with the restaurant's
special sauce drizzled on top.
It's made with mirin and soy sauce.
Kansei desu! (Complete!)
[Laughter]
Arigatou! (Thank you!)
They cracked me two raw eggs for some reason.
I wonder why.
And here it comes.
Itadakimasu. (I humbly receive.)
The first bite is a crisp to explosion
of juice and flavorful oils.
Then special tartar sauce adding a creamy
smoothiness, saltiness, light sweet vinegar,
hitting every sense all at once.
The soft tension of the chicken and
the chew mixing with all that flavor.
It's a dish to savor.
Chicken nanban is my favorite chicken dish.
No question.
Now that bowl of rice and raw egg.
Jidori egg yolks are special.
They cut so evenly.
Not many eggs can do this.
And the color.
Goes on top of the rice as is
with a little seasoning to make a dish
called "tamago kake gohan" or raw egg on rice.
[Evil laughter]
It's better than you think.
Or at least it is if you've lived here for 25 years
It's so good. You have no idea.
Just the nama egg, the raw egg.
You don't understand unless you've had it before like this.
There's so much flavor in it,
but it's the texture that it adds to the rice.
Oh man.
A little bit of that yuzu shio,
the yuzu salt, it's perfect.
Wow perfect.
Okay chicken sashimi, raw chicken
is popular in this area.
The restaurant's reputation is behind the dish
which means a lot in Japan and I've had
no issues with it in many meals eating it.
The meat was fresh, a little chewy,
not gamey, and tasted like chicken.
But I prefer chicken nanban.
And when you're in Miyazaki,
or anywhere it's on the menu,
you have to go for it.
Different places make it slightly differently.
And knowing how the chicken is sourced and
tastes confirms that Miyazaki's jidori
is the Kobe beef of chicken.
I shall be back here again very soon.
We sure ate a lot.
This has been an amazing adventure on chicken.
I hope you learned something.
It really does make a difference when
you travel around the regions of any country,
especially Japan.
The food here is incredible.
Each region having its own dishes.
And Miyazaki: chicken, wagyu,
mangoes, vegetables, seafood.
It's got it all.
This is a gastronomical paradise.
If you liked it hit that subscribe button.
And join me on another adventure as I
take you to every corner of this amazing country.
Mata ne! (See you again!)
(Subtitles by Toby Production Services)