The Soba Master Hand-Making Some of the World's Most Difficult Noodles - Bon Appetit

I'm being soba master 25 years.

The Uzuki restaurant is so special

because our restaurant making 100%

buckwheat noodle every day by hand.

This so difficult to make it because no gluten, no glue.

Usually, soba restaurant using 20% gluten wheat flour

because technique is so difficult.

Meditation skill most important,

secret key to do this technique,

so my finger can see inside the core.

Buckwheat has prevention, many, many disease.

So I cannot stop researching to share.

That is my life work.

[funky music]

Hi, my name is Shuichi Kotani.

This is my restaurant Uzuki.

Please follow me.

[mellow music]

This is cafe is our waiting area.

This is our restaurant.

This design is inspired

from the 19th century Brooklyn Green Point

mixed with Japanese traditional soba restaurant.

It was a concept like a meditation spot,

not only restaurant.

Let's start, let's go.

So, now it's a 10:00 AM.

Before making soba noodle I have to make the duck broth.

[mellow music]

This duck bone and the chicken bone prepared yesterday.

This dish is our signature

duck shio soba and the ume shio soba.

We are cooking for the three type of the duck,

Chinese Peking duck,

Japanese roasted duck and French duck confit.

This is duck bone mixed with chicken bone too.

Only duck bone is gonna be irony more than chicken bone.

More balanced with chicken bone.

So I add in water and then my convection oven is ready.

Perfect temperature.

I don't wanna mix with another garnish

for the six hour because change color

for the simple flavor from the whole bone.

Umami flavor is explosion.

The temperature I set for 280 Fahrenheit, six hours.

Keep simmering low and slow.

I don't want a strong boiling

because taste become more irony.

[Both speaking Japanese]

[food crunching]

Duck broth is combined with dashi from this ingredients.

This is everything I wanna check

for the portfolio for the umami broth.

I'm using four kinds of sardines

and with premium combo,

he grind all of the ingredients for the duck shio soba.

Just two spoons, then mix for the complete duck broth.

So I want to check the balance with him before grinding.

[mellow music]

Some seasoning is more salty, some seasoning more bitter.

[mellow music]

So I have to check and control.

[mellow music]

So I wanna sharp the knife,

because today is coming big tuna from Japan

so I need to sharpen knife before arrival.

This is a yanagi knife, it's used for cutting fish.

Japanese knife has edge only one side.

I'm using for 20 years.

Add a little bit water.

And then sharpen like this.

This is a very fine stone.

The angle quarter coin.

I make sure for the test cutting like this,

This is a cleaning tool.

And then finally I check for the edge is ready.

This is a vegetable knife, usuba knife,

for the Japanese chef using a lot for the long vegetable.

I need to be very straight for the long daikon radish.

I'm checking each edge can control easily, like paper thin.

Okay, ready to use.

Okay, now is time to make soba noodle.

[mellow music]

Now I wanna go to the meditation room.

This is a meditation space

for making the soba tea before starting.

This is bin cho tan inside.

The charcoal filters water, pot of water.

This is a roasted buckwheat making tea, root in, vitamin.

Buckwheat is natural medicine.

So, after the meditation I can focus more making the dough

because technique is so difficult.

Matcha ceremony is easy to melt into the water.

This flavor is suddenly making

for the meditation very quick.

[inhaling deeply]

Deep breath.

[inhaling deeply]

Now, we're ready to make soba noodle, let's go.

[mellow music]

This is a kneading bowl we call the kibachi.

Very special urushi coating.

Urushi is protection for the bacteria.

This I'm using for the over 10 years.

This is a samui, real Japanese chef coat.

Looks like a denim.

So, very flexible to movement.

It's a very simple material.

And then this is most important.

This is the making for my backbone

is going to make it straight.

Then more easy to move.

This is buckwheat, just ground from the stone mill.

And I mix with 4% for the matcha powder.

I'm making for one kilo buckwheat flour is 4%,

it's gonna be 40 grams, a lot.

Matcha soba noodle for cold dishes.

I'm using for the our deluxe sashimi soba

and then salmon ikura and the uni ikura soba.

Deluxe sashimi has seven types of seafood.

Matcha makes natural bitter

and then seafood example for uni, shijin is sweet.

So that is making a good balance.

Then first is I'm using the sifter.

So the sifter is making more fine.

It's meaning easy to mix with water.

Buckwheat doesn't have gluten.

It is very hard to soak up water.

This is a very important process.

Yeah, after filter become very like snow.

And then matcha powder, sifted too.

So after the sifter is easy to soaking up each part.

Then, now start to mix before adding water.

My brain now is after the meditation a lot of serotonin

comes from the buckwheat and the matcha.

This buckwheat grows in Rochester, New York.

Rochester, New York is a six hours drive

from New York City, is very similar weather with Japan.

Natural water come from the Finger Lakes from Canada.

This is 100% organic buckwheat.

This water is the charcoal bin cho tan filter water,

and then have to mix quickly.

So I start to move my body.

Already my brain now is empty,

so I can see 300 degree, I can see in the bottom

and so back through to the my finger like using.

And then my joints start moving.

And then close eyes.

I adjust my sense using for the nose

and the finger, ear, hearing.

This is people say like a zone, meditation zone.

So now my body is a very automatic movement,

looks like dancing with the buckwheat.

If you start to open eyes,

so only focus only surface, I cannot feel 100%.

I have to close eyes this time.

I can see more.

More than usual.

This is a mizumawashi process.

Mizu is water, mawashi is like rolling, this is mizumawashi.

So my brain now is very happiness, like alive.

More water.

This motion I call the ocean wave,

looks like hitting each bowl looks like ocean.

And then it's gonna change like a volcano.

It's like a more dynamic movement.

I can feel is very good now.

The dough is ready.

I can feel, I can touch.

The texture is similar like my ear, like this.

So I have to waiting for the good timing.

Now it's a perfect.

[gentle music]

Making one dough.

This is kone.

Kone is a kneading process.

[gentle music]

[dough thumping]

I wanna see inside more deeply.

So I have to spread two balls.

This is my technique, original technique.

So, used to be people kneading one dough.

So my style is spread two dough.

[dough thumping]

It's texture becomes amazing.

[dough thumping]

This is, it's tsunodashi.

Tsunodashi is like an acorn, making an acorn.

Air out.

Air out, all air from the dough like ceramic.

Air pocket out like this.

From this part is starting break more and more quickly.

I have to finish.

This is buckwheat flour,

and then only center part more white.

This is making flat.

This is tanoshi.

Ta is a hand, noshi is lowering,

making spread out more and more.

Then start to use a rolling pin.

This is kokutan.

Very heavy rolling pin.

And also this is very limited

Because this wood is so special, very straight,

craftsman is already lived, passed away.

Is meaning all the people, all the nation,

is no more rolling pin in Japan.

This is the most antique tool in Japan.

I'm using for over 20 years now.

I'm going for the making thin until 1.5 millimeter.

If stopping, it starts to break.

Impossible to fix it because no glue, very sensitive.

Time is now 12:00 PM.

Fish coming from Japan.

I cannot stop.

I wanna check fish.

More rolling, rolling.

And then start to use a long rolling pin.

This is a komaki bo.

Maki is protect the moisture.

Because dough is getting bigger and bigger,

I need to wrap same time.

Now is making square.

So now it's a very easy to break, like glass.

This is like a cat paw.

Cat paw is more easy to control.

I learned from Mr. Oguchi.

He's already passed away long years ago.

I'm final student with him.

He's a genius.

He's entrepreneur, he's architect.

He's a soba master.

His energy is coming into my shoulder,

is working together for the research.

Because long history,

buckwheat has many nutrients, natural medicine.

I'm researching for the prevention of many diseases.

Now, it's ready.

Just cut.

This process is tatami.

Tatami is a folding door, tatami.

It's so beautiful, right?

I'm folding four times.

Becomes like this.

This is cutting guide board.

So, making flat.

This is a namabune.

This is to keep moisture in this box.

This is a soba kiri bocho.

Soba is buckwheat.

Kiri is a cut, bocho is a knife, soba kiri bocho.

Three pound.

This material is shark skin

Shark skin because I'm using long hours,

cutting sometimes four hours, keep cutting, four hours.

So, this grip is helping.

This is over $2,000.

This is a cheap one.

This, I have a memory for the long years.

So, my first salary,

everything going to the, you know,

$2,000 for the, like a camera. [laughing]

Yeah, this is my passion.

I cannot change.

26 years still work.

Yeah, Japanese material, very strong.

Let's go.

[blade thumping] [gentle music]

Sometime I'm cutting for a few hours nonstop.

[blade thumping] [gentle music]

Separate the noodles.

And then just go straight into this wooden box.

[mellow music]

Two, three hours aging is a texture much better.

So you can cook for the soba right away,

but Uzuki restaurant is always aging two, three hours.

Next is breakdown tuna for the sashimi soba.

[mellow music]

[both speaking Japanese]

So can I see?

Oh.

This is Sato, he's a famous sushi chef in New York.

He always finds good quality fish for us.

So I wanna check the taste and the texture

and then smell and the color.

Hmm, it's good.

Thank you.

So, oh!

This is from Hokkaido, the uni.

This is for the uni ikura soba and the deluxe sashimi soba.

So beautiful.

Hmm, nice.

[both speaking Japanese]

Okay, let's go cut the fish.

This is hon-maguro tuna.

It's coming from Japan.

Tuna has three different parts.

This chiai, blood part, and then akami, the lean,

and then chutoro is more fatty part.

So first let's try to take the chiai, the blood part.

So this is more the taste, like just iron.

This part is better for the cooked tuna steaks.

Now, I take the lean part, mid part.

This is more tasty.

This is harami skin, it's a little bit harder.

Everything going to our staff meal.

So, no throw.

We are making sushi block like this.

Saku is a filet, then easy to prepare for the sashimi.

So one deluxe sashimi soba is two pieces each.

Deluxe sashimi soba has two parts,

akami part and mixed with the chutoro part.

This is enough for the 60 order for this block.

Decide the position and then just straight cut.

And then same like this size, one finger half.

Just go straight.

Like this is akami.

I like more akami because more tasty.

You can taste like a more real tuna.

The fat part is more enjoyed for the texture like this.

[mellow music]

Okay, chef, can you keep this in the freezer?

Okay, thank you.

Now I'm making soba tofu.

[mellow music]

The soba tofu is with dashi broth,

with wasabi and with scallions.

Very simple ingredients but the process is very unique.

Japanese tofu usually using a soybean

with nigari and then salt.

So, but Uzuki soba tofu is a little bit different.

I'm using soy milk.

I'm using honkuzo.

This is a very healthy, more than other starch.

Also, price is 10 times corn starch.

Makes more like a soft, like melt easily in your mouth.

This is made from the root vegetable.

Mix like this.

It's much healthy benefit

more than potato starch, corn starch, tapioca starch.

This is the best starch in the world.

Little bit of salt, mix it.

And then little bit of sugar.

And then this is a sesame paste, natural sesame paste.

This is a more open flavor.

Making rich flavor, rich taste.

I'm making this tofu two times every day.

This one have to heat up for making thick,

because I'm using a starch.

Making good texture, I cannot directly heat.

I have to simmer.

I'm doing double boiler like this.

This is key.

Control the temperature little by little.

I just keep mixing like this until sticky.

This is a very sensitive taste.

So I cannot heat directly.

Taste will become bitter.

I have to cook five minutes.

Yeah, now it's getting thicker.

It's almost there.

And then finally I'm mixing with buckwheat seed.

This one already boiled.

Then mix.

So good.

Buckwheat is making nice texture.

Texture like quinoa.

And into the nagashikan.

So, two layer becomes like this.

[mellow music]

And then after air out.

[tray thumping]

Now is ready.

And then keep in the refrigerator for one hour.

It's complete.

Next is a ground buckwheat seed for tomorrow.

Let's go.

[mellow music]

This is a buckwheat seed.

Japan has 11 kinds of variety of buckwheat.

New York has over 50 kinds of buckwheat.

And then I'm still researching for which buckwheat seed

is more unique combined making taste better.

This is stone mill ground, little by little.

Too much you cannot evenly grind.

I'm looking for the more fine grind, like meditation.

Some buckwheat, the taste is so sour,

no delicious for the noodle.

So I'm choosing for the taste and the texture.

[stone mill grinding]

Harvesting season October.

This time now I have to investigate

for which buckwheat is delicious

and then has a potential in the future.

And if the seed is good taste,

I keep for the next three years.

Buckwheat is three times more expensive than regular wheat.

So, I order for over $2,000 monthly.

Now it's grind down.

So I keep for tomorrow.

[mellow music]

Taste is good.

Very fresh.

Now it's 4:00 PM, I need to prepare for the service.

Let's go.

[mellow music]

I wanna go to making ceramic.

This is second meditation time before opening.

Ceramic is the most important for me.

I try to make a ball.

Ceramic, you have to have high concentration.

And also same time I can do a meditation.

So, restaurant cannot stop until 10:00 PM 11:00 PM,

I need high concentration.

I'm doing this ceramic only two months, so far.

I make 90% ceramic by myself.

But I think this texture very similar to soba.

Meaning it's easy for me to control the clay.

Almost 5:00 PM, I finish this clay.

So I back to the kitchen to work.

So now is the time to mise en place.

[mellow music]

First is peeling daikon.

[mellow music]

Next I cut the red radish.

Now I grind like this, fresh wasabi for the sashimi.

The wasabi have to be fresh.

Before open, I have to grind.

This duck broth is already rich broth,

but my restaurant Uzuki

is some more explosion of umami flavor,

its coming from this morning's dashi.

Just two spoons and then mix to complete our duck broth.

[mellow music]

Now it's 5:00 PM so I change the shoes.

This is helps for more focus

for the good service for the dinner.

And then now I'm gonna go put the flag outside.

It's meaning opening.

This is a soba, Japanese soba.

[mellow music]

Okay, ready, we are open.

Thank you very much for following me.

And now it's time to open my restaurant.

Thank you very much.

Arigatou, bye.

[mellow music]

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