Grilled walnut miso 焼きクルミ味噌

One of the things I like best about “eating out”, in addition to the food itself of course, is the inspiration I get from finding new dishes. This is an example of one such inspiration. It is my attempt to reproduce the grilled walnut miso we had at Honoka. I made two attempts and the second one was much better which is the one shown below. It tasted very similar to what we had at Honoka.

Miso: For this, I used "awase-miso" 合わせ味噌 made of soy bean but using both rice and wheat "kouji" 米麹、麦麹 thinking this kind of miso would be savory and a bit sweeter but not too sweet for this dish but, I am sure, any good quality miso will do.

Walnuts: I used American black walnuts (whole). My wife toasted them in the toaster oven for me and rubbed the skin off using a dish towel. I chopped up half.  I ground the remaining half in a Suribach すり鉢 mortar to make smooth walnut paste.

The amount is arbitrary but for two small bamboo spatulas (below), I used about 2tbs of the miso and 1 tbs of the walnuts paste. I mixed in mirin to adjust the consistency and sweetness (about 1-2 tbs). I tasted this mixture and was satisfied with the balance of saltiness and sweetness and did not  add any sugar. I then mixed in the chopped walnuts (2 tbs).

I smeared the miso mixture thinly on both bamboo spatulas (these are a bit larger than ones at Honoka). I grilled the miso using a direct gas fire. I used a low flame and grilled them from few inches above the flame. I did it slowly and it took about 5 minutes as I moved the spatulas to make sure the entire surface was evenly grilled and not too quickly charred (see below).

This was not bad for a quick re-production. It had plenty of walnut flavor and savory miso was not too sweet or salty which was enhanced by the grilling process. This was indescribably good between sips of sake. It also took us back to the great time we had at Honoka.

Shuhai, Akita city, 酒盃 秋田市

We arrived at Akita city 秋田市 in the late afternoon via Akita Shinkansen 秋田新幹線------the slowest shinkansen ever! We tooled along at 30 MPH because recent heavy rains caused major flooding, mudslides and undermined the rails. When the train slowed to a crawl through one damaged section we saw where a raging river had over run and destroyed the dykes on its banks, threatened farm houses and deposited debris all over the fields. At the slow speed we could take in all the details including the disturbing sight of an over turned car rusting where the flood water had dumped it in the river bed. In addition, even without the weather related destruction, many segments of the Aikta shinkansen are single-track and we had to stop and wait for the opposing Akita shinkansen train to pass. Luckily the seats were comfortable and the service was impeccable as it can be only in Japan. (As soon as we sat down we were offered paper slippers and our choice of cold beverages). It did seem strange, however, to observe the destruction wrought by nature while riding in such comfort.

Upon exiting the station we could tell from the signs that the area around the station was populated with chain Izakayas. This must be the trend everywhere in Japan. But we had a reservation at the premier Izakaya called “Shuhai” 酒盃, which was written up by Kazuhiko Ota 太田和彦 and also recommended by the master of “Suiko” 酔香.

Since Shuhai was a bit far from our hotel, we took a taxi cab. When I told the driver our destination he immediately approved of our choice and went into a long dissertation on how things used to be "in the old days…." when drinking places in the neighborhood of Shuhai were crowded with people every night’. Then the cab driver started “interviewing” me. Asking such questions as: "Is she your wife?  Where do you live? How long have you lived there" (This seemed to be a regular occurrence on this trip. For some reason the cabbies saw our short time together as their opportunity to extract as much personal information as possible—all done very politely of course. Numerous cab rides ended up feeling like an “exclusive for CNN” at best or a security investigation at worst). Finally we arrived at Shuhai (Thank Goodness!).

This is the picture I took before going in. It is uncanny that this was early fall, yet, it looked like this was winter and snow should be piled up in front.


Inside was a bit dark with all dark wood decor. It was amazing to see that my name was posted on the "Getabako" 下駄箱 or shoe box (I made a reservation while we were in Kyoto. I suppose people who reserve get designated shoe boxes with their names on them). We deposited our shoes in the designated box and were ushered in. There were several semi private rooms as well as a second floor. We had reserved seats at the counter which seats 10 people. We really liked the looks of this place and the fact smoking was not permitted at the counter. Behind the counter was a yaki-dai 焼台 where yakitori 焼鳥 was prepared. The back wall was lined with refrigerated cases with glass doors housing many large bottles of sake. To the right, out of view, was the main kitchen. The master greeted us (we were the first to be seated at the counter).  I asked about Suiko and Mr. Sugawara. The master told me that they worked together and every time he goes to Tokyo he stops by at Suiko.

Here was the otoshi. Does this look familiar; six items like at Suiko.

We asked for a recommendation of dry and non-dry sake. Again, all the sake we tasted were wonderful. Describing the subtle differences among these special  sake is beyond our ability.

(From left to right)
1. 天の戸　芳醇《超辛口》純米【生】原酒　天辛，浅舞酒造　秋田県横手市  Ten-no-to,  Ultra dry, Un-pasteurized Junmai Genshu, Asamai Shuzou, Yokote
2. 角右衛門　純米大吟醸　秋田こまち仕込，木村酒造　秋田県湯沢市 “Kakuemon”, Junmai Daiginjo, Akita-komachi rice, Kimura Shuzou. Yuzawa

We ordered Sashimi-assortment 刺身の盛り合わせ. It was good combination including a type of blow fish or “Fugu” ふぐ.


1. 雪の茅舎・秘伝山廃純米吟醸　齋彌酒造店　秋田県由利本荘市 Yukono-bosha, Special “Yamahai” Junmai Ginjo, Saiya Shuzou, Yuri-Honjou city
2. 鳥海山 純米吟醸酒　びん火入れ　天寿酒造　秋田県由利本荘市, “Choukaisan”, Junmai Ginjo, Bottle pasteurized, Tenjishuzou, Yuri-Honjou city

Next we ordered “Kakiage” かき揚げ of shrimp えび and lily root 百合根. I like edible lily root or “Yurine” (Please be aware most lily roots are poisonous and not to be eaten—“so don’t try this at home”). This was a bit unusual. Instead of an usual flat disk like shape, this one was a nice round sphere like a small baseball. The lily root had a nice starchy and sweet taste. The surface was nicely crunchy. Need more sake.



1. 雪の茅舎　純米吟醸生原酒　山田穂　齋彌酒造店　秋田県由利本荘市 Yukinobosha, Junmai Ginjo, Un-pasteurized “Genshu”, Yamada-ho rice, Yuro-Honjou city
2. まんさくの花 純米大吟醸 生詰原酒 雄町酒　日の丸酒造　秋田県横手 “Mansaku” flower, Junmai Daiginjou, “Namazume” (not sure if this is non-pasterized or pasteurized in the bottle) “Genshu”, Omachi rice, Hinomaru Shuzou, Yokote

We then tried Yakitori. I am not sure what we had but, for sure, skin, neck meat (seseri せせり) and tsukunes つくね and probably more. As usual, our collective memories were getting feeble.


1. 雪の茅舎　製造番号　百六十六酒　大吟醸生酒　齋彌酒造店　秋田県由利本荘市 Yukonobosha, Serial number 166, Daiginjou, Un-pasteurized, Saiya Shuzou, Yuri-Honjou city

I do not recall we ever tasted sake which bears a hand-written numbers. It looks like Yamada-Nishiki rice was ground to 35%. This may be an example of “giving gold coins to the cats” “or "Neko ni koban 猫に小判"  (Japanese proverb) although we enjoyed tasting it.

2. 天の戸　夏田冬蔵　純米大吟醸　浅舞酒造　秋田県横手市 “Amanoto”, Natsuda Fuyuzou, Junmai Daiginjo, Asamai Shuzou, Yokote



1. 太平山　純米吟醸　無濾過　生　『津月』（つづき）小玉醸造　秋田 Taiheizan Junmai Ginjo, Unfiltered, Un-pasteurized “Tsuzuki”, Kodama Brewery,
2. やまとしずく　純米吟醸　生原酒　秋田清酒　秋田県大仙市 Yamatoshizuku, Junmai Ginjo Unpasteurized Genshu, Akita Seishu brewery, Daisen city

Although all the sake we tasted was great, we chose “Yamato-shizuku” as our drinking sake for this evening. We ordered a few more dishes. We had what was listed as “Squid Okizuke” イカの沖漬け but it turned out to be quite unusual. This was the whole body of squid with innards preserved (but cartilage removed) which was marinated and then frozen. The master himself sliced it for us and served with alternating layers of cucumber still semi-frozen. I have never seen this presentation for “Okizuke”. We must have had more food. I should have taken more pictures of the food we had.

In any case, this was a quite an evening. We were lucky to have so many rare and excellent “Akita” Jizake 秋田の地酒 and excellent food in the great “farm” house atmosphere.

One of the wait-staff hailed a taxi and saw us off. The streets of Akita on our return trip to the hotel were desolate and dark, not like Sapporo or Tokyo. As soon as the meter started so did the “interview”. It was cut short however, by our arrival at the hotel. The entrance was flooded with some very very happy people, laughing, waving and shouting to each other. Most were shouldering large cardboard cases labeled beer or sake. Apparently a banquet or wedding reception was just breaking up and everybody seemed extremely happy with the door prizes—the cases they were hefting. Or maybe they were just happy because they had been sampling the contents of the boxes all evening…we fit right in.

Tokyo Izakaya Part 3 東京の居酒屋 パート３

Shuan Suiko、Oshiage 酒庵 酔香 押上

Despite some residual effects from the night before with Dave and Tobias, we recovered well enough to visit Suiko in Oshiage near the Skytree. This is also another recommendation from Jon of EOITWJ. Being full fledged tourists, we spent some time in Asakusa 浅草 including Kappabashi 合羽橋 (We have been in Asakusa so many times but we still visit every time we are in Tokyo). We even went up the Skytree before visiting Suiko.

From Oshiage station, we consulted the map from their website (Beta version of Google map pedestrian edition gave extremely convoluted routes) and walked down the street of Oshiage. It had an atmosphere not unlike Musashi Koyama we had visited a few nights ago. The speeding bikes on the sidewalk lent an air of risk and excitement that was missing at Musahi Koyama. We arrived at Suiko but we were about 30 minutes early. So, we walked to the  small bridge (Jikkenbashi 十間橋) over the canal (kita-jikken-gawa, 北十間川) from Sumida river 隅田川. Surprisingly, quite a few people crowded the sidewalk of the bridge; some with heavy duty cameras and tripods. We asked what was going on and they explained that this was a perfect spot to take a night time picture of the Skytree because its lights would be reflected in the water of the canal. They were waiting for the sun to go down but advised that we shouldn't take pictures right at sunset but should wait until it got darker so the lights would be more visible. They were full of helpful advise and all but gave us aperture and f-stop. It must have been at least an hour before sunset but people had already staked out their prime positions. They were very dedicated amateur photographers. In any case, we left them to their task and went back to Suiko.

We stepped into the izakaya and it was like stepping back in time. The master, Sugawara-san 菅原さん told us that it was originally an old liquor store or “Sakaya” 酒屋. He bought it, restored it, and made it his Sake bar/Izakaya in 2010--about 4 years ago. The store front really looked like an old  “Sakaya” 酒屋. It reminded me of those I saw in my (very) early childhood. I even remembered that Sakaya sold,  miso and soy sauce in addition to sake (at least the one near my parents’ house did). You could even buy the sake or other items in the exact amount you wanted. To do this, you had to bring your own containers. So if you could afford only 1-go 一合, which is 180ml, of sake, you would bring your Tokkuri 徳利 container and they would sell you just 1-go of sake). In any case, I could easily imagine what this place was like when it was still a store. It must have been a very old fashioned “Sakaya”.

The inside was like the outside, nicely restored with dark wood and large sake bottles lining the shelves around the perimeter. I felt like I was in my mother's house except the sliding doors moved smoothly and didn't stick.The counter was L-shaped and sits about 10. We were the second group of the evening. Mr. Sugawara and his wife were somewhat reserved and polite yet very friendly and interactive when we asked questions. We started with his recommendation of both dry and non-dry sake. These were the first three he offered.

All sake tasted great. It is amazing that you can have this high quality from Junmai, Junmai Ginjo classes.  I will mostly just list what we tasted.

(From left to right)
1. 鳳凰美田　剣　辛口純米　瓶燗火入, 栃木県, Houou Biden,  “Tsurugi”, Dry Junmai, Pasteurized in the bottle, Tochigi prefecture.
2. 川鶴　ひやおろし 讃岐 よいまい 純米無濾過, 香川県, Kawa-tsuru, Hiya-oroshi, Non-filtered, Junmai, Kagawa prefecture.
3. 雪の茅舎 純米吟醸 ひやおろし, 秋田県, Yuki-no Bosha, Hiya-oroshi, Junmai Ginjo, Akita prefecture.

The otoshi お通し were one of the most extensive we have ever seen (that was until we visited Shuhai 酒杯 in Akita 秋田 few days later). These otoshi items reflect Mr. Sugawara’s approach to foods which compliment sake. Six items were served in this seemingly custom made plate of six compartments. Although we cannot recall all the details, this is what we remembered; the boiled peanuts in a shell (left upper) was surprising. We thought this type of peanut preparation happened only in the Southern states of the U.S. like Georgia. Boiling it brought out the “legume” rather than the "nut" flavor of peanuts and made them a more suitable snack for sake. The upper middle is “Shira-ae” 白和え with persimmon and walnuts. My wife liked it very much and whispered to me “Can you make this at home?” (Of course I can, dear.) Right upper is fried and seasoned vegetables somewhat like “age-bitashi” 揚げ浸し, lower left is asparagus with Japanese-style dressing, the lower center is potato salad with smoked pickled daikon (“Iburi-gakko" いぶりがっこ from Akita). The last is nice gentle tasting つくね “ground chicken ball”. All of these food really complemented but not compete with the subtle favors of sake.

The second dish we had was this bonito tataki or "katsuo no tataki" 鰹のたたき (this must be “modori-gatsuo” 戻り鰹 or “returning bonito”; the main bonito season is spring but it comes back in the fall). This was excellent but the sauce was miso-based which is, to me, a bit unusual for bonito and was fairly assertive for the delicate flavors of the fish.

The above was the second round.
(From left to right)

1. 聖　無濾過　生酒、群馬県, Hijiri, Muroka, Namazake, Gunma prefecture.  This is a bit of mystery sake. A portion of the main label appears to be painted over and I did not take a clear picture of the sub-label but I can see that  it was non-filtered and un-pasteurized. I have to guess this is the “junmai” class. If I remember correctly, it still had slight effervescence with gentle clean taste. The master may have gotten a special sake from this brewery.
2. 繁桝 特別純米 ひやおろし、福岡県, Shigemasu, Tokubetsu-junmai, Hiya-oroshi, Fukuoka prefecture. This is a rather dry sake but nice rounded flavor.
3. 貴 純米吟醸 備前雄町,  山口県, Taka, Junmai Ginjou, Bizen Omachi, Yamaguchi prefecture. This is clean tasting with some acidity at the end and we really liked this one. We ordered "Taka" as this evening’s sake for us.

We felt the same way at “Honoka” that the depth and width of sake you can taste in Japan is amazing. We learned that many sake are very seasonal and available only for a specific period. For example, "hiya-oroshi" and "aki-agari" are only available in autumn. Unpasteurized sake are not readily available in the U.S. and you have to come to Japan to taste it.

We did not know what “hiya-oroshi” ひやおろし meant until then and we asked Mr. Sugawara. He was very kind to explain that “Shinshu” 新酒 or new sake in the Spring (which could be a bit sharp or un-balanced) was pasteurized (either in the bottle or in the tank) and then aged until fall to make it a  more round and mature sake. Later we also learned the process called “Aki-oroshi” 秋おろし when we visited “Tako Grill” in Kuroishi, in which un-pasteurized shinshu 新酒 was low-temperature aged in minus 4 degree Celsius (that is below freezing) until fall; different kinds of aging process to the same aim of making great sake. In any case, these are the class of sake we can enjoy only in fall.

With our “Taka”, we ordered more food. Our memory is fuzzy from around this time but we had nice assortment of home-made smoked items, mizu-nasu 水茄子 or special eggplant which is being eaten raw, and more.

As we were enjoying the sake and food, we noticed a tabby cat looking out longingly from the inner tatami room through the glass portion of shouji 障子 sliding doors. Occasionally, Mrs. Sugawara opened the door and played with the cat. This cat was so adorable and entertained us for some time.

It so happened that Mr. Sugawara was from Akita 秋田. Since we are heading to Akita next, I asked his recommendation of Izakaya. Without hesitation “Shuhai” 酒杯 was mentioned. I have also noted this place since it was mentioned in one of the Izakaya books by Kazuhiko Ota 太田和彦. He said he worked with the master of Shuhai and every time he visit Akita he would stop by. We ended up going to Shuhai which is the subject of another post.

To avoid any ill effects  the next morning, we called it quits sort of early and said good night and "gochisou-sama" ごちそうさま to both Mr and Mrs Sugawara. We were curious what happened to the photographers on the Jikken bridge and walked back to the bridge. There were many more photographers camped out than before, some with professional large frame cameras and some with point-and-shoot cameras. My wife joined in (with her Nikon DSL) and snapped the picture below. We thought our timing was pretty good. While the other photographers waited on the bridge for the sun to go down and darkness to deepen, we retired to the izakaya for some good food and drink, arrived at just the right moment and snapped the pic over the heads of the other photographers--not bad.

We leisurely walked back to Oshiage station at the base of the Skytree in the nice cool evening. We passed numerous small eating places. Some were empty, some had several old men in undershirts drinking and talking, others full of businessmen in suits. It was quite a diorama of life in the town. What a wonderful day we had. No confusing subway transfer this time to get to our hotel.

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.