tokyo food file

Sanma are in: now I know it's autumn

We may still be enjoying t-shirt weather, at least during the day, but autumn has most definitely arrived.

It's not just the weather, the beautiful clear blue firmament — aki-bare (literally "autumn clear skies") is the vernacular term — and the glorious drop in humidity. The change in season is also reflected in the lower angle of the sun, the golden afternoon light, the high, wispy cloud formations and the luminous colour of the sea.

And, more than anything, it's reflected in the fish we see in the market. The sanma (saury) are back.

 

They're not local to the Tokyo area: they're shipped down fresh from the ports of northeastern Honshu  — now thankfully back in business — and Hokkaido.

But even at this early stage of the season they're wickedly cheap: ¥280 for two "irrespective of size, big or small" the sign says. We have to clean them ourselves, of course. And then we just salt them and stick 'em under the grill.

 

 

Sanma makes a wonderful sashimi too. It's a bit too fiddly to prepare at home — and thankfully we don't have to, since we can always drop into our local shokudo (lunch counter) for a generous plateful…

…as part of a teishoku (set meal) together with onsen-tamago soft-boiled egg, natto, suspiciously yellow takuan pickles and rice. Plus a bowl of noodles — wakame soba in this case — thrown in, just in case we're still hungry.

A deal at ¥880.

Eater's latest Tokyo Heatmap

What's new and hot in Tokyo? Leave it up to Eater to let us know.

Well actually, Eater left it up to Tokyo Food File. And this is what I came up with…

It's not intended to be in any way at all a "Best of" listing of Tokyo restaurants — more a "What's opened or moved in the last 12 months that's buzzy enough you should be aware of" mini feature. With a map (obviously).

 

To see it in full, you'll have to head over to Eater here…

And if you missed the previous one I put together, back in February — and it's still more than valid — you'll find it buried in their archives here… 

Tsukimi: the full moon of autumn

 

The full moon rises above the Tokyo skyline.

Since ancient times, the 15th night — jugoya in Japanese — of the September moon has been considered the most magical of all. All across Japan this is the evening for tsukimi (moon viewing).

Needless to say, there are plenty of special foods to mark the occasion, most of them sweet. Such as tsukimi manju (dumplings stuffed with sweet azuki bean paste), and a slew of other moon-themed confections.

 

Why the rabbits? All is explained in the latest newsletter from Elizabeth Andoh's excellent Taste of Culture (you can also sign up on her site for her cooking programs). Or head over to her Facebook page here…

Here's a screen grab as a taster…

 

But where to gaze at the moon if you're in central Tokyo?

You could do worse than check my Japan Times column tomorrow which is now up online here…

Autumn is here. Says Tedorigawa.

 

Well, the leaves aren't turning red quite yet. Nor is there much in the way of mist and mellow fruitfulness. But at least the worst of summer has been blown away by the typhoon that's barreled across most of Japan this past couple of days.

And the dragonfly nymphs have hatched into adult aka-tonbo dragonflies...

It's never too early to raise a glass of good sake in toast to our favourite season of the year. This brew — a junmai karakuchi officially called Yatsukaho, but generally known to the rest of us simply as "Aki" (Autumn) — comes from the wonderful Tedorigawa brewery, in Ishikawa Pref..

 

 

Brewed in August, released and ready to drink in August. A frisky fresh brew indeed. 

 

And big thanks for this to Chef Hasegawa and the crew at Den.

Bépocah: Peruvian cuisine arrives in Tokyo — in style

A few more images of the outstanding — in every sense — Bépoca in Harajuku, as featured in my column today in The Japan Times.

 

Not only does it look exceedingly sharp inside and out, the food is unlike anything we have seen before in Tokyo. Beautifully presented, and made without cutting corners.

From the cebiche…

…with its chaser of leche de tigre (tiger's milk)…

 

…to the anticuchos de corazón, grilled brochettes of tender beef heart… 

 

…and the ocopa, boiled potatoes enrobed in a beautiful green sauce prepared from feta cheese, milk, aji amarillo peppers, peanuts and black Huacatay mint.

 

And then there are the causas.

To describe these merely as mashed-potato cakes is akin to calling sushi just vinegared rice patties. It may be technically accurate but it doesn’t start to tell the whole story. It's all about what's on top.

 

A bright yellow cylinder topped with avocado, creamed chicken and a wedge of tomato…

 

A spinach-green orb decked with diced octopus, onion and olive…

 

A grayish-mauve cube — the colouring here is beetroot — with a slice of buri (yellowtail) and marinated red onion…

 

And a cube of orangey pink (from red pepper) holds a generous scoop of crabmeat.

Like the creative modern pintxos found in Spain’s Basque Country, these causas rework a long-standing tradition with imagination and flair.

 

They do a thousand different things with potato in Peru — and quite a few of those area on the menu at Bépocah. Such as carapulca, a dish that combines the dried tubers with diced chicken, pork and peanuts in a rich stew.

 

Probably my favorite "main" dish is the seco de res — soft-simmered premium kuroge wagyu beef cooked down with a thick cilantro sauce and served with rice.

 

So who's responsible for this food? Whose idea was it to bring Lima to Tokyo? Bépocah was set up by Bruno Nakandakari (from Peru) and Haruka Nishimura (Japanese). 

 

They brought over the best chef they could hire from Lima, Cristhian Vasquez (no photo unfortunately). And in charge of the drinks is veteran Tokyo bartender Jacinto Alvarado, another Peruvian.

 

It's a great place, with elegance and poise. And it has opened just at a time when Peruvian cuisine is hitting the global gastronomic headlines.