Matsutake dobinmushi soup 松茸の土瓶蒸し

Although I posted a similar dish last year, there are a limited number of dishes you can make from fresh matsutake. This is one of the classic ways to enjoy this delicacy of the autumn. Dobin 土瓶 is a tea kettle made of china but I do not have an appropriate one. So I used this mini “testubin” 鉄瓶 teapot (cast iron teapot) for this dish.


Since I had fresh chestnuts I also used them in this dish. I could not get an appropriate fish (“hamo” 鱧 or Pike or Conger eel are the most appropriate for this dish), I just used shrimp as you can see in the picture below.

I also added boiled and peeled North American chestnut.
Here is the slice of Mastutake. As mentioned before, this years batch was not really good. Although I used a lot, It was not as aromatic as it should be.
Of course, you should start by pouring the broth into a small sake cup and enjoying the subtle aroma of mastutake.


Broth: I used “dashi pack” which is a mixture of kelp and bonito flakes. I seasoned it with light-colored soy sauce (“usukuchi” 薄口), mirin and salt. Other items beside thinly sliced fresh mastutake were shrimp, boiled chestnuts, and sliced scallion. If I had some available, I would have used “mitsuba”三つ葉 and some kind of mild tasting white meat fish. Since I did not have “sudachi” すだち, a Yuzu-like Japanese citrus, I used a wedge of lime.

This was good enough to evoke the sense that fall has arrived.

Black truffle with creamy scrambled egg 黒トリュフとクリーミーいり卵

When I ordered fresh matsutake from Oregon mushroom, I also ordered two small black truffles (from France). My wife says that even when the dish is advertised as having truffles she can't taste anything special. When we went to Paris, she ordered a dish that was smothered in tuffles and she said maybe there was something there but she wasn't sure. So, I decided to splurge and got two Burgundy truffles (left in the image below). This way we could experience truffle by itself so we could identify what flavor the truffle had and find out what the hoopla was all about. The first dish I made was designed to highlight the flavor of truffles.  These truffles have a nice earthy aroma which became more pronounced when they were sliced (right in the image below).

I decided to make an egg dish with truffles as the first dish since eggs and truffles are known to go together well. Instead of regular scrambled eggs, however, I used bain marie to make some very creamy scrambled eggs.

I first cut off the both ends of the truffle (right in the image above) and minced it into fine cubes. I then added that to two beaten eggs with cream (2 tbs) and a pinch of salt. On bain marie, I scrambled the egg mixture using a silicon spatula until the eggs reached a very creamy texture. I divided the creamy scrambled eggs into two small egg shaped containers, garnished with thin slices of truffle, chopped chives and freshly cracked white pepper (below).

I have to say that the aroma of truffles is very subtle and, by itself, they do not seem to have much taste. The textural contrast between the creamy scrambled eggs and truffle is nice and added a "je ne se qua" to this very nice scrambled egg. The eggs seemed to absorb the flavor and made it seem like the whole dish was truffles. We couldn't help but compare this flavor the the subtlety of Matsutake. Both mushrooms have a very distinctive flavor but truffles are definitely much more subtle. My wife said she found the flavor surprisingly familiar... so THIS is the taste of truffles. Does this mean she actually tasted truffles before and just didn't realize it?

Shelled ginko nuts 殻付き銀杏

Because of Covid, it is not possible to go to a restaurant for a “sit down” meal so, instead, we are doing “take-out” sashimi and sushi from Tako Grill regularly. Since Mr. Segawa’s restaurant is essentially closed for  sit down customers, he expanded his business into groceries by adding frozen and refrigerated cabinets stocked with many Japanese grocery items. Every time I go there, I get some of  these in addition to the take-out. One such time, Mr. Segawa was kind enough to include some matsutake soup that he made. It was really good. Besides all the lovely ingredients such as matsutake  松茸,  chicken,  "edamame"  it also included "ginnan" ginko nuts. We love ginko nuts! Having them in the soup reminded us that we used to get canned  boiled "gin-nan" 銀杏 ginko nuts. For some reason they have totally disappeared and we have not had ginko nuts for quite some time. I asked Mr. Segawa, if we could buy ginko nuts as groceries from him. He was good enough to provide some with the shells on (see below). We were delighted but, to be honest, I have never dealt with ginko nuts in the shell.

So I quickly searched on-line and found three ways to prepare them: 1. Place the ginko nuts in a paper envelope and microwave it until the shell cracks. 2. Dry roast them in a frying pan until the shell cracks, 3. Crack the shell remove the nuts and gently boil for few minutes making sure the nuts are submerged all the time and then remove the brown inner skin while hot. I tried the 2nd method on some of the nuts, i.e. dry roasting them in a frying pan.  The shells did not crack (although one did "explode"—quite impressive). I cracked open the remaining un-cracked nuts but they were over cooked, dry, with burned spots and taste. So, I decided to try the third method.

I cracked the shells using the kitchen scissors which has a nut cracking device near the handles. It was not too difficult but I had to be careful not to damage the nuts inside. Some of the brown inner skin came off when the shell was remove but, for many, the brown skin remained (picture below).

I then placed the nuts in salted gently boiling water. They stayed submerged without much intervention.

After few minutes, I drained the nuts and using a sheet of paper towel, removed the inner brown skin.

This was a success. Here I used them to top cold chawanmushi 茶碗蒸し along with edamame 枝豆 and ikura.

 We really enjoyed this. Definitely the taste of autumn.

Chestnuts with somen noodle crust 栗のコッロケのいがぐり揚げ

Besides matsutake 松茸, chestnuts 栗 are a classic symbol of autumn. Every year, we get whatever remained of North American Chestnuts from California. Same as matsutake dishes, I almost exhausted what I can make from chestnuts but I came up with a variation of the chestnuts croquet.



This is same as the chestnut croquet but instead of bread crumbs, I used broken thin Japanese noodles or so-men 素麺. As you can see above, it resembles the spiky outer layer or "Iga" いが or 毬 of chestnuts (sort of). This is mostly for appearance rather than taste.



When you cut into it whole chestnuts appears.

To make it, (I am repeating the previous post).

Chestnuts: The best way to removed the hard outer skin is to do it while it is hot after boiling. I took one out at a time and keep the rest in the hot water in which the chestnuts were cooked. I removed the outer skin by cutting the bottom of the chestnut (mostly skin part) and then peeling off the outer skin or "onikawa" 鬼皮. The outer skin is easy to remove (except that the chestnut is very hot). The inner textured skin or "shibukawa" 渋皮” is more difficult to remove. Especially for Northern American chestnuts, the inner skin goes deep into the crevasses of the nut. Sometimes pulling up will release it or more often, the nuts break apart. We did about 20 chestnuts and 9 came out whole and other 11 were fragmented.

I placed the fragmented chestnuts (11) into a small food processor and pulsed it to break down the chestnuts and then added milk. I gradually added milk as I ran the processor until a chestnut paste is formed  (upper left and right below). I added a pinch of salt as well. The paste was stiff enough that the traces of the tines of a fork remained on the surface.

I moistened my hands and covered each whole chestnut with the chestnut paste (right lower).


For regular croquets, I dredged with flour, egg water and panko bread crumbs. For this preparation, instead of panko bread crumbs, I broke up the dried somen noodle in small segments (about1 inch or less) and coated the croquets. I just deep fried them in 350F oil for several minutes or until the somen noodles were golden brown.

Baked maitake オーブン舞茸

When I ordered fresh matsutake from Oregon mushrooms, the shipping was almost the same as the price of the matsutake. So I decided to include some "mai-take" 舞茸 or "Hen of the woods" to better even out the costs between the product I was buying and the shipping. One evening, I came up with this dish which is not particularly based on any recipe. We like this mushroom. Especially the large ones. The stem or base part almost tastes like meat when cooked. I separated/tore one large bunch into small bite sized pieces and cooked them in an aluminum foil pouch in the toaster oven.

To add some charred taste after it cooked/steamed in the pouch, I opened the pouch and put the mushroom on the surface and broiled it for 10 minutes so that the edges of the maitake got charred a bit.

This is quite good and nice meaty taste and texture. I used whatever was available when I made this. Since I just winged it the ingredients shown below are my guess.

Ingredients:
One package of fresh maitake (1/4 lb), torn by hand into bite size pieces.
Onion, previously cooked in the Weber cut into small pieces (this was cooked by taking a whole onion with the skin still on, piercing it several times to prevent the onion from exploding as it cooked and wrapping it in aluminum foil), (I think raw onion will do as well)
Previously baked garlic, one clove (or thinly sliced raw garlic)
Salt to taste
Butter, unsalted, two pats
Chives for garnish

Directions:
Place all ingredients except for the salt and butter in the middle of a sheet of aluminum foil. Top it with the butter and sprinkle salt.
By folding four ends, make a pouch and crimp the opening.
Place the pouch in the 350F convection toaster oven for 30 minutes.
Open the pouch, mix, and expose the maitake pieces and broil (500F) for 10 minutes or until the surface of the maitake charrs a bit.
Garnish with finely chopped chive.

For an instant dish, this was very good. I could have made a mixture of butter, miso and mirin and added that as another possible variation. The maitake especially the stem parts have a good meaty texture and earthy "umami" flavor. This may be perfect for serving to our vegetarian friends.

Flounder simmered in Japanese broth カレイの煮付け

I do not think I ever made this dish before. Probably because I somehow associate this dish with being ill as a kid. This was the first solid food my mother served me when I was recovering from some GI ailment. My mother thought this dish was the most mild flavored, easily digestible and highly nutritious food she could serve to speed recovery. All this is probably true but I can't imagine feeding this to an American kid just getting over a tummy ache.

I bought too much fluke (flounder) which I used in my matsutake dish. I thought about making  menier or grilled or fried flounder but I decided to make this dish. One of the reasons I chose this dish is because I had extra kelp broth left over from when I made matsutake rice.

The different Japanese and English names for flatfish are numerous and confusing. I usually associated the Japanese name "Karei" カレイ 鰈 (The left symbol which makes up this kanji letter is "fish魚" and the right symbol is "leaf葉") with sand dabs and "Hirame" 平目 (meaning "flat eye") with flounder or fluke but I am not sure this is a correct association. A classic Japanese recipe calls for small sand dabs or karei for this dish so that the whole fish with skin on is simmered in broth (see image below). The skin adds a slightly slimy texture which, I suppose, the Japanese like but I only had previously skinned and boned fillets of flounder.

Broth: Again, this is typical Japanese seasoning combination. I used kelp dashi, sake, mirin, and soy sauce (2:1:1:1). If you like you could add sugar (up to 1 tbs) to this. You must add enough slices of fresh ginger (3-4 thin slices) to add a good ginger flavor to this dish. I placed the seasoning liquid in a flat wide pan like a sauté pan so that the fillets are in a single layer and covered with the seasoning liquid. I gently simmered it for 10 minutes. Since this was a fillet, I did not bother with "otoshi buta" 落とし蓋 but instead, I covered it with a piece of kelp while the fish was cooking.

I served the fish with the kelp on the bottom (as decoration, just becase I had it) and boiled asparagus. I had to admit, this is not one of my favorites but it has a nice gentle texture and the taste of fresh ginger. Oddly, I am already feeling better.

Here is a more classic image of "Karei no nituske" カレイの煮付け（http://www.jf-net.ne.jp/kagyoren/image/santi/12-6.jpg）

Real wasabi from Oregon 本物のオレゴン州産山葵大根

Real wasabi root is wonderful stuff especially if you compare it to the fake kinds you get in a tube or in powder form. That stuff is mostly made from Western horse radish and artificial coloring. (Freshly grated horse radish is wonderful stuff in its own right but it is not wasabi). Real wasabi daikon (root of wasabi plant or wasabi Rhizomes) have been produced in the U.S. especially in Oregon for some time. We got wasabi daikon from "Real wasabi" once  (before we started this blog) but it stopped selling fresh wasabi daikon and, instead, only sold prepared and frozen real wasabi-in-a-tube, real wasabi powder and real wasabi containing dressings. The prepared frozen wasabi-in-a-tube is not bad but it has some additives and became dry making it difficult to squeeze out of the tube which I posted before. To my delight, this company re-started selling fresh Rhizomes. The problem is that the smallest unit they sell is 1/2 lb. that is too much to use it up before it spoils unless you are running a sushi bar. (I was told it can be frozen but I have not tried it) and the shipping becomes almost as expensive as the wasabi when ordering the smallest unit.

When I ordered "matsutake" 松茸 from Oregon Mushroom, I found that they also sell wasabi rhizomes in 2 oz increment (2 oz is about one rhizome). I took advantage of this offer and ordered some wasabi with the fresh matsutake and other fresh mushrooms.

The above is a 2 oz wasabi daikon. It arrived with some discoloration on the surface which needed to be shaved off and cleaned but otherwise it was in OK shape. Traditionally, you are supposed to use a shark skin grater for grating a wasabi daikon but I used a porcelain grater which works just fine. After removing the skin from the portion to be grated, I used a nice circular motion to grate it. The enzymatic action develops the flavors and spiciness. The initial aroma is especially wonderful which can be only experienced when you grate it yourself. I planned an evening centered around fresh wasabi.

I tried to get good fresh tuna sashimi from Catalina Offshore products coinciding with the arrival of the wasabi rhizome but fresh sashimi blue fin tuna has been out of stock at Catalina for some time, so I resorted to my backup frozen saku (block) of yellowfin tuna.

I started with tuna nametrou なめろう but added fresh grated wasabi.

This is a mixture of nattou, tuna cubes and egg yolk 卵黄マグロ納豆 (from a pasteurized shell egg) with fresh wasabi.

Cubes of tuna and avocado 鮪とアボカドの角切り with fresh wasabi.

If you have not tasted freshly ground real wasabi, you are missing a lot. The fresh wasabi does have some heat but it is much fresher and flavorful than the stuff served at sushi bars that cleans out your sinuses. All these "usual" suspects I prepared as driking snacks got upgraded one notch by simply adding fresh wasabi!

In between these dishes above, we also had baked marinated tofu and one more dish to follow (to be continued).

Jan 2nd evening 正月2日の夕

Now it is the 2nd day of New Year. The first three days of New Year are called "shogatsu sanga-nichi" 正月三が日 or simply "Sanga-nichi". These days are considered official New Year holidays in Japan. So, since we observe this custom in our household, we continued indulging in the good food from the Sushi Taro osechi. I served several assorted items by placing them in a small hexagonal "juubako" 重箱 container.  Almost all except a few items are from the osechi box.

We also enjoyed head-on shrimp provided in the box. To make them fit on the plate and to make it easier to access the goodies in the head (mostly the liver), I separated the head from the tail. There is nothing delicate about this; the only way to enjoy is to pick it up and suck it out. The shrimp was large and had a nice sweet firm meat. It almost tasted like lobster. Wedges of Meyer lemon also added a bright flavor.

One of the tips to enjoying the osechi box fully is to heat up certain items before serving. Here I heated up the fish in the toaster oven and simmered vegetables in the microwave oven. Heating up these items really makes them more succulent and accentuates the flavor.

The items in the small blue bowl are hachling fish called "Jako arimani" じゃこの有馬煮. They had such a nice flavor (I like to put these on rice). The items in the center are "date maki" omelet and steamed ground white fish meat with matsutake mushroom or "Matsutake shinjo"松茸真蒸 .

This picture shows cod roe wrapped in kelp (bottom left), herring roe with butter fish underneath and white radish in koji 麹 or えぼ鯛麹漬け (top left). More about this in a later post.  On the right in a small light blue bowl are black beans in syrup or "Kuromame" 黒豆 (again, a must-have for New Year).

These were really nice starters.  At this point, we have consumed near 2/3 of the osechi goodies. We have to hurry up to finish it while it is still fresh. (Its a tough task but I think we are up to it.)

Shushi Taro Osechi 2020 寿司太郎のおせち重箱 2020

Since we did not finish the bluefin tuna sashimi and boiled octopus which we got frozen from Catalina offshore products and ate on New Year's eve, we started the evening of January 1st or "Gantan" 元旦 with the remaining tuna sashimi 本マグロ赤身, and octopus leg 茹で蛸の足. I also added some other items I prepared. For the first time, we got  frozen salted herring roe 数の子 from a company in Alaska called Great-Alaska-Seafood. Although, after I prepared it, it tasted the same as the Japanese sourced herring roe we have had in the past, it tended to be a bit soft and crumbly and the lobes were not uniform in size. I also made a part of the tuna sashimi block from Catalina into "marinated zuke tuna" 鮪の漬け which I served as "Yamakake" やまかけ.  I did not take pictures of this first round of the Gantan feast.

After this first round prelude, we finally opened the Sushi Taro Osechi Jubako 寿司太郎のおせち重箱. Although we have done this every new year since 2012, it is still always a thrill to open the osechi box. The picture below shows the first layer.  We immediately notice our favorites "karasumi" 唐墨 and steamed sea urchin 蒸しうに. A new item we noticed (there may be more) is in a bamboo container on the right upper portion called "lobster in shuto egg sauce" ロブスターの酒盗和え (see the comments on our tasting of this item, below).

Here is the close-up of karasumi or Japanese Bottarga. They make their own at Sushi Taro and as far as we can tell, it is the best.

This is the second layer. In this layer one of our favorites is in the left upper corner which is "Monkfish liver terrine" or あん肝豆腐.

Since we already had sashimi and yamakake, we ate only a little from the box. We made a small collection of our favorites shown below.

1. Karasumi, 2. Steamed sea urchin, 3. lobster in Shuto egg sauce*, 4. Caramelized baby shrimp, 5. Fish cake with matsutake mushroom, 6. Cod roe rolled in kelp, 7. Steamed kumquats in syrup, 8. Monkfish liver terrine and 9. Glazed duck.

*Lobster in Shuto egg sauce is new this year and we liked it very much. The sauce is creamy and I am wondering if it is like "kimi-su" 黄身酢 which was also seasoned with "Shutou" 酒盗 but that is my guess.

In any case, this was the excellent first evening feast of 2020.

Sushi Taro Osechi Box 2017 寿司太郎おせち ２０１７

Once we got used to having a Sushi Taro Osechi Box, it is difficult to cerebrate New Year's without one. We started getting the Osechi box from Sushi Taro in 2012.

This is the top box. It was nicely packed with all kinds of goodies. I just wanted to share the excitement we had enjoying this box and provide some trivia concerning Japanese "Osechi" dishes. These Japanese New Year's dishes are traditionally prepared as auspicious dishes to have at the beginning of the year. They are for the family to eat during the first 3 days of the year which are considered the most auspicious and are called ”Shogatsu Sanganichi" 正月三が日.

Each of the dishes through their color, shape and number, among other things have symbolic celebratory meaning often in multiple layers or as puns/plays on words. For example, red combined with white is considered an auspicious color combination.  Thus, red and white is a traditional color motif for New Year's dishes as exemplified by the red and white fish cakes (#2 in the annotated picture below). Red snapper is an example of a dish that has multiple layers of symbolic meaning; not only does it incorporate the venerable color red but also includes a play on words because it is called "Tai" which in Japanese rhymes with "Omede-tai" おめでたい commemorating "celebration" (#6). Many small fish and roe are symbols of prosperity and numerous offspring and are represented multiple times through out these boxes by such things as salmon, cod, mullet and herring roe. Herring roe incorporates an additional layer of meaning since it is also "gold" in color and gold would be considered the color of fortune in almost any culture. Dishes rolled in kelp represent a pun on words since "kelp" or "Kobu" rhymes with "Yoro-kobu" 喜ぶ which means "to rejoice". So cod roe wrapped in kelp (#17) incorporates the symbolism of numerous offspring and rejoicing. Black "kuromame" beans are eaten because "beans" in Japanese are called "mame" 豆  another play on words because it sounds similar to the word which means  being "attentive, truthful,  and helpful".  (All this symbolism gets complicated but the degree of thought that goes into the choice of these particular dishes becomes evident). All these auspicious foods are thought to set the tone for the upcoming new year. Of course, many of these dishes are great with sake which flows more readily during New Year and what would a celebration be without it?

1. Kuromame 黒豆 black beans, 2. red and white fish cake "Kamaboko" 紅白蒲鉾 3. Bottarga "Karasumi" 唐墨 (our favorite!) 4. "Jako" hatchling fish simmered in "Sansho" 山椒 Japanese pepper flavor 雑魚の有馬煮 (In a plastic container wrapped in white paper) 5. Pickled "renkon" lotus root cut in a decorative flower shape 花輪酢蓮根 6. Grilled whole small red snapper "tai" 子鯛姿焼 7. Stem lettuce or celtuce marinaded in miso チシャトウ西京漬け (this is new this year. Crunchy and sweet miso flavor is nice) 8. Soy sauce marinated salmon roe いくら醤油漬け 9. Daikon julienne picked in sweet vinegar 錦なます.

10. Herring roe marinated in miso 数の子味噌漬け 11. Mustard stuffed burdock からし牛蒡 (our favorite, the best way to enjoy gobo as far as we can tell) 12. Steamed sea urchin 蒸しウニ 13. Steamed fish cake with matsutake mushroom 松茸真蒸 14. Simmered small whole shrimp 小海老艶煮 15. Burdock root in sesame dressing たたき牛蒡 17. Cod roe wrapped in kelp タラコの昆布巻き 18. Kumquats simmered in syrup  金柑蜜煮 19. Simmered chestnuts with brown skin 栗の渋皮煮 (We had inside information that these are North American chestnuts and only the ones without deep creases are chosen for this dish) and underneath are "scallop braised in sweetened soy"  ホタテの甘煮.

"Karasumi" is our favorite and really encourages sipping sake with each nibble. This was prepared in house at Sushi Taro. We like the Japanese preparation of this, especially Sushi Taro's, as compared with Bottarga from Italy. As previously mentioned, the Japanese preparation goes especially well with sake. Although not the best with sake, grated on the pasta, Bottarga is mighty fine.

Of course, ikura salmon roe marinated in soy sauce is another dish that goes so well with sake.

I made salmon kelp roll this year and this dish is similar but uses cod roe "tarako" wrapped in kelp instead of salmon. It was a very nice variation.

Of course, raw sea urchin is the best but steaming is a good way to make sea urchin last longer.

Small red snapper is peaking through.

This is the bottom box.

1. Monk fish liver terrine あんきも豆腐 (Another of our favorites) 2. Mashed sweet potato with chestnuts 栗きんとん 3. New Year Omelet roll 伊達巻 4. Pickled renkon with decorative flower cut 花輪蓮根 5. Yellow tail sushi wrapped in picked turnip 鰤かぶら寿司 6. Grilled pompano marinaded in sweet miso まながつお西京味噌焼 7. Steamed head-on prawn 長寿海老 (this is the first time we had head on prawns. The bent "back" of the shrimp symbolizes longevity as represented by the bent backs characteristic of the venerable elderly in Japan in the old days) 8. Grilled Japanese snapper with "kinome" miso paste 真鯛の木の芽焼き  9. First spring harvest bamboo shoot 新筍土佐煮  10. Duck breast teriyaki 鴨照り焼き and other wonderful simmered vegetables. I think I may have left out a few items.

The prawns were really good with firm texture and sweet taste. Since these were head-on prawns, we could "suck" out the tamale from the head (which we did).

The grilled fish was best heated up in the toaster oven before enjoying. "Kinome" miso (green stuff) has a very distinctive flavor. This is the young shoot (leaves) of Japanese "sansho" (or Chinese) pepper tree.

The duck breast was great. I think that, underneath the duck, there may have been small dumpling made of edible lily bulb and grated renkon.

These vegetables are good but especially unique is "Kuwai" くわい, best seen bottom right, which is an unusual vegetable for Westerners and has very interesting texture. This is mostly served as a New Year dish because of the shape, it was equated with "me-ga-deru" 芽がでる meaning "sprouting" that sounds like "me-de-tai" めでたい meaning "auspicious' or "celebratory", another "pun".

In any case, I may have gone on longer than I probably should have but I just wanted to convey what a joy it is to delve into these boxes. All the multiple layers of symbolism and meaning entailed in these celebratory New Year's dishes are given justice through the attention to detail and careful execution by the chefs at Sushi Taro making it especially memorable.  Luckily, we will be feasting on these boxes for some days to come.

New Year's day evening with Sushi Taro Osechi 元旦の夕, すし太郎のおせち

We were wondering how long we have been getting Sushi Taro's Osechi box to celebrate New Year. We went back to our blog and it appears we started getting Sushi Taro Osechi on 2012.  In any case, we got the box on the afternoon of New Year's eve and started indulging in its contents the evening of the New Year's day.

We were delighted to see our favorite "karasumi" 唐墨 or "bottarga" or sun-dried mullet roe this year as well (right upper corner) along with the other usual goodies.

This is the second layer. Miso-marinated beef tongue  (right upper corner) is new this year. We like beef tongue but this is quite different from how we prepare it. Another one of our favorites "Monkfish liver terrine" or "ankimo tofu" あん肝豆腐 is peaking out on the right upper corner of the third (bottom) row.

Since I got frozen bluefin tuna sashimi block form Catalina Offshore products last December in preparation for the coming new year, we had some on New Year's eve and finished it New Year's day evening.  The tuna was very good and it was between chu-toro 中とろand ko-toro 小とろ.

On the sashimi plate, we had tuna, steamed sea urchin, karasumi, boiled shrimp (leftover from making ozouni), white and red fish cake, salmon Russian marinade, marinated herring roe (this is one I prepared) and burdock root stuffed with mustard. This year, karasumi was sliced a bit thicker than usual so I grilled it lightly in the toaster oven before enjoying it.

The second small plate had my "Chicken matsu-kaze yaki" 松風焼 (left in the picture below, I used toasted walnuts instead of pine nuts so it is not really "matsu-kaze" or "wind over the pine"). The green vegetable is from the osechi box called "pickled Chishatou" ちしゃとう or celtuce. This is a food item I am not familiar with but it is a stalk of a type of special lettuce. It has a nice crunchy texture. This "Date-maki" egg roll is from the osechi box and the meat behind it is miso marinated beef tongue. It is firmer than I make it but it had a nice beef flavor.

The third small plate had "renkon" lotus root cut in flower-shape dressed in vinegar, marinated (I assume in miso) egg yolk with walnut (another of our favorites), smoke salmon rolled in thinly peeled radish and cumquat in syrup. Behind the renkon is steamed fish cake with matsu-take mushroom or "matsutake shinjou"松茸しんじょう(cut in half).

This is an octopus leg I dressed in mustard miso vinegar タコ足のぶつ切りの芥子酢味噌和え.

We had the same sake (the last bottle) as last year which we brought from Japan two years ago. Jurakudai daiginjou from Kyoto.

We thought these are the starter but after eating these and drinking, both of us were quite full and called it quits. It was a nice evening to start 2019.