Latest Aozora Restaurant: 12/9/2023. It's saffron in Taketa, Oita. Returning guest is TV announcer Miura Asami (now Mrs. Nakamura Tomoya) and a first-time appearance for another comedy duo that apparently won some big ol' competition.
Growing and harvesting this seemingly fragile spice from the flower buds looks tremendously time consuming. I wonder how far this goes in the Japanese market. Anyway, there's a lot of sauce in this episode for a pork steak dish. "Saffron oden" looks too oblique for my taste. A big ol paella dish serves as the grand kanpai dish that everyone marvels over, particularly the koge rice bits.
Latest Aozora Restaurant: 12/2/2023. Opening segment is in Yoyogi Park, Shibuya, Tokyo, which feels mere miles away from NTV's headquarters. So different than the remote areas the show heads out to. Today's ingredient is mochi: "Denki Mochi," as labeled by the master of a place that uses a fancy motorized mochi pounder.
Not a whole lot of variety with mochi, it seems. Classic simple items: Mitarashi mochi, ozoni, fried mochi in dashi broth. Kanpai dish is "mabo mochi," which I guess works since it has meat and substance.
Latest episode: 11/25/2023. Actor Hayashi Kento joins Daisuke in Kochi. A very peppy lady, Nagano-san, takes the boys to catch Egani crab. The huge nets grabbed what looked like rubbish at first but they eventually scored some big ones.
Prepared in the classic ways: steamed, soup broth, gratin style, a chili sauce popular in Singapore, and finally a classic spaghetti "peperoncino" dish to kanpai with.
11/11/2023: Matsutake mushrooms in some mountain region in Nagano. The actual place description is too lengthy for me to deal with, as is the umpteenth comedy duo as featured guests. After a while, they all feel the same.
How they are able to find the real deal in the steep mountain areas is beyond my scope. But they do find some huge ones, including the specific "Ikuta Matsutake" for the region.
As far as I'm concerned, just a simple grilled piece that would fetch thousands of yen would suffice. And they do keep it simple: rice, along with a shio nabe to kanpai with.
11/18/2023: Satsuma imo sweet potato in Katori, Chiba. First-time guest is Nagashima Kazushige, the kind of talento I would have guessed made several appearances in the past.
Satsuma imo is one of those items that is special to Japanese palates but, not having grown up with the delicacy, makes me feel utterly indifferent. I'd just as soon eat a regular gray-skinned baked potato lathered in sour cream and chives. But the process this imo is grown and aged is just stupendous -- I'm sure lovers of this veggie will appreciate it way more than myself.
Kazushige and company enjoy it baked, stuffed with cheese, and of course as a dessert topping. The kanpai dish is gnocchi in a satsuma imo sauce thingie... The previous week's matsutake nabe was far more appetizing.
10/21/2023: Tachiuo in Kanazawa, Yokohama. Guests are another comedy duo, Savanna. Off to Tokyo Bay in search of the cutlassfish/beltfish. Time limit: two and a half hours. Spoiler alert: the boys do NOT get shut out. At least there's a good variety of dishes: sashimi, tempura, chige nabe, and toasting with "butter roll-yaki."
10/28/2023: It's satoimo/sweet potato in Ohno, Fukui. Guest is... well, it's IKKO, NOT one of my favorites. I find her rather grating and one-dimensional but this is her ELEVENTH (!) appearance on the program and there's no stopping her, so...
Satoimo is one of those classic Japanese treats that I have a difficult time relating to, not having grown up with it. There are some good things here: chikuzenni (a simmered nishime dish), korokke, and even brulee. Kanpai dish is "mabo satoimo," substituting the sweet potato in place of tofu -- turned out pretty good, actually.
11/4/2023: Actress Kitano Kie and the comedy duo Daian go to a seemingly remote area in Kagoshima for daidai citrus. By itself it feels like a pretty boring thing. But used to flavor regular food, oh boy! Karaage, roasted pork, chiffon cake (?!!), and culminating with mizore nabe to kanpai to.
9/30/2023: Kasama, Ibaraki with a gal I haven't seen in a while, Tani Maria. I dig her -- a lot more genki than That Other One. They go picking (off the ground, more often) kuri chestnuts. Never realized that this item could be used for much of anything but they do manage to make a stew and stir-fry dish before making the usual dessert item. Unfortunately the NTV website didn't have an actual episode writeup so I'll just link the Instagram posts because they both include the lovely Maria.
10/7/2023: Daisuke is in Toyama with a first-time guest, actor Takashima Masanobu, and a repeat visitor, Jinnai Tomonori. It's the Osechi 2024 special on location at the restaurant of head chef Hayashi Hideki, who has been putting together these awesome multi-layered osechi boxes. We get a few shots of older episodes before chef Hayashi completes the osechi collection: char-grilled kanpachi, steamed awabi, simmered nameko and hiratake mushrooms, a chicken dish topped in a rich chive sauce, and finally roast beef cuz hey osechi is expensive anyway. A feast worthy of a kanpai!
10/14/2023. It's the annual new rice crop special in Tochigi. Our guest is Noro Kayo, a former member of those 48 groups. For some reason "rice master" Nishijima did *not* make his yearly appearance. Kinda bummed, actually. Anyway it's off to the fields and a new batch called "Yuudai 21," co-developed by some local university students.
Always a challenge to see what they pair the white rice with. Today's sides include: corned beef (?), nori, ochazuke mix, furikake, and concluding with a fried rice dish.
9/16/2023. Voice actor Kimura Subaru -- someone I've already seen a few times in Sekkaku Gourmet episodes -- returns to the program in Rikuzentakada, Iwate. Off to collect Ishikage-kai, a big ol' clam that looks like a bird head when the shell is opened.
Good stuff: grilled, steamed in spicy broth, and capped with a great takikomi gohan dish topped with sauteed Ishikage and soup.
9/23/2023. Daisuke welcomes Tomochika back to the show -- I think she's had pretty good draws on this program. Today they are in Kamishihoro, Kato, Hokkaido. Long time no beef! This particular brand is Tokachi Herb Beef. Always fun to see them learn about how the cows are raised, nurtured, fed... And then there's a beautifully marbled slice of meat on a table.
All kinds of good stuff: sirloin steak, katsu, oxtail soup. Kampai menu was hamburger with a special Tokachi bread.
For some reason, the August 26 episode doesn't have a rundown on the Nippon TV website. And I was not able to get the September 2 episode featuring my gal Matsushita Nao. Oh, that hurt!
And if the gods weren't conspiring to drive me batty, the following episode (September 9) had one of my geinou nemesis: Takizawa Karen. Gads, I find her engaging as a cloudy sky on a humid morning. Clearly she has *some* clout -- how else could she be a repeat guest alongside Daisuke?!!
Anywell, this one was in Shiojirishi, Nagano. Red corn is the featured food. Not a whole lot to do but the farmers and chefs were pretty good and I don't think Takizawa did a whole lotta Nihongo fumbling, as is her shtick.
Apparently, there's going to be a sequel, aired in 2025? So the first season might end on a cliffhanger? And the…
Thank you for the info. This drama begins on NGN TV next week and I was trying to find an excuse to bail on it. There's no telling what will be broadcast in a couple years and I'm tired of investing months in a program only to be told there's a damn movie on the horizon that will give you the "real" conclusion...
New Aozora Restaurant: 8/19/2023. It's peaches in Kinogawa, Wakayama. Takagi Reni, a member of Momoiro Clover (duh!) joins the fun. A big ol' farm with different peach types. As with specific fruit episodes, the dishes aren't all that varied. I mean, a peach smoothie and deep fried slices didn't exactly inspire my palate. They also changed courses mid-program and introduced a cheese maker. Wakayama deserves better.
Oh, well. Takagi was full of energy and genki to the very end. What a pro.
This drama finished Wednesday evening on NGN-TV. Felt all the meh, like a lot of people in this thread. I'm actually a little curious about the present/future timeline as presented at the end but yanno, who cares?
Latest Aozora Restaurant: 8/12/2023. A whole lotta basil in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. Guest is Osawa Akane, making her first appearance on the program in... 13 years?!! Like they said, it's a whole different program now.
Whole lotta herbs in this one. I thought they would go off the board with recipes but there's a lot of relatable stuff. Steamed clams, gyoza, Yurinchi fried chicken. Actually any of those would have sufficed over the actual Kanpai dish: a pasta dish made with "holy basil." In any case it exceeded my expectations and Osawa is super genki. Recommended episode!
New Aozora Restaurant: 8/5/2023. Eggplant in Kameoka, Kyoto. And it's a comedy duo with "nasu" in their name so they never get invited to eat steak or fish or even plain peas and carrots. Nope, PUNS 4 LYFE. Anyway, it's a kind of meh handful of dishes. The kampai finale looked a bit hearty but I've seen better rice dishes I'd rather fill my stomacho with, including a plain chahan dish that Daisuke Himself once prepared.
Latest Aozora Restaurant: 7/29/2023. Anago in Ishinomaki, Miyagi-ken. A first-time appearance for one of them comedy teams: A trio called Yonsentoushin. I'm too lazy to look up the etymology. Anyway, we go off to the seas to pick up a bunch of traps. Some pretty good dishes abound: grilling and deep frying is your ally. The tempura rolls looked particularly good, as well as the kampai dish, a anago burger with sweet chili sauce.
Latest Aozora Restaurant: 7/22/2023. It's a rainy day in Izu, Shizuoka Prefecture. And another first-time guest: Fuwa-chan, my number-one nemesis. I may have predicted otherwise but she is NOT going away for some time.
Anyway, this week features wasabi. No idea how they can ingest that much freshly ground from the root and not melt into goo. That shit's spicy! Lotta good stuff: condiments for meats and all. The wasabi tartar sauce mayonnaise is something as the topping for chicken nanban.
New Aozora Restaurant: 7/15/2023. Pork in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka-ken. And it's another first-time appearance for one of them comedy duos! Too lazy to do a search on them -- they all feel the same to me.
A much-appreciated break from veggies, btw. A big ol' pig farm with Fujisan looming about is a helluva image. And you can't miss with pork: stir fry, cabbage wraps, xiaolongbao, capped with sausages for the kampai feast! BTW the campsite employee is real cute cooking with the guys.
Latest Aozora Restaurant: 7/8/2023. The show took a week off but we're back again! Daisuke returns to Nagahama, Shiga-ken for Biwa trout. Returning guest is Kendo Kobayashi, who I swore was a former pro wrestler but is actually another one of them Yoshimoto funny guys. His wiki said he played rugby in high school, which also fits.
It's Biwa trout once more, but farmed. Has that salmon color, curious as to its taste. Whole lotta fried stuff here: korokke, a fried diced potato, and sushi.
A new special item debuts: the Kampai Set, featuring items in previous episodes. Not as ostentatious as the Osechi box -- "only" one layer and nine items total -- but at least everyone gets their own to eat with their glass(es) of Sapporo beer.
Growing and harvesting this seemingly fragile spice from the flower buds looks tremendously time consuming. I wonder how far this goes in the Japanese market. Anyway, there's a lot of sauce in this episode for a pork steak dish. "Saffron oden" looks too oblique for my taste. A big ol paella dish serves as the grand kanpai dish that everyone marvels over, particularly the koge rice bits.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913a7hkm5rv48wzyyn8.html
Not a whole lot of variety with mochi, it seems. Classic simple items: Mitarashi mochi, ozoni, fried mochi in dashi broth. Kanpai dish is "mabo mochi," which I guess works since it has meat and substance.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913k3y722mt36rrw9sm.html
Prepared in the classic ways: steamed, soup broth, gratin style, a chili sauce popular in Singapore, and finally a classic spaghetti "peperoncino" dish to kanpai with.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913azzra2jgks2tzm17.html
11/11/2023: Matsutake mushrooms in some mountain region in Nagano. The actual place description is too lengthy for me to deal with, as is the umpteenth comedy duo as featured guests. After a while, they all feel the same.
How they are able to find the real deal in the steep mountain areas is beyond my scope. But they do find some huge ones, including the specific "Ikuta Matsutake" for the region.
As far as I'm concerned, just a simple grilled piece that would fetch thousands of yen would suffice. And they do keep it simple: rice, along with a shio nabe to kanpai with.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/191368grj8tsphhmy6gf.html
11/18/2023: Satsuma imo sweet potato in Katori, Chiba. First-time guest is Nagashima Kazushige, the kind of talento I would have guessed made several appearances in the past.
Satsuma imo is one of those items that is special to Japanese palates but, not having grown up with the delicacy, makes me feel utterly indifferent. I'd just as soon eat a regular gray-skinned baked potato lathered in sour cream and chives. But the process this imo is grown and aged is just stupendous -- I'm sure lovers of this veggie will appreciate it way more than myself.
Kazushige and company enjoy it baked, stuffed with cheese, and of course as a dessert topping. The kanpai dish is gnocchi in a satsuma imo sauce thingie... The previous week's matsutake nabe was far more appetizing.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913uty65gfqgdreiuwa.html
10/21/2023: Tachiuo in Kanazawa, Yokohama. Guests are another comedy duo, Savanna. Off to Tokyo Bay in search of the cutlassfish/beltfish. Time limit: two and a half hours. Spoiler alert: the boys do NOT get shut out. At least there's a good variety of dishes: sashimi, tempura, chige nabe, and toasting with "butter roll-yaki."
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913lj85ep0ux76ip5c4.html
10/28/2023: It's satoimo/sweet potato in Ohno, Fukui. Guest is... well, it's IKKO, NOT one of my favorites. I find her rather grating and one-dimensional but this is her ELEVENTH (!) appearance on the program and there's no stopping her, so...
Satoimo is one of those classic Japanese treats that I have a difficult time relating to, not having grown up with it. There are some good things here: chikuzenni (a simmered nishime dish), korokke, and even brulee. Kanpai dish is "mabo satoimo," substituting the sweet potato in place of tofu -- turned out pretty good, actually.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913ygely258kk2zu6wa.html
11/4/2023: Actress Kitano Kie and the comedy duo Daian go to a seemingly remote area in Kagoshima for daidai citrus. By itself it feels like a pretty boring thing. But used to flavor regular food, oh boy! Karaage, roasted pork, chiffon cake (?!!), and culminating with mizore nabe to kanpai to.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913ivukkrreasu1iawk.html
9/30/2023: Kasama, Ibaraki with a gal I haven't seen in a while, Tani Maria. I dig her -- a lot more genki than That Other One. They go picking (off the ground, more often) kuri chestnuts. Never realized that this item could be used for much of anything but they do manage to make a stew and stir-fry dish before making the usual dessert item. Unfortunately the NTV website didn't have an actual episode writeup so I'll just link the Instagram posts because they both include the lovely Maria.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CxrY34ivpHs/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CxvKm3evJi-
10/7/2023: Daisuke is in Toyama with a first-time guest, actor Takashima Masanobu, and a repeat visitor, Jinnai Tomonori. It's the Osechi 2024 special on location at the restaurant of head chef Hayashi Hideki, who has been putting together these awesome multi-layered osechi boxes. We get a few shots of older episodes before chef Hayashi completes the osechi collection: char-grilled kanpachi, steamed awabi, simmered nameko and hiratake mushrooms, a chicken dish topped in a rich chive sauce, and finally roast beef cuz hey osechi is expensive anyway. A feast worthy of a kanpai!
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913rnei92jhlntqpcye.html
10/14/2023. It's the annual new rice crop special in Tochigi. Our guest is Noro Kayo, a former member of those 48 groups. For some reason "rice master" Nishijima did *not* make his yearly appearance. Kinda bummed, actually. Anyway it's off to the fields and a new batch called "Yuudai 21," co-developed by some local university students.
Always a challenge to see what they pair the white rice with. Today's sides include: corned beef (?), nori, ochazuke mix, furikake, and concluding with a fried rice dish.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913qld3id3trjpwb1rn.html
9/16/2023. Voice actor Kimura Subaru -- someone I've already seen a few times in Sekkaku Gourmet episodes -- returns to the program in Rikuzentakada, Iwate. Off to collect Ishikage-kai, a big ol' clam that looks like a bird head when the shell is opened.
Good stuff: grilled, steamed in spicy broth, and capped with a great takikomi gohan dish topped with sauteed Ishikage and soup.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/191315glqqrfr7u78ib1.html
9/23/2023. Daisuke welcomes Tomochika back to the show -- I think she's had pretty good draws on this program. Today they are in Kamishihoro, Kato, Hokkaido. Long time no beef! This particular brand is Tokachi Herb Beef. Always fun to see them learn about how the cows are raised, nurtured, fed... And then there's a beautifully marbled slice of meat on a table.
All kinds of good stuff: sirloin steak, katsu, oxtail soup. Kampai menu was hamburger with a special Tokachi bread.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/19139bo92achkqblp7gw.html
And if the gods weren't conspiring to drive me batty, the following episode (September 9) had one of my geinou nemesis: Takizawa Karen. Gads, I find her engaging as a cloudy sky on a humid morning. Clearly she has *some* clout -- how else could she be a repeat guest alongside Daisuke?!!
Anywell, this one was in Shiojirishi, Nagano. Red corn is the featured food. Not a whole lot to do but the farmers and chefs were pretty good and I don't think Takizawa did a whole lotta Nihongo fumbling, as is her shtick.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913cok1jyac10kchnns.html
Oh, well. Takagi was full of energy and genki to the very end. What a pro.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/19134fnmz6j8zw50yo18.html
Whole lotta herbs in this one. I thought they would go off the board with recipes but there's a lot of relatable stuff. Steamed clams, gyoza, Yurinchi fried chicken. Actually any of those would have sufficed over the actual Kanpai dish: a pasta dish made with "holy basil." In any case it exceeded my expectations and Osawa is super genki. Recommended episode!
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/19131zlbhn7ovm6o5kjr.html
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/19134pegf084hgdgje0a.html
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913dcvl2zqe5jwbzrra.html
https://kinolorber.com/film/tokyo-pop
Anyway, this week features wasabi. No idea how they can ingest that much freshly ground from the root and not melt into goo. That shit's spicy! Lotta good stuff: condiments for meats and all. The wasabi tartar sauce mayonnaise is something as the topping for chicken nanban.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913423p9f95mow2mzeq.html
https://twitter.com/NGN_TV/status/1673762174546882562
A much-appreciated break from veggies, btw. A big ol' pig farm with Fujisan looming about is a helluva image. And you can't miss with pork: stir fry, cabbage wraps, xiaolongbao, capped with sausages for the kampai feast! BTW the campsite employee is real cute cooking with the guys.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/191349c5jyurmnqi5jyt.html
It's Biwa trout once more, but farmed. Has that salmon color, curious as to its taste. Whole lotta fried stuff here: korokke, a fried diced potato, and sushi.
A new special item debuts: the Kampai Set, featuring items in previous episodes. Not as ostentatious as the Osechi box -- "only" one layer and nine items total -- but at least everyone gets their own to eat with their glass(es) of Sapporo beer.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913cb131slz6tt37rct.html