The shop known as "Yahoo chazuke" was Shinano, an ochazuke shop in Katamachi 1-chome, Kanazawa. It ran for forty years, and the rule was that every exchange in the shop, starting with your order, was done with the word "Yahoo." It closed on October 24, 2020, so I recreated it as best I could.
Ingredients
- Cooked rice
- Grilled salmon
- Shirasu
- Umeboshi
- Mentaiko
- Pickled greens
- Kombu
- Wakame
- Wasabi
- Tiny rice crackers
- Tea
How I made it
- Chop the pickled greens and grill the salmon
- Arrange the toppings on a plate
- Top the rice with rice crackers and whatever you like
- Pour tea over from an earthenware pot
- Keep refilling the rice as long as toppings remain
Sources: ja.wikipedia.org weekend-kanazawa.com
This moment in the journey
My own Yahoo chazuke
The next morning, winter sun fell on the townhouse's snowy roof. Kanazawa once had a curious shop. Famous for serving nothing but ochazuke late at night, it was loved as the place to finish an evening of drinking. Called Shinano and located in Katamachi, it closed in October 2020.
Since I can no longer go there, I tried making something like it myself. I chopped pickled greens and grilled salmon, and set them on a plate with shirasu, umeboshi, mentaiko, kombu, wakame and wasabi. I scattered tiny rice crackers over the rice, added whatever toppings I liked and poured tea from an earthenware pot. In that cheerful shop, every conversation was carried out with a single word, "Yahoo"; so this was my Yahoo chazuke.
"Refill, yahoo." As long as there are toppings left, you can have as much rice as you like. Such a humorous rule warmed my heart.
Watch this scene on YouTube13:38
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