Sweet & Savory

Exquisite Cuisine

Please excuse the lateness and scarcity in posts. A and I, no longer so recently, changed jobs and were dealing with the resulting upheavals in our life. Things have finally begun to settle down. We hope to resusitate Sweet & Savory and continue on our merry way. :)

I returned to Japan but this time with A in tow for my sabbatical. We were determined to explore Kyoto for a glimpse into old Japan, followed by a visit to Tokyo, to see modern Japan.

As Frommer's had warned us, it was difficult to find many destinations. Even native Japanese often needed to ask for directions. Many of the less touristy areas or smaller streets did not have signs labeled in English and as neither A nor I can read or speak Japanese, we were at a distinct disadvantage. On the first day, I sprained my ankle during a 2-hour trek in the rain looking for a confectionary store only to find that the store was closed!! We did eventually learn to utilize a combination of the maps in the multiple travel guides we brought, the maps at the subways, and the various other maps placed around the city to minimize the time we spent aimlessly lost.

On account of being hopelessly disoriented most of the time, we were very grateful for this clearly marked street sign, which was right where we emerged from the subway on the third day of our stay in Kyoto. Due to this good fortune, we were able to find, in record time, the ryokan that we'd reserved for the night! If only we were so lucky for the rest of our trip! :P

After a quick check-in, we were shown to our room, located on the first floor, with a beautiful garden right outside our sliding glass doors. As we sat there soaking in the serenity and calm that surrounded us, the weariness of urban life already forgotten, the head maid brought in a tray of frothy green matcha, hojicha, and slightly cinnamony sweets for us to enjoy.

When the head maid returned to retrieve the used tea cups, and to leave us a fresh pot of hojicha, she motioned to us that the yukatas neatly folded in the closet were meant for us to wear after we had taken our in-room hot bath. The bathing facilities were different from what is customarily found in the U.S. but we had read enough travels guides figure out how to use it. The hot bath was fabulous, so hot and soothing for all our aching muscles and tired feet. After I had become sufficiently prune-ish, it was time to climb out and put on the yukata. Mine came with two sashes, a wide red one and a narrow purple one, each long enough to wrap several times around my waist. A and I pondered a while as to how to tie them. Since there were no instructions given, we came up with our own technique. Stylish, no?

At 7 pm, the service of the very impressive kaiseki dinner began.

Menu of Hiiragiya Kaiseiki -- April 2006

Aperitif Shokuzen-Shu
Shirozake
Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of the little cup of cold crisp sake.

First Appetizer Sakizuke
clam, crab, nanohana (rape blossom buds), udo (Japanese edible wild plants), glehnia littoralis, baby flying fish, vinegar with sesame seed.

Very light delicate fresh flavors.

Since A is allergic to shellfish, he was served what we believed to be fava bean tofu.

Sashimi Dishes Mukouzuke
sea beam, tuna, japanese needlefish, paste laver, stem of young perilla, japanese white radish, carrot

I especially enjoyed the sea beam and tuna. The needlefish was very fresh but much chewier than what I like.

Simmered Dishes Nimono-Wan
paste of white flesh with mugwort, greenling, konoko (dried konowata before fermenting), urui, carrot, kinome

A light broth, a medley of light well-blended flavors, with several unidentified items.

Second Appetizer Hassun
ark shell and horsetail seasoned with vinegar and miso, sea beam roe in jelly, prawn coated with powdered dried mullet roe, dressed kogomi with walnut, grilled japanese icefish with yolk, baby octopus, young peach

This was the most exciting dish of the meal with its many exotic ingredients and a personal favorite. The baby octopus took some courage to eat but I found it quite delicious and not at all chewy. The young peach was surprisingly sweet and soft and fuzz-free. (I still don't know what a kogome is and googling it turned up links to an anime call Inuyasha which had absolutely nothing to do with food.)

Grilled Fish Yaki-Zakana
grilled trout with konomo, broad beans

Delicious grilled fresh trout!

Dishes in the Middle Oshinogi
sekihan (made from glutinous rice and some non-glutinous rice steamed with azuki beans), octopus

This was my least favorite dish as I am prejudiced against azuki beans, especially the ones with their shells on and this dish had LOTS of azuki beans with shells. A wasn't able to eat the octupus so his dish had two Japanese icefish as replacement. Unfortunately A is prejudiced against sakura leaves so both of us were prepositioned to dislike this dish. Perhaps this dish would have had a better chance of succeess with people who weren't so set against azuki beans and sakura leaves.

Steamed Dish Mushi-Mono
shark's fin, tofu, yuba (delicate soybean milk skin), brussel sprout, sticky soy sauce, ginger

This dish was similar to a toned down and less cornstarch-filled version of the Chinese shark fin soup. The portion of shark fin in the bowl was HUGE!

Simmered Dish Takiawase
bamboo shoot, Matsubara's red rockfish, wakame, japanese butterbur, kinome

The bamboo shoots were spectacular. I was told it was bamboo season in Japan so we were just in time to taste fresh bamboo shoots. In the U.S., bamboo shoots usually come pre-packaged out of cans. Even during bamboo season, when you are able to buy them at the asian market, they just don't seem to taste as fresh or as tender. Also of particular interest were the butterbur as they looked like celery and tasted lighter and not nearly as stringy or full of fiber as a celery.

Deep Fried Dish Age-Mono
fried anglerfish, small sweet green pepper, salt, lemon

The fried anglerfish was hot and crisp on the outside while sweet and soft on the inside.

Soup Tome-Wan
aka-miso soup with fu, shiitake mushroom, japanese homewort, rapeseed

Rice Gohan
rice mixed with bamboo shoot, kinomo

Pickles Kou-No-Mono
cucumber, nanohana, japanese white radish, and sea tangle

The rice, soup, and pickles all came together on one tray. Again, loved the bamboo.

Dessert Mizu-Mono
melon, strawberry, mango jelly

The conclusion to our extravagant meal was this fruit plate. I don't recall ever having melons so sweet! If you look carefully on upper left hand side of the bowl, you can see the dish is made to look like there is a tiny figurine trying to climb up the side of the dish to get to the food.

The kaiseiki dinner was impressive not only in the abundance, variety, and presentation of the food, but the care that went into the preparation and delicate flavors it was able to showcase. No wonder freshness and eating according to what is in season is of such high importance in Japanese cuisine. Serving inferior produce would be easily recognized. Though of a different cuisine, I could not help but notice the similarities between this meal and the one I had at French Laundry. Both leave the diner feeling like they are participants of an impressive theatrical production.

Full, happily satiatied, and relaxed, we drifted off to sleep on a surprisingly comfortable futon.