SHIZUOKA SUSHI & SASHIMI: The other Jewels of Japan

Shizuoka Marine Products at Sushi Ko: Seabream and Cuttlefish

dragonlife — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 02:22:28 +0000

Left: Tennen Madai/天然真鯛/Wild Red Seabream
Right: Aori Ika/障泥烏賊/Bigfin Reef Squid

Last night I had another occasion to visit my favorite Sushi Restaurant Sushi Ko in Aoba Koen/青葉公園/”Green Leaves Park” in Shizuoka City.
I go through many of my own traditional enquiries before choosing my morsels, and one of them is to find out what is on the “sashimi menu of the day”!

This was when I noticed two items labeled “Tennen/天然, meaning “natural/wild” from Shizuoka Prefecture, more precisly from the Suruga Bay:

Madai/真鯛/Red Seabream (English information, Japanese information)

The fish is not only served as sashimi, but being very fresh (actually alive in a tank at Sushi Ko!), it is also served with its skin in aburi/炙り/grilled style!
The flesh is extremely tender and almost sweet. No wonder it is so prized in Japan!

Aori Ika/障泥烏賊/Bigfin Reef Squid (English information, Japanese information)

Sushi Ko serves it in strips that have been indented at regular spaces for an easier bite and for a better exposure to taste.
The cuttlefish is in fact easy to chew and very tasty!

Notice the edible perilla/shiso/紫蘇 flowers and garted wasabi from Shizuoka, too!

Sushi Ko
shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Ryogae-cho. 2-3-1 (Aoba Koen)
Tel.: 054-2512898
Business Hours： 17:00~25:00. 17:00~23:00 （Sundays）
Closed on Wednesdays
Reservations recommended
Credit cards OK
HOMEPAGE (Japanese)

Today’s Lunch Box/Bento (’10/72): Te-Mari sushi Bento

dragonlife — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 03:37:00 +0000

The Missus came up with an old favourite of hers with today’s sushi bento: Te-Mari sushi!
Mind you, these are a lot bigger than the ones they serve to geisha in Kyoto! LOL

As you can see she combined Jpaanese and Western tastes in the Te-Mari balls!

One type came with rice steamed wit konbu, then later prepared as sushi rice. She then mixed half with sweet umeboshi flesh and topped the balls with a slice of boiled and lightly pickled renkon/lotus root.

As for the other type, she mixed the rest of the rice with small cubes of cheese and topped the balls with smoked salmon has just brought us from Ireland, and some lemon and capers. A small piece of lettuce was introduced under the ball for extra taste.

Now, the garnish did involve some work:
She cut an avocado in half across the length, and peel it before filling it first with the whites (crumbled) of a soft-boiled egg, then the yolk (crumbeled) of the same egg before topping it with a slice of pimento-stuffed green olive for colour!
She added boiled spinach salad seasoned with gomadare/sesame dessing, and another salad of boiled and broiled satoimo/taro seasoned with roasted black sesame seeds.

Where is my dessert? LOL

Grat balance, colourful and tasty again!

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Sushi Restaurant: Autumnal Visit to Sushi Ko in Shizuoka City!

dragonlife — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 09:36:42 +0000

The other day the Missus and I paid our Autumnal visit to Sushi Ko, one of our favourite sushi restaurants in Shizuoka City!

Since I have already introduced this great restaurant many a time, I will skip the niceties and introduce what we had right away!

Katsuo aburi/seared bonito as an appetizer with the first drink.

Kampachi/Japanese Amberjack (Western-style) carpaccio.

Anago/conger eel. Notice that the wasabi is on top!

Ishidai/Seabream-Snapper variety

Kujira/whalemeat

Deep-fried tuna cubes.

Hotate/Scallops.

Magurozuke/Marinated tuna.

For a closer view of the same!

Tachiuo Aburi/Seared scabbard fish.

Sushi Millefeuille. Sorry for the fuzzy pic. I’m using a new cell phone camera!

One of the best local sake, Hatsukame!

East meets West: scallops gratin!

The Missus’ favourite: spicy scallops roll!

Vegan sushi!

Sakura/Horsemest.

Seafood miso soup with seaweed.

Botan Ebi/Large sweet prawns. Sorry for the fuzzy picture again!

The heads of the same, deep-fried!

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Today’s Lunch Box/Bento (’10/68): British Sushi Bento

dragonlife — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 09:35:09 +0000

The Missus was finally able to use our new set of lacquered bento boxes!
These bento boxes are called “Ikawa Menpa” and are made exclusively made with materials coming from the forests of Ikawa in the Northern part of Shizuoka Prefecture!

They come into two main styles (I will write a more extensive article soon!), unlacquered and lacquered pine wood.
They have been designated as Prefectural Cullture Asset by the Shizuoka Prefecture Government.
Mr. Mochizuki (I’ll have to check the pronunciation of his first name as it is impossibly long!) is the only crsftsman making them . He is the fifth generation of a lineage of artists dating back to 1830!

The present 3-box set (The Missus used only two this time) even comes with is own bag and partitions!

Now today’s main dish consists of plain sushi rice that the Missus steameda with chopped parsley, cheese and French herbs and Olive Oil Bouillon (see below).
She made two layers of them with cold roast beef atop both. She put the fishing touch with some sliced green olives stuffed with pimento.

Here is the French Knorr Bouillon.
It contains EV olive oil, oreganao, laurel, garlic and onion)

The side dish contains a salad of pink potatoes (not sweet potaoes) and chestnuts with dressing and lettuce leaves, and mint from the verandah, Pickled Mizu Nasu/Water Eggplants which can be eaten raw, Shizuoka-grown Ameera Rubbins Pearl tomatoes, salad of gobo/burdock root, pimeto and cucumber, and a boiled egg seasoned with black roasted sesame seeds.

Dessert? The tomatoes! LOL

Beautiful food in a beautiful vessel!

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Vegan Sushi at Sushi Ko (2010/09/16)

dragonlife — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 09:33:47 +0000

For once, thatis last Thursday, the heat has somewhat abated.
We even had welcome rain almost all day long.
The Missus and I did not need more encouragement to pay a belated visit to our favourite sushi Restaurant in Shizuoka Cyt, Sushi Ko.
We did have a lot I will describe in the next posting but I thought my vegan and vegetarian friends would like to see a separate article about vegan/vegetarian sushi!

Mr. Oda seved us 5 different types.
The first two are menegi/芽葱 or thin leeks sprouts topped with a little yuzukoshio paste.
The second one is himesoba/姫蕎麦 or buckwheat sprouts secured with a small band of nori/dry seaweed.
Both were serve raw.

The third one was kaiwaredaikon/貝割れ大根　or daikon sprous, boiled and topped with some umeboshi/梅干 pickled Japanese plum paste.
The fourth was raw mitsuba/三つ葉　or Japanese Honeywort secured with a thin band of nori/dry seaweed.

The fifth was mitsuba/三つ葉　or Japanese Honeywort again but slightly boiled and served as gunkan shushi/軍艦寿司 style.

Looking forward to the next visit!

Sushi Ko
Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Ryogae-cho. 2-3-1 (Aoba Koen)
Tel.: 054-2512898
Business Hours： 17:00~25:00. 17:00~23:00 （Sundays）
Closed on Wednesdays
Reservations recommended
Credit cards OK
HOMEPAGE (Japanese)

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Iwate Prefecture Specialty: Sanma/Pacific Saury

dragonlife — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 05:22:55 +0000

Sanma O-tsukuri: plate of Pacific Saury sashimi

As previously mentioned, I’ve just spent a nice holiday away from it all in Iwate Prefecture in the North/Tohoku Part of Japan, in Morioka more precisley!

Although Iwate Prefecture does not have as long a seashore as in Shizuoka, it’s nonetheless noted for its fisheries, especially sanma/Pacific saury!

As it comes absolutely fresh in that Prefecture, it is best savored raw in season (right now) when it is “fat”.
We ate the above in a great little izakaya in Morioka City.
The fish was cut in almost paper-thin slices and served with grated ginger, momijioroshi/grated daikon with chili pepper and finely chopped thin leeks to be dipped into soy sauce.
A must for sashimi officionados!

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Today’s Lunch Box/Bento (’10/62): Okra & Salmon Sushi Bento

dragonlife — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 04:53:54 +0000

Tuesday, Sushi Bento Day!
I can tell you that with heat stifling out all stamina out your body, it is not easy to devise or cook anything.
The grumbling Missus somehow managed to come out (of the infernal kitchen) with a refreshing idea.

First she had thought of preparing a chirashizushi/decoration sushi, but quickly switche to rice balls. Sushi rice balls. not ordinary rice balls.

After steaming the rice (with konbu seaweed) and prepared it as sushi rice, she mixed in sesame seeds and fried salmon flakes. After forming the rice balls she wrapped them in lettuce and placed them inside the box. She then “decorated the balls with raw sliced okra for great effect. A few sansho/Japanese pepper (home-pickled) also entered into the equatione for extra taste.
As for the salt quotient needed in these sweaty days she added home-pickled carrot and cucumber.

The tamagoyaki was plain but delicious. I actually like it plain most of the time.
More pickles with home-made wasabi stem pickles.

Plenty of colours and nutrients in the salad/dessert dish with beans and cheese salad decorated with Shizuoka Ameera pearl tomatoes, Japanese nashi pears an prunes.

Certainly better for the whole day!

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Marinated Tuna Sushi/Magurozuke Sushi

dragonlife — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:35:42 +0000

Whenever tuna is available one ought to taste it raw as sashimi or sushi.
Now, avaibility does not always mean quality.
On the other hand, the Japanese have a simple and delicious way to accomodate tuna of any quality: magurozuke, which basically means marinated tuna, a concept easy to understand anywhere in our world!
Here is a basic recipe you can easily improve and adapt. I can guarantee you that your friends will look at you with a different eye!

INGREDIENTS:

-Tuna: raw for sashimi, enough for a plate of sushi
-Sushi rice: as appropriate. Check Sushi Rice Recipe here!

-Marinade/Zuketare:
-Soy sauce: 2 tablespoons
-Japanese sake: 2 tablespoons
-Mirin/Japanese sweet sake: 1 tablespoon
-Chopped thin leeks: as appropriate
-Wasabi paste: as appropriate

RECIPE

-Prepare the marinade: In a bowl drop the soy sauce, Japanese sake, mirin and chopped leeks. Mix quickly.
Slice the tuna for sushi. Take care of slicing it in equal size (especially thickness) slices!
Drop all the slices inside the marinade. Stir gently so as all fish is marinated. Cover with cellophane paper and leave inside the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

-Prepare the rice balls/shari in a slightly elongated size. Remember that the rice balls/shari should be slightly narrower and shoter than the tuna slices.
Smear a little wasabi paste on top of each rice ball. Skip if you don’t like wasabi. On the other hand you could top the nigiri (taht is on top ofthe fish, not the rice ball) with a little grated ginger!
Take tuna slice out one by one, shake them over the marinade bowl to let run excess marinade (do not sponge it off!), place a slice on each rice ball firmly enough (no need to overpress it between your hands, or you will have marinade everywhere!).
Place on a service dish and eat as soon as possible.

Easy and so impressive!

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Today’s Lunch Box/Bento (’10/60): Soboro Sushi Bento

dragonlife — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:34:39 +0000

“Soboro” is a form of decoration in Japanese gastronomy.
It is almost impossible to translate, although it means that the decoration looks like little snow balls, whatever they are made from.
They are extremely popular in home-made bento.

They certainly make for beautiful geometrical designs and colours!

The Missus first prepared fresh sushi rice. She then mixed it with a little of each soboro, finely chopped Japanese pickled cucumber and sesame seeds before fuiling the first box.
She covered the left half with egg soboro. You could compare it to a sweet scrambled egg. She made it this very morning. Colours and nutrients are provided with sliced mini tomato and buckwheat sprouts/himesoba.

The right part is covered with meat soboro she prepared the night before with minced pork and beef.

Plenty of colours as usal with the salad/dessert box!

The salad consisted of boiled yellow and pink potatoes, violet sweet potatoes, walnuts and basil leaves from our verandah, the whole lightly seasoned with rice vinegar dressing.
Some lettuce made up for the separation and more Vitamin C and fibers.

Home-pickled mini melon and myoga ginger for the salt needed in these very hot days.
More vitamins and fibers with Japanese “Nashi/梨” pear (so crunchy and juicy!) and large blueberries!

I can see that hot day off with that!

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Wasabi: A Visit to Its Birthplace in Shizuoka!

dragonlife — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:33:27 +0000

Mr. Yuma Mochizuki/望月佑真

The other day I received a phone call from my good friend Dominique Corby, the Chef/Manager of Michelin-starred 6eme Sens in Tokyo.
He told me that the French/German ARTE TV Channel was coming to Shizuoka City on September 12th~13th to make a long report on green tea (Shizuoka produces 45% of all green tea in Japan), wasabi (Shizuoka produces 80% of all wasabi in Japan) and the fishing industry in our Prefecture (they will visit the Fishing Harbour of Yaizu City)!
He wished to enroll my help to “prepare the ground” for the TV crew as I was not only living in Shizuoka City, but knew my wasabi well! He didn’t have to ask twice!
So on Thursday and Friday 12th and 13th, a third Musketeer, Stephane Danton of Ocharaka, a French specialist of green tea in Kanagawa Prefecture who exports green tea from Kawane Honcho in Shizuoka, joined us in a rented car and we left on a grand mission!

Utogi is also the starting point of some great treks!

We did spend the whole Thursday following Stephane in tea growing farming homes and communities as the rain just made it impossible to visit the wasabi fields in altitude!
So we left early in the morning on Friday from Shizuoka City in blistering heat.
The ride is not that hard, 18 km along the Abe River and 3 more km up in altitude, what with the beautiful vistas between high steep forested mountains.
We reached Utogi at around 11:00 a.am. where Mr. Yuma Mochizuki was already waiting for us.

One of Mr. Yuma Mochizuki’ wasabi fields.

Mr. Yuma Mochizuki is the 10th generation of a celebrated wasabi growing family.
He presently owns 5 fields dispersed on in the Utogi Mountains, and is trying to buy more land in Fujinomiya City as the demand is growing and that there is simply no space left in Utogi!
Wasabi grows in the wild and has been consumed as a vegetable for eons.
It is only in the beginning of the 17th Century that a farmer in Utogi succeeded in growing the root that is so appreciated in the world.
Roots of a small size will develop in the wild after 2 or 3 years, but they are too sour and “green” to be consumed at all. Although its cultivation is purely organic/macrobiotic it does need the help of a human hand.

Mr. Mochizuki first took us to his highest field at almost 1,000 metres (well over 300 feet) to an almost inaccessible locale among trees, steep slopes and up impossibly narrow and slippery “stairs”. But it was certainly worth it, although the TV crew will ot have to climb so high.
He then took us (all the time by car as walking was not much of an option what with the heat and the distance between fields) to the field that would appear on TV.

The whole field is covered with a black mesh net to protect it from too much exposure to the sun. These nets are streched over the field only when it is directly under the path of the sun. Some fields aren’t.
But all fields have to be protected with suplementary solid side nets to keep wild monkeys and deer away as they would leave nothing of the stems and leaves!

Wasabi seedlings have to be regularly replanted every one or two years depending upon the variety. There are axtually more than 100 varieties of them. Mr. Mochizuki grows ten of them.
The seedlings above had been replanted only one month ago.

Here is a “view” (from under the nets) of the upper part of that particular field with about one-year old wasabi plants in the background.

After 1 or 2 years the wasabi plant matures to almost one metre in height, root, stems and leaves included. Subsidiary plants will grow from the bottom of the main large root. These will be cut out to be replanted.
The large root will be harvested for the wasabi paste. The stems will be pickled in Japanese sake white lees to become “Wasabi Tsuke”, a delicacy one can use to season his/her bowl of freshly steamed rice with or with fish and fish paste. The leaves can be pickled too, although they are eminently edible raw, steamed or cooked. Shizuoka people use them as “vessels” to taste miso paste!

Only pure mountain water flowing at a constant temperature may be used in the culture of wasabi. Stagnant water is out of question.
Moreover, and this is a little known fact, individual field sections and fields in general do not communicate with each other. Water come through pipes directly connected to mountain streams to bring water to each field section. It is then diverted to side funnels which prevent any water to go back into another field!
True envirnomental and organic culture.
Apart of the bed sand and water, nothing else goes into those fields. Full stop!

Although Mr. Mochizuki was very busy preparing the big Festival to be held on Saturday and Sunday with the whole community, he kindly took the time to invite us to his enormous Japanese house (all sitting on tatami there) to share tea and sample his wasabi crop. We had the pleasure to meet his very gentle spouse and the energetic 11th generation Yoshihiro Mochizuki望月義弘!

Here are the best samples of 3 of the best out of the 10 varieties the Mochizuki family grows. Can you guess which is the best one?…
The one in the middle with the dark stems!

Now, where do you grate the stem from? The pointed end or the stem end?
Well, this is according to priorities, but usually after chopping the stems away fromthe root is first grated from the top as it will hotter as you come closer to its pointed extremity. This way you can control the “heat” of the root (or mix the whole later!).

Have you ever seen the cross section of a healthy root?

The traditional way to grate the wasabi root is on a wooden slat covered with shark skin.
Mr. Mochizuki explained this is now done only for the sake of tradition. Sushi and soba chefs will grate (away for the clients’ eyes) on a new and very efficient metal grater (in the background).

Look at that for extravagance!
Mr. Mochizuki was indeed so generous in his demonstration.
The TV crew will have a “field day”! LOL

MARU ICHI NOUEN/丸一置農園
(Yutogi Kodawari Club/有東木こだわり倶楽部)
Director: Yoshihiro Mochizuki/望月義弘
421-2303 Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Yutogi, 602
Tel./Fax: (81) (0)54-298-2077
E–mail: wasabiya-maruichi@vivid.ne.jp
Direct mail orders possible

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