Category Archives: Shizuoka agricultural products

Barbecue, bbq, 牛肉, 美食, 酒, 野菜, 静岡市, 観光, 魚, 豚肉, 農業, Gastronomes, Gastronomy, Japan, Japanese Gastronomy, Shizuoka, Shizuoka agricultural products, Shizuoka Cuisine, Tourism

B.B.Q. Gastronomy in Shizuoka City!

July 9, 2012 dragonlife 4 Comments

The notion of a B.B.Q./barbecue in Japan is slightly different from that encountered in Western countries.
It is certainly organized with more precision and good service in mind!

Team Kumagusu is a group of like-minded chefs and friends who endeavor to promote the products of Shizuoka through different events. This particular B.B.Q., in its third edition, is the culmination of their efforts.
The number of participants (more than 60 this year!) meant that they had to change the locality of the B.B.Q. for need of more space.

SATO is a space owned by a local timber and architecture company up in the mountains in Ashikubo, Aoi Ku, Shizuoka City.
It can easily cater up to 100 people with great outdoors facilities complete with washroom and shower!

They even have wooden lodges for kid’s play!

A view of the company workplace.

Smokers are invited to indulge in their habit far away from the crowd!

First of all let me introduce the characters behind the event by starting with Team Kumagusu’s leader, Kenya Yoshimura/吉村健也, owner/chef of Uzu Izakaya!

Takahiro Nagashima/長島孝博 (and his wife), owner of Nagashima Wine shop in Shizuoka City, the main back-up of the event!

Kazutaka Takashima/高嶋一孝, owner and master-brewer of Takashima Brewery (Hakuin Masamune) in Hara, Numazu City.

Yuusuke Tozaki/戸崎雄介, owner-chef of Hana Oto Chinese Izakaya in Shizuoka City!

Junya Kimbara/金原純也, second chef at Hana Oto!

Takao Shimura/志村剛生, owner-chef of Narusei Tempura Restaurant in Shizuoka City.

Masataka Mochizuki/望月正隆, owner of Kanzawagawa Brewery (Shosetsu) in Yui, Shimizu Ku, Shizuoka City.

Toshiyaki Horie/堀江利彰, owner of Horie Chicken Farm in Shuzenji, Izu Peninsula, the only farm raising Amagi Shamo Chickens!

The day had started under in dry weather but overcast skies.

When it started raining all the charcoal bbq fires could be safely moved under the eaves of the building!

The ingredients of the day were published on brush-painted sheets of paper for all to see!
It certainly made for great reading!
I will send more precise pictures on request!

Red Ore Tomatoes, real fruits!

Organic green and yellow zucchinis from Biofarm Matsuki in Fujinomiya City!

Fresh wasabi roots from Sugiyama Farm in Umegashima, Aoi ku, Shizuoka City!

More organic vegetables!

Plenty of extravagant sake served by our two local brewery owners!

Shosetsu/正行き brand by Kanzawagawa Brewery!

Hakuin Masamune/白隠正宗 brand by Takashima Brewery!

Warm sake for the connoisseurs!

The brewers had even brought water from their own wells for all guests to drink!

Shigeru Sano/佐野茂治 preparing a salad of nagaimo, potato and lotus!

Mr. Keiji Sano/佐野佳治 of Sanoman Co. in Fujinomiya City who had contributed his own products to the even biding his time!

The guests starting enjoying themselves in earnest in spite of the rain outside. Note that the majority are ladies!

These ladies never miss such an event (I know them well!)!

Grating fresh wasabi for all these guests required a lot of wrist work!

Toshiyaki Horie/堀江利彰 demonstrating how to prepare his Amagi Shamo chickens for a BBQ!

The kids were invited to prepare the sweets of the day!

Extravagant rainbow trout sashimi from Kunugi Farm in Fujinomiya City!

Superlative leaf ginger from Kuno, Suruga Ku, Shizuoka City!

The vegetables, tofu and fish served while the meat was cooking!

The Amagi Shamo chicken cut and ready to be grilled!

Couldn’t wait to savor it!

Pork sausages from Sanoman Co.!

Truly extravagant dry ice-aged beef from Sanoman Co.!

I had pinched an Amagi Shamo chicken neck to grill all for myself! Actually I couldn’t resist the pleas of some friends and gave it away!

Takao Shimura/志村剛生 preparing the organic vegetables and chicken tempura!

Corn and onion tempura!

Now, who is this guy in his cups? LOL (a good friend of mine, actually!)

No need to say we shall meet again next year same place, same time with even more guests!

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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

美食, 酒, 野菜, 観光, 魚海の幸, 農業, Fish, Food, Gastronomes, Gastronomy, Izakaya, Japan, Japanese Gastronomy, sake, Sake Brewery, Shizuoka, Shizuoka agricultural products, Shizuoka Cuisine, Tourism

Japanese Izakaya: Takano in Shizuoka City!

July 6, 2012 dragonlife Leave a comment

Service: Very friendly and attentive
Facilities & Equipment: Old fashioned but clean
Prices: Reasonable
Strong points: Authentic traditional izakaya gastronomy. Local seafood and products extensively used. Local sake.

Takano is a venerable establishment which has appeared countless times on many a magazine all over the nation.
First opened in 1922 it is actually the oldest existing izakaya in the whole Prefecture!

Takano/多可能 (pronounce the last”no” short) is also the surname of the fourth generation although with different kanji/Chinese characters in the person of Susumu Takano/高野晋さん. Expats will be happy to learn that he speaks fluent English! (his hobby is rock-climbing!)

They even have their own crest!
Make sure to come early or book in advance as the place is crowded right from the moment the door is open!
There is barely space to move between counter, tables and tatami floors!

Open at 4:30 p.m. it is particularly full of patrons by 5:30 coming from the Prefecture Goverment offices and businessmen keen to confirm contacts around food and drink.
Interestingly enough the place is popular with single ladies of uncertain age!I wonder why…

There are of course many drinks to choose from but the sake exclusively comes from Haginishiki Brewery in Shizuoka City!

Even the bottles and cups come from the brewery!
Unusual and very positive collaboration!

The reason why Takano regularly appears on national magazines is that they serve authentic local food, sometimes very difficult to find such as the above raw shirasu/sardine whiting!

Their sakuraebi/cherry shrimps and vegetables tempura kakiage is a must!

The sake tends to disappear very quickly!
Do try the junmai ginjyou!

The sashimi is mostly local and only seasonal!

Aji/Horse Mackerel from the Suruga Bay!

Iwashi/Sardine and Katsuo/Bonito also from the Suruga Bay. Great summer fish!

Vegetable lovers will appreciate such servings as the Yaki Nasu/Grilled Eggplant/Aubergine!

Deep-fried onions!

Negima/Pork and leeks brochettes!

Tororoage/deep-fried grated yama imo!

More than half of the customers are regulars who sometimes come every night!
The reason is simple enough! They can expect seasonal food every day!

TAKANO
420-0852 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Koya Machi, 5-4 (5 minutes walk from Shizuoka JR Station behind Parco Department Store.
Tel.: 054-251-0131
Business hours: 16:30~23:00
Closed on Sundays and National Holidays

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美食, 酒, 観光, 農業, Food, Gastronomes, Gastronomy, Japan, Japanese Gastronomy, sake, Sake Brewery, Shizuoka, Shizuoka agricultural products, Shizuoka Cuisine, Tourism

Shizuoka Sake Tasting: Haginishiki Brewery: Suruga Yoi-Junmai-Homare Fuji

July 4, 2012 dragonlife Leave a comment

Haginishiki Brewery sits on its own well in the Southern part of Shizuoka City, a short way from the sea and has the grace to share its own water for free with the locals!

They produce this particular limited brand in June every year and call it Suruga Yoi/Suruga stands for both the Surugay Bay and Suruga Ku/Ward (south of Shizuoka JR Station) while Yoi means “jolly good drunk”!

This is also a “nama/生, that is, it has not been heat pasteurized.
The rice used is Homare Fuji, a Yamada Nishiki strain exclusively grown in Shizuoka Prefecture!

Rice: Homare Fuji 100%
Rice milled down to 60%
Dryness: + 3
Acidity: 1.4
Bottled in June 2012

Clarity: Very clear
Color: Faint golden hue
Aroma: Assertive and fruity. Vanilla, Macadamia nuts, dark chocolate
Body: Fluid
Taste: Fruity attack backed up by strong junmai petillant and pleasant alcohol.
Complex. needs quite a few cups to catch all the facets.
Oranges, coffee beans, traces of citruses.
Disappears fairly quickly on a deep dry note with nuts.
Turns very dry with food.
Very easy to drink especially with food.

Overall: A great sake for great Japanese traditional food!
Can be enjoyed slightly chilled, at room temperature or lukewarm although my preference was for room temperature in spite of its “nama” status but I suspect many people would appreciate it slightly chilled.
Another great sake for the summer!

RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES

Must-see tasting websites:

Bento, 美食, 農業, Food, Gastronomes, Gastronomy, Japan, Japanese Gastronomy, Shizuoka, Shizuoka agricultural products, Shizuoka Cuisine, 弁当

Today’s Bento/Lunch Box (12/29): Karaage and Burdock Bento!

July 4, 2012 dragonlife 2 Comments

This is another leftovers bento of the Missus!
At least it is so with the karaage which she “adapted” (according to her own words) from the leftovers of a big batch she had made the night before!

For once the rice came under the form and shape of three musubi/triangular (they can also be round!) balls of steamed rice!

She made two kinds of them, one containing sweet umeboshi/pickled Japanese plum pickled again in honey and wrapped in egoma/large shiso/perilla variety leaves. These are softer in taste and have more flavor than the usual shiso.
The other variety of musubi was rice mixed with nori/dry seaweed and hijiki/sweet seaweed furikake and partly wrapped in dry seaweed.
Both varieties of musubi were sprinkled with golden and black sesame seeds for more crunch.
Pickled cucumber and ginger roots in one corner and pickled carrot and wasabi stem in the other corner completed the main box.

This is the so-called leftovers box!

The Missus first stir-fried large chunks of burdock root and then dropped the leftover karaage in the pan at the last moment adding Thai sweet and hot sauce and black sesame seeds.
Once ready she let them cool down together before placing inside the side box.

The other third of the box contained fried goya and red pimento salad with an onsen-style boiled egg and Ameera Rubbins Pearl Tomatoes for dessert!

Great balance, beautiful and delicious!

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Today’s Bento/Lunch Box (12/28): Scotch Quail Eggs Bento!

July 3, 2012 dragonlife 4 Comments

Normal eggs would be a bit too big for Scotch Eggs in a bento, so the Missus used quail eggs which are available anytime of the year here!
They are certainly daintier and more attractive!

While the rice was steaming she wrapped ready-boiled quail eggs in pork and beef minced meat seasoned with a little salt and pepper and made more cosnsistent with some breadcrumbs. She then fried the Scotch eggs slowly in olive oil and finished them in a teriyaki sauce of her own before letting them cool down.
Once the rice was properly steamed she just filled a box with it and topped it with plenty of freshly chopped parsley.

For better design she placed two Scotch Eggs cut in halves beside a whole one to also show the teriyaki sauce coating and completed the lot with Kyoto-style red cucumber pickles.

The side dish was conceived to complement the main box both in design and colors and a good supply of vitamins and fibers:
Salad consisting of lettuce, boiled carrot and broccoli, plum tomatoes, avocado, walnut, thin burdock root and pickled mini melons.
And for dessert, American cherries!

Once again plentiful, colorful and succulent!

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Baird Beer, Beer, Beer Brewery, 美食, 酒, 観光, 農業, Food, Gastronomes, Gastronomy, Japan, Japanese Gastronomy, Numazu City, Shizuoka, Shizuoka agricultural products, Tourism

Bryan Baird’s Newsletter (2012/07/03): New Seasonal Releases: Cool Breeze Pils / Belgian Strong Pale Ale

July 3, 2012 dragonlife Leave a comment

Baird Beer & Taproom Events Bulletin

New Seasonal Releases: Cool Breeze Pils / Belgian Strong Pale Ale

Dear Taproom Friend & Baird Beer Enthusiast:

July is the month that we annually release a Baird Beer summer seasonal classic: Cool Breeze Pils. Our beer cellar happens to be brimming with other experimental summer seasonal beers also. Today we are pleased to release one of these: Belgian Strong Pale Ale.

Baird Beer Seasonal Releases:
*Cool Breeze Pils 2012 (ABV 5.5%):

Cool Breeze Pils is Bohemian in style, cleanly malty in body, coquettishly floral in aroma, and crisply dry in its snappy bitter finish. Cool Breeze Pils registers on the imbiber like a fresh ocean breeze does on the perspiring body of a mid-afternoon sunbather. Cool Breeze Pils is unfiltered and re-fermented and naturally carbonated in package where it has undergone an extended maturation. The result, we believe, pays handsome tribute to the glorious history of this storied lager beer style.

Cool Breeze Pils 2012 will be pouring from our Taproom taps beginning Wednesday, July 4. It also is available for immediate release in bottles (360 ml) and kegs to Baird Beer retailers throughout Japan.

*Belgian Strong Pale Ale (ABV 8%):

This Belgian yeast-fermented ale is big in gravity (17.4 Plato), strong in alcohol, and hoppily aromatic (dry-hops include six different European varieties — Kent Golding, Styrian Golding, Spalter, Tettnanger, Hersbrucker and Sazz). The bittering units (IBUs), however, are moderate at 30. This is a remarkably refreshing ale given its strength.

Belgian Strong Pale Ale is available for immediate release — in kegs only.

Upcoming Taproom Events:
*Numazu Fishmarket Taproom 12-Year Anniversary Celebration (Friday-Sunday, July 20-22):

Mark your calendar for what promises to be a fantastic birthday celebration. Weekend celebration highlights include:

Debut of two special commemorative brews: Fish-Tap 12-Year Summer Ale and Fire in the Belly — Doug’s Red Ale.
Special food and beer menu with all items priced at 500 yen. We will be selling weekend Baird Beer and food cards with twelve stamps for 5,000 yen (12 beer and/or food items for the price of 10). The cards are valid at the Fishmarket Taproom only during the three-day celebration (July 20-22).
Saturday and Sunday outdoor BBQ at the brewery (1:00 – 6:00 pm). Chris M will be grilling up burgers, dogs and other treats as well as pouring a variety of specially cellared seasonal brews. Beer and food cards can be used at the outdoor barbecue.
Baird Brewery Tours: Brewer-guided brewery tours will be held both on Saturday and Sunday at the following times — 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30. Tours are open to all interested patrons.
CODE reunion concert — 7:00 pm kick-off Saturday evening.
More weekend details will be forthcoming in the next Bulletin.

*Live Irish Music performed by Pat O’Connor and Eoghan O’Sullivan (Wednesday, July 18 at the Bashamichi Taproom and Thursday, July 19 at the Fishmarket Taproom):

Both shows will start at 7:30 pm. There will be a 500 yen music charge — all proceeds going to the musicians. If you enjoy foot-stomping Irish music, you will not want to miss these guys.

Cheers,

Bryan Baird

Baird Brewing Company
Numazu, Japan
HOMEPAGE

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Today’s Bento/Lunch Box (12/27): Canned Mussles Bento!

June 27, 2012 dragonlife 4 Comments

Any time we travel to France or New Caledonia, our two main foreign destinations on long holidays, we acquire as much canned food as possible as it is invariably cheap and so easy to accommodate back home in Japan!

The Missus has a special fondness for Spanish recipe escabeche-style mussles. It is difficult to find the small variety in Japan and she buys them always with a thought for “mazegohan/mixed rice”!

The rice box is no great difficulty and the idea can be expanded at will:
After steaming the rice she adds the whole contents of the can/tin, oil included, and mixes the lot while the rice is hot.
She adds the finishing touch with finely chopped thin leeks for more color and vitamins!

A closer look will prove it is very appetizing indeed!

But eating all these vegetables in Japan back from some heavy food in France is certainly a blessing!

Salad consisting of red, violet and yellow potatoes from the Missus family’s garden, black olive, corn and ice plant on a bed of lettuce and cherries for dessert. Plenty of colors there!

Two more salads to help me recover from the beautiful terrines and pies back in France:
-Chicken breast fillets (leftovers), tomatoes, sesame seeds and cucumber.
-Lightly stir-fried pimentoes of three different colors.

I could have called this bento, “The Link Between France and Japan Bento”! LOL

In any case very colorful, tasty and satisfying!

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美食, 野菜, 観光, 農業, Food, French Cuisine, French gastronomy, French Restaurant, Fujieda City, Japan, Japanese Gastronomy, Restaurants, Shizuoka, Shizuoka agricultural products, Shizuoka Cuisine, Tourism

French Gastronomy with a Japanese Twist: Foie Gras Matured with Mirin White Lees, Chouchou Farm Kankankan Musume Corn Vychissoise at Pissenlit!

June 20, 2012 dragonlife 2 Comments

Service: Excellent and very friendly.
Facilities: Great cleanliness overall. Superb washroom (mouthwash and toothpicks provided!)!
Prices: Reasonable to slightly expensive, very good value.
Strong points: Interesting wine list. Great use of local products, especially organic vegetables and Shizuoka-bred meat.

When it comes to French gastronomy in Japan, great chefs in this country have a welcome tendency to experience with local products and ingredients to create entirely new delicacies that would have gastronomes running back home, in France!

To cut a long story short, on Saturday last week I had to visit Chef Touru Arima/有馬亨さん to bring him a couple of souvenirs from my recent trip to France and I just could not escape the temptation to have lunch there in spite of my tired stomach!
For once I skipped the wine and ordered a home-made ginger ale concocted with local ginger!

Actually the very reason for opting to saddle myself with another great meal was the unusual offering on the carte blackboard menu:
杉井酒造さんのみりん粕に着けたフォアグラ！
Sugii Shyuzou san no Mirin ni tsuketa Fowagura
Foie Gras matured with Mirin (sweet sake) white lees (“mout” in French) brewed by Sugii Brewery (In Fujieda City)!
I was simply doomed!

While Tooru was preparing the composite salad (I certainly needed a lot of greens to counterbalance the foie gras!) I was offered a slice of one of his succulent cake sale/salted pound cake created with local organic vegetables!

I did order a “simple salad” and this is what I ended up with!

Seared bonito, home-smoked salmon, inca mezame potatoes and all kinds of local organic vegetables!

It also included tasty scrumptious mushroom and home-made sausage fillings!

Most organic vegetables came from Shizen no Chikara farm in Shizuoka City!

The important detail: the bed of soft couscous!

The star of the day!

The beautiful pain de foie gras with Hungarian foir gras matured in the white lees of mirin brewed by Sugii Brewery in Fujieda City and seasoned with coarse pepper!

The soft pancake made with inca mezame potatoes!

Fig jam and a true beauty of a vychissoise concocted with kankan musume corn grown in Iwata City by Chouchou Farm!
I had a hard time savoring the whole at a slow pace, I can assure you!

For once I just had to skip dessert!

To be continued… (expect more regular visits!)

PISSENLIT
420-0839 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Takajo, 2-3-4
Tel.: 054-270-8768
Fax: 054-627-3868
Business hours: 11:30~14:30; 17:00~22:00
Closed on Tuesdays and Sunday evening
HOMEPAGE (Japanese)
Credit Cards OK
Entirely non-smoking!

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Bryan Baird’s Newsletter (2012/06/20): Seasonal Release: Shizuoka Summer Mikan Ale

June 20, 2012 dragonlife Leave a comment

Baird Beer & Taproom Events Bulletin

Seasonal Release: Shizuoka Summer Mikan Ale

Dear Taproom Friend & Baird Beer Enthusiast:

In the aftermath of a rainy season typhoon we find poetic justice in announcing the release of a seasonal brew that is distinctly summer and sunny — Shizuoka Summer Mikan Ale.

New Baird Beer Seasonal Releases:
*Shizuoka Summer Mikan Ale 2012 (ABV 5.5%):

A summer mikan (natsumikan) is a grapefruit-like citrus fruit that is tart and sweetly sour in flavor and wonderfully aromatic. The only fruit to make it through the doors of the Baird Brewery, of course, is fresh whole fruit recently plucked from the land. Our summer mikans are Shizuoka-grown, right in the Heda orchard of our carpenter-partner-friend, Mitsuo Nagakura. The bounty of fruit is painstakingly hand-processed by the Baird Brewery team before its introduction into the brewhouse and cellar. You can taste the freshness and wholesomeness of the natsumikan fruit in each sip of this extraordinarily zesty brew.

The refreshing citrus character of Shizuoka Summer Mikan Ale is not supplied by fruit alone, however. The natsumikans are complemented beautifully by deft additions of four citrusy-spicy American hop varieties: Summit, Simcoe, Cascade and Ahtanum. This year, in a departure from past versions, we fermented with our house Belgian yeast strain rather than our Scottish ale strain. This has contributed another layer of subtle spiciness. The quenchingly brisk and tart result is summer paradise in a glass! Who cares if its grim and cloudy outside!

Shizuoka Summer Mikan Ale 2012 will be available on draught and in bottles (360 ml) beginning Thursday, June 21. Please visit a Taproom pub or local Baird Beer retailer while quantities last.

Please note: We have abandoned the 630 ml bottle for seasonal beers. Henceforth, all seasonal bottle beer will, like the year-round brands, will be of the 360 ml size.

Cheers,

Bryan Baird

Baird Brewing Company
Numazu, Japan
HOMEPAGE

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“Shizuoka Rice Comes of Age”-On Shizuoka Sake by Marcus Grandon

June 17, 2012 dragonlife Leave a comment

All pictures and Article by Marcus Grandon.

Shizuoka sake has always had a a special place in the hearts of sake fans both foreign and domestic. Every year, a group of Shizuoka producers hosts a dinner party to showcase their latest offerings. This year is no exception, and marked the 20th consecutive year for the gala event, which for the first time was held in the Aoi-tower in downtown Shizuoka City.

Oumuuraya Brewery sake!

The party, attended by over 500 guests, contained a choice selection from a virtual who’s who of sake makers: Hatsukame, Shidaizumi, Isojiman, Kikuyoi (Aoshima Brewery), and Oumuraya (Wakatake) Breweries.

Oumuraya Brewery

While each and every sip from the various makers pretty much melted into the palate like liquid gold one after another after another, a very big piece of news emerged from the event this year. Shizuoka sake is known as the Champagne of Sakes for good reason. One of the key ingredients in making sake is water, and water in Shizuoka Prefecture is among the purest in the entire country. However, usually the rice used in the brewing process for Shizuoka sake comes from a different prefecture.
The Oumuraya sake company wanted to use local rice to create a 100% local product, and in recent years began experimenting with using local rice in their sake. Conventional wisdom says that it takes ten years for sake makers to produce high quality sake with a new rice. Wouldn’t you know that this year is the tenth year for Oumuraya to be making such sake? And guess what? It’s the bomb! I was able to taste the sake in this bottle, and it was a smooth as any sake I’ve ever had!

Ten years is the charm! People flocked around that bottle like white on rice (Sorry, but I just had to). The sad thing is that I missed the really good stuff:

Oumuraya Brewery sake!

By the time I got here, this bottle was all gone. Not to worry though, it can be had at local department stores for ¥10.500 per big bottle. Not cheap for sake, but certainly worth the price for a 100% local product.
My suggestion? Get it while you can!

RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES

Must-see tasting websites:

Baird Beer, Beer, 美食, 観光, 農業, Gastronomes, Gastronomy, Japan, Japanese Gastronomy, Numazu City, Shizuoka, Shizuoka agricultural products, Tourism

Bryan Baird’s Newsletter (2012/06/15): A Beer for our Fathers

June 16, 2012 dragonlife Leave a comment

Baird Beer & Taproom Events Bulletin

A Beer for our Fathers

Dear Taproom Friend & Baird Beer Enthusiast:

I, like perhaps many others, didn’t realize the enormity of the role and responsibility of fatherhood until I became a member of the fraternity myself. Only then did I fully and comprehensively appreciate all that my Dad had done for me over the many years. It is with love and gratitude, then, that the brewers of Baird Beer have crafted Father’s Day Ale.

New Baird Beer Seasonal Release:
*Father’s Day Ale (ABV 5.5%):

Much of beer brewing in history has been conducted in monastery settings, by the sect fathers. Monastery father-brewers in Belgium were known to brew a refreshing and wholesome table-beer for their own consumption known as Patersbier (father’s beer). This history is the direct inspiration of our Father’s Day Ale.

Father’s Day Ale is a very simple recipe: one malt (floor-malted Pilsner), two hops (Tradition and Saaz). It is fermented with our Belgian witbier yeast strain and then secondarily fermented with the same strain in package. It is lightly fruity and quenchingly effervescent. It is a gift to all of you fathers out there; you deserve at the very least a wonderful beer on Father’s Day.

Father’s Day Ale is available both in bottles (630 ml) and kegs. It will begin pouring from the taps of fine beer establishments all over Japan beginning Father’s Day (Sunday, June 17).

Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

Cheers,

Bryan Baird

Baird Brewing Company
Numazu, Japan
HOMEPAGE

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Baird Beer, Beer, 美食, 観光, 農業, Gastronomes, Gastronomy, Japan, Japanese Gastronomy, Numazu City, Shizuoka, Shizuoka agricultural products, Shizuoka Cuisine, Tourism

Bryan Baird’s Newsletter (2012/06/08): Seasonal Release: Rainy Season Black Ale

June 15, 2012 dragonlife Leave a comment

Baird Beer & Taproom Events Bulletin

Seasonal Release: Rainy Season Black Ale

Dear Taproom Friend & Baird Beer Enthusiast:

This beautiful sunny morning marks the fourth day since the official start of the rainy season (tsuyu) here in the Kanto area of Japan. Well, we have the perfect brew for both the gloomy and bright moments of this stormy period: Rainy Season Black Ale.

New Baird Beer Seasonal Release:
*Rainy Season Black Ale 2012 (ABV 6.5%):

A torrential down-pouring of hops define this otherwise roasty, toasty, espresso-like black ale. 60 bittering units of clean, crisp lupulin-resin (courtesy of Galena, Nugget, Motueka, Tradition, Glacier and Santiam) emerge from our kettle boil; the lupulin-oils (from our friends Motueka, Tradition, Glacier and Santiam) join the gig via dry-hopping in the conditioning tank and contribute a pleasant herbal-spicy-peppery aromatic character. After a few sips you will find yourself licking from your lips a resinous stickiness that can best be described as pungently pleasurable. Here’s to the rainy season!

Rainy Season Black Ale is available for immediate release. It is draught-only.

Reminder: If you are a pizza and beer fan (and who isn’t?), don’t forget to come out and join us at the Nakameguro Taproom tomorrow night for the full-scale debut of our New Haven-style pizza. The hours for this kick-off event are 6:00 – 10:00 pm.

Cheers,

Bryan Baird

Baird Brewing Company
Numazu, Japan
HOMEPAGE

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Bryan Baird’s Newsletter (2012/06/08): New Baird Beer Seasonal Releases; New Haven-style Pizza at Nakameguro Taproom

June 15, 2012 dragonlife Leave a comment

Baird Beer & Taproom Events Bulletin

New Baird Beer Seasonal Releases; New Haven-style Pizza at Nakameguro Taproom

Dear Taproom Friend & Baird Beer Enthusiast:

Beer’s ability to make itself a suitable partner to the food in all culinary cultures is one of its special traits. Put most simply, good beer makes good food an experience even more pleasurable than it otherwise would be. One of the world’s most recognized symbiotic beer-food relationships surely is beer and pizza. Next to man and woman, beer and pizza is perhaps the most natural and life-affirming marriage on earth. This bulletin is about the two partners in this wonderful relationship: beer and pizza. First to the beer.

New Baird Beer Seasonal Releases:
*4-C Strong Pale Ale (ABV 6%):

We love pale ales of all stripes. This one is a a bit stronger and bolder than is typical. Its hallmark character stems from hopping (both kettle- and dry-) with four different varieties of American ‘C’ hops: Columbus, Chinook, Citra and Cascade. 4-C Strong Pale Ale represents the sort of adventurous play on a classical beer style that helped to ignite the American, and now world, craft beer renaissance.

4-C is available for immediate release in both kegs and bottles (630 ml).

*Suruga Bay Belgian Imperial IPA (ABV 8%):

Yes, this is another in our series of year-round beers fermented with a non-typical yeast strain. In this case, we have brewed a batch of Suruga Bay but have fermented it not with our house Scottish ale yeast but with our Belgian witbier strain. The Belgian yeast strain working at higher temperatures has yielded a slightly more attenuated and stronger alcohol version of Suruga Bay Imperial IPA. Taste the two versions side-by-side and experience for yourself the clear but nuanced difference.

Suruga Bay Belgian Imperial IPA also is available for immediate release — in kegs as well as bottles (360 ml).

Now, it’s on to pizza.

Upcoming Taproom Events:
*Debut of New Haven-style Pizza at the Nakameguro Taproom:

As most of you know, we brought a new head chef aboard (Chef Joon) at the Nakameguro Taproom a couple months ago. Since assuming control of the NT kitchen, Chef Joon has been busy bringing the food back more squarely in line with the philosophy of our beer: i.e. use of fresh, fully flavored and minimally processed ingredients and preparing them with a simplicity that allows the intrinsic natural flavors to shine bright. Well, the radiant flavors of his work speak for themselves.

Joon’s dream-vision, as a chef and passionate beer enthusiast, though, has been to focus his culinary skill on the task of bringing truly world class pizza to our beer table. His work with us began with a week-long study trip to the U.S. where we attended the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas and then visited the kitchens of several noted pizza establishments in and around Portland, Oregon. We quietly added a super high-temperature pizza oven to our NT kitchen several weeks after our return. Joon has been experimenting and refining our approach to hand-made dough preparation and pizza baking ever since. Well, we are about ready to go full-on-no-safety-net-live with a spectacular new pizza and salad menu.

What kind of pizza? This was our easiest decision: New Haven-style Pizza. This is a style of Neapolitan pizza known as apizza in and around its birthplace — New Haven, Connecticut. It is supposed to have originated at the Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana back in the 1920s. What sets New Haven-style pizza apart is the crust — it is especially thin with a crispy shell that is replete with burnt black spots, desirably known as ‘char’, due to the short but intense high-temperature baking. The inside of the thin crust, though, is soft when done expertly.

New Haven-style pies tend also to be very simple and light on the cheese, which generally is Pecorino Romano rather than Mozzarella. Simple but flavorful sauces (plain or white is olive oil, red or marinara is tomato sauce) are the spice. Fresh toppings, arrayed and combined creatively, complete the pie performance. Add good beer, and Baird Beer in particular, and you have one of life’s truly subliminal food-beverage experiences.

Mark you calendar: we will inaugurate the full pizza menu at NT with a special debut party on Thursday, June 14. Please note, the hours of operation on this kick-off day will be: 6:00 – 10:00 pm. The full variety of our New Haven-style pizzas will be flowing out of our pizza oven all night long; you are free to sample to your heart and belly’s content. Fresh salads also will be served. Food price for the evening is 3,000 yen per person. Beer is sold separately. Reservations are not required. As a special beer treat, we will be tapping in sneak-preview fashion our 2012 Shizuoka Summer Mikan Ale. Drink a glass with one of these extraordinary pies and I promise you, your life will change.

Sayuri, John and I will be leading a pack of pizza and beer lovers into the Nakameguro Taproom for this special debut event. Please plan on joining us.

Cheers,

Bryan Baird

Baird Brewing Company
Numazu, Japan
HOMEPAGE

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Vegan Japanese Dessert: Tofu Wagashi with Kinako!

June 14, 2012 dragonlife 2 Comments

For the pleasure of vegans and vegetarians alkie tofu can be prepared into delicious, healthy and simple desserts!
Here is a suggestion making use of soybeans in two forms: tofu and kinako (grilled soy bean powder)!

INGREDIENTS:

-Tofu: 1 standard pack
-Kinako (Grilled soy bean powder): plenty
-Salt and sugar: as appropriate

For the syrup:
-Granulated sugar: 100g
-Water: 100 cc/ml/1/2 cup

RECIPE:

-Cut tofu into small one bite cubes. Drain water from tofu. take excess water with kitchen paper.
In a saucepna pour water and sugar and sugar. Heat until the mixture has reached a syrup texture. Do not make caramel! Switch fire and let cool. Chill the syrup for a while inside refrigerarator.

-In a large enough vessel drop the tofu in carefully. Pour the syrup over the tofu. Chill inside refrigerator for 1 hour.

-Take tofu out of the refrigerator. Add salt, sugar and kinako. Mix in carefully with a spatula to cover the whole tofu with kinako.

-Place on a serving dish and sprinkle with plenty more kinako!

-Serve with a small wooden spoon!

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Vegan Japanese Gastronomy: Sweet and Sour Fried Tofu and Mushrooms

June 13, 2012 dragonlife 4 Comments

For the pleasure of vegetarians and vegans tofu can be prepared as a hot and very satisfying dish all year round!
A typical example is Agedashidofu/揚げだし豆腐, tofu first deep-fried and then served in dashi.
As for the dashi use seaweed/konbu dashi!

INGREDIENTS: For 3 people

-Tofu: 2 standard blocks
-Cornstarch: as appropriate
-Shimeji mushrooms: 1 standard pack
-Enoki mushrooms: 1 standard pack
-Nameko: 1 bunch

Note: you can adapt with any ind of mushrooms.

-Seaweed/Konbu dashi: 600 cc/ml/3 cups
-Salt: a little
-Soy sauce: 3 tabelspoons
-Mirin/sweet sake: 1 tablespoon
-Japanese sake: 1 tablespoon
-Grated ginger: 1 tablespoon
-Yuzu koshio: a little
-Cornstach dissolved in water: as appropriate
-Grated daikon: as appropriate
-Chopped leeks: as appropriate

RECIPE:

-Wrap tofu in kitchen paper and leave it for an hour for excess water to be absorbed (about an hour).
-Place tofu on a dry wooden cutting board. Place a plate and weight on top and enough water will come out. Dry in kitchen paper.

-In a large pan pour the dashi, salt, soy sauce, mirin, sake, ginger, and yuzu kshio.
Bring to light boil.
Drop the mushrooms in.

-When the mushrooms are cooked to satisfaction pour the cornsatrch dissolved in water. Stir until you have obtained a smooth texture. Keep hot.

-Cut the tofu in adequate large bit sized cubes (you could have done it beforehand and take out excess water)>
Roll them in cornstarch. Shake away excess cornstarch powder.

-Fry tofu cubes in shallow oil until they have attained a very light bron color.
Take ou and pace in a dish.
Pour the sweet and sour mushrooms all over.
Decorate/season with grated daikon and chopped leeks.
Serve immediately!

You may also place the lot over freshly steamed rice!

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