Category Archives: 車海老

美食, 酒, 観光, 魚, 魚海の幸, 車海老, 農業, Food, Gastronomes, Japan, Japanese Gastronomy, Shizuoka, Shizuoka agricultural products, Tempura, Tourism, 天婦羅

Tempura Restaurant: Tempura Naruse in Shizuoka City!

June 2, 2012 dragonlife 4 Comments

Service: Very friendly, smiling and attentive
Facilities & Equipment: Great cleanliness overall. Superb washroom
Prices: Moderate to expensive, but extremely good value
Strong points: Authentic traditional tempura gastronomy at its best with superlative products, a lot them local. Superlative attention and explanations!

There are not many great tempura restaurants in Shizuoka Prefecture in spite of the abundance of superlative ingredients be they from the land and the sea.
But at least the best in the Prefecture, namely Narusei, would be on par with the best establishments in Tokyo and Kyoto!

Chef Takeo Shimura/志村剛生 originally hails from neighboring Kanagawa Prefecture and moved to Shizuoka City 10 years ago.

five years he finally opened Narusei in Takajo, Aoi Ku, Shizuoka City and has never looked back since then!

The restaurant seating only 7 guests at a wide counter in front of the Chef is a model of traditional Japan all of warm wood and of incredible cleanliness enhanced by the fact that smoking is completely prohibited!

The fresh vegetables of the day!

Chef Shimura and his lady apprentice take care of the food while Mrs. Shimura look after the customers in a very efficient, unobtrusive and ever-smiling manner!

Chef Shimura uses a traditional but extravagant mixture of 90% sesame oil and 10 % cotton seed oil in two different pots at different temperature!

A great attention is taken for the smallest detail.
Pot of tsuyu/soupstock to dip your tempura in!

Great local sake served in earthenware!

Takeo Shimura at work!

I was so impressed with the earthenware that I forgot to take a close picture of the Makogarei/Turbot sashimi!

Crystal salt!

Two kinds of salt, finely chopped dry myoga ginger and freshly grated daikon to use at your discretion and to be replaced if used!

And also freshly pressed lemon juice!
Alright, what did I have for dinner, then?

Wara aburi aji/Horse mackerel seared over straw fire!

Mikawa Bay hand-picked Asari sakamushi/Cockles steamed in sake! Enormous!

Prawn tempura!
I had two actually, but everything was served one piece at a time!

The prawn heads as suage/deep-fried!

Ebi no miso no tempura/The brains of the prawns in tempura!

Aori Ika/Bigfin Reef Squid!

Eggplant/aubergine tempura!

Scabbard fish/Tachiuo and shiso tempura!

Broad beans Tempura!
When I mentioned that I love eating them with my fingers, Takeo Shimura replied it was the actually way to truly enjoy tempura!

Great teamwork!

Suruga Bay Amadai/Tilefish with its scales!

Aomori No Mozuku to Aori Ika no Mimi/Mozuku seaweed from Aomori with the “ears” of Aori Ika/Bigfin Reef Squid!

A second bottle of sake!

Grilled mekabu seaweed!

Shizuoka Onion tempura!

Hamaguri/Common orient clam tempura!

The best-ever fried potato: Shizuoka potato tempura!

Sweet green Manganji Toogarashi pimento tempura with dried bonito flakes!

Anago/Conger eel tempura!

Deep-fried conger eel backbone!

Anago no kimo/Conger eel liver tempura!

O-shinko/Home-pickled vegetables!

kakiage Chazuke/Rice served in hot tea with a kakiage tempura!

Kabosu citrus sorbet for dessert!

NARUSEI?
A special place for a special occasion!

TEMPURA NARUSE-てんぷら成生
420-0839 Shizuoka Shi, Aoi Ku, Takajyo, 2-5-12
Tel.: 054-273-0703
Opening hours: 17:30~22:00
Reservations highly recommended
Closed on Mondays
Credit Cards OK
Entirely non-smoking!

RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES

Tokyo Food File by Robbie Swinnerton, Green Tea Club by Satoshi Nihonyanagi in Shizuoka!, Mind Some by Tina in Taiwan, Le Manger by Camille Oger (French), The Indian Tourist, Masala Herb by Helene Dsouza in Goa, India, Mummy I Can Cook! by Shu Han in London, Pierre.Cuisine, Francescannotwrite, My White Kitchen, 47 Japanese Farms Through The Eyes of Its Rural Communities, Foodhoe, Chucks Eats, Things that Fizz & Stuff, Five Euro Food by Charles,Red Shallot Kitchen by Priscilla,With a Glass, Nami | Just One Cookbook, Peach Farm Studio, Clumsyfingers by Xethia, PepperBento,Adventures in Bento Making, American Bent, Beanbento, Bento No, Bento Wo Tsukurimashou, Cooking Cute, Eula, Hapabento , Happy Bento, Jacki’s Bento Blog, Kitchen Cow, Leggo My Obento, Le Petit Journal Bento & CO (French), Lunch In A Box,
Susan at Arkonlite, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, The Herbed Kitchen, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Bento Lunch Blog (German), Adventures In Bento, Anna The Red’s Bento Factory, Cooking Cute, Timeless Gourmet, Bento Bug, Ideal Meal, Bentosaurus, Mr. Foodie (London/UK), Ohayo Bento,

Must-see tasting websites:

-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!, Beering In Good Mind: All about Craft Beer in kanzai by Nevitt Reagan!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery

Crustaceans, 美食, 観光, 魚海の幸, 車海老, Gastronomes, Gastronomy, Imperial Prawn, Japan, Japanese Gastronomy, Kuruma Ebi, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Cuisine, Tourism

Japanese Crustacean Species 6: Japanese Imperial Prawn-Kuruma Ebi-車海老

April 5, 2012 dragonlife Leave a comment

KURUMA-EBI-1

Kuruma Ebi/車海老, or Japanese Imperial Prwan, is probably the most popular prawn in Japan!
It has different names depending on its size: Saimaki (up to 5 cm), Maki (up to 10cm)

Its season lasts from late Autumn to the end of Winter.
It is found south of Hokkaido Island down to the Indian Ocean until depths of 50 metres.
It had been successfully artificially grown for some time until diseases put a momentary stop on the breeding.
The prawn has steadily become a rare morsel. Altogether, natural and human-raised specimen, the annual catch amounts only to 2,000 tonnes.

KURUMA-EBI-1a

Raw, or

KURUMA-EBI-2

boiled, they make for great decoration on top of succulent taste!

KURUMA-EBI-4

They are very much appreciated a sashimi, especially after having been made to “dance” in Japanese sake!

Grilled on the stick would tempt many an officionado!

They make for extravagant tempura!

As sushi Nigiri, they are equally popular raw, or

boiled!

If you the chance to buy tem alive (In shizuoka, we do have them kicking), especially coming from Okinawa, put them in a pan with Japanese sake under a lid. Wait until they have grown “quiet”, and prepare them right away!

RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES

Le Manger by Camille Oger (French), The Indian Tourist, Masala Herb by Helene Dsouza in Goa, India, Mummy I Can Cook! by Shu Han in London, Pierre.Cuisine, Francescannotwrite, My White Kitchen, 47 Japanese Farms Through The Eyes of Its Rural Communities, Foodhoe, Chucks Eats, Things that Fizz & Stuff, Five Euro Food by Charles,Red Shallot Kitchen by Priscilla,With a Glass, Nami | Just One Cookbook, Peach Farm Studio, Clumsyfingers by Xethia, PepperBento,Adventures in Bento Making, American Bent, Beanbento, Bento No, Bento Wo Tsukurimashou, Cooking Cute, Eula, Hapabento , Happy Bento, Jacki’s Bento Blog, Kitchen Cow, Leggo My Obento, Le Petit Journal Bento & CO (French), Lunch In A Box,
Susan at Arkonlite, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, The Herbed Kitchen, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Bento Lunch Blog (German), Adventures In Bento, Anna The Red’s Bento Factory, Cooking Cute, Timeless Gourmet, Bento Bug, Ideal Meal, Bentosaurus, Mr. Foodie (London/UK), Ohayo Bento,

Must-see tasting websites:

-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery

Crustaceans, 美食, 魚海の幸, 車海老, 農業, Gastronomes, Gastronomy, Japan, Japanese Gastronomy, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Cuisine

Japanese Gastronomy: Ebi Furai/Deep-fried Prawns

February 27, 2012 dragonlife 4 Comments

The Japanese love to deep-fry their food to the point that many izakaya propose full deep-fried food sets and menus including vegetables and seafood, and the ubiquitous prawns.
The Japanese will usually utilize kuruma ebi/Imperial prawns or Black Tiger variety for the latter.
There is nothing complicated about preparing deep-fried prawns. The key is to use fresh ingredients and serve everything as soon as ready.

INGREDIENTS:

-Imperial Prawns/Black Tiger Prawns
-Salt and pepper: to taste
-All-purpose flour
-Egg (s)
-Breadcrumbs or panko (the rough style). Real fresh breadcrumbs are the best.
-Tartare sauce for serving. or tare/bulldog sauce and mustard.

RECIPE:

If the prawn is absolutely fresh take the shell off leaving the head and tail on. Note that the shell can be deep-fried for a crunchy snack!
If not, take the head off but leave the point of the the tail on for “handling” when eating it.

Take off the innards with a toothpick by inserting it under the blackish thread and pulling it out. Don’t worry about “breaking the back” of the prawn. Actually this is the trick which prevents the prawn from bending upon frying!

Actually, continue with the trick by making a few shallow cuts acrosss the back of the prawn to make sure it will not bend at all!
Sprinkle with salt (a little only!) and pepper to taste.

Roll prawns in flour.

Then in the beaten eggs.

Apply plenty of breadcrumbs/panko all over the prawns, head and tail included. Pat them lightly between you palms to help breadcrumbs to adhere.

Heat the oil at 170 degrees (less is unsuitable, 180 degrees is the very maximum). Drop the prawns gently into the oil head first.
Avoid manipulating them while frying.
Don’t fry too many at one time as the temperature of the oil will suddenly decrease.
Take them out with chopsticks. Place them on a grill for a few seconds to get rid of excess oil.
Serve with sauce and eat at once!

RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES

Pierre.Cuisine, Francescannotwrite, My White Kitchen, 47 Japanese Farms Through The Eyes of Its Rural Communities, Foodhoe, Chucks Eats, Things that Fizz & Stuff, Five Euro Food by Charles,Red Shallot Kitchen by Priscilla,With a Glass, Nami | Just One Cookbook, Peach Farm Studio, Clumsyfingers by Xethia, PepperBento,Adventures in Bento Making, American Bent, Beanbento, Bento No, Bento Wo Tsukurimashou, Cooking Cute, Eula, Hapabento , Happy Bento, Jacki’s Bento Blog, Kitchen Cow, Leggo My Obento, Le Petit Journal Bento & CO (French), Lunch In A Box,
Susan at Arkonlite, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, The Herbed Kitchen, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Bento Lunch Blog (German), Adventures In Bento, Anna The Red’s Bento Factory, Cooking Cute, Timeless Gourmet, Bento Bug, Ideal Meal, Bentosaurus, Mr. Foodie (London/UK), Ohayo Bento,

Must-see tasting websites:

-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery

Beer, Chinese Cuisine, Chinese Restaurants, Crustaceans, 牛肉, 美食, Dessert, 酒, 野菜, 観光, 魚, 魚海の幸, 車海老, 農業, Fish, French Cuisine, French gastronomy, French Restaurant, Gastronomy, Izakaya, Japan, Japanese Gastronomy, Restaurants, sake, Sake Brewery, Shizuoka, Shizuoka agricultural products, Shizuoka Cuisine, Tempura, Tourism

Memorable Gastronomy with Shizuoka Products in 2011!

January 3, 2012 dragonlife 2 Comments

Fujiyama Wagyu Beef, Utogi Wasabi and Ameera Rubbins Pearl Tomatoes!

2011 was an eventful year for many reasons, some unwanted, even dreadful, and others more conducive to social happiness. I would prefer to remember the latter to help nurture a positive attitude towards a future we cannot predict! Being a convinced agnostic hedonist does help but I’m sure that gastronomes, whatever their credo, will realize how lucky we are in Shizuoka to be able to attain to ever-growing pleasures with seemingly simple local ingredients!
Here is a proposal for a full course, albeit a long one, representative of a dinner I would have enjoyed in 2011!

APPETIZERS/STARTERS:

Rainbow Trout Sashimi Plate!
These rainbow trouts are raised by Mr. Kunugi in Fujinomiya City!

in any repast drinks are most important as they are they insure the link between the dishes!
Japanese sake brewed by Takashima Brewery in Numazu City!
These labels are of a particular interest as they advertized the edible seaweed varieties found in Shizuoka Prefecture!
Note: For friends who may not drink alcohol I would recommend ginger ale made with Shizuoka-grown ginger or Shizuoka green (and black!) tea under various forms!

Tomato Tempura!
Uzu Izakaya in Shizuoka City serves it regularly with organic tomatoes seasoned with home-made yuzu koshio paste!

Sakekasu tempura!
Setsugekka Soba Restaurant in Shimada City serves this tempura concocted qith sake lees produced by their neighbors at Oomuraya Brewery!

Carrot Soup and Carrot Leaves Mousse on a Tomato Bed!
All vegetables are organic served at Pissenlit in Shizuoka city making use of the whole vegetables!

Vegetables in Banya Cauda style!
As served at Piatto in Shizuoka City! All vegetables are organic and grown in Shizuoka!

FISH & SEAFOOD

Steamed Black Bass/Suzuki/鱸 from Suruga Bay and vegetables by Mr. Furuya in Asabata, Shizuoka City!
As prepared and served by Cham Chinese Izakaya in Shizuoka City with a light warm vinaigrette!

True Seabream/Madai/真鯛 with cockles and vegetables, all from Shizuoka!
As served Italian-style by Il Castagno in Shizuoka City!

Imperial Prawn/Sakura ebi/車海老 Tempura!
As served by Setsugekka Soba Restaurant in Shimada City!

MEAT

Fujiyama Wagyu Beef, Utogi Wasabi and Ameera Rubbins Pearl Tomatoes!
As prepared by the Missus and I!
Fujiyama Wagyu is one of the thirteen varieties of wagyu bred in Shizuoka Prefecture which positively compare to Kobe Beef!
The wasabi is grown by Maruichi Farm in Utogi, the birthplace of this most remarkable ingredient!
The Ameera Rubbins Pearl Tomatoes are grown in Iwata City!

Foie gras poele on Corn Galette with Madeira Sauce!
This can qualify as an extravagant appetizer too!
The galette was concocted at Pissenlit in Shizuoka City with high-grade Kankanmusume Corn grown by Chouchou Farm in Iwata City!

Jidori Chicken Poêlé served with a Old Mimolette Cheese topping!
Fuji City is famed for its Jidori Chicken and Gentil in Shizuoka City serves it in extravagant simplicity with a topping of 24-months old Mimolette Cheese!

DESSERTS

Soy sauce and Brown Sugar Mousse Cake, Frozen Organic Mandarine and Lemon Sorbet!

Tetsuya Sugimoto in Shizuoka City is a master of off the beaten track desserts!
The soy sauce is created by Amano Company in Gotemba City and the brown sugar is made with sugarcane grown in Kakegawa City. As for the mandarine and lemon, they are of course organic!

Carrot Crème Brulée and Mandarine Caramelisée!

As served at Pissenlit in Shizuoka City. Both the carrot and mandarine are organic!

Organic Carrot ice Cream!
This could be served as an appetizer, a refresher between dishes or a dessert at Comptoir de Bios in Shizuoka City!

Pheasant Egg Pudding and brown Sugar ice Cream!
Again created by Tetsuya Sugimoto in Shizuoka City with pheasant eggs produced in Hamamatsu City and brown sugar made from sugarcane grown in Kakegawa City!

Naturally I still have missed a lot and I sincerely hope I will be able to introduce other discoveries by the end of this year!

RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES

With a Glass,
Clumsyfingers by Xethia
Adventures in Bento Making, American Bento, Beanbento, Bento No1, Bento Wo Tsukurimashou, Cooking Cute, Eula, Hapabento , Happy Bento, Jacki’s Bento Blog, Kitchen Cow, Leggo My Obento, Le Petit Journal Bento & CO (French), Lunch In A Box, My Bento Box, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, The Herbed Kitchen, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat; Bento Lunch Blog (German); Adventures In Bento; Anna The Red’s Bento Factory; Cooking Cute; Timeless Gourmet; Bento Bug; Ideal Meal; Bentosaurus; Mr. Foodie (London/UK); Ohayo Bento

Must-see tasting websites:

-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery

Crustaceans, 美食, 魚海の幸, 車海老, Gastronomy, Japan, Japanese Gastronomy, Japanese Imperial Prawn, Kurumaebi, Prawn, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Cuisine

Japanese Crustacean Species 5: Kuruma Ebi/Japanese Imperial Prawn/車海老

January 2, 2012 dragonlife 4 Comments

KURUMA-EBI-1

Kuruma Ebi, or Japanese Imperial Prawn, is probably the most popular prawn in Japan!
It has different names depending on its size: Saimaki (up to 5 cm), Maki (up to 10cm)

Its season lasts from late Autumn to the end of Winter.
It is found south of Hokkaido Island down to the Indian Ocean until depths of 50 metres.
It had been successfully artificially bred for some time until diseases put a momentary stop to the venture.
The prawn has steadily become a rare morsel. Altogether, natural and domestic specimen, the annual catch amounts only to 2,000 tonnes.

KURUMA-EBI-1a

Raw, or

KURUMA-EBI-2

boiled, they make for great decoration on top of suucculent taste!