Sapporo Lunch places part2 札幌の昼ごはん パート2

2. Dekitate-ya JR tower Stella place  一夜干しと海鮮丼できたて屋　JRタワーステラプライス店

One day, we went to the JR tower observatory. It is located on the 38 floor of JR tower attached to the Sapporo train station. This is a really excellent observatory. When we stepped out of the elevator on the 38th floor we were advised by the attendant ticket vender that about 60 school kids were in the observatory and they could be a bit unruly so we might consider waiting until they left. When we asked how long that would be the answer was “about an hour”. We decided that was too long to wait so we would chance it. It turns out the kids were very well-behaved and not a problem in the least. Eventually, they left and the observatory was quiet. Along the windows, there were nice chairs and small tables to sit and admire the beautiful panoramic view of the city of Sapporo spread out below. The observatory had a small cafe in the middle. You could order drinks and a snack and sit at one of the tables to enjoy the view. All the views were spectacular but I particularly liked the north view which included Hokkaido University campus, my alma mater, at a glance. When we came down from the observatory on the 38th floor we arrived on the 6 floor of the Stella place, a connecting building. It was noon (lunch time) and we saw many restaurants; some of which had a long lines in front (always an indicator of how good the place is). Although we already had a lunch engagement that day, I made note of it.

A few days later we had to come to the station to make an adjustment to our train tickets. When we finished, it was a noon time. So, we went up to the 6th floor of the Stella Place. After looking around, we decided on this place called “Dekitate-ya できたて屋“. “Dekitate” means “just made or prepared”. The restaurant touted “ichiya-boshi 一夜干し*” over-night dried fish and “kaisen-din 海鮮丼” a rice bowl with fresh seafood on top. That was the deciding factor for me. The line was short but it was fairly late so we decided the size of the line, in this case, was no indicator of the quality of the restaurant. We took a number, waited for about 5 minutes and we were seated.

My wife likes uni or uni-ikura donburi うにイクラ丼 ; a specialty of Hokkaido which my mother introduced her to many years ago. She tried ordering one on this visit in Otaru 小樽 when we went to Kitaichi Glass 北一グラス,  but the restaurant we chose was one of the tourist traps and the uni-ikura donburi was a bit disappointing. So seeing ikura-donburi on the menu of this restaurant, she ordered it. (Japanese call this type of ordering “リベンジ” or “revenge” since the item was not available or disappointing last time). I chose the three grilled fish “teishoku 定食” lunch set called “Feast with 3 kinds of grilled fishご馳走3種類”.

This is a large chain restaurant. The company based in Hokkaido also runs reasonably priced sushi bar chains. There appear to be many stores of  “dekitate-ya” including some in Tokyo. They also do take out. We were very impressed by the quality of the food and service. Although we forgot to take a picture when the food arrived, it was very good and we finished everything. We did not think we could finish the rice but both of us finished even that. My wife’s uni donburi was very good. The uni was small but fresh and good tasting. My dish was spectacular; three grilled fish, the selection of which changes depending on what they have on a given day. Each piece was relatively small but still a good enough size that three of them made a feast and they tasted great. They were yellow tail jaw “hamachi kama ハマチのカマ”,  overnight-dried* “Hokke” (a type of mackerel famous in Hokkaido) 一夜干しほっけand pacific saury “sanma さんま”. The sanma さんま could have been a bit more fatty/oily but was still very good. They offered a choice of brown, white or seasoned rice. I chose the seasoned rice which had ginger and baby scallops in it and it was excellent. We noticed a rice husking machine tucked in the corner of the store near our table. So this restaurant appears to polish rice on-site. We also both got miso soup with baby clams “ko-hamaguri miso-shiru 子はまぐりの味噌汁”**. This was very tasty.  My wife also got warm broth which could be used to finish the rice in the form of “Ochazuke お茶漬け”. I borrowed some of the broth and finished up my seasoned rice. The picture shows the aftermath of my enjoyment of the excellent meal.

*”Ichiya-boshi” or over-night drying is a very common Japanese technique to enhance the flavor and texture of certain fish by reducing the moisture in the fish before grilling.

** A classic miso soup especially for breakfast is “Shijimi miso-shiru しじみの味噌汁’. Shijimi is a small brackish water Japanese clam. Miso soup made from shijimi has a very characteristic umami-packed flavor. The soup they served was a tamed/down-scale  version but somewhat lacking the strong umami flavor shijimi soup may have. I am not sure when was the last time I had a shijimi soup, probably when I was a kid but this was a close facsimile.

Looking around I saw there were counter seats for solo diners. Many solo diners must be office workers. Most of the diners sitting there appeared to be having Kaisen-don, bowl of rice with fresh sashimi on the top. This was certainly one of the best lunches we had on our Japan visit. Despite this being a large chain restaurant, the quality of the grilled fish was reminiscent of our previously favorite grilled fish lunch place in Ginza called “まる 圓”.

Hanami 2025 花見2025

Because it got warm quickly, three of our cherry trees blossomed one after the other. The first one is dropping petals already, our main tree is in full bloom and our old tree has just started. So it was hanami 花見 time. I filled the new jubako box 重箱 with goodies for the occasion. I used the smaller box without a lid, the smaller box with a lid and two small porcelain bowls to fill each tier. One tier served one person.  I served quite a few sashimi items accompanied by soy sauce, wasabi and yuzu kosho 柚子胡椒 (#1).

The sashimi I served (#2) was bluefin tuna クロマグロ (was called “akami” 赤身 but it was more like “chutoro” 中トロ), kanpachi カンパチ” amberjack, and salmon. All came from Riviera Seafood Club. The tuna was good but kanpachi and salmon could have been better. The meat was abit too lean and could have used a bit more fat. 

In one of the bowls, I served the remaining tuna and Russian marinated salmon 鮭のロシア漬け in the shape of roses and topped it with “ikura” いくら salmon roe (#3).

I also served scallop sashimi ホタテの刺身 which was really good as always (#4).

In the covered small box (#5), I served an assortment of dishes I made as well as “uni suhto” which I did not make  ウニの酒盗 shown in a very small square bowl. Lower bottom is a salmon kelp roll 鮭の昆布巻 and mock tofu 擬制豆腐. Left upper are dashimaki egg omelet with dried nori powder or “aonori” 青海苔入りだし巻 topped with cruchy braised cauliflower.

Our second generation cherry tree blossomed nicely. The tree has grown quite a bit. It was planted after we lost the original tree in a nor’easter 7 years ago.

We started our hanami while it was still light but the fun extended into the evening and we turned on the flood lights as shown in the picture below. Even thought the sun was down It was still very warm and pleasant.

“Karasumi” Japanese Bottarga from Maruhide 丸秀の唐墨

Our source of quality sea urchins “Maruhide” 丸秀 has made some changes after the original founder’s daughter took over some time ago. I noticed “karasumi” Japanese bottarga is available. We decided to get our usual fresh uni (both in salt water 塩水うに and regular alum-treated in a metal case), uni shutou ウニ酒盗 and karasumi* 唐墨. They arrived on Christmas eve and we had a tasting of two kinds of uni and karasumi. In the serving picture, the left is uni in salt water and the right is regular alum-treated. The center is slices of karasumi lightly toasted. we had these with “Tengumai Kimoto Junmai” 天狗舞生酛純米 hot since it was a very cold outside. Both the uni were very good. The salt water uni is softer in texture and alum-treated one keeps its shape but we did not taste the “bitterness” sometimes associated with alum-treated. Karasumi is wonderful with almost uni-like after taste or more like preserved uni (or neriuni ねりうに) flavor which is more concentrated.

*Digression alert: I already pontificated about “Karasimi” that it is originally from Sardinia which came into southern Japan during the edo-period and that the shape of bottarga to Japanese was reminiscent  of “sumi” ink block from China hence the name  “kara-sumi” in which “kara” 唐 means “China” (more precisely Tang-dynasty) and “sumi” means “ink”. We really like karasumi which is a regular part of the “osechi” box from Sushi taro. Karasumi is also associated with a fond memory of when we were in Japan last time in fall. Because of the approaching typhoon we left Sapporo one day earlier and stayed in a hotel near Narita airport. We went to a sushi bar in the hotel for dinner and a drink. It was not crowded. We tried to sit at the sushi bar where an old couple was already seated.  Although the rest of the restaurant was empty there was a “reserved” sign on the sushi bar. When we indicated we would like to sit at the bar, a waitress told us the bar was a “no set menu order,  a la carte only” in English. To that I reply in Japanese that it was fine with us. After a quick look of surprise the waitress ushered up to our seat at the sushi bar. So we sat and a very friendly sushi chef came greeted us and asked where we were from. Once he found we were from Washington, DC areas, he beamed and said “The Nationals!” (he was a big baseball fan). I asked for “otsumami” drinking snacks of his choice (i.e. omakase) first. Several sashimi were served and he said they had “karasumi” so we ordered it. It was very nice and served slightly toasted. The old couple appeared “surprised” at our ordering karasumi (in such close quarters with only two customers we were all aware of what each other was eating) and that my wife enjoyed it. So they also ordered some too.

The karasumi we got was from Hyogo prefecture (#1 below). It was very small (especially for the price). I sliced it and tasted a small piece. It tasted very good but I wanted to compare this with Sardinian bottarga so I ordered some on-line. Stay tuned karasumi tasting coming up. 

Hiyaoroshi Sake “Shichi Hon Yari” 七本槍 純米ひやおろし

“Shichi Hon Yari” 七本槍純米ひやおろし is the second hiyaoroshi we tasted. This one is from Shiga prefecture 滋賀県 (near Kyoto on the shore of lake Biwa 琵琶湖, the largest lake in Japan). This is “junmai 純米” made from “Yamadanishiki 山田錦” sake rice. We tasted it cold. To us, this sake tasted dry, clean and fruity and the taste profile close to ginjo. We didn’t think it had a pronounced “rich” umami flavor. We felt that the previous hiyaoroshi we tasted (Shonai Bojin 庄内美人) had a richer and umami-laden taste profile. Interestingly both sakes are located in a similar place on the Tippsy sake’s profile charts. 

As before, I prepared “sake-no-sakana 酒の肴” or drinking snacks which go well with the sake. We defrosted “Ootoro 大トロ” fatty tuna (from Riviera Seafood Club). It was slightly sinewy and layers tended to separate but the sinew was not bothersome to us. The quality was quite good. I served in three ways; straight sashimi, salted and seared with one side torched or “aburi 炙り” and marinated or “Zuke 漬け”. All were pretty good but I liked “aburi” the best. Also we had scallop sashimi ホタテの刺身 also from  Riviera. We also had the last of “uni shuto ウニ酒盗” from Maruhide 丸秀 and “squid shiokara イカの塩辛” (my wife calls it “squid and guts”) we got from a Japanese grocery store frozen (from Hakodate Hokkaido 函館北海道).

 

All these sashimi and shuto and shiokara all went well with cold hiyaoroshi sake. This was a great way to celebrate the change of season to fall. 

Hiyaoroshi Sake Dewanoyuki “Sho-nai Bijin” 出羽ノ雪 庄内美人 ひやおろし

It is the season for “Hiyaoroshi ひやおろし” or “Akiagari 秋上がり” sake. As I mentioned in the previous post, this type of sake is bottled in the spring and cold-aged until the following fall. It is considered a seasonal sake and available in autumn in limited quantity. We can now enjoy some of the hiyaoroshi sake without visiting Japan in autumn thanks to “Tippsy sake”. This year we got two kinds. The frist one we tried is one from Yamagata prefecture 山形県 (which is known for many excellent sake breweries; some are considered  “cult” sake such as “Juuyondai” 十四代.) called  Dewanoyuki Shonai Bijin Hiya-oroshi” 出羽ノ雪庄内美人. It is “kimoto-junnmai 生酛純米 made from sake rice varieties Dewakirari 出羽きらりand Miyamanishiki 美山錦. We tasted it cold. We really like it. It has nice rich “umami” and nice fruity finish but dry and not yeasty. 

Of course, to enjoy a good sake like this, we need good “sake-no-sakana 酒の肴” drinking snacks. This is what I served. From top left clockwise; sugar snap peas in salt broth スナップ豌豆の塩びたし, Wakame sea weed in ponzu sesami oil dressing わかめのポン酢胡麻油あえ, in the next square dish are seasoned boiled egg or “ajitama” 味玉 and pickled daikon and cucumber 大根と胡瓜の漬物, in a round small dish is  urchin shutou ウニの酒盗, in the small bowl is herring in wine sauce (from the jar) which I added sour cream dill sauce. 

While we really like both of them, among the two hiya-oroshi sake we tried this year we particularly liked Sho-nai Bijin. (the other one will be posted soon).

New Divided Plate and 9 Otoshi Appetizers 9つ仕切り皿にのせたお通し9種類

This is on the theme of multiple small “otoshi” appetizers. Previously we used a 5 segmented plate to serve 5 appetizers. A few days ago, I found a 9 segmented square plate available on Amazon which was reasonably priced so I got two. I thought it would be hard coming up with 9 appetizers but I managed it with 8 dishes I made. The ninth dish was an exception since I didn’t make it. It was the fried shrimp head which came from Tako Grill when we had our sashimi/sushi take-out. (Shrimp head is a by-product of “botan-ebi” 牡丹海老 sashimi/sushi). In any case, I was surprised that once I started thinking otoshi I was on a roll and could have served two or three more appetizers if I wanted to. This was a nice start of the evening but even very small dishes are filling for us and we ended up with a  “shime” 〆ending dish after this.

In the 1st row, left, is a sugar snap in salt broth スナップ豌豆の塩びたし. We used to be able to get decent sugar snaps from our regular grocery store but recently, we have had to go to gourmet grocery stores to get decent ones This was crunchy, sweet soaked in salt dashi broth.

In the 1st row, center, are cucumber onion salad and stir fried shirataki, jalapeño pepper and enoki mushroom.

In the 1st row, right, is the cheese curd my wife made  but instead of jalapeño pepper, she added “Yuzukosho” 柚子胡椒, soy sauce and cream. I added a dab of yuzukosho on the side to provide an added “schmear” of yuzukosho flavor if desired.

Tsukune on a slice of lotus root 蓮根つくね.

“Uni-shuto” ウニ酒盗 from Maruhide. As I stated before this is the best uni aside from fresh uni. I served it with cucumber and perilla leaves.

I refried the shrimp head kara-age which was part of take-out from Tako Grill a few days ago. Shrimp head has a good amount of meat and is very crunchy but you have to be careful how you eat the prickly legs so as to not injure your mouth.

Recently, we discovered that Whole Foods carries fresh quail eggs. We really like boiled quail eggs. Although we can get canned boiled quail eggs, boiled eggs prepared from fresh quail eggs are much much better. I served it with marinara sauce, basil and sprinkle of salt.

Blanched asparagus with sesame mayonnaise. The dressing is a mixture of mayo, Japanese sesame paste or nerigoma 練りごま and soy sauce.

Salmon salad. My usual. The dressing is mixture of mayo, Greek yogurt and Dijon mustard.

We really like our new plates. If I serve 9 appetizers for two of us in small bowls, we have to wash a total of 18 bowls but here we had to wash only two plates. We really like the many small dishes we had here; true Izakaya-style.

Take-out sashimi from Tako Grill タコグリルからのテイクアウト

We have been taking out omakase sushi and sashimi 刺身と寿司おまかせ from Tako Grill since March of 2020 after it closed for dining-in. I have posted a few of these take-out sashimi and sushi dishes. I usually re-plate them on two plates for one serving each. I usually use rectangular plates but this time, I used round plates we got recently which are currently our favorite.

Today’s sashimi was Oo-tro tuna 大トロ, hamachi はまち and botan-ebi ボタン海老 (could be Argentinian red shrimp). All were quite good. I also use all the trimmings such as the daikon or perilla from the take-out box.

I re-arranged the uni and squid sashimi  rolled in perilla leaves ウニとイカの刺身大葉巻き into a small dish with julienne of perilla 大葉 and nori 刻みのり, dressed with wasabi-jouuyu ワサビ醤油.

We also got 4 deep dried shrimp heads (extra benefit of Botan ebi sashimi) which were also great. We got nearly filled up with these assorted sashimi but we finished with the serving of sushi  (including one California roll with real lump crab) that was the last part of the take-out. We really enjoy this sashimi and sushi feast at home with cold sake. It is a great to kick back, relax and enjoy our meal with sake libation in the comfort of our home without having to worry about a drive back from the restaurant through traffic. 

Seawater Uni, uni shuto and fresh myoga 海水ウニ、ウニ酒盗、茗荷

Although there is nothing new here, it is not common to have a new crop of myoga 茗荷 harvested from our own garden (just started), fresh salt water (seawater) uni “Kaisui-uni” 海水ウニ and uni-shuto うに酒盗 from Maruhide 丸秀, all available in the same time. Myoga is best enjoyed fresh and the season is rather short and requires some effort to harvest. So, I served a small dish of myoga with cucumber, and wakame as well as two small dishes of each kind of uni. For the occasion, I pulled out the small lidded containers we purchased in Nihiki market, Kyoto 京都錦市場 some years ago.

These covered small dishes make a nice presentation since lifting the lid reveals the contents as a pleasant  surprise. (On this occasion, however, my wife knew exactly what the dishes contained). From left to right are original uni shuto, salt water uni and the myoga dish.

Fresh uni from Maruhide is frequently out of stock. Recently however, fresh uni in seawater (i.e. uni in salt water with a salt concentration equivalent to seawater; about 3.5 percent) became available which was fine with us so we ordered it. We already had original uni shuto frozen in the freezer so we decided to have an “uni tasting festival” of both the seawater uni and the original uni shuto. As I mentioned before, most of the fresh uni is treated with “alum’ which makes it a bit firmer. The salt water uni is not treated or processed at all; just placed in seawater equivalent. As a result, it is a bit softer but has a pure uni taste. Dipped in wasabi and sashimi shouyu it is sublime uni enjoyment.

The picture below shows the original uni shuto(u). Maruhide is the only place this is made. Compared to other preserved uni (classic are “ Neri-uni” 練りウニ, “Tsubu-uni” 粒ウニ and less commonly “steamed-uni” 蒸しウニ). The former two are readily available in Japan and come in small jars. They are salted and some alcohol is added and processed (the details are not clear). Neri-uni is homgenized and paste-like and Tsubu-uni retains its original shape. Maruhide Uni shutou is closer to tsubu-uni but it includes some additional proprietary process. In any case, it comes frozen in a jar and tastes much better than any other preserved uni we have tried. This should just be enjoyed without any additional seasonings .

Finally, we enjoy the very unique and distinct flavors of fresh myoga. We just harvested this in the morning. I combined the myoga with cucumber and wakame (salt-preserved one) dressed in sumiso 酢味噌.

Nothing comes close to fresh, especially saltwater, uni. But Maruhide uni shuto comes in a close second. Each has it’s own rich distinctive taste that goes extremely well with a sip of cold sake. Also, because of the rich taste intensity a little goes a long way. The myogo is such seasonal late summer taste harbinger of fall. Its distinctive fresh somewhat sharp taste complemented the the rich uni beautifully. 

Watari bune Daiginjo 渡船純米大吟醸

This sake “Watari bune, junmai daiginjo” 渡船純米大吟醸 was a gift from a friend for a recent occasion. This is a really great sake with a slightly effervescent feel and fruity, crisp but very complex flavors. This should definitely be drunk cold. This sake is brewed by “Fuchu-homare” 府中誉 which is located in Ibaragi prefecture 茨城県. The sake rice or “sakamai”  酒米 used for this sake is also called “Watari bune” which is supposedly a very rare near-extinct sake rice which relatively recently has been revived. The famous and most popular sake rice “Yamada nishiki” 山田錦 is reportedly a descendant of this rice. Also the name “Watari bune”  渡船, which means a  “ferry” or “ferryboat”, is very fitting for sake from Ibaragi which is known for Tone river 利根川 and its estuaries criss crossing the flat delta before pouring into the Pacific ocean.This area also contains large lakes. (Such areas rich in water ways and lakes are called “Suigou”  水郷). Such topography would require use of ferries i.e. “Watari bune” to navigate the water ways.

In any case, a great sake calls for great “Tsumami” ツマミ or small sake snacks. We were lucky to get fresh unprocessed fresh “uni” sea urchin in salted water from Maruhide 丸秀 called “Ensui uni” 塩水ウニ. We also recently got frozen blocks of Bluefin tuna from Great-Alaska-Seafood. We served these items on recently acquired Japanese plates. The soy sauce in the small round plate is also a special “sashimi” soy sauce.   

I made the tuna three ways (two shown directly below. One came later). The first was straight sashimi (upper left in picture). The second was “Negi-toro” ネギトロ with slices of cucumber (lower left in picture). We enjoyed this negi-toro as a kind-of hand roll on a small sheet of nori (not shown) with the cucumber slices (shown).

This uni from Maruhide (shown upper right in the picture) is not processed with the usual “alum” and only soaked in salt water with salinity consistent with seawater. As far as I can tell, Maruhide is only source in the U.S. where we can get this. As an aside: my wife can sometimes taste the alum on uni. She immediately passes her portion to me when this happens. Not exactly a hardship for me, since I can’t taste alum. (She can also detect the alum used in some brands of baking powder).  The consistency of the uni in salt water is slightly softer than alum processed ones but it is absolute pure fresh uni. With just a little bit of wasabi and soy sauce and a sip of the sake, you cannot get anything better.

We needed a few more “Tsumami” to go with this sake. We had more tuna, this time “zuke” tuna 漬けマグロ, in which tuna slices are marinated in x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce for few hours so.  I served it with wakame and cucumber dressed in sumiso sauce 胡瓜とわかめの酢味噌あえ (left). Since my wife made blini a few days ago and we had Keta salmon ikura roe thawed, we made our usual “blini topped with cream cheese, smoked salmon and ikura” (right).

All these items are again perfect accompaniment for this wonderful sake.

Uni shutou with salmon roe 雲丹酒盗いくら入り

The last time we bought fresh uni from Maruhide 丸秀, we also got a few “uni shutou” 雲丹酒盗including one with salmon roe 雲丹酒盗いくら入り which was a new choice for us. So, one weekend evening, I served this with our usual squid shiokara イカの塩辛. I also served chawanmushi 茶碗蒸し and simmered Kabocha squash カボチャの煮物. These were nice starters.

Left in the picture below is uni shutou with ikura. Obviously, this is a great combination and we, especially my wife, loves uni-ikura donburi ウニいくら丼. Right is our usual squid shiokara. Both are perfect for sipping sake, although you do not need much, just a bit of taste to go with sake.

I served this chawanmushi cold. I often top this with ikura or uni or both but not this time. I made the dish with shrimp and chicken in addition to shiitake. I added scallion and sugar-snap towards the end of cooking.

The picture below shows simmered Japanese kabocha squash カボチャの煮物. It’s a classic.

This was great start of the evening and the combination of uni and ikura shutou is definitely a favorite.

Uni appetizers two kinds 雲丹の前菜２種

As I mentioned previously, Maruhide 丸秀 is the best place to get consistently high-quality uni and uni products. I wanted to get some fresh uni for the New Year. Although I checked the web site regularly fresh uni was not available for some time. So when I saw it became available recently, I could not resist and ordered fresh uni (both regular and in salt water or "Kaisui-uni" 海水うに). I also ordered some "uni shuto " ウニ酒盗 which is preserved and frozen and lasts longer than fresh uni. This is second best (compared to fresh uni) but among the class of "preserved" uni, this is the best by far. We had an uni tasting the evening the uni arrived. It consisted of regular uni and uni in salt water. We also included some ikura like we did before. We finished the evening with a small uni and ikura "donburi" rice bowl 雲丹いくら丼. 

The next evening, I made a small uni appetizer dish. Although it is hard to see in the picture, I put cubes of avocado dressed in lemon juice in the bottom of the bowl then topped them with uni, "kinshi-ran" 金糸卵 golden thread egg and nori strips or "kizami-nori" 刻み海苔. I added wasabi-jouyu わさび醤油 (mixture of wasabi and soy sauce just before serving). Since the texure of avocado resembles fatty tuna sashimi, this combination went very well together. The avocado really complemented the uni.

The next evening I served the last of the salt water uni “as is” garnished with a small dab of wasabi and the finely chopped green part of scallion.  I included a small "cucumber and wakame seaweed salad" dressed with "sumiso" 酢味噌 dressing. Again, I added wasabi-jouyu just before serving.

As before both the regular and salt water uni were excellent. Just a bit of uni and cold sake, the flavor lingers in the mouth. This is such a luxury.

New Year 2022 Jan 3 Salmon three ways 一月三日鮭尽し

We have been enjoying the items from the Sushi Taro osechi box. After indulging in a serving of wonderful dishes from the box which go perfectly with sake,  I served this plate as the “second course”.  The red and white fish cake or "kouhaku kamaboko" 紅白蒲鉾 (upper left in the picture) came from the osechi box (they were the last four slices). I made a deep pocket in each and stuffed the pink one with the leftover Maruhide sea urchin shutou 丸秀雲丹の酒盗 topped with a dab of wasabi. I topped the white one with Ikura marinated in soy sauce イクラの醤油ずけ topped with strips of nori.

The remaining items were all different salmon dishes which I prepared for New Year. Starting from right upper, clock wise, is salmon nanban 鮭の南蛮漬け、Russian marinated salmon 鮭のロシア漬け, and finally salmon kelp roll 鮭の昆布巻き. These three salmon dishes all have different textures and flavors. For the salmon nanban, the salmon was dredged in flour and fried before being marinaded in sweet vinegar which gave it a bit firmer texture. The Russian marinated salmon started out as thin strips of raw salmon marinated in sake, vinegar and oil without any sweetness. This year I something different. I added dijon mustard to the marinade and emulsified it with the “motor boat” emersion blender. As a result the oil didn’t separate or solidify. Also, the salmon did not “over cook”  and had a lovely soft texture. Finally the salmon kelp roll was simmered for sometime in seasoning broth, producing a yet different soft and moist texture. These are wonderful to enjoy with sips of sake.

Sushitaro Osechi 2022 寿司太郎お節 2020

As always, we are so spoiled to have Sushitaro osechi.

This is a picture of the upper box.  I am not going into the details but its all good stuff. Many items are hidden behind and under the items on the top.

This is the lower box.

This was what we ate from the box the evening of January 2. I just served whatever caught my eye. This round was mainly items that go well  with sake.

The next picture shows is an assortment of goodies. I lightly heated (toasted) “Karasumi” 唐墨 mullet roe or botargo, and wagyu roast beef 和牛ローストビーフ, which makes the beef unctuous melting in you mouth and the karasumi soft with enhanced flavor. Of course, “ankimo tofu” あん肝豆腐　or Monkfish liver terrine is one of our favorites.

In this three compartment plate, I served (from left to right) “Mushi uni” 蒸し雲丹 or steamed sea urchin, “Uni shutou with yuzu-chilli” ウニ酒盗 柚子胡椒 from Maruhide 丸秀 and  “ikura shouyu-zuke”  いくら醤油ずけ soy marinated salmon roe.  I added wasabi-soy sauce to the steamed uni and made a cucumber boat to contain the ikura. All perfect for sake.

After these, we had simmered vegetables (again lightly warmed in the microwave) and finished with a mayo-biscuit my wife made that afternoon (subject of another post).

P.S. In the January 1, 2022 post, I mentioned that we thought we had some better zodiac figurines for the year of tiger but the ones we displayed in the blog were the only ones we had. My wife quickly remedied the situation by ordering two figurines from Japan, one (the first picture) perfectly matches the style we have for the other zodiac animals (it is made from earthenware as a bell called "Do-rei" 土鈴).

The fellows below came from the same kiln as the one above. But they have more accoutrements. Aren't they cute?

Hope we can used these figurines again.