This is how fast food Udon noodles are made in Japan
♫ Intro Music Playing ♫
So a lot of you commented that you wanted another "Made in Japan" video
Well here it is !!
This time I'm in front of Marugame Seimen
Today I'm going to take you inside behind the counter
and show you how this fast food noodle shop
truly earns the title "Made in Japan"
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Alright, Let's start from the beginning
♪ Music Playing ♪
Marugame Seimen is a popular self-service fast food Udon chain in Japan
with more than 850 stores throughout
most known for their Sanuki Style Udon since 2000
You may think a fast food chain
not to be a worthy candidate for a "Made in Japan" video
but hold on to your chopsticks
because you've probably never seen how fast food noodles are made in Japan
All right so I'm in but before I go into the kitchen
I'm gonna need a change, so let's do that right now
All right, there we go, let's do this
So I'm just in front of the counter here
I'm about to take you behind but look at this
This is where it all starts is where all the magic happens
Let's go see what goes on
♫ Drum Rolls ♫
First things first, let's go check out their Udon noodles
It's probably fair to assume that their noodles are made
and shipped from a central kitchen or factory
but this chain makes their noodles from scratch
Every day in store so that they can serve the freshest noodles possible
First their staff mixes the raw ingredients
Oh !! She's checking the temperature of the salt and water
The ingredients for Udon noodles are simple - flour, salt and water
but since the ingredients are so simple
the condition of the ingredients have to be absolutely perfect
and the measurements precise in order
to produce the same quality noodles each and every time
♪ ♪
Now she carefully mixes the water and salt
making sure to dissolve every grain
♪♪
Next, she pours the salted water into the mixer
carefully taking into account
every drop of water and speck of flour
Udon is such a sensitive food that a small discrepancy in the measurements
can result in a huge difference in quality
consistency and flavor so the staff must keep the difference under 0.1 grams
Finally the dough is inspected by hand
The weather does play a role in the preparation process
so the staff must be skilled enough to make adjustments accordingly
♪
In fact, the shop even have specialized staff known as
Menshokunin a.k.a Udon Master
There are only 245 company licensed Noodle Masters
out of 20,000 workers nationwide
Now the finished dough gets placed
into an aging container to rest overnight
Then, the kneading process begins
Aged dough from the previous day
is kneaded by these machines
This dough is called "Zabuton"
which is the same word for a flat Japanese seat cushion
kneading dough by machine looks easy and straightforward
but apparently if the dough isn't kneaded equally
from every direction the dose structure breaks down
and loses its texture
which is again why this process is performed by a skilled artisan
♪
I don't know about you
but despite being at fast food
It's crazy to see how all of it is done by hand
Excuse me, Can I ask you a question ?
How much of Udon dough do you make in a day ?
What's the most difficult thing about making Udon?
What's your favorite Udon at the shop ?
What do you think is the key to making delicious Udon ?
After the dough is adequately kneaded
it's promptly placed into the cutter
to produce these beautiful strands of Udon
and then quickly dipped into a boiling tank of water
The noodle master ensures that the surface of the noodles are first cooked
and then stirs them
so they are cooked evenly
This helps create a difference in water retention
between the surface of the noodle and inside of it
producing a bouncy texture with a strong body
who knew that there'd be so much beauty in this noodle science
♪
This is probably my favorite part seeing all the food get fried
♪ ♪
and just like the noodles it's made all by hand
and not just four or five kinds
Look at all of these fried pieces of joy !!
This is their top selling tempura
KASHIWA - TEN
which is a juicy chicken breast tempura
and secret to this hitter is careful preparation
The chicken is pre-soaked and treated to remove any traces of blood
before it's added to the shop's secret marinade
which locks in the chicken's moisture and umami
What's that ?
Oh !! and as they fry the tempura
the tenkasu udon topping is also made
Let's find out a little bit more
about my favorite section in this whole place
Excuse me, Can I ask you a question ?
What's the secret of the shop's delicious tempura ?
Do you have any recommended combinations of Tempura and Udon ?
This shop offers eight basic tempura items
like vegetable kakiage, squid and sweet potato
and then on top of that three to five seasonal items
all freshly fried throughout the day
and always ready to go before this door opens
This just looks so good !!
Let's have a moment of silence and enjoy this fried loveliness
♪
Before we continue on
I want to give a quick shout out to our regular sponsor
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That said let's continue on
♪ Music Playing ♪
WOW !! These onigiri are looking so fresh !!
At this store they make about 100 onigiri a day
this shop uses 100% made in Japan rice
and topped off with the filling used
to help customers know what's inside
Excuse me, Can I ask you a question ?
Do you have any special techniques when making onigiri ?
Then the onigiri is wrapped one by one and placed on the display
♪
and of course Dashi is made in store as well
more than 6 times a day
Their dashi recipe has remained unchanged since the store's opening
made from kombu or in English kelp and several types of dried fish
Excuse me, Can I ask you a question ?
What's so different about this Dashi ?
And what's the key to making delicious Dashi ?
Finally the dashi is mixed with a special sweet sauce mix called 'Kaeshi'
to complete the umami infused creation
♪ Jazz Musing Playing ♪
So right before the store opens
all the staff gather for a quick morning meeting called 'Chorei'
to discuss any company related matters
Oh and that's the Menshokunin
I guess she's the store manager here
Now all the food is prepared and the store is ready for customers
and just in case you didn't know
how a fast food noodle shop works in Japan
Let me try to show you !!
Okay let's see if we can follow this lady as she orders
so first things first she selects the type of Udon she wants
as there are many options
the staff then quickly prepare her bowl with their freshly made noodles
after receiving it she has the option to pick any of the side dishes
like the tempura or the onigiri
Oh it looks like she ordered the Kake Udon
and this shop she gets to put the dashi on her own
finally if she wants
she can gather any of the free toppings
green onions, tenkasu or ginger
and then she's all set to find a table
so we're going to end it here
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