# Joining from Japan



## kunseimania (Sep 20, 2020)

Hello,
I've gotten into smoking a lot this year and have found this website useful. As I did a smoke today, I thought I'd take some pictures, join the site and post my pics.
I live in Japan but am from Britain originally.  Incidentally, cherry wood is one of the most popular woods for smoking here, probably because of the Japanese love for cherry blossoms.

Anyway, I started smoking this year after buying a cardboard box smoker for 300 yen (less than $3US). I still use it, as you can see in one of the pics, but it's on its last legs now. Funny thing is, although it's really basic and I have no idea of internal temperatures, I've never gone wrong with. I also bought a metal smoker (in pics as well), which looks fancier, but is harder to use. I got a temperature gauge for it a couple of months ago, and that has been really helpful.
So today, I was smoking some spare ribs, pork cartilage, a few sausages (bought), a couple of wee trout, and a piece of _sawara_, which is a type of mackerel. I've found fish quite hard to smoke; my basic rule is: "smoking should make the food taste better", and when I've smoked pork belly, ribs, steak, chicken wings, and _hormon_ (I think this is the lining of one a the cow's stomach), I've managed to fulfil this. But with fish, I've generally found that the fish would be better cooked in a different way, or even eaten raw (hey, I mentioned I live in Japan, right?). I tried some bream, which wasn't great, and some mackerel, which had a good texture but not great flavour.

For the meat, I was using whisky oak chips and a bit of peat powder (imported from Scotland! I had to buy it and try it!). For the fish I was using oak chips. The oak (_nara_) is on the left, the whisky oak on the right, and the peat in the front.






First the ribs. I put a bit of a spicy rub on them, them let them marinade in 2 tablespoons of apple _kurozu_. Kurozu literally means "black vinegar" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_vinegar).











Then I put them in the smoker. The smoker has two levels, and after two hours, I switched the stuff on the top level with the stuff on the bottom. This is called "gekokujou" in Japanese smoking circles*. I started with a temp of about 70*C. but increased to about 85*C later. As my temperature gauge is in the top of the smoker, I think the lower part nearer the heat source actually get hotter. In future, I will keep the temp around 70*C on the gauge, as some stuff got a little overcooked near the heat source.
*This is not true, but _gekokujou_ is the perfect word here.

















I added the peat powder twice, once at the beginning, and once after 2 hours. I think adding peat near the end of the smoke adds its flavour better the meat. This time, I thought the whisky oak overpowered the peat a bit too much, although the final products were good. 





You can see in the picture that some stuff caught a little too much on the bottom layer. However, the young 'uns loved the sausages, and ribs were popular too. The pork cartilage was really tasty, but I don't have pictures of that.

The fish was done in the cardboard smoker, with the oak chips. After putting salt on the trout , and salt, a little pepper, and a gentle dab of cooking_ sake _on the s_awara_, I smoked them for a little over 2 hours, low and slow. After taking them out, both the trout and _sawara_ were tender, and very tasty. We squeezed some _kabosu _juice on them, which was a good addition, and all of us--children and adults--enjoyed them. I was particularly pleased with the trout, and would definitely do them again. The oak-smoke really added to the flavour of the trout without overpowering it. The_ sawara_ was also good and really easy to do, so I can see myself doing more of this in the future.

















Finally, we also had a barbecue going, so I did some squid (pictured) and wagyu (not pictured) and veggies on it, and enjoyed a cold brew (pictured)












I'm really interested in the smoking rigs I've seen on this site, and am looking to move on to something a little more upscale. While my smoking setups produce good results, I have to constantly watch over them to make sure the heat source doesn't go out. 
Yoroshiku!


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## bill1 (Sep 20, 2020)

Welcome to the forum!  Always good to hear from folks with "other lands, other customs" as my German forbears say.  I don't do much fish, but I'm sure many will chime in with advice.  Cooking with peat instead of wood sounds weird to me, but Scottish grains roasted that way make pretty good whisky.  Although I prefer bourbon over scotch, that cold beer certainly looks great.   

One small piece of advice, for what it's worth, based on the difference in doneness in your sausage... I suggest a thin metal shield in the infrared line of sight from your meat to the hot fuel, partic for low and slow cooking.  That should reduce those apparent "hot spots" in your cooker.


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## Khrakk (Sep 20, 2020)

Welcome from east Texas!

I spent 4 months in Japan, near Saporo, and although I never got into smoking while I was there, we (my coworkers and I) purchased a bbq grill similar to your metal smoker.  Grilling was something that reminded us of home.  I never realized Japan had a smoking community.  Japan had the best calamari steaks, ever.  I wonder how they would be smoked?

I'm looking forward to hearing about your smoking stories, and seeing the different types of foods that are smoked on that part of the world.  

Welcome again!


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## SmokinAl (Sep 20, 2020)

Welcome to SMF!
Looks like your doing a great job with what you have available!
Looking forward to seeing more of your work!
Al


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## Inscrutable (Sep 20, 2020)

Welcome! If there was an award for ‘came the furthest’ you’re likely the leader in the clubhouse.


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## kunseimania (Sep 20, 2020)

bill1 said:


> Welcome to the forum!  Always good to hear from folks with "other lands, other customs" as my German forbears say.  I don't do much fish, but I'm sure many will chime in with advice.  Cooking with peat instead of wood sounds weird to me, but Scottish grains roasted that way make pretty good whisky.  Although I prefer bourbon over scotch, that cold beer certainly looks great.
> 
> One small piece of advice, for what it's worth, based on the difference in doneness in your sausage... I suggest a thin metal shield in the infrared line of sight from your meat to the hot fuel, partic for low and slow cooking.  That should reduce those apparent "hot spots" in your cooker.



Not sure I can slide in a thin piece of metal, but it does give me an idea: I could fashion a metal cover over the heat source and chips with holes in it to allow the smoke to get out, while keeping the temperature down. 
Although, I should have just turned the sausages a bit more often, and changed the direction they were facing.

As for the peat, it's only the second time I've used it. It produces a good smoke, but I've been pretty conservative with the amounts used as I am not sure how much of a peaty flavour is good. I'm also not a huge fan of really peaty whiskies like Bowmore, so I don't want my barbecue to taste like that.
So, still testing/learning.


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## uncle eddie (Sep 20, 2020)

Welcome to SMF from the central USA...central Missouri.


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## kunseimania (Sep 20, 2020)

Khrakk said:


> Welcome from east Texas!
> 
> I spent 4 months in Japan, near Saporo, and although I never got into smoking while I was there, we (my coworkers and I) purchased a bbq grill similar to your metal smoker.  Grilling was something that reminded us of home.  I never realized Japan had a smoking community.  Japan had the best calamari steaks, ever.  I wonder how they would be smoked?
> 
> ...



Thank you! I'm really the opposite side of Japan from Sapporo, though I really need to visit Hokkaido some time. Still not been, even though I've lived in Japan for years.

I'm not sure how much of a smoking community there is here. Costco and Household Goods stores sell proper BBQ rigs which could be used for smoking, but I think most people just use them for grilling over charcoal rather than actual smoking. 
There are also lots of little, portable smokers available, such as what I have; I get the impression that people see smoking as an extension of camping, along the lines of go camping, get camp fire/barbecue going, set up portable smoker while barbecuing.


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## kunseimania (Sep 20, 2020)

SmokinAl said:


> Welcome to SMF!
> Looks like your doing a great job with what you have available!
> Looking forward to seeing more of your work!
> Al



Thank you! Looking forward to learning more about the art of smoking on this site.


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## kunseimania (Sep 20, 2020)

Inscrutable said:


> Welcome! If there was an award for ‘came the furthest’ you’re likely the leader in the clubhouse.



Leader in the clubhouse? Does that mean I have wait around on the putting green waiting for the leaders to finish, or can I prop up the bar for an hour or two?


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## chopsaw (Sep 20, 2020)

Welcome to the site . Interesting cooks , and smoker . Enjoy . 
OK I have to ask . Can you read Japanese  ?


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## kunseimania (Sep 20, 2020)

chopsaw said:


> Welcome to the site . Interesting cooks , and smoker . Enjoy .
> OK I have to ask . Can you read Japanese  ?



Pretty much. I can read newspapers, novels, and what have you. Sometimes have to look up the occasional word or expression.


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## bill1 (Sep 21, 2020)

kunseimania said:


> Not sure I can slide in a thin piece of metal...Although, I should have just turned the sausages a bit more often, and changed the direction they were facing.


We have round, flat pastries called pies in USA that typically come in an aluminum "pie plate" that you could just place on your hot fire.  The smoke will go around the sides.  Turning and moving the meat around will work too!  



kunseimania said:


> As for the peat, it's only the second time I've used it. It produces a good smoke...


But how does it smell?  What you smell is a pretty good indicator of how the meat will taste.   Smoking barley, then distilling alcohol from the grain, is quite a bit more removed.


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## daspyknows (Sep 21, 2020)

Welcome from California.  For the fish do you have access to other kinds of woods in Japan.  Fruit woods maybe?


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## Inscrutable (Sep 22, 2020)

Never know ... you might get edged out by a Tibetan monk smoking a Yak


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## Inscrutable (Sep 22, 2020)

kunseimania said:


> Leader in the clubhouse? Does that mean I have wait around on the putting green waiting for the leaders to finish, or can I prop up the bar for an hour or two?


Never know ... you might get edged out by a Tibetan monk smoking a Yak


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## kunseimania (Sep 22, 2020)

bill1 said:


> We have round, flat pastries called pies in USA that typically come in an aluminum "pie plate" that you could just place on your hot fire.  The smoke will go around the sides.  Turning and moving the meat around will work too!
> 
> 
> But how does it smell?  What you smell is a pretty good indicator of how the meat will taste.   Smoking barley, then distilling alcohol from the grain, is quite a bit more removed.



I have some aluminium plates like that, as I use them to put my charcoal and wood chips on when I'm smoking! You've given me a great idea: I'll punch some holes in the plate I put on top, which will improve the oxygen flow to the charcoal, and help the smoke spread.

Now regarding the peat, it smells, well, _earthy_. For that reason, I've been conservative with its use because I didn't want my food to taste too earthy, but it my two attempts so far I've been left thinking a bit more of that peaty fallout would help. 
I'm still experimenting, but so far I have not found the peat to be detrimental. However, I would hesitate from using it with fish until I tried it a lot more with meat. From the smell of the smoke, it seems like it would leave a really strong taste, but so far, my results have not shown that to be true. I intend to be using more of it in my next smoke. Also, I can only get only of peat powder here; a proper smoking with real sods of peat may produce wildly different results.


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## kunseimania (Sep 22, 2020)

daspyknows said:


> Welcome from California.  For the fish do you have access to other kinds of woods in Japan.  Fruit woods maybe?



Apple is easily accessible, and I could probably get hold of the wood from persimmon. With a bit of effort I think I can find stuff that isn't readily available in the USA, such as _Kabosu _and _Yuzu. _Has anyone tried pear wood here? I might just be able to find Japanese pear (_nashi_) wood to use for smoking. This is one aspect of smoking in Japan that I am really excited to look into.
There are one or two other native hardwoods I am looking to get hold of for smoking, but it might take me some time.


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## kunseimania (Sep 22, 2020)

Inscrutable said:


> Never know ... you might get edged out by a Tibetan monk smoking a Yak



Smoking Yak? I've got one right here:


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## Bearcarver (Sep 22, 2020)

Welcome Yoro!!
Glad you Joined us!
Like.
Your Vittles look Great, and the Rainbow Trout look Tasty!!
Do they call them "Rainbows" in Japan??

Bear  (from SouthEast Pennsylvania)


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## kunseimania (Sep 22, 2020)

Bearcarver said:


> Welcome Yoro!!
> Glad you Joined us!
> Like.
> Your Vittles look Great, and the Rainbow Trout look Tasty!!
> ...



Thank you. 
They are indeed called "rainbow trout" in Japanese: _nijimasu_. "Niji" means rainbow, and "masu" means trout. They aren't native to Japan, though, so the ones I smoked were farmed trout. I think there are some rivers with native brown trout in Japan, but I would say _ayu_ and _yamame _(a type of salmon) are the most common river fish eaten here.


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## daspyknows (Sep 23, 2020)

kunseimania said:


> Apple is easily accessible, and I could probably get hold of the wood from persimmon. With a bit of effort I think I can find stuff that isn't readily available in the USA, such as _Kabosu _and _Yuzu. _Has anyone tried pear wood here? I might just be able to find Japanese pear (_nashi_) wood to use for smoking. This is one aspect of smoking in Japan that I am really excited to look into.
> There are one or two other native hardwoods I am looking to get hold of for smoking, but it might take me some time.


Apple is one of my favorites.  Have never tried persimmon or pear.


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## JC in GB (Sep 23, 2020)

Welcome from Wisconsin.  That cardboard box smoker caught my eye.  Now I need to build one of those.    

JC


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## kunseimania (Sep 24, 2020)

daspyknows said:


> Apple is one of my favorites.  Have never tried persimmon or pear.



 Apple chips are easily available  here, and with a bit of searching I bet I could find proper pieces. Persimmon and Japanese pear (_nashi) _I've not seen for sale, but I think I could get hold of some with a bit of searching. Not sure how persimmon would turn out, but I imagine pear wood would be pretty good.


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## kunseimania (Sep 24, 2020)

JC in GB said:


> Welcome from Wisconsin.  That cardboard box smoker caught my eye.  Now I need to build one of those.
> 
> JC



I bought it, but I don't think it would be very difficult to make. It has a flap on one side to help regulate airflow, and on each corner there are two cuts about a quarter of an inch apart, so that you push the cardboard inwards and it serves as a place to rest the wire net. 
I put some soaked chips into an aluminium bowl, then add some hot charcoal, add some more chips and stick the bowl in the smoker using tongs. The amount of smoke lets me know how it's going. Primitive, but I've gotten good results from it, and it was a good, cheap way to start my smoking journey.


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