tokyo food file

Tennen buri — freshly caught yellowtail

Tennen buri (wild yellowtail). Landed this morning; sliced minutes ago.

It's what's for dinner tonight.

 

#fishmarket #couldntbefresher #dinnertonight  #天然鰤 #魚市場 #夕食

Maishin – premium sake (and good victuals) in the heart of Shibuya

 

 

Maishin – as introduced in my Japan Times column on Wednesday – is now the best place to find premium sake in all of Shibuya.

But it's not for everyone.

 

Only Japanese is spoken, and there's no English on the menu. Smoking is allowed. The stairs down are steep, and the door at the bottom is formidable – only the bottom half of it opens, so you have to crouch down to slide it open and get through. And then you gesticulate from that position of supplication to find out whether they have any free seats.

And before that, of course, you have to actually find it. Which is hard, even if you know where it is on the map, and even though it is only minutes away from Shibuya's busy stations and seething shopping streets. [I've put some hints and a map link down at the  bottom of this post].

 

 

But if you like your sake and are keen to find plenty of non-mainstream brews, Maishin is certainly worth seeking out. And, as at so many other sake-specialists – including the other places in the Nozaki group – the food is really quite good. Here are some of the standards and standouts.

The ankimo (monkfish liver) is good, and so are the ebi shinjo and the buri teriyaki. And the sashimi is certainly of superior izakaya quality…

    

And then there are the crossover dishes. That's where things get a bit interesting.

Starting with the buta-no-kakuni paizutsumi: a chunk of pork belly that has been slow simmered to cook it, then wrapped in pastry casing and baked in the oven. Instead of being simply plated with a blob of yellow karashi mustard on the side (as kakuni would be usually), it's given a delicate tracing of mustard in the savoury dashi/pork gravy. Ace.

 

And then there is the house-special wagyu/foie gras steak, which comes with a colourful selection of organically-grown root vegetables and liberal swooshes of balsamico sauce.

 

But it really is all about the sake. The fridges are bulging with premium brews from all around the country, with Denshu (Aomori) especially well represented on the menu.

 

And where Maishin really scores is with its special brews, limited editions, competition brews and seasonal rarities. The menu lists a lot of them. But it's easier just to ask manager Takeuchi-san.

Here are a few he's suggested for us over the past few months… 

  

 

To go with that sashimi, Takeuchi-san picked out two wonderful daiginjo – Denshu Tobindori (left) and Eikun Tobinkakoi Shizuku (from Shizuoka).

 

And with that wagyu steak, he proposed three very different brews…

That's a 3-year aged junmai-daiginjo from Enseki (Kagawa) on the left; a red sparkling sake from Kyokuko (Tochigi); and a kimoto from Soga Pere et Fils (Nagano). The Kyokuko really hit the spot.

 

The place to sit (if you're solo or there are just two of you) is at the central counter. Besides getting a ringside view of the main sake fridge, you also get to converse with Takeuchi-san. He's a major sake buff, who used to be in charge at Nozaki Sakaten in Shinbashi.

 

 

• Maishin – 米心 in Japanese – means "rice heart". It's a name that resonates on several levels.

• The photo at the very top of this post showing the interior was taken in bonenkai season: in fact the usual demographic at Maishin is considerably younger and hipper.

• Although Maishin does not have a no-smoking policy, the ceiling is high enough and the extractor fans strong enough that this has never been a major problem for me. 

• As mentioned, the entrance to Maishin is not easy to find, as the stairs are well set back from the street. Look for the NTT Docomo store on the left side as you make your way up the Dogenzaka main drag. Then, right next door, look for the sake bottles, the sign and the sugidama over the stairs. 

 

 

This shows the approximate location.

There's a more detailed map link here…

 

Den meets Florilège: an anniversary collaboration to remember

At the beginning of last month [February 2, 2013], chef Zaiyu Hasegawa celebrated the fifth anniversary of opening Jimbocho Den with a remarkable commemorative banquet. 

It was a collaboration, together with his good friend Hiroyasu Kawate, held over two evenings at Kawate's brilliant little modern-French restaurant, Florilège in Aoyama. Both chefs have an inventive, irreverent approach to their respective cuisines. This meal was a chance for them to pool their creativity. 

The evening actually started before we got inside: a box of dirt (below right) and much the same sign as you see outside Den (left below), except this one says: "Florilège is also cultivating moss. Attention!"

    

Our table was set with special anniversary tenugui towels.

 

 

Nobody knew quite what to expect — was it going to be Japanese or French or what? Basically it turned out to be like a longer, crazier version of a meal at Den — but in the plush, luxury of Florilège's bijou dining room it felt very different... 

 

While we waited, there was a packet of snacks — grilled yuba, tatami iwashi and vegetable chips in trademark whimsical style — to nibble on...

…while we perused the menu. Not that it was giving much away...  

 

And then the action started. Beginning with...

1. "Degustation"

Two glasses of hot broth: one white, the other red. A fragrant katsuo dashi; and a rich bouillon. Den meets Florilège.

 

2. "冷たい奴だな" (tsumetai yatsu dana) = A cold guy

Throughout, the menu was all basically word-play. Because what Hasegawa-san and Kawate-san like doing is food play. Dishes are not what they seem; traditional favorites are deconstructed or given a totally new twist.

In this case, the name is a riff on the kanji characters for hiya-yakko. And sure enough, instead of a standard tofu seasoned with shoyu, we were served a "tofu" made with ricotta; and the smoky-flavored sauce in the little fish dispenser was made from a "burnt" olive oil base.

 

 

3. "他人のそらに" (ta-nin no sorani) = An accidental resemblance 

A cube resembling goma-dofu but made with sora-mame broad beans rather than sesame, then deep-fried firm on the outside, soft and creamy (and pale green) inside, with a tapenade-like sprinkle as the only seasoning... 

 

4. "I'm only sleeping"

The customary colourful Den salad. But this one with a couple of very special extra features…

 

Such as the dirt sauce underneath — though there was as much truffle in it as earth, and the "soil" was mostly composted coffee grounds.

And what's that, sleeping in this floral bed of vegetables? An inago grasshopper, cooked down in sweetened shoyu, in tsukudani style — the way it's done traditionally up in the mountains. Savoury... crunchy!

 

And then there was a long, pink worm — thankfully, it too was sleeping... Which turned out to be a very realistic-looking pasta contribution from Kawate-san.

 

?.  "Who are you? (bonus trick)"

One of the highlights of the evening, and it wasn't even given its own number... Two spoons of pâté — one made from iwashi sardine; the other from woodcock. Both with a similar texture, but totally different provenance. Especially, since we were invited to eat them blindfolded (the bonus trick)...

 

…and also a mini "burger" of the same iwashi, served on a patty of sushi rice. 

 

5. "肝に銘じる" (kimo ni meijite) = Take to heart / deeply impressed

The word-play here, of course, is that kimo means liver. A tea ceremony sweet, served with a bowl of sencha green tea...

 

The composition of the outer layer, like the bird shape, was entirely traditional, made from lightly sweetened mochi rice flour...

 

But inside, instead of red-bean an... a generous block of foie gras.

 

Another traditional snack came with it: isobe-yaki. Normally this is grilled mochi, served warm and soft, slathered with sweetened soy sauce and wrapped in a sheet of nori. Except normally it does not contain a core of rich foie. Superb!

 

6. "ひさしぶり" (hisashiburi) = It's been a while

A play on the word "buri" — one of the names for yellowtail/amberjack. It was a deep, rich miso broth, featuring a slice of kan-buri (winter yellowtail).

 

And plenty of other good stuff besides: abalone, shirako milt, and shimeji mushrooms.

 

On the side was another fine contribution from Kawate-san: handmade ribbon pasta topped with grated parmesan...

 

All that umami! We tipped it into the broth and slurped it up, like some kind of decadent crossover ramen.

 

7. "猪突妄進" (chototsu moushin??) = Reckless (??)

Someone will have to help me with the reading of that kanji phrase — and with the exact meaning (though it's something to do with recklessness). But it's all about the first character, which means "wild boar" or "hog". Cue a wonderful dish of grilled pork...

 

...which was accompanied by "Peking duck" style pork crackling. Outstanding. 

 

8. "No rice No life"

Time for the rice course. We were offered a choice here: that good old home-cooking staple, omu-raisu (omelette wrapped around seasoned rice)...

 

… or chazuke, with fine-chopped pickled nozawa-na vegetables — served in those distinctive gold Florilège bowls.

 

9. "姉さんおつかれ!" (nēsan otsukare) = Thanks for the hard work, sister!

The first of several dessert courses, which (as always) were prepared by Den's talented sous-chef, Rei Mochizuki — the "sister" referred to in the name. This first bowl extended the "earth" theme: a tiramisu-style sesame cream sprinkled with coffee "dirt". 

  

 

10. "Coke 2"

A new take on the classic Den "moss" dessert — and served (as always) on a trowel with a layer of that same "dirt". Sitting on a sheet of Japan Times newsprint (how did she know?). The moss on top was fine-ground pistachio, and the mascarpone inside was tinted the same colour.

And the name? It's nothing to do with cola. It's actually a variant way of spelling koke, which is the standard romanization of 苔, meaning moss. And it was the Mark II version of that dessert.

Around the same time we were also served a wooden masu (sake measure) containing parched soybeans — an allusion to the upcoming setsubun festival. No faces on these beans, though...

 

11. "Good luck"

As the final parting shot, a tray filled with mugi-chocolate (chocolate-covered puffed wheat). Straight out of the packet, nothing special there. Until we picked one of those strings...

 

...and found out if our final sweet was white or dark chocolate. Whichever it was, we were in luck.

 

What a feast it was. And didn't we have a great time! Almost as much fun as the two chefs.

 

Congratulations, Hasegawa-san! And big thanks, Kawate-san!

 

EDIT: For another epic Den-Florilege collaboration (this time at Jimbocho Den), there's another post here…

 

hiramasa: a rare yellowtail

We see plenty of yellowtail (seriola) species at our local fish market. There is usually buri or hamachi (amberjack); ready supplies of kampachi (almaco jack), and almost always some cultured shima-aji (striped jack).

But far more unusual is hiramasa (yellowtail amberjack), especially caught from the open seas. We snapped up a quarter-fillet. It's a firm-fleshed fish that makes excellent sashimi.

And here it is on the plate. A rare treat.