Izakaya in Sapporo Part 5 札幌の居酒屋パート5

6. Isari 酒菜家漁　いさり

北海道札幌市中央区南７条西３丁目　セブンビル1Ｆ

Seven Bldg 1F
Minami 7 Nishi 3, Chuo-ku
Sapporo

For reservation 011-551-7733, Credit card accepted, Smoking allowed

One reason we went this place is that it was located in the “Seven building セブンビル”. This building used to be a hospital with the residence attached to it. It was owned/run by a physician who happened to be the father of my good friend’s wife. The building has been converted into a commercial building housing multiple izakayas and drinking places. The last time we were inside the building, however, we spotted some institutional hallmarks of its past as a hospital such as the stairs which are characteristic of  a medical center rather than general commercial place. They were wide, solidly made of concrete with metal treads suggesting institutional strength and cleaning  Some years ago, when we were in Sapporo, we had dinner with my friend and his wife in one of the drinking places housed in the building. My friend’s wife kept us regaled with very interesting stories about growing up this building part of which was the family residence and part of which was the hospital run by her father. The front facade is very distinctive with multiple round windows. My wife notice this building while we were riding past in a taxi. When I was searching for the next izakaya to visit, this one came up. I noticed this izakaya was located on the 1st floor and could be entered at the side of the building so you wouldn’t have to go through the main part of the building (i.e. the hospital).  (This  would have been the entrance to the family residence). I decide to pay it a visit and made a reservation.

The name of this izakaya “Isari 漁り” means “to fish” in old Japanese. Only reference to “isari”  I know was “Isari-bi 漁火” which is the fire/light used to lure fish at night. In any case, the name implied seafood was the main focus of the izakaya. We got a small low table with the “leg hole” underneath.

The first round of ordering had to be done by writing our orders on a small slip of paper. I am not sure what was the purpose of this but I obliged. Since assorted sashimi often included items we, especially my wife, did not particularly like (such as chewy octopus or sinewy white fish), we decide to order individual sashimi items which was a good choice. The sashimi was served on a bed of ice (#1). Tuna, hamachi and, especially ama-ebi sweet shrimp were really good. (We were tempted to have the shrimp heads fried).

We also ordered “kaki-age of white shrimp* 白海老のかき揚げ*” . But the last of the white shrimp had apparently been ordered by the customer at the next table so they were out of it.  The server suggested “seafood kaki-age” instead. It was a bit greasy but quite good with small scallops and shrimp. We also had “dried hotaru ika 干しホタルイカ”or firefly squid which was served slightly grilled with a side of mayo with red pepper flakes (#2). We really liked this especially since it was a bit late for the fresh hotaru-ika season**. When we took the picture (#2), we had already eaten most of the squid. We like it so much we even ordered seconds.

* “Shiro-ebi or shira-ebi” is small transparent shrimp exclusively harvested in Toyama bay 富山湾 where hotaru-ika is also famous. 

**When we were in kanazawa 金沢 this time, hotaru-ika season had just ended and we could not have fresh ones. Instead we bought dried hotaru-ika at Oomi market 近江市場. We tried it as is with a bit of sake but it was rather fishy. This rendition was much better.

This place surpassed our expectation. We will come back but next time at the counter.

Anchovy Onion Cocktail Biscuit アンチョビイと玉ねぎカクテルビスケット

I made “plupo al ajillo” from boiled Spanish octopus legs from D’Artagnan. They were the last of the octopus legs we had gotten from D’Artagnan. I did this since the octopus was not getting any better in the freezer and has been facing some fierce competition from the very good ones we have been getting recently from Weee. Instead of just salt I used filets of oil packed anchovy. This came out extremely well. After simmering in olive oil for 5 minutes, the octopus was very tender and the anchovy really added nice salty and umami-rich flavor. With my mini-baguette, this was a really good appetizer. 

Nonetheless after this, we were left with 4-5 more anchovy fillets. (There usually seem to be more anchovies in a can of anchovies than we can usually use). My wife came to the rescue. She found this recipe for “Anchovy onion cocktail biscuit” in the Washington Post. Given the “excess anchovy” situation and since we are big fans of savory cookies and biscuits, there was no way we could “pass”. This was a really good biscuit. It tasted so good with a glass of red wine. Caramelized onion and anchovy made this biscuit really savory and the texture was great.

Ingredients (makes 50 bite-size biscuits)

For the onions
1 medium onion (6 ounces), halved and sliced
4 anchovy fillets, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (we used small amount of cayenne pepper)
1/2 teaspoon salt (adjust depending on the saltiness of the anchovy)
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream (we used light cream)

For the dough
1 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (226 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for the counter
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3 ounces/85 grams) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice and frozen (#1 in the composite)
3/4 cup (2 1/2 ounces/71 grams) grated Gruyère cheese, plus more for sprinkling if desired (#1)
2 1/2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce/15 grams) grated parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling if desired (#1)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Heavy cream, for brushing (we did not use)

Directions
Step 1
Make the onions: In a skillet over medium-low heat, combine the onion, anchovies, oil, crushed red pepper flakes (in our case cayenne pepper) and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat as necessary, until the onions are soft and golden, 30 to 45 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool, then chop the mixture. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl, add the cream and refrigerate for about 15 minutes.

Step 2
Make the dough: In a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and pulse until combined. Add the frozen butter and process until the mixture resembles a coarse meal, about 15 seconds. Transfer to a large bowl and mix in the cheeses until combined (#1). Add the onion mixture and pepper and, using a fork, stir just until the onions are evenly distributed. The dough will be crumbly.

Step 3
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Step 4
Lightly flour a work surface, turn the dough out on it and shape it into an 8-inch square. If the dough is too dry to stay together, sprinkle it with more heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, just until it holds its shape. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut it into quarters. Stack one quarter on top of another so that you have two stacks (#2). Push them close together; then, using a rolling pin, gently flatten and roll it out into a 1/2- to 3/4-inch-thick square. For neater biscuits, trim any uneven edges of the dough with a bench scraper or sharp knife, reserving the trimmings, then cut the dough into 1-inch square biscuits.

Step 5
Reroll the trimmings and cut additional biscuits as needed. Working in batches if necessary, arrange the biscuits about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet (#3).  Lightly brush each biscuit with heavy cream. Sprinkle them with additional gruyere or parmesan, if desired. (We didn’t do this). If your kitchen is very warm or the dough has gotten soft, chill the cut biscuits in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.

Step 6
Bake the biscuits for 7 minutes, rotate the pan front to back and continue baking 4 to 5 minutes more, or until the tops are golden (#4). The biscuits are tender, so if the sprinkled cheese on top melts causing them to stick to the parchment, gently free them with a thin spatula before lifting them.

Step 7
Serve warm or room temperature.

These were surprisingly good biscuits.They started out with a very strong onion flavor which as they cooled down mellowed into a smooth slightly sweet carmelized onion flavor that blended well with the saltiness of the anchovy. The texture was a bit surprising. the outside was crunchy like the crust of a pie but the inside was a very soft combination of butter and cheeses.  These make great “small-bites” to go with a glass of wine.

Bottarga/Karasumi Taste Test 日本の唐墨とサルジニアのボタルガの味比べ

We enjoyed the fresh uni and karasumi 唐墨 from Maruhide 丸秀 a few days ago. We decided that while we still had some of the karasumi left, we would get some Sardinian bottarga and have a taste test. The last time we tried Sardinian bottarga was 11 years ago. The brand we bought back then was called bottarga Di Muggine from L’Oro di Cabras, Sardinia, Italy. We tried another one this time. The one we got is called “Sardinian Gold” from “Bottarga Brothers” through Amazon market place (picture #1, right). In terms of the price, the karasumi is 3.5 times more expensive than the bottarga. The color of this bottarga is about the same as the karasumi. I remembered that the bottarga we previously bought was darker in color and stronger in taste compared to Japanese karasumi I had eaten back then. The information brochure that came with the bottarga we just bought stated that when bottarga is exposed to air, the color it becomes darker and the taste becomes stronger.  So, to prevent that from happening, I separated the sacs and vacuum packed one for later use.

I sliced both and slightly toasted them. We had them with cold sake. In the picture #2, the left is karasumi and the right is bottarga. As you can see the bottarga is larger in size but the color is exactly the same. Both tasted good and about the same. We like this “Sardinian bottarga gold”.

Of course we needed some more items to go with the sake. In the picture #3, from left to right are karasumi/bottarga, squid shiokara イカの塩辛, Russian marinated salmon 鮭のロシア漬 with pickled cucumber topped with ikura, and daikon namasu 大根なます with slices of boiled octopus leg and also topped with ikura. The boiled octopus legs came from Weee (originated from China). This is excellent and as close as I can think of to a Japanese prepared boiled octopus leg. All these small dishes went so well with cold sake.

*Digression Alert: Although Sardinian bottarga is most well known, other cultures also make similar fish roe (usually gray mullet roe), salt cured and then dried under the sun. A small pamphlet came with our bottarga included the other types of bottarga the company sells which included Greek, Egyptian, French (two kinds) and Brazilian.  Japan, Korea and Chinese also make their versions.

Happy New Year 2025 謹賀新年2025

Happy New Year! This is the year of  the snake 巳年. We put out a small Japanese “Kagami-mochi” 鏡餅 decoration with three snake figurines. The center is actually a “netsuke” 根付 we purchased some years ago from a shop in Nakamise, Asakusa 仲見世、浅草.  They specialize in miniatures (the shop is also very small almost a miniature itself.)

As usual, we started the day with our regular breakfast of Cafe Latte and some bread/muffins. We have our new year’s soup or “Ozouni” お雑煮 for lunch with a few side dishes I made. (We will wait until evening to open up the Sushi Taro Osetchi Juubako 寿司太郎の御節重箱). The picture below, shows the dishes I served for lunch. They include ‘datemaki” 伊達巻, salmon kelp rolls 鮭の昆布巻き, “kazunoko” 数の子 herring roe (store bought*), wakasaki わかさぎ (store bought), Russian marinated salmon 鮭のロシアずけ folded into the shape of a rose with marinated ikura on top, and daikon namasu 大根なます with slices of octopus leg.

The “ozouni” お雑煮 “new year soup” is our usual. I added daikon, carrot, shrimp, shiitake mushroom and gluten cake or “fu”. In addition, I added chopped renkon to the tsukune balls 蓮根つくねだんご　 which worked well. We like this better than pieces of chicken meat.  It goes without saying that we had a ceremonial glass or two of sake to celebrate the new year 2025! Nice beginning of the new year.  We will open up Sushi Taro Osechi Box this evening.

Happy New Year 2024 明けましておめでとう2024

Like the last year, we put the New Year’s decoration including “Kagami-mochi” 鏡餅 and dragon or “tatsu 辰” zodiac figurines shown in the picture #1 in the room we spend most of our time rather than in the tokonoma 床間 in the “tea-room”.  Upon waking New Year’s day, we learned of the magnitude 7.6 earthquake that hit Ishikwa prefecture 石川県. We hope for the wellbeing of the people affected.

On New Year’s eve, we started the evening with a plate of assorted sashimi, most of the sashimi came from “Riviera Seafood Club”, our most recent favorite source of “home freezer” sashimi or sashimi that we can store in the freezer here at home and thaw at any time we want sashimi. Since the portions are smaller than sashimi we can get from other sources, we can eat more than one kind of sashimi at a time. On the New Year’s plate (picture #2) we had chutoro tuna 中トロ, hamachi はまち, scollop ホタテ, and octopus leg タコの足 (which was from D’artagnan). I added wasabi with chopped wasabi plant stalk (from tube) and yuzu kocho 柚子胡椒 (from tube).

On New Year’s day, we had only coffee (cafe latte and macchiato with a bit of steamed cream) rather than our usual breakfast so we wouldn’t be too full for the large lunch we planned of “Ozhoni” お雑煮 New Year’s soup. As usual, I served the soup in real lacquer ware bowls (gift from my mother many many years ago) with a side of some New Year’s dishes I made (picture #3).

This year, I precooked all the vegetables and proteins that went into the soup. This included “gobo” burdock root 牛蒡, shiitake 椎茸, shimeji しめじ and wood ear 木耳 mushrooms, carrot 人参, daikon 大根, and “kinu-saya” 絹さや snow peas. The protein included sous vide chicken breast (a few slices) and poached shrimp. As usual, I encased the “mochi” 餅 rice cake in “abra-age” 油揚 deep fried tofu pouch (peaking out of the bottom right of the soup bowl). I made the broth from the dashi packs I usually use as well as by poaching the shrimp in the dashi broth. I seasoned it with x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce. By precooking the vegetables and the proteins, I had better control over cooking everything just right. It also made it possible for me to make a better arrangement of the ingredients in the final soup bowl serving. Just before serving, I added frozen yuzu zest which added a nice yuzu 柚子 citrus favor (picture #4).

The side dishes (picture #5) included the usual New Year’s dishes I like to make including: salmon kelp roll 酒の昆布巻き, salmon “Russian” marinade 鮭のロシア漬 garnished with “ikura” イクラsalmon roe, daikon namasu  大根なますand poached shrimp.

We also had a few small glasses of  sake with this as a libation to the New Year. Now, this evening we will be hitting the Sushi Taro Osechi box すし太郎お節箱. The below is a preview (pictures #6 and 7).

We expect some good New Year’s feast to come with the osechi box. Already salivating!!

Nine appetizers served in nine divided plate version 2

This is the second version of nine small appetizers served on the nine space divided plate. Although it was not intentional it turned out that I did not have even one repeat of the items I presented in the previously posted nine appetizers. But this time I did include two store-bought items that I got from our Japanese grocery store; Chinese-style octopus salad and fish cakes. But I made the remaining 7.

The top row left is blanched edible chrysanthemum or “shun-giku” 春菊 shown in detail below, dressed with x4 Japanese noodle sauce and mixed with generous amount of dried bonito flakes or “kezuri-bushi”  削り節. It has very distinct flavors which we really like.

The 1st row, middle is my ususal “dashi-maki” だし巻き Japanese omelet. This time I added dried green nori or “aonori” 青のり. I garnished it with julienne of green perila or “aoziso” 青紫蘇.

The next dish is a Chinese-style octopus salad or 中華風タコサラダ. It is pretty good and we like it.

The center row, left is hijiki seaweed, deep fried tofu and carrot stir fry or ひじきと油揚の炒め物.

The 2nd row center is one I just made this morning. Fried egg plant and mushroom simmered in broth or ナスと椎茸の揚げ浸し. The mushrooms include fresh shiitake and brown shimeji. This is served cold with garnish of blanched green beans.

The 2nd row left is my usual burdock root stir fry ゴボウのきんぴら.

The 3rd row left is a cold skinned Campari tomato. I cross cut the top halfway-through and poured on some Irizake  煎り酒 and special sushi vinegar (both from the Rice Factory). Irizake is boiled down sake seasoned with “umeboshi” picked plum 梅干し, kelp and bonito flakes. The sushi vinegar is a special kind from “Echizen 越前” or present day Fukui 福井.  It tastes milder and better than our usual (Mizkan brand). I topped this with fine julienne of  “Gari” がりsweet vinegar marinated thinly sliced ginger root (usually use to accompany sushi) and perilla. I got this idea from one of the food blogs I follow but I did not follow the recipe exactly.

The 3rd row center is store-bought fish cake which I heated up in the toaster oven and dressed in x4 Japanese noodle sauce and yuzukosho.

The 3rd row right is my usual “asazuke” 浅漬け picked (salted) vegetable which includes cucumber, carrot, nappa cabbage and daikon radish. I also added “shio konbu” 塩昆布, and ginger. The asazuke is about two weeks old but still tasted fresh (I attribute this to the fact I added a bit more salt - more than the usual 3% - and added a small amount of Vodka when I made it. While it didn’t alter the overall taste, I think this makes the asazuke last longer without becoming sour).

After enjoying these 9 small dishes both of us were quite full and did not eat anything else. All the wonderful different flavors and textures made a really enjoyable dinner.

New Year’s day Evening 元旦の夕べ

So finally, we busted into the osechi box for the New Year’s day evening feast. Like we did before, I decided to use “Tsugaru-muri” 津軽塗り lacquerware two-tier lunch box (one tier for each of us) to serve the goodies. As a side, I also served the diakon-namasu 大根なます I made topped with slices of boiled Spanish octopus leg we got from D’Artagnan  and Ikura salmon roe.

I picked up most of the key items here including our favorites like “kazunoko” herring roe marinated in miso かずのこの味噌漬け, “karasumi” 唐墨 botargo and “ankimo tofu” あん肝豆腐 monkfish liver terrine. I lightly toasted karasumi, duck breast and “sawara saikyo-yaki” 鰆の西京焼き before serving.

These small items were such a treat. We enjoyed every bite along with a sip of our house sake “Tengumai daiginjo” 天狗舞大吟醸.

Clam Chowder 子ハマグリのチャウダー

 Recently while talking to my wife’s sister, she mentioned that she had made clam chowder using frozen baby clams. In the past, we used canned baby clams to make clam sauce for pasta as well as chowder. We always avoided using canned chopped clams which were very chewy and rubbery. Since we could not get our preferred brand of canned whole baby clams, we have not made either pasta sauce or chowder for a long time. We checked our regular grocery store (home delivery) and found that they carry frozen baby clams from Pana Pesca. We have had frozen squid and octopus from them before. We decided to try the clams. Around the same time, I came across YouTube video of New England clam chowder by Kenji Lopez-Alt. So it appeared that all the stars and the moon were aligned for me to make clam chowder. I made a chowder based on Kenji’s and my old recipes. I used a strip of bacon and used the bacon bits and chopped parsley as garnish.

The baby clams are pretty good and the best among the PanaPesca frozen seafood we tried.

Ingredients:
10.6oz (300gram) frozen baby clams, thawed and juice preserved
One medium onion, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup of AP flour
2 bay leaves
5-6 baby red potatoes, peeled and cut into small dice
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into small dice
1-2 strips of bacon (or salt pork)
2, 8oz bottles of clam juice
2 cups or less whole milk (amount adjusted based on the thickness of the chowder you like)
3 tbs olive oil + 1 tbs butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Fino sherry (optional)

Directions:
In a soup pot, add the bacon and cook until crispy and set it aside leaving bacon fat in the pot.
Add the butter and oil and sauté the celery and onion until cooked but not browned (4-5 minutes on medium to low flame. I also seasoned this with salt and pepper)
Add the flour and cook for a few minutes (do not brown), add the clam juice and about1 cup of milk and stir on medium flame until thickened add more milk to adjust the thickness to your taste.
Add the bay leaves, the clams and simmer for 7-8 minutes.
Meanwhile cook the potato and carrot in a separate pot in salted water (I would have cooked the potato and carrot in the same pot in which chowder was cooking but I took the suggestion from Kenji to cook them separately so that the potatoes would not dissolve).
Drain the potato and carrot and add to the chowder.
Season with salt and pepper (you could use white pepper but I used black pepper)

For garnish, I crumbled the bacon strips and finely chopped the parsley
I also added a small amount of Fino sherry to the bottom of the soup bowl.

We were quite pleased with the quality of the clams. We had this as a lunch with several slices of rustic apricot cranberry bread which went very well.

Tako rice and Matsutake soup for lunch タコ飯と松茸のお吸い物昼食

 This was a lunch we had one day. We had leftover frozen octopus rice or “Tako meshi” たこめし made from a kit we got from the  Rice factory. Although the original was not bad, the amount of octopus was rather small. Since I made tender simmered octopus タコの柔らか煮 a few days ago, I added slices of octopus legs to the previously made rice. Also we had matsutake mushroom 松茸 from Maine and made clear matsutake soup 松茸のお吸い物. I added a dish of salted vegetable or “asazule” 浅漬け and simmered root vegetables and chicken similar to “Chikuzen-ni” 筑前煮.

I  just microwaved the rice to thaw it then added slices of tender simmered octopus with a small amount of the simmering liquid and further heated it. I also garnished it with fresh “myouga” 茗荷 from our garden. The addition of the simmered octopus made the Tako rice much better than the original.

I made this clear soup from broth made from a dashi pack (kelp and shiitake), with mirin みりん and light colored soy sauce 薄口醤油. I also added shrimp (sunk in the bottom), scallion and flower-shaped “fu” 花麩 gluten cake. I also added frozen zest of yuzu 柚子 citrus. This is a lidded soup bowl and when the lid was opened the subtle but distinctive aroma of matustake and yuzu wafted out. (The aroma of matustake is one of the joys of the matusake season).  I think Maine matsutake appears to have a better aroma than the ones we used to get from Oregon.

The below are basic simmered root vegetables including daikon 大根, carrot 人参, bamboo shoot 筍, shiitake mushroom (I used dried) 椎茸, lotus root 蓮根, kon-nyaku 蒟蒻 and sugar snap スナップ豌豆 (for garnish). This time I also included chicken thigh.

This is my usual “asazuke” 浅漬け. I just made myouga in sweet vinegar 茗荷の甘酢漬け. I thinly sliced and served next to the vegetables.

For a lunch, this was quite good. 

Octopus leg dressed in salted plum sauce タコの梅肉あえ

I have posted many dishes using octopus which we got from different sources. We like octopus legs (boiled and frozen) from D’artagnan and Great Alaska Seafood. Interestingly, both are “Spanish octopus legs”.  The offer we recently purchased from Great Alaska Seafood included quite a large amount of octopus legs so I have the luxury of using it fairly regularly. The last time I used it, after thawing, I reserved about 2 inches of the octopus leg to eat as “sashimi*” 刺身 and I made the remainder into tender simmered octopus タコの柔らか煮 using an Instant pot. We usually eat octopus sashimi with wasabi and soy sauce or sumiso but this time, I tried a different dressing using salted plum or “Umeboshi” 梅干し (I used some umeboshi we received quite a few years ago from my mother the last time she made it. We kept it in a sealed container in the refrigerator. It looked and tasted good). I also served two small appetizer dishes.

*Most common “sashimi” of octopus is previously boiled legs because raw octopus is extremely perishable. Real “raw” octopus can be had in Japan. The first time we had “raw” octopus sashimi was in Kobe 神戸 many years ago. Because of the location of Kobe, very fresh octopus from the Japanese inland sea 瀬戸内海 was available. Now, because of the advancement in the logistics of transporting fresh seafood in Japan, it is more readily available throughout Japan. As a matter of fact, we had raw octopus sashimi at Tako Grill in Kuroishi 黒石, Aomori prefecture 青森県 in Japan.

The upper left picture above shows the Octopus slices with salted plum sauce: タコの刺身梅肉和え.

Ingredients and directions: (two small serving)

2 inches of boiled octopus leg, sliced thinly into 8 -10 slices

For Umeboshi 梅干し “bainiku” sauce 梅肉ソース

1 “umeboshi” salted plum, meat removed and finely chopped until creamy.

1 tsp mirin, mixed in

For garnish

1 perilla leaf, finely julienned 

1 nyouga, thinly slices

Cucumber slices

I also served tender simmered octopus leg タコの柔らか煮.

Since we had a small portion of filet mignon left over from the day before, I thinly sliced it and dressed it in ponzu sauce ポン酢醤油 with grated ginger. The green is blanched sugar snaps in dashi broth スナップ豌豆の塩びたし.

 

These small appetizers were great to start the evening.

Philadelphia (Philly) rolls "Hosomaki" 細巻きフィラデルフィアロール

Although I have posted  Philadelphia rolls (or Philly rolls) 6 years ago, it was a medium sized (chumaki 中巻) and the nori outside (omotemaki 表巻き). I also said in that post that this could be a thin roll with the rice outside (Hosomaki 細巻き and Uramaki 裏巻き) like California rolls. So this is exactly that version. The reason I made Philly rolls is that the type of smoked salmon we got from Vital Choice which was called "wild salmon lox" was sliced a bit too thick and did not have much of a smoked flavor so it didn’t work well with our usual smoked salmon dishes such as blini, smoked salmon and ikura dish. I made sandwiches using this lox with avocado and cucumber on croissants smeared with cream cheese one side and mayo on the other which was quite good. A few days later I made these Philly rolls for an ending "shime" 〆 dish in the evening. 

I made two rolls. The first one (upper row) came out better. For this, we made fresh rice and made the sushi rice using a Japanese cedar "hinoki" 檜 vessel  called "Hangiri" 飯切りor sushi-oke 寿司桶. We brought this so many years ago when we visited Kiso 木曽 but amazingly it still smells of Hinoki wood. In any case, this Philly roll was made exactly like California rolls but instead of crab meat and avocado, I used lox, cream cheese and cucumber. I also sprinkled the outside layer with white sesame as in California rolls. In this preparation, the lox from Vital Choice tasted great.

As a small side dish I served simmered tender octopus leg 蛸の軟らか煮 (shown below).

I also served cucumber asazuke 胡瓜の浅漬け with salt broth soaked sugar snap スナップ豌豆の塩びたし.

This was a rather large shime dish for us but it was very good and both of us managed to finish it. (Such a hardship…not!)

Beef tongue carppaccio 牛タンのカルパッチョ

 My wife loves beef tongue but not the way it’s usually prepared in Japan (thinly sliced and grilled). As a result I usually prepare the tongue by boiling it in water with some aromatics which is how the beef tongue she ate as a child was prepared. (She refers to it as the Pennsylvania Dutch rather than Japanese method of preparation. The Pa Dutch method results in a meat that is extremely tender and melts in the mouth. The Japanese method in contrast results is a fairly tough and chewy meat. As my wife would say, “Which is the best method of preparation? What was the question?”) After removing the skin, I thinly slice it and make sandwiches using pumpernickel bread with mayo and mustard. (Again made to the exacting specifications of the tongue sandwiches my wife used to eat as a child.) Portions are further cooked as a Japanese-Western style beef tongue stew. (Which by-the-way was not something my wife used to eat as a child but likes non-the-less.) 

We have not able to get beef tongue for a while. Although we know one of the grocery stores usually carries it, we have not been there recently since we are getting grocery home delivery. But an unexpected event led us to be at this particular grocery store and since we were there we snagged a rather large beef tongue. We enjoyed the tongue over several days as sandwiches and stew with spaetzle. I finally used the last portion of the tongue to make carpaccio (left in the picture below) and a small salad in Japanese-style (made using the PA. Dutch style prepared tongue, of course) with ponzu, yuzu-kosho, onion, cucumber topped with sesame seeds (right)

I made this carpaccio the same way I usually make it using leftover steaks or octopus. I first make zig-zag lines of olive oil (I used our favorite Spanish olive oil) and balsamic vinegar (this is a quite good one we got as a gift) perpendicular to each other on a plate. Then I scattered Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper over the oil mixture. I then I put on a layer of Videlia onion cut paper thin using a Japanese mandoline  slicer. I then add a layer of thinly sliced beef tongue. I garnish with cucumber (thinly sliced, salted, with the moisture squeezed out and then dressed with sweet vinegar), more onion and concasse of tomato with basil strips. I finished with more olive oil, balsamic vinegar. This was really great with read wine.

For the other salad, I just used the cucumber and onion left over from the previous salad. I arranged it with the onion on the bottom, the tongue (thinly sliced) next and topped with the cucumber. I dressed it with ponzu ポン酢 mixed with Yuzu-kosho 柚子胡椒 and topped with sesame. (The dressing is what made it Japanese style.) We liked the carpaccio better.

Our garden now has azaleas and iris in full bloom. My wife brought some of the more elegant looking    iris inside for us to enjoy. Isn’t spring wonderful!

Octopus leg from D'artagnan ダルタニアンからのスペイン産タコの足

I am fond of octopus and I’m always on the look out for a good and  reliable source. Our Japanese grocery store usually has it but I’m not going there as often as before. Our “tried and true” source is Catalina offshore products has frozen package of octopus for octopus leg from Japan. When I checked this time, however, only whole octopus was available.  We tried several other sources but they are were not always reliable. We recently tried Great-Alaska seafood which sold "Boiled Spanish Octopus". This was not bad and came two legs in a package frozen so it is just the right amount; however, it is a bit too soft/mushy. I made "Yawaraka-ni" やわらか煮 or tender simmered octopus which worked really well. This time, while we were reordering duck breast and lamb loin from D'artagnan we found that they also sell frozen Spanish octopus legs and decide to give it a try. One evening, I thawed one leg and tried it with sumiso dressing (on the right in the picture below) along with some cold chawan-mushi 茶碗蒸し topped with ikura (shrimp, chicken and nameko mushroom are in the chawan-mushi).

Since this was just a try, I only served three slices with cucumber in sweet vinegar.

Interestingly, the texture of this Spanish octopus is just right and to our liking-slightly chewy, not mushy or as toughly chewy as Japanese style octopus can be. It also tasted fresh. If D'artagnan keeps an inventory of octopus, this is another source. (We really liked the lamb loin we got from them which is a subject of another post.)