Japanese Home Cooking Food Tours(5)

Ehime Mikan Picking, Marmalade Making is a wonderful opportunity to interact directly with a Shikoku mikan farming family and meet some of the welcoming folks living in the Yawatahama region of Ehime. About an hour by train southwest of Matsuyama, the experience includes the chance to pick and eat a variety of citrus fruits the region is famous for. The terraced orchard provided spectacular views of the ocean and small islands separating Shikoku from Kyushu. Under sunny skies, our hosts spread a tarp and mats on the orchard floor and we dined on a most delicious obento lunch box featuring regional specialties. These included a tempura of shrimp and vegetables, fried chicken with mikan juice and mikan rice balls. Following the harvest and lunch, we were chauffeured to a spotless commercial kitchen operated by the Yawatahama Ward office. There, the kind ladies of the community guided us through the marmalade making process and we bottled multiple jars using Haruka variety mikans. We were also invited to try other varieties created by some of the gold medal winners from last November's Dalemain World Marmalade Awards and Festival. Our product was entered in the "homemade division" for the next festival. Loaded up with our marmalade and several bags of fresh fruit, our hosts returned us to the train station. With the increasing popularity of Japan as a tourist destination, this is a special opportunity to get off the beaten path and away from the crowds to see the real Japan.

Aaron was a great guide! He knew lots of information about the history of ingredients and food preparation. We learned about spice preparation with some interesting anecdotes too. Be warned, do not eat before you go.

Yoko was our guide when we did the Tokyo Old Town tour and we had an amazing time! It was a lot of fun, we got to meet lots of great people and eat absolutely delicious food. I think the tea ceremony was a once in a lifetime experience, the tea bowl I drank from was over 180 years old! We also learn about dining etiquette and Japanese food in general from Yoko. We really enjoyed ourselves while learning and eating! Even though our whole trip to Japan was fantastic, thinking back on it we always say that this food tour was our favorite highlight.

We have been on a few different sized group tours and thought we wanted to try doing a private tour. When we booked this tour we thought that it wouldn't be a private tour but when we arrived we were happy to discover that it was! A nice surprise when we came early to the picup spot. We met Yoko who was our guide through Yanaka and the local shopping area. We tried different foods, sake, and a lunch with delicious sashimi!