Rachel Khoo's Tokyo

“I was ever so excited, somewhat nervous.” For globe-trotting food creative and TV presenter Rachel Khoo, visiting Tokyo for the first time was a dream-come-true moment.

Rachel’s culinary career has taken her all over the planet, to the likes of Paris, Milan, Sydney and Buenos Aires. But the culture-rich Japanese capital had long been a personal, ‘bucket list’ destination.

“Most of the countries I previously travelled to were with Western roots or in Southeast Asia where even if I don't speak the language or know the culture, I have some kind of orientation,” she explains. “Japan was a complete unknown for me and felt like a true adventure.”

Rachel’s first foray in 2014 had her smitten. So much so that she has been to Tokyo twice since then.

Rachel says fondly: “What I love about Tokyo or Japan in general is the fact that I am pretty clueless. I could go into a shop and, as I don’t speak or read the language, I could look at a product and have absolutely no clue what to do with it.

“In terms of food, it often means that I just take a wild card and discover something completely new. I love just to nip to a corner shop and browse the aisles, picking up random products to try out in my hotel room.”

London-born Rachel, also a cookbook author and culinary consultant, had the chance to explore Tokyo’s best foodie spots and experiment with lots of fascinating and unique local ingredients while filming a special episode of her ‘Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook’ TV series in the city.

“It was a jam-packed shoot from visiting a miso store (I had no idea the variety of misos, it's like the French and their regional cheeses), making Taiyaki (a delicious fish shaped pastry filled usually with a sweet red bean paste) to riding a Jinrikisha