Name: Behind the Counter a local Japanese Yoshoku Restaurant
Uploaded: 2025-08-01T17:51:37.000Z
Duration: 18 min 47 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

This is Behind the Counter at a local Japanese Yoshoku restaurant.

So today I'm back in Tokyo's Asakusa area and we're going three generations deep at this restaurant behind me.

Adverbs of manner

It actually started earlier this morning, so let's cut to that now.

Today I'm taking you behind the counter and deep into the kitchen of a 90-year-old Yoshoku restaurant, meaning Japanese-influenced Western cuisine.

Hidden in a back alley just a few steps from the area's Kaminari-bon main street, it's made a name for itself for its rich and uniquely Japanese-born beef stew served in a hot iron pot.

I don't know about you, but there's just something about Asakusa's vibe that's always got me fired up.

This is Sasagawa-san, the third generation owner of the shop.

This shop is very much run by the family, with his mother, wife, and aunt.

But like all days, he's the only chef, so his mornings start early.

Because the ingredients of the shop's signature beef stew have different cooking times, he simmers them separately while also preparing other items.

As the only chef at the shop, he's keenly aware of all the tasks ahead of him for the day, so he diligently works, committed to creating the highest quality food possible.

Damn, he's using eight pots all at the same time!

He says that as a father, he wants to respect their dreams and doesn't want to force them into the family business, but adds that his son is currently working part-time at a ramen shop, and if he wanted, could even change the place into a ramen shop in the future.

At the end of the day, their happiness is his happiness.

He says that the shop started out as a bar by his grandfather, but later he converted it to a Yoshoku restaurant in 1936, well before it became popular in Japan many years later as a high-end cuisine for the upper class.

And fueled by Japan's economic boom, happening entertainment districts like Asakusa were flooded with these restaurants, trying to cash in as dining here became a status symbol.

So Yoshoku, with roots in Japan going as far back as the Meiji period, evolved over time to suit the Japanese palate and culture, taking western dishes, altering the taste, and arranging it with rice.

Apparently, he started working at the shop at 27, and officially took over four years later when his father passed away from cancer.

Overwhelmed with the pressure as a young owner, on top of having to repay his father's business debts, he was forced to dig down deep, finding solace in his passion for the culinary arts, and the idea of continuing his family's legacy.

He says that he got married at 35, and was born one year later.

Yeah, he is. So, are your kids still cute?

He says that despite his busy schedule, when his kids were younger, he would take them to many different places and travel, so that there wouldn't be a distance between them growing up, like he experienced with his own father.

Further saying that even now, he still finds the time to have dinner with them, valuing his relationship with his family.

I see a lot of rock and roll stuff around here.

Apparently, he used to play the drums in a rock band, dreaming at one point that it may become his career, but eventually gave it up to take over the family business.

That said, his love for it never completely went away, as he still goes to concerts with his friends when he has the spare time.

By the way, you know Ueki-san from Asahi, right?

Now, he prepares the shop's mayonnaise from raw ingredients, as it serves as an integral part of his dishes as a sauce.

It's handmade with a bit of time and much physical effort.

Its natural sweetness and vibrant flavor has become a signature part of his cuisine that has many locals coming back time and time again.

I hope you find an apprentice who has as much passion for this as you do.

He says that he's already tried many different tools, but the taste just wasn't the same, and it made it even more difficult to make adjustments to the recipe, which is why he prefers doing it by hand.

Nice! He's removing the beef tongue from the shop's signature demi-glace sauce.

Next, he prepares the beef that goes into the stew, searing the surface and then boiling it in the demi-glace sauce for 8 hours, producing an irresistible tender meat.

While at the same time, the rich essence from all the beef, tongue, and tendons are drawn out into the sauce.

The entire cooking process spans about one week, but the exact timing of this delicate dish is evaluated by only the chef who's mastered this dish over many years.

Oh wow, he's already cleaning the kitchen!

Focusing first on the soap, which he scrubs down every day to ensure that the grease doesn't accumulate over time.

I guess not a moment is wasted as he readies his shop for his customers.

As a small shop owner, he also needs to make minor repairs here and there.

Now, he prepares the hambagu, a staple at Japanese yoshoku restaurants.

It's completely different from Western hamburger meat patties as it's made from a blend of minced meat, egg, panko, and chopped vegetables to create an airier and juicier texture and taste.

And of course, served in Japan with rice instead of a bun.

By the way, what's your most difficult task here?

I want to give a quick shout out to the sponsor of this video, Squarespace.

Squarespace is the number one way to build your online presence.

In fact, I use Squarespace from my website at Tokyo Zebra.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Behind the Counter a local Japanese Yoshoku Restaurant

entire

incredible

apparently

awesome