Tokyo Izakaya Part 2 東京の居酒屋 パート２

Honoka, Musashi Koyama 穂のか、武蔵小山

Before we visited Japan, we consulted the preeminent Izakaya expert, Jon of EOITWJ, and this was one of his recommendations. In addition, Rebecca of “Ichi for the Michi” has more than one extensive and detailed discussion of this place. This post is just to preserve our own “sake pickled” memories of the evening we spent there.

I called Musashi Koyama from the U.S. to make a reservation. I had to call early in the morning my time aiming at just before opening at 6pm Japan time. I was not sure if the master indeed recognized this reservation was made from the U.S. Nevertheless, on the second night in Tokyo with some jet lag lingering, we ventured out to Musashi Koyama 武蔵小山. You have seen the front of Honoka before in the aforementioned blogs but this is a must-have shot. I think we tasted a few from the list in the front of the store which appears to be updated frequently.

“Try not to be late” (in our case we had three transfers of metro and train lines from Ginza) but it is difficult pinpointing “on time”, as must happen to many people who don’t actually live in the neighborhood, we arrived early. After confirming the location of our destination and taking a picture of the store front, we killed time by wandering around the downtown (or main street) of Musashi Koyma until the opening time. It is a very quaint suburb and it was kind of nostalgic (for me) and interesting (for both of us).
Of course, we noticed the port hole building as soon as we came out of the narrow alleyway where Honoka is located and snapped the obligatory picture of “the house of the twenty port holes”.

Although, we knew by the description we read that this place was small, it was smaller than we expected. The  L-shaped counter will sit two at the shorter end and 5 or 6 at the longer end. The toilet was clean and functional but the door is multi-segmented to accommodate the tight space. The master, his assistant  (wife?) and young “arubaito girl” アルバイトの女の子 or “arbeiten Mädchen” (meaning part time help) appeared to be the complete complement of staff.

Although the izakaya was not full, we were somewhat disappointed to find our assigned seats at the shorter end of the counter behind the “frying” or “grilling” station. The partition protecting patrons from accidental splashes from the fryer served as a very effective barrier isolating us from the rest of the counter and any communication with the master (albeit the upper half was transparent plastic). I had been looking forward to interacting with him but all communications went through the “arubaito” girl or “assistant”. This included some chiding “If you wanted to order more sashimi you should have kept your soy sauce plates”. There were only 3 other customers and one left fairly early so the long counter in front of the master remained completely vacant while we were delegated to huddle behind the fryolator. This is not to say, we did not enjoy the sake and food. There is no question, the master knows his sake. The food he prepared was excellent. Here is our account of what we enjoyed.

The followings are the sakes we enjoyed from the amazing collection of sake available. One thing that impressed us (and we also found at other sake-oriented Izakayas in Japan) is that there were so many good sakes in hon-jouzou 本醸造, tokubetsu junmai 特別純米酒, junmai 純米酒 and jumnai ginjou 純米吟醸酒 classes, particularly if you know how to identify these good ones. Dry or savory, all the sake we tasted were good and I am not capable of describing them in detail (please refer to two posts of Honoka which contains an extensive description of the sake she tasted at Honoka;  some overlapping with what we tasted).

We started out with flights of dry and sweet sakes.

This is the line up of “dry” sake.(from left to right)
1. 三千盛　純米　超特　極め辛口, 岐阜県　Michi-sakari Junmai cho-toku extreme dry、Gifu prefecture
2. 白瀑　純米　ど辛＋１５, 秋田県　Shirataki Junmai do-kara (extreme dry), Akita prefecture
3. 山形正宗　辛口純米 Yamagata Masamune Kara-kuchi (dry) Junmai, Yamagata prefecture.

We liked all of dry sake here.

This is the line of “sweet” or non-dry sake (from left to right)

1. あぶくま純米吟醸雄町、福井県　“Abukuma” junmai ginjou Omachi, Fuku-i prefecture
2. 鍋島三十六万石　中汲み無濾過純米吟醸、佐賀県　Nabeshima naka-kumi, mu-roka (middle press, non-filtered) Junmai Ginjo
3. 鳳凰美田　Wine-Cell ワイン酵母仕込　純米吟醸　山田錦米 2012, 栃木県　Junmai Ginjo Fermented with Wine yeast, Yamada-nishiki, Tochigi prefecture.

Again, all were good. As to #3 sake, my understanding is that this is Houou Biden fermented using wine yeast. The portion we were served was turbid or “nigori” but other description of this sake appears to refer to clear sake. This one, to me, was too sweet. It needed more acidity to counteract.

(From left to right)

1. 純米天狗舞原酒, 石川県　Tengumai, Junmai Genshu, Ishikawa Prefecture
2. 磯自慢　特選　特別本醸造、静岡県　Isojiman toukusen tokubetsu honjouzou, Shizuoka prefecture
3. ソガペールエフィス Numero Six 純米吟醸 生原酒,  長野県 Sogga Pere et Fils “Numero Six” Junmai-ginjou Nama Genshu (Miyama Nishiki)、Nagano prefecture.

The last one here was brewed in Obuse Winery 小布施  using wine yeast. This one was called “Numero Six”, so possibly seventh batch of the year if the “Neuf” was not counted as “Numero One”. This was a just last dreg left in the bottle and may not be representative. Fairly subtle mild favor with some acidity reminiscent of Sauvignon blanc.


(Left)

田酒　特別純米酒、青森県、Denshu Tokubetsu Junnmai, Aomori prefecture.

We must have asked for an another round of Izojiman since the bottle appeared again. We must have really liked this Tokubetsu honjouzou Isojiman. This really tells you the depth of sake in Japan. Surely Izojiman Daiginjo is nice any time any where but even this “lower” class Isojiman, it held its own and we really enjoyed it.

As to the food, it was also superb. Here is the assorted sashimi.. Tuna and shime saba しめ鯖 were especially good.

I am sure we are missing few items since I am not as a good picture taker as other bloggers. It was my impression that when at Honoka, this is the must-order item; assorted flavor grilled miso. These are perfect small nibbles between sips of sake. We particularly liked the walnut miso (Since my gig is to make Izakaya dishes, this will be reproduced soon). We expected the “Uni” one to be better.

I am sure we had one serving of this dish before the miso; Sea urchin from Hokkaido. But it was so good we ordered another. This definitely was not previously processed but removed from the shell by the master himself.

After we ordered “Squid Okizuke”, the master recommended (through intermediary) this dish; shark cartilage dressed in salted plum さめの軟骨の梅和え. This was with  nice crunch but quite salty.

We could not pass genuine Hokkaido shishamo  北海道本シシャモ.

The check, at least by our standards, seemed reasonable after the extravagant feast and sake tasting. If we did the equivalent of this evening (although it is just not possible anyway) in the U.S., the bill would have been three or four times larger.

We staggered to Musashi Koyama station. I thought I had it all figured out how to back track the way we had come. We took the train to Meguro 目黒. From Meguro we were to take the Mita line  三田線 to Mita and change to Higashi-ginza line 東銀座線, sounds easy. After taking the subway from Meguro, however, I noticed that the first two stations were correct but the 3rd and 4th were not. So we got off hastily at Roppongi 1-chome (In retrospect, we took Nan-Poku line 南北線 instead of Mita line). We emerged to the surface in a very high end residential neighborhood with lush greenery and big mansions. It was fairly dark with a blustery tropical wind blowing. This did not look like in the middle of Tokyo. We were not entirely sure where we were. In addition to absence of neon lights was an absence of taxis. After some effort, we finally found one and the ride to our hotel was, fortunately, fairly short.

Tokyo Izakayas Part1 東京の居酒屋 パート１

Izakaya hopping with Dave and Tobias.
Finally we met with Dave and Tobias in Tokyo. Through their blogs (Tobias’ Izakaya Sanpo has been off line for sometime because of the withdrawal of Apple’s web hosting service. Hopefully he will resume his blog sometime soon), Through their respective blogs and our shared interest in izakayas and food, it felt like we already knew each other even though it was the first time we met. We had a great time visiting Izakayas with them.

Yamariki Honten、Morioshita, 山利喜本店, 森下

I knew about this place from Mark’s Izakaya book and it was nice to finally visit. We met Tobias in front of Yamariki Honten at 4:30pm and were the first in the line that would form behind us.Tobias told us that the line would have been very long if this has been Friday or Saturday. In any case, this was a genuine Izakaya experience; waiting in line for the Izakaya to open! As the opening time 5pm approached the attendants put out the famous red lantern and hung the norens that announced the place was open for business. We were the first party to go in. Tobias got us prime seating at a table near the counter on the second floor. It was an upstairs table in a rather cozy space with a view of the large caldron of offal stew or “nikomi” 煮込み for which Yamariki is most famous. Yakidai 焼台 was behind the counter where another famous “Yakiton” やきとん or grilled pork parts was prepared.

(Picture from Yamariki web site, www.yamariki.com)

When we sat down, the waitress having identified me as the only Japanese in the company seemed to assume I was entertaining a group of gringos and began by addressing me. Tobias immediately answered in fluent Japanese and set her straight as to who was entertaining whom. Soon after we were seated Dave arrived. So many things happened quickly. Dishes started arriving and the beer and sake started freely flowing, We can’t quite recall all the dishes but here are some of the highlights.

Of course, we had to have their famous “Nikomi”. We had it with garlic bread and “tamago” 卵 or a boiled egg. The broth was savory (we were told they used red wine and bouquet garni) and the offal meat (mostly intestine) was tender but the amount of fat attached to the intestine was a bit too much for us. It gave a greasy feeling to the dish and as soon as the nikomi started cooling down congealed fat appeared on the surface further adding to the appeal of the dish. Some lesser known “nikomi” we had was a bit more agreeable to us but this is a totally personal preference. We had “Gatsu sashimi” ガツ刺生姜醤油 (fortunately “guts” was boiled not raw), several fish sashimi while we were enjoying two kinds of Jizakes 地酒 (or local sake) of the day’s recommendation. Another highlight was a fermented cube of tofu “tofu-yo” 豆腐よう consumed using  a tooth pick. We were initially taken aback by its florescent pink color which suggested it could be quite pungent. Undaunted we plunged in and it was not as strong as it looked--it was quite good. It actually tasted like mild aged soft cheese and went especially well in small nibbles between sips of cold sake. The assortment of smoked items 燻製盛合せ was also excellent especially a fatty fish which none of us could identify—the consensus was (mackerel??).  Dave suggested we order some more “robust” food. His suggestion was answered by ordering “hand-cut French fries” ポテトフライ which might not have been robust enough for Dave. We were fully sated and watered at this point (may be, except for Dave).

Tobias suggested a change of venue to Orihara-shoten 折原商店 in Mon-naka 門前仲町. We took the subway from Morishita to Monzen-nakacho. The story of a “bunch of foreigners” crashing the opening party at Orihara-shoten is eloquently chronicled by the legendary Jon of EOITWJ. A similar “bunch of foreigners” descended upon them again and while we may have been equally rowdy, I hope we were not more so.

Orihara-shoten、Monzen-nakacho 折原商店、門前仲町

Mon-Naka has a really nice “shita-machi” atmosphere 下町情緒. On the way Tobias pointed out his favorite coffee shop which exuded “sho-wa” 昭和 era charm. A few blocks from Mon-Naka station, we were at Orihara-shoten. This is a store specializing in many sakes from all over Japan. They are displayed in wall-to-wall refrigerators with glass doors. It is also unique in that you can buy whichever sake you like by the glass. There are two islands where you can stand and enjoy the sake with the snacks that are available.

Tobias’ first choice was “Gassan” jun-gin from Shimane prefecture 島根県, Non-pasteurized, non-filtered genshu made from “Sakanishiki” rice taken in the middle pressing  無濾過生原酒直汲中取佐香錦 (this was written on the red label attached obliquely). This was a quite amazing sake with some effervescence still remaining with a touch of sweetness but a nice clean taste. We had many more rounds. Otokoyma 男山 from Hokkaido　北海道, Uragasumi “zen”　浦霞禅 from Miyagi 宮城県 and many more. Some kind of citrus liquor was also offered by Tobias which we found was not our favorite but disappeared nonetheless. They also have mostly packaged snacks as you can see in the picture (must be cheese in a tube). We had a few snacks, one of which was a type of dried fish (skate wings エイヒレ?) that had been heated. It tasted great with the sake. The details of the other snacks we had totally escapes me.

We must have been the loudest, most boisterous and drunkest group among the other customers; polite Japanese groups quietly drinking and enjoying sake.  The store staff observed us occasionally with worried expressions.

We engaged in conversation from time to time with Japanese customers who shared the island at which we were standing. I am not sure if the conversations were conducted in English or in Japanese but my wife also engaged in them which means someone (possibly me) must have translated or they were in English. Hope we did not offend anybody. People came and went but we persevered for several hours. At first, we thought it would be extremely uncomfortable standing up but since we were well anesthetized, we didn’t notice any discomfort. I have to say this was the most fun we’ve had in a long time.

Finally, we came to the senses and collectively decided to call it quits. We all staggered back to Mon-naka station. Navigating Tokyo metro system while intoxicated (or while sober for that matter)  is not an easy task especially for us.

In any case, we went back to our hotel in Ginza safely. Thank you very much Dave and Tobias, this was one of the greatest evening we had in Japan.

Tako grill in Kuroishi, Japan 青森黒石, 蛸俱璃瑠タコグリル

I mentioned that Tako Grill in Bethesda has been and is our Izakaya substitute. Chef Kudo 工藤 had been there as long as we have known Tako Grill (over 20 years) but, to our surprise, he left and went back to Japan about 2 years ago. He went back to where he was born and grew up, a small picturesque town surrounded by rice paddies in Northern Japan, Kuroishi 黒石 in Aomori prefecture 青森県 under the shadow of the Iwaki mountain　岩木山. This year, we went back to Japan and visited Tako grill in Kuroishi. Getting there was a bit of challenge but it was also part of the fun. We ended up going there via Akita　秋田 using a well-equipped and comfortable “tourist” train equivalent to the Swiss glacier express train we took some years ago; the train ran slowly along the beautiful coastline of the Sea of Japan north of Akita. After the thoroughly enjoyable 5 hour train ride we ended up in Hirosaki 弘前; the closest large city near Kuroishi. From there to get to  Kuroishi, we took a local train. All the stations except the two at the ends of the line (Hirosaki and Kuroishi), were unmanned. The train was full of what looked like first graders in matching yellow caps and back packs almost as large as they were. They were navigating totally on their own--no adults in charge. When several of the students, too small to reach the button to open the train door, wanted to get off, one of their taller friends hopped up to do it for them. The train swayed and clickety-clacked through beautiful agricultural country covered with golden rice paddies heavy with grain ready to be harvested.

Chef Kudo opened a new Izakaya/Sushi bar and creatively named it… “Tako Grill”. The place is very spacious with light wood inside. A wide wooden counter with his working area immediately behind and the kitchen is hidden from view by a purple “Noren” のれん. He and his help were wearing the same Tako grill T-shirts and the cover of the menu is also the same as one in Bethesda (although Kudo did not offer the menu and we did not need it as he served what was the best and what we would like).

He looked the same but a bit thinner. For sake, Kudo offered the local sake from Kuroishi; Kikunoi  Honjozo Genshu “Akiagari” 菊乃井　本醸造原酒　”秋あがり”. This was a nice dry crisp unpasteurized genshu sake with lots of “umami” flavors. We liked it very much.

As we engaged in some catching up, he started serving us a series of excellent dishes. Otoshi お通し was a small local vegetable somewhat similar to small “fuki”  ふき but we were told that this was a  totally different local vegetable (I do not recall the name).

Sanma さんまor Pacific saury, sashimi was the best we ever had.

Okoze オコゼ or stonefish was the next offering. This is a rather unattractive looking fish from which he carefully removed the venomous dorsal fin (picture below) and then deep fried. we enjoyed the whole fish; bone, head and all.


Since this was “Tako” grill, we had to have “Tako” 蛸 or octopus. Kudo  first offered us slices of octopus legs with “sumiso” 酢味噌 dressing. Somehow, the quality of the octopus was different from what we usually get in the U.S.; it was succulent and soft not rubbery or chewy. Then he took out the fresh octopus leg saying this leg was still alive and prepared for us fresh “tako no sashimi” 生蛸の刺身 (below picture). As he slapped each slices down, the muscle contracted. We have had fresh octopus sashimi before in Kobe 神戸 but this one was totally different. The one we had in Kobe was slices of the leg and had a very soft consistency but this one appeared to be the suckers (skin carefully removed) and had nice firm consistency and sweet taste. We were already on the second round of sake.


Our memory was getting fuzzy around this time forward but we had grilled and straw “wara” 藁 smoked sanma. We usually do not like innards but this was an exception. The sanma was fresh to begin with and the way this was prepared was great. Nice smoky flavor and the bitter taste of the sanma innards were perfect combination between the sips of cold sake. We also had a local nice large succulent oysters. What a treat!

Then came the “Piece de resistance”. We discussed the great things Kudo served us at Tako Grill in Bethesda and mentioned “squid okizuke” イカの沖漬け he had served us one time and how much we loved it. Without a pause, he wheeled out a container with fresh “squid innards” okizuke he had prepared (below). Actually, the first serving was consumed so quickly between my wife and I that I did not have a chance to even take a picture. Kudo gave us the second serving and we managed to restrain ourselves long enough to snap the pic.

At this point we were quite full and feeling full effects of the sake. He served us a few pieces of nice nigiri. He then joined us with a glass of his own sparkling sake and we chatted. He appeared happy to be back to his furusato 故郷 (home town).

Finally we had to say good night. He called us a taxicab and we went back to our “hotel” called “Takara onsen” 宝温泉meaning “Treasure hot spring”. Kudo arranged our stay there. This is the first time we had a room with our own private “onsen” attached running steaming hot water 24/7. But this is a long and separate story to tell.

We are glad we visited Tako grill in Kuroishi. We wish Kudo all the best. With food that great, he should prosper and we can visit him again in the near future.

Eggplant and Japanese pepper "Age-bitashi" with pickled myouga 獅子唐芥子と茄子の揚げ浸し

“Age-bitashi” 揚げ浸し is a rather classic Japanese cooking technique which I previously posted. This is another variation. “Age” means to "deep fry" and “Bitashi” or "Hidashi"means to soak. ). First a vegetable (eggplant is the classic) is deep fried and then “soaked” in a seasoned broth. This dish is either served at room temperature or chilled (especially in hot summer).

I had a half used package of Japanese small green pepper called “Shishi-tougarahi” 獅子唐辛子 or “Shishitou”ししとう for short. I decide to make it either “Yaki-bitashi” (grilled first and then soaked) or “Age-bitashi (fried fist and then soaked). At the grocery store, I found a nice looking Zebra eggplant and decide to make “age-bitashi” with eggplant and shishitou.

Here I served the resulting dish chilled with garnish of picked “home grown” myouga and thinly julienned ginger (“Ito-shouga” 糸生姜 or ginger-threads). This was a nice cool drinking snack to start. The only problem for me was that one of the peppers I ate was atomically hot* . I had been lured into complacency with several mild peppers. Without thinking I just popped the hot one into my mouth.  I had already chewed and swallowed when my tongue “caught on fire” and continued burning for sometime despite my efforts to put out the fire. My wife, however, did not suffer a similar misfortune

*Although shishitou in Japan appears to be always mild, shishitou grown in American soil for some reason occasionally reverts back to its original ancestor and is atomically hot. We equate eating US grown shishitou to Russian Roulette--you never know when you’ll get a “hot one”.


Shishi Tougrashi: I had about 10 leftover. I removed the stem and made a slit in the middle (To prevent exploding during cooking).

Eggplant: This is a small Zebra eggplant. I removed the stem end, cut in half lengthwise and then made half inch thick half moons.

Pickled Myouga: I posted this previously. I made some variation this time namely not blanching it before pickling (see below).

Broth: I took some short cut here. I used "Shiro dashi" 白だし from the bottle. This is concentrated dashi broth made from kelp and bonito shavings and seasoned with "shiro-zouyu" or colorless soy sauce. It is very strong and only need a little bit. I added 1 tbs of the concentrate into about 1 and half cup of water in a small sauce pan. I tasted it (dashi flavor was OK but needed a bit more saltiness) and added "Usukuchi-shouyu" or light-colored soy sauce (about 1/2 tbs). I needed some subtle sweetness and added about 1 tbs of mirin. I then let it come to a gentle boil and turned off the heat.

Instead of deep frying, I decided to sauté the vegetables. I added 2 tbs a light olive oil (or vegetable oil) into a non-stick frying pan on medium heat. I waited until the oil was almost smoking and added the eggplant. I fried one side until nicely brown (3-4 minutes) and then turned over (I added a bit more oil since eggplant soaks up the oil). After one more minute, I added the shishitou and moved them around for 2-3 more minutes or until the skin of the shishitou started blistering and brown marks developed.

I put the vegetables on the plate lined with a paper towel to remove excess oil. While the vegetables and the broth were both hot I put the vegetables into the broth, put on the llid and let them cool. After it came to the room temperature, I moved it to a sealable plastic container and placed it in the refrigerator for at least several hours or until thoroughly chilled.

The combination of shishitou and eggplant is excellent but if I have to choose I like eggplant better.

Sweet vinegared Myouga or 冥加の甘酢漬け
Although I previously posted about myouga and sweet pickled myouga, this year, I changed my recipe a bit taking my wife's input and re-posting it here. I think this recipe is better in preserving the unique myouga flavor.

As you can see below, despite the risk of being eaten alive by the mosquitos we managed to harvest some myouga. After removing the outer layers, I washed it several times to make sure no dirt remained attached (left upper). I then cut them into half and dried them on paper towels (right upper).

In the past, I blanched the myouga, which is part of the standard recipe, but my wife thought the parboiling reduced the myouga flavor in the final product. So this time, I did not blanch the myouga. I packed them in a sealable plastic container (middle left) and poured in warm sweet vinegar (middle right). As you can seen in the bottom row, the  myouga were mostly submerged. After a few days in the refrigerator, more moisture came out and the myouga was totally submerged. We started enjoying the pickled myouga after 4-5 days.

Sweet vinegar marinade:　This time I also change the recipe a bit. I added 180ml of rice vinegar, 4 tbs of sugar and 1/2 tsp of salt in a sauce pan (middle right in the picture above) on medium low flame. When the sugar  dissolved and come to gentle boil, I cut the flame.

After 3-4 days, this is ready to enjoy. I think without blanching, the myouga remains a bit more crispy and the unique flavor is better preserved.

Grilled yellow tail collar ハマチのカマの塩焼き

The portion of the fish just caudal to the gills (i.e. just behind--toward the tail from the gills) of a medium to large size fish is called “Kama*” かま in Japanese or “collar” in English. This portion is often discarded by Western fish mongers but it can be one of the best parts of the fish to eat especially in the case of yellowtail or “hamachi” collar ハマチのカマ which is probably the most popular. We tried “Tuna” collar in Japan some time ago. It was listed as “whale” collar 鯨のカマ on the menu as a reference to its size not the species of fish from which it came. It was gigantic! It felt like we were served the Japanese equivalent of a Thanksgiving turkey large enough to feed a family of 4 with all the leftovers. We think, however, that Hamachi is much better. We often order hamachi kama at Tako Grill when it is available.

The other day, we happened to find frozen hamachi collar in our Japanese grocery store and bought one without hesitation. This was a large one. I just salted it and grilled it over a charcoal fire in the Weber despite the risk of mosquitos.

*”Kama” in Japanese means “sickle” or “sythe” obviously derived from the shape of this particular part of the fish (see the bottom picture).
I served this with the usual grated daikon 大根おろし. Since I did not have pickled young ginger or “hajikami ginger” はじかみ生姜 which is a standard accompaniment for grilled fish in Japan, I put a small mound of “gari” がりpickled ginger.

The picture just above is after the kama has been thawed and salted and is ready to go. Since I did not want to tend the fish too often at the grill which increases my chance of becoming dinner for mosquitos while I prepare my own dinner, I set up my Weber grill for 1/2 direct heat and 1/2 indirect heat. I first placed the hamachi kama skin side down over the direct heat for five minutes until the skin developed several nice char marks. I then turned it over still on the direct fire and left it to grill for another 5 minutes. I then moved the fish to the indirect heat area and continued cooking for another 5 minutes.

This was perfectly done. It was a rather meaty, good sized hamachi kama with a good amount of nice succulent meat. It served as a perfect appetizer for two. As usual, my wife skillfully removed the meat and skin for the two of us. We had our usual cold sake “Mu” with this.

Since we generally don’t barbeque over a charcoal fire in the summer once the mosquitoes have emerged, this barbeque was a somewhat rare occasion. But, is there any better way to cook yellow tail kama for peak enjoyment? When it comes to grilled yellow tail kama, the risk of being “eaten alive” by the mosquitoes is worth it. Nonetheless we were also practical and to make good use of the fire we also grilled a butterflied leg of lamb for the entrée.

Chicken skin crackling 雛皮のクッラクリング

Cracklings must be one of the most popular bar snacks in the U.S., especially in the South. Cracklings may not be any worse than eating a bag of potato chips or a serving of French fries but it certainly is not a "healthy" snack. It is, after all, pork rinds (skin) deep fried (in lard) and heavily salted. It appears cracklings are catching on in Japan as well. "クラックリング".  There is a corresponding Japanese word phonetically translated from English. When I made yakitori recently, I removed the skin from 6 thighs. I did not think there was enough space in the toaster oven to grill the skin. I decided to make chicken "crackling" instead. It was quite crunchy and probably not as bad as genuine deep fried pork cracklings but very good.

I first boiled the skin in water with a dash of sake. I skimmed off any oil or scum that came to the surface as it boiled. I cooked it for 10 minutes trying to render as much of the fat as possible. I then washed the skins in cold running water and patted dry between paper towels. I then put the skin in a dry non-stick frying pan on medium-low flame (shown below).

Only a small amount of fat came out but I blotted it with a paper towel and cooked both sides until they were brown and crispy (10 minutes total). I salted it and served it with a wedge of lemon. We really like this preparation. We ate it with our fingers breaking it into small bite sized pieces and really enjoyed it. Hopefully the pre-boiling significantly reduced the amount of fat.

In addition to the chicken cracklings we had squid "okizuke" 沖漬け which was store bought, came frozen in a small plastic pouch. This is not as salty or "gamy" as fermented squid and guts or "shiokara" 塩辛 or 酒盗.

With this type of small snacks, the only libation we could have was cold sake.

Grilled skewered octopus 鮹（の串）焼き

One of the Izakaya blogs I am following had a description and picture of what they referred to as“Takoyaki” たこ焼き. But it was not the famous Osaka snack of a small grilled dumpling containing a small  piece of octopus that would usually come to mind when you hear the name “Takoyaki”. This particular  "takoyaki" is quite different and appears to be chunks octopus leg (“Butsugiri” ぶつ切り) which is skewered, grilled and served with soy sauce and wasabi. I happened to have a cooked (boiled) octopus leg and decided to imitate this “takoyaki”, although I have never tasted or seen it before and this may not be the way they prepared this dish.



I thinly sliced the thickest potion as “sashimi” (left in the above picture) and cut the rest into sizable chunks. I skewered them (I prepared two skewers) and grilled them in the toaster oven on broil for about 5 minutes turning once. As you can see some of the edges got slightly charred. Besides soy sauce, I also made “Karashi sumiso” からし酢味噌 from “saikyou miso” 西京味噌.

The sashimi was very tender and excellent.  As to "takoyaki”, we are not sure. Grilling made it a bit more chewy and warm but appeared not to add anything more. We prefer just simple “Butsugiri” seasoned with “karashi sumiso” but we need to visit this place called “Akita-ya” 秋田屋 in Hamamatsu-chou 浜松町 in Tokyo and try this before passing on the final opinion.