Unbelievable SEA URCHIN (Uni) Rice Bowl - JAPANESE FOOD in Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan!

- Good morning, I hope you are having an amazing day! It's Mark Wiens. I'm in Sapporo, Japan, but today we're taking a day trip to Otaru, which is a little out of town on Ishikari Bay. They are known for their sea

food

, for their old town and their sea

food

market, and they are also known for uni, which is the sea

urchin

. So, we will take a day trip there. Let's eat some seafood. We're just going to walk. It's pretty cold, but we'll have fun and I'll share everything with you in this video. But to get there, we first need to head to Sapporo Station and then take the train from there.

So we're on our way! (upbeat pop music) (loud motor vehicle) (train skidding) To get to Sapporo station from where we are staying, we have to take the tram and then walk, and then we will be at Sapporo station. (upbeat pop music) (speaks foreign language) (upbeat pop music) I arrived at JR Sapporo Station. Ticket purchased, 640 yen to Otaru. (Ticket dispenser beeps) Okay, and then it should be... That's clue number 2, right? Clue number 2! (upbeat pop music) The train always arrives on time. I think it's a thirty minute drive to get to Otaru. (baby babbling) (foreign language) (upbeat pop music) Well, welcome to Otaru.

I think it took me about forty minutes on the local train. It looks like a very snowy city. The plan is for us to go to the first fish market that is right outside the station. Then we walked a little more. Then we go to the canal, walk and eat some more. Walk out of the station, immediately to your left, up a flight of stairs and you will see the seafood market. Yeah! This is one of the main reasons I wanted to come to Otaru in the first place, to get to the market. Hello! - (speaks foreign language) - Good, thank you.

From Thailand. - Thailand? - Yeah! Wow very nice. Okay, thank you, thank you! Crab... do you have hakkaku? Oh, you also have hakkaku. Yes, this is local, right? - Yes - Hakkaku, is it sashimi? - Sashimi - Sashimi - (speaks in foreign language) - Oh, okay. OK thanks. This market is immediately surprising. I just walked in and everyone is so friendly! Seafood is flourishing! There are crab tanks. There are hairy crabs, king crabs, fish. Wow, this is... This is a little seafood paradise. Thank you. Yes, I want to have a hakkaku, okay? - Together together? - All together, yes.

Awesome. I walked around the market a bit and there were some very popular restaurants and stalls, but he is very friendly. Thank you. (laughs) He greeted us when we entered, so we went back for him. He is incredible. - Youtuber? - Yes, YouTube, YouTube. Yes Yes Yes. (laughs) About food, about food. He is very friendly and very happy. Um, there's one fish I really wanted to try. It's hakkaku, which in English is Sailfin-sailfin something. But it looks like a dragon, it looks like a prehistoric figure... Swimming figure. Uh, so we have a couple of those. Then I wanted to try the hairy crab.

What is hairy crab in Japanese? Kani...? - Japanese? - Kan-Kani... - Kani... Kegani, Japanese, Kegani. - Oh, Kegani. - Ke-ga-ni - Kegani, that's the hairy crab. -The hairy crab is very good. - And then also, ooh, and then also uni, which is a sea

urchin

, it's very, very famous in Hokkaido. Uh, so he said he had some local sea urchins, but this... Not from this bay right now, it's not in season, but from the other side of Hokkaido, the university, yeah? Okay (speaks a foreign language) - Thank you - Thank you, it's okay! - 6,500 yen. - This is good? - Similar, similar.

Bigger, better (laughs) - Is this one good-good? - This is good (speaks a foreign language) - It looks like a prehistoric fish, but you have to like it... It takes a lot of precision to cut it and it's like a drag and then you have to tear off the skin, almost. like a snake skin. Is Hakkaku only in winter? Winter time? - No. - Or all year round? - Winter time, number one. Number one. (upbeat music) - So there's the university. (phone rings) - (speaks foreign language) Oh, I almost forgot I ordered the hairy crab that's still on its way.

Ah, this is beautiful, it's so fresh it shines. The uni, that color is incredible and that texture, ah, but first you have to try the fish. In Japanese it is called Hakkaku fish. In English, it is Sailfin Poacher, and I had seen it in some photos, I knew I wanted to eat it because it is local to Hokkaido. Um, it has an extreme look with the fan, the bone and the similar snout. Before adding soy sauce, wasabi or anything else, I'll try it here. Oh, actually there's already some wasabi on my chopstick. MMM. Wow, it's like...

It's not like it melts in your mouth, tender and soft. It has a bit of texture, the flavor is so pure it almost seems milky. Next time I'll opt for some soy sauce and wasabi. For this bite I'm going to put a little bit of... I'm going to put a little bit of wasabi on the actual fish on my chopsticks and then I'm going to dip it. Little dip. MMM. Oh yes, that's wonderful. It's, I mean... it's fresh, it's creamy... it's yeah. That is simply a delicious sashimi experience. And the presentation, I can't forget the beauty of the presentation, how they cut it, how...

The experience it takes to cut this fish like sashimi. Another piece before continuing. Okay, let's move on to the uni

bowl

. I don't know if I've ever been so excited to eat uni and he literally put an entire box of uni on a bed of

rice

. And many of the best universities in Japan are from Hokkaido, the island of Hokkaido, somewhere by the sea. This particular university is not from Otaru today, but from Hokkaido, it is from the east coast, the owner explained to me, but it is fresh, it is local. It's even... It's not even all orange, like the different colors.

The oranges, the tones, the yellows, like some are more saturated than others. And that texture, it seems, almost resembles your tongue, the texture. That little bump, bumps. (upbeat music) Wow! It's like it melts on my tongue. Oh, that's... That's outrageously delicious. It's so creamy! I love that bitter and marine flavor it has. The complexity of flavor combined with that warm

rice

, wow. More than incredible and the incredible thing about this is that it is nothing more than rice, the uni, and that's it, there is none of that. That's just purity, that's just trusting the university itself.

Wow. It's like it melts, you don't even need to chew it. (upbeat music) That's just college dreams and madness, wow, I can taste the almonds at that college. To be honest, it's very good. I don't even need, I don't even feel the need to add anything. Okay, maybe some wasabi. And then, yeah, as you stir it, as you mix it with your chopsticks, it will literally start to melt like the rice starts to coat. Oh. With that little bit of wasabi, it is spectacular. (upbeat music) I'm impressed, it's amazing. Like I had uni, like... I had uni, but it's always like one bite, just enough for the taste to whet your appetite.

Having a full

bowl

, this is simply a universal game changer. This is a sea urchin, like a dream come true. Okay, let's move on to the hairy crab. (upbeat music) (snip) Okay, hairy crab, also known as horsehair crab. This is another very famous crab to eat in Japan. Especially in Hokkaido. And also, uh, the hairy crab is very well known for the eggs inside the head, but you can also eat the legs, pincers, and claws on the body. Um, but let's try that, they even put a spoon right on the head so you can start with that.

Well, this will be the first time I've eaten a hairy crab. And that really feels like hair. It's actually so soft it's

unbelievable

. Alright, let's try some of that roe. Wow! I wasn't expecting this. Oh, oh, that's... Oh, wow, that's impressive! It's like an explosion of salt, but you know like the bitterness of the roe, you know like the creaminess of it, it's like... I don't even, I... I'm almost... This is one. Of those things that we are, I'm a little stumped and that's the first time I've tried it. They're like different roe than any other roe I've ever tried and I like how they're kind of runny, kind of runny, almost watery.

But I actually like it creamy at the same time. It may be the best pudding I have ever tasted. Continuing with the legs. Yes, it really is incredibly hairy. It's not sharp at all, it's so fluffy. Okay, it's a little pointy. Move that oh so flaky crab meat. Mmm-mmm. Wow, really sweet, it's fibrous, it's flaky, it almost has a slightly fishy flavor, that's amazing. Wow. And then the combination, both the meat and the eggs, the roe together. That's sensational, absolutely sensational. Incredibly pure and fresh. And then finally, this section that's like... that's in the section between the head, the whole body and the legs.

Maybe it's easier, that's what I like to call it the baseball mitt. I think it's easier to lift these, they look like fingers. You could greet someone with this. Yes, that's impressive. Full of meat, it's so sweet. Hmm. Here's the last thing: it really has a complex, crab-like flavor. You know you try red king crab, it's amazing, it's so good, it's sweet, but it doesn't have that bitter complexity. The hairy crab has more of that bitter complexity. It's really all the flavor of crab. And as you continue to stretch, it's incredibly stringy, look at that. When you take it out, they are like strands.

The legs and claws are like the maximum hardness of a crab. They just like to be apart. Hmm! And the flavor, it's like the most vibrant crab flavor. I think a little hairy strand came down my sleeve. Wow. This was a spectacular, spectacular meal. This market alone is reason enough to come directly to Otaru from anywhere in Japan. In the world! What is the name of your store? - My restaurant is Ka-wa-shi-ma. -Kawashima. - My restaurant is sen-guo-shoku-do ka-wa-shi-ma, is that okay? - Very well thank you. - (speaks foreign language) Very good, thank you very much.

Oh, this is good. (speaks foreign language) Thank you, thank you. Thank God. Man, what amazing food, what an amazing place and yes, there are so many places to choose from, but they are so friendly, so nice, they are so welcoming here and they have every variety of seafood you can possibly get. I want, huge king crabs, hairy crabs, hanasaki crabs, the fish, the... Yes, the uni bowl is just amazing. Get out, the market is full now. Ah, but this is really, like it's quite small, it's very friendly there, it's just full of seafood. So that was one of those meals...

Wow, look at that plate of food. That was one of those meals where it could, right there, be just the morning, but I could just call it a day, right now, I'm that happy. Hello how are you? - Hello how are you? Hello. - Nice to meet you. Back outside and from here we will walk towards the canal side, one of the most famous things to do in Otaru is to walk along the canal, I think there are shops, little restaurants, it's just a nice place to walk. That's where we'll stop next. (upbeat music) We arrived at the famous and historic Otaru canal, which is one of the icons of the city, there are old warehouses, shops, restaurants and now souvenir shops along the canal.

So you can just walk along the canal, there are also small museums to visit. Walking through a snow valley right now. I'm not entirely sure what we're doing, but we're just taking a walk and that's what a lot of people in Otaru do. Even when it's very cold. This reminds me of a toboggan run. I think you could take a sleigh ride here. (upbeat music) We were just walking around, there wasn't much to do and then we just stopped at this little corner that has some little snacks, some little restaurants. That is, you can order the melon ice cream.

Mmmm, pretty good. Can I eat Hokkaido fried chicken? Yes, one please. (speaks foreign language) Thank you. I'm not that fond of sweet snacks. So I decided to try Hokkaido fried chicken. You can almost see the crunch in the skin, it's like it's completely browned and crispy. O-ho-ho-ho. Wow. Well, it's a little better with rice or mochiko flour. That tastes amazing though. You can taste the ginger. And it's so warm and nice and crispy. Oh, that's delicious. (upbeat music) Mmm. It's so good. And on that fried chicken note, I'll end this video in Otaru, we'll just walk around, not do much, and then head back to Sapporo.

Definitely a highlight for me and well worth a visit, visiting Otaru is for that seafood market. And that uni bowl, it was just the uni of your dreams in a whole bowl, not just one bite, so good. That was, yeah, incredibly good. Thank you very much for watching this video, remember to like it if you enjoyed it. Leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you and also oh yeah! If you haven't seen a couple of videos I also have from Sapporo, I'll have them in the description box below. The red king crab was amazing, but go watch the rest of the videos and yeah, thanks again for watching, see you in the next video!