What do you think average people in the Samurai period ate? Today, I'm going to become a person from that time and try to completely recreate meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I hope you all enjoy this video.

【5:00 a. m. 】 The people in the Samurai period were early birds.

First thing in the morning, they cooked rice by using a Kamado, which is a furnace. From the middle of the Samurai period, people started to eat white rice instead of brown rice, and eating white rice was considered cool in Edo city. What surprises me the most is how much rice they eat in a day.

It is said that modern Japan eats rice only about 1cup, about 150g. But in the Samurai period, people ate about 5 cups, which is about 750g of rice a day. They ate five times as much rice as we do now.

Honestly, I doubted whether it was true or not, but when I looked at past drawings, I found a lot of huge servings of rice. OMG! !

Apparently, it was common to make a huge amount of rice only in the morning in order to save wood. I don’t have a Kamado, so I use this clay pot similar to kamado. Now, let's prepare the side dishes.

According to "Morisada Manko", an encyclopedia of customs from the late Samurai period, the breakfast was a very simple "rice + one soup and one side dish". It’s normally rice, miso soup and pickled vegetables. So, let's make miso soup.

At that time, the most popular miso soup ingredients were daikon radish, tofu or natto. Natto in miso soup! ?

You might think it’s weird. I thought so too. However, if people at that time were eating it, I will try to make it.

I chose this old style of making natto. Apparently, natto was finely chopped like this before being put in miso soup. Look how sticky it is!

This is more sticky than usual! ! !

I think this is because of old style of making natto. I tried to make dashi from scratch with Kombu and Katsuobushi like they did in the Edo period. I put Tofu, seaweed and natto in it.

I wonder if it's really delicious… The miso soup is ready. It looks like the rice is also ready at the same time. People in the Edo period stored rice into a container specifically for rice called an ohitsu, which makes it more fluffy.

Seriously! ? They eat this all in a day?

? ? OK, anyway I’m going to prepare the pickles next.

In the Samurai period, It’s said that takuan, rice bran pickles, rice bran miso pickles, pickled plums, and rakkyou were popular pickles. I've always loved rakkyou, pickled Japanese leek bulbs, so I decided to add it to my breakfast. At that time, there were no dining tables, so people ate each person's meal on a small table like this, called an Ozen.

When I was preparing rice, I was thinking how much rice I should take from Ohitsu. Maybe this much. OMG.

Seriously, it's a ridiculous amount of rice. I prepared miso soup with natto, and Rakkyo on a tray, and I’m done! !

【7am Breakfast】 Breakfast in the Edo period was usually around 7:00, being eaten on the tatami floors. Miso soup, natto and this amount of rice. Ok!

Looks good, let’s dig in! Wow! Rice is so fluffy and delicious!

How about the miso soup… Wow! It’s slimy but, it's better than I thought. I eat rice and more rice and even more rice.

I kept eating, but it was still a lot. Maybe I need to walk a bit. Keep it up samurai!

! A little bit more! !

You can do it! ! That was so hard, I almost threw up.

Just a little more! ! About an hour later, I finally finished this HUGE meal!

Lastly, I drank a cup of water. Then pour that water into each bowl, so that I don’t waste even one grain of rice. I managed to eat it all this time, but I don’t think I’ll be able to handle lunch and dinner.

It’s probably gonna be hard too. 【In the mornig】 This morning, I’m going to collect water at a spring with my sharemate. Of course, I’m still in samurai style.

I know I’m a bit crazy. However, because of my ensembleI was able to make friends with some other people. 【12:00pm Lunch】 Ok!

let’s make lunch. Though I’m still full. I see, people in the Edo period could eat hot rice only in the morning.

It said that they ate leftover cold rice and miso soup at lunch. If they wanted something extra, some people would usually buy side dishes such as pickled plums, pickles, fish, and vegetables. So what kind of side dishes were popular during that time?

The answer is written in this side dish banzuke table. A banzuke table is usually a ranking list of sumo wrestlers. So, this version is a side dish ranking in the Edo period.

According to that table, Happaidoufu (Tofu, Sake, Shoyu) Kobuage (Fried tofu, Abura-age) Kinpira gobou (Burdock roots, Carrots) were the top three side dishes. Today, I decided to make kinpira gobou, because it is still popular and eaten today. To make kinpira, first thinly chop the burdock root.

Soak in water to remove harshness. (10 minutes) Then, chop a carrot. (⅓ carrot) There were no frying pans in the Edo period, but in this video I will use one.

Add Sesame Oil (1 tablespoon) Add Soy Sauce. (1. 5 tablespoons) Add Mirin (1 tablespoon) Add Sesame Seeds.

(2 tablespoons) It’s done! Considering the amount of remaining rice, should I take about this much? Just like breakfast, I put meals on the Ozen.

Ok, let’s eat! ! Kinpira, miso soup and rice.

I am overwhelmed by this gigantic amount of rice again. The kinpira was very good, but to be honest, the cold rice and miso soup weren't that good. It’s just cold.

Ganbare samurai! ! You can do it!

! After an hour I finally finished eating! I just think that people in the Edo period were so amazing that they could eat this amount of rice daily.

【7:00 pm dinner】 I am not hungry at all, but let's finish this day strong. In the Samurai period, it said that Ochazuke or Rice porridge were common for dinner. I decided to make Ochazuke,which is rice with tea poured over it with variety kind of ingredients Tea used to be only for the upper classes to drink, but around the middle of the Edo period, it became available to common folk.

That’s why Ochazuke became very popular as a fast food in Edo. For example, Yaozen, a high-class restaurant, has introduced a super-luxury ochazuke that costs about $1400 today. Why is it so expensive?

Apparently, it was because they use rare gourds and water that goes well with ochazuke. I found the recipe on Yaozen's website, so I'm going to try to recreate it. This is Ochazuke for $1400.

It looks pretty normal. On top of that, this recipe doesn’t say the amount so I don't think I can completely copy this, but I’m gonna try making this $1400 version. First, Cut takuwan, which is pickled radish.

And, Cut narazuke, which Vegetables Pickles in Sake Lees. A Samurai in the sharehouse kitchen looks so weird. Maybe I scared of a lot of sharemates.

Slice cucumbers. Cut ginger into small pieces. Put sesame seeds.

Mix them together! Next let’s make sauce. I put Dashi, Salt, Soy sauce, Mirin, and Sugar.

Pour that sauce on the mixed vegetables. Then I’m going to make a sauce for pouring on rice. I used up the rest of the rice, and prepared other dishes.

I'm ready for today's dinner. Let's eat this fancy Ochazuke. Pour tea sauce and put wasabi on it.

Mixed with these vegetables. Tastes… wow! !

Not bad. However, I still can't believe this costs $1400. Well, the battle with rice during dinner begins again.

My stomach is gonna explode. But I have to finish it all! Keep it up, Samurai!

You can do it! It's really tough. Alright!

I was able to put it all down! I was happy, but I don’t want to do this challenge anymore. Lastly, I think compared to my current diet, food in the Samurai period contained too many carbs and not enough protein.

However, in fact, it is said that the Japanese in the past were much more powerful and physically strong than they are today. It's funny, isn't it? After all, it was an experiment that made me realize it was important that the food of their time and diet suited their body and lifestyle.

And I realized the People in the Samurai period were truly amazing(because they could eat this amount of rice everyday). What did you think about food in the Samurai period? I'd appreciate it if you could write what you thought in the comments below.

Ok, stay safe, have fun and thank you for watching as usual. I hope to see you in the next video! !

! Bye bye! I was self conscious about my wig's sideburns.