The video showcases how Japanese school lunches, known as "Kyushoku," are prepared in a massive kitchen in Musashino city. The kitchen serves 18 schools and 2,700 students daily. The process begins with the delivery of ingredients, which are then inspected and prepared by a team of skilled workers. The menu changes daily, and the kitchen aims to provide balanced and nutritious meals.
The video highlights the preparation of various dishes, including teriyaki yellowtail fish, Tonjiru soup, and steamed rice. The kitchen uses specialized machines and techniques to ensure efficiency and quality. Every dish is taste-tested before being packed and delivered to the schools.
The Japanese government supports the school lunch system, and parents pay a monthly fee of around 4300-4900 yen ( approximately $33-38 USD). The video concludes with the host trying a sample of the school lunch and praising its quality.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Japanese school lunches, known as Kyushoku, are served in all elementary schools and most junior high schools.
2. The menus for Kyushoku are planned by a certified nutritionist.
3. The Musashino city school lunch and dietary education promotion foundation services 18 schools and has 181 staff members.
4. The kitchen produces food for eight different schools, serving a total of 2700 students.
5. Food preparation starts at 7:30 a.m. and must be prepared, cooked, and shipped out before lunchtime.
6. Workers use a special docking room to receive food, where only one door is opened at a time to prevent outside debris from entering.
7. Food is thoroughly inspected by taking its temperature and following government sanitary guidelines.
8. Vegetables are sourced from local farmers to ensure freshness.
9. Japanese school lunches focus on providing a balanced and delicious meal to teach good eating habits.
10. Each student is guaranteed one healthy and balanced meal per day, regardless of family income level.
11. The kitchen uses specialized machines to wash root vegetables like burdock.
12. Most vegetables are prepared by hand.
13. The kitchen produces 700 servings of rice at a time using giant rice cookers.
14. Rice is cooked by first soaking it, then boiling it in a vat of hot water, and finally steaming it for 30 minutes.
15. Each container of rice is precisely weighed to serve the exact number of students for each class in each school.
16. The kitchen prepares a traditional Japanese soup called Tonjiru using kombu and katsuobushi.
17. Tonjiru requires many different vegetable ingredients, which are cut by a team of workers.
18. The kitchen uses two types of miso, white and red, to create a deeper umami taste.
19. The fish is marinated by hand in teriyaki sauce and grilled in giant ovens.
20. Each oven can cook up to 100 pieces of fish at a time.
21. Every single dish is taste-tested before packing to ensure its taste and quality.
22. The kitchen creates one to two new menu items every month to prevent kids from getting tired of the food.
23. The most popular dish among school kids is curry rice.
24. The metal containers used to transfer food are thick enough to keep the food hot when served to kids at school.
25. The food is delivered to schools between 10:30 and 11:30, just in time for lunch.
26. The Japanese government supports the school lunch system, and the average monthly school lunch fee paid by parents is about 4300 yen (about $33 USD) at elementary schools and 4900 yen (about $38 USD) at junior high schools.