We had the second take-out special kaiseki box from Sushi Taro. Again, this was amazing. We just wanted to record what we enjoyed.
Sardine with uni-mustard sauce イワシのぬた. The accompanying gelee (“nikogori” 煮凝り) was not to be missed
Sashimi, wild snapper 天然鯛, tuna 鮪. Nice decorative touch. The carrot cut into “momiji” maple leaf にんじんの紅葉 and circular cut daikon stalk “karakuls a-girl” 大根の唐草切り shown on top of the maple leaf carrot, another example to attention to detail.
Pacific saury sashimi さんまの刺身. This was really good.
Fried sea eel collar and chestnuts, matsutake いが栗揚げ, fried lotus root, matsutake 揚げレンコン、matsutake 松茸、fried “anago” sea eel collar 穴子のかま揚げ. This is a really autumnal dish. Tatsuta-age style anago collar, with a small fin attached, was new to us and was very good. We had the chestnut dish at Omakase counter before but only a pro can do this type of dish imitating a real chestnuts peeking though the outer thorny shell. The shell was made of ground white fish meat with dried “somen” and deep fried. The chestnut was cooked in “Shibukawa-ni” so that inner brow skin is can be eaten without puckering taste. The matsutake with slices of yuzu were the essence of autumn.
Beef tongue stew with quail eggs and octopus 牛タンのシチュウ、うずらの卵、たこ. This is a really great dish. My wife loves stewed beef tongue. The tongue was very tender and perfectly seasoned (later we learned that this was from "Wagyu" 和牛). The surprise was the octopus leg which was a nice texture contrast. A perfect combination. It also had quail eggs which are always a favorite.
Kamo-nasu eggplant 賀茂茄子, "anago" sea eel 穴子, sato-imo 里芋, shishi-togarashi しし唐辛子, “Kyo-bu” decorative gluten cake 京麩 simmered in broth (shishito was deep dried first, I think). Interestingly the flavor of the shishito subtly infused the fish and broth adding a deliciously different element.
Grilled "sawara" (king mackerel) miso-fuan and turnip さわらの味噌祐庵焼きとかぶ. YUM.
The following line-up of dishes was just a succession of exquisite mouthfuls of different taste profiles, and textures. Each one a special treat. There are not enough superlatives to describe them all. From left top clock wise: Aji (horse mackerel tataki with perilla seeds 鯵のタタキ紫蘇の種, grilled "mana-gatsuo" (Japanese pompano) 焼きマナガツオ、"Hamo" gonger eel liver ハモの肝 (exquisite), blue crab, crab mustard uni カニの蟹味噌ウニ和え.
Shirako "soft roe" ponzu 白子のポン酢あえ、goma-tofu with uni ウニと胡麻豆腐, "Ikura" salmon roe いくら, goma-tofu with uni ウニと胡麻豆腐. I have not tasted “shira-ko” for sometime and this was a special treat.
"Ankimo" monkfish liver 鮟肝 with vegetable, "Mizuna" Japanese green and quail egg yolk 水菜のお浸しとウズラの黄身, "Wagyu" beef with kelp 和牛昆布締 (a very nice addition we have not had before). Of course “ankimo” is our favorite.
Sushi; salmon 鮭, ??, chu-toro 鮪中トロ, kohada 小肌, tai 鯛
Omelete 卵焼き, ama-ebi shrimp 甘海老, cutlass fish 太刀魚?, hamachi はまち yellow tail, and “uni” 雲丹 sea urchin.
This is a lot of extremely exquisite food. This brings a bright ray of sunshine during this covid period. We are so fortunate we can have this and enjoy everything at home.
We keep forgetting but dessert is included. Roasted tea "houji-cha" 焙じ茶 flavored pudding/panna cotta. A perfect finale.
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