Click here to download or watch the full video online (128M).
For as long as he’s lived in Japan, and as much he travels, it’s a wonder this hasn’t happened already. But the lurking crew from TV Tokyo’s Why Did YOU Come to Japan? show finally zeroed in on Woody at Narita Airport back in February. The show, which airs weekly on Monday evenings, interviews and does close reporting of foreigners visiting Japan. And once a month, the show features stories about food. The crew had no idea they’d hit the mother lode with Woody– a foreigner living in Japan, who speaks Japanese, and can really, really cook.
Intrigued, the YOU crew found themselves at Woody’s home in Ageo, where he cooked them dinner. In his tiny 3m2 kitchen, Woody channels the spirit of our Grandma Pearl. He loves to cook traditional Japanese and Jewish fare. But Chef don’t stop there. It’s on to Paris and Marseille; Jerusalem; Tehran; Chengdu; and Verona, making that city’s signature dish, risotto Amarone (cue up the overture to Nabucco). He’s even made a completely from scratch American Thanksgiving dinner for 12, with help from me and his son, Boone.
For the YOU crew, Woody prepared Japanese sea bass (suzuki) stuffed with oysters and sticky rice (mochi kome). It’s a meal that’s really simple to make, tastes and looks great, and it’s something that nearly any Japanese husband could regularly make for their wife. It’s a meal that certainly hit home for the YOU crew.
Enjoy this video of Woody cooking for Why Did You Come to Japan? which aired on 13 March 2017.