Ep. 80: Yamaoka hilft Kazuo Hirai, sich mit seiner Mutter in Kamakura mit Hilfe von wilden Yamswurzeln zu versöhnen

80

The Culture Division staff travel to Kamakura to visit Manager Tanimura who has been ill. Yamaoka accidentally bumps into his childhood friend and ex-yakuza Kazuo Hirai who has opened a small restaurant with his wife Tomoe However, although the food is good, business is slow which Yamaoka attributes to the standard Japanese menu. When they visit Kazuo's mother she reacts angrily because of Kazuo's yakuza past and his lack of perseverance. To appease his mother Kazuo offers to cook to local dish, tororojiru (薯蕷汁) consisting of rice with wild yams (山芋, yamaimo). To help, Yamaoka finds a local yamaimo in the forest over a meter long which Kazuo carefully digs out. Tamaoka convinces Mrs. Hirai to visit Kazuo's restaurant and she is greatly impressed by the tororojiru and size of the yamaimo, that she and her son are reconciled. When tororojiru is added to the menu, the restaurant thrives. (Source: Wikipeida)