Category Archives: Uncategorized

Kikugawa City, Morimoto Brewery, sake, Sake Brewery, Shizuoka Prefecture, Uncategorized

Shizuoka Sake Tasting: Morimoto Brewery-Koshu Roman 2011Genshu Junmai

May 24, 2016 dragonlife Leave a comment

On Sunday May 22nd, I had the occasion to meet again an old friend, namely Hitoshi Morimoto, owner and master brewer at Morimoto Brewery in Kikugawa City at a great izakaya in Shizuoka City, Hana Oto, which took part in the annual Shizuoka De Hashigo Sake event!

The sake served for this special event was a real and very gem, a koshu/aged sake brewed in 2011 and matured at room temperature. It goes without saying that you need incredible expertise and a lot of courage to create such a nectar!

Rice milled down to 60%
Alcohol: 17 degrees
Pasteurized only once
Matured at room temperature
Bottled in 2011

Clarity: very clean
Color: golden
Aroma: dry and fruity. Dry Sherry
Body: fluid
Taste: deep, fruity attack backed up with only a little junmai petillant.
Complex: dry sherry, plums
Lingers for a while before departing on drier notes of greens and more sherry.
Varies little with food but a sweeter note of white sherry.

Overall: simply extravagant and a very rare experience!
Absolutely splendid sake to be enjoyed as a sherry, either at room temperature or lightly warmed.
The kind of sake you appreciate like a fine sherry after dinner in special company!
If you really wish to pair it, do so with roast beef, BBQ, yakitori and cheese!

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So Good Sushi Restaurant in Nice France
Navigating Nagoya by Paige, Shop with Intent by Debbie, BULA KANA in Fiji, Kraemer’s Culinary blog by Frank Kraemer in New York,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, Pie
rre.Cuisine, Francescannotwrite, My White Kitchen, 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, Hapabento, Kitchen Cow, Lunch In A Box, Susan at Arkonlite, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Bento Lunch Blog (German), Adventures In Bento, Anna The Red’s Bento Factory, Ohayo Bento,

Must-see tasting websites:

-Sake: Ichi For The Michi by Rebekah Wilson-Lye in Tokyo, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Another Pint, Please!, Beering In Good Mind: All about Craft Beer in Kansai by Nevitt Reagan!
ABRACADABREW, Magical Craftbeer from Japan
-Whisky: Nonjatta: All about whisky in Japan by Stefan Van Eycken
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery

Non gastronomy must-see sites by Shizuoka Residents

HIGHOCTANE/HAIOKU by Nick Itoh in Shizuoka City

Oden at Yasaitei in Shizuoka City!

February 3, 2016 dragonlife Leave a comment

Service: Excellent and very friendly
Facilities: Very clean, Beautiful washroom
Prices: reasonable
Strong points: Vegan and vegetarian Cuisine possible any time, Izakaya gastronomy, local products, oden. Good list of sake, shochu. Wines also available.

Yesterday evening the temperature suddenly dipped and I was hungry as I still had work to do before finally heading for home.
It was then about grand time i visited a favorite izakaya of mine, namely Yasaitei in Shizuoka City!
This is the kind of place you can enter any time provided it is not full (and it can be at certain times and on the week end!), have a quick snack, a drink, a little talk and move out!
When you know that all the food is healthy and satisfying you need not worry about your health or weight!

I had come early enough as I know some delicious oden were ready at this cold time of the year.
Yasaitei’s oden are particular for the fact that they are Kansai-style, that is cooked in a light broth, as opposed to the very dark soup prevalent in this city. Although both are delicious, the former is far healthier!

But before my oden were prepared I had ordered a glass of fine shochu from Amami Island in Kyushu and sipped it on the rocks with my o-toshi (snack coming with the first drink): seaweed, grated Japanese yam and shirasu/sardine whiting!

My oden plate served in traditional pottery dish with plenty of broth and chopped scallion and some yuzukoshio/yuzu and pepper seasoning!

Chikuwa/fish paste tube, ganmodoki/deep-fried soft tofu, ito konnyaku/Hard jelly filaments made with the tuber of a konjac.

And daikon under the chikuwa, simmered to a great softness and very elegant taste!
“Oden” can be translated with the French word “Japanese Pot-au-feu!”
I wish I could cook it for my friends back home in France!

YASAITEI/やさい亭

Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Tokiwa-Cho, 1-6-2 Green Heights Wamon 1-C
Tel.: 054-2543277
Business hours: 17:30~22:00
Closed on Sundays
Reservations highly recommended
Seating: 6 at counter + 14 at tables
Set Courses: 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 yen
Individual orders (carte) welcome
Parties welcome

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Fish Markets, Japan, Shizuoka City, Uncategorized

Local Shizuoka Fish & Seafood At Parche Fish Market In Shizuoka City: Including Red Sea Slugs!

January 7, 2015 dragonlife Leave a comment

After the long lapse caused by the End of the Year and the New Year Holidays, new arrivals can be at last be seen at the Fish Market in Parche inside JR Shizuoka Station!

Customers are only starting to come, but it should gete as busy as usual soon!

What fish do we have in the day’s mixed batch?

Hirame/平目、鮃、比目魚: sole, flatfish
Inada/イナダ: Young Buri/鰤/Yellowtail
Houbou/方々: red gurnard, red robin
Mizukarei/水鰈 (also called Mutsukarei/鱫鰈): Round-nose flounder
Akamutsu/赤鱫、赤鯥 (also called Nodokuro/喉黒): rosy seabass, red gnomefish
Amadai/甘鯛: tilefish
Anago/穴子、海鰻: conger eel (from Miyagi Prefecture)!

A strange but very popular seafood: Aka Namako/赤海鼠 (written locally 赤なま子!): red sea slug, red sea cucumber!

Thees log silvery fish have been caught by hand!

Tachiuo/太刀魚、魛: scabbard fish, cutlass fish!

Kose/コセ: A variety of Stripped jack!

Renkodai/連子鯛: Yellowback seabream!

Kasago/笠子、瘡魚: False kelpfish, Marbled rockfish (top)!
Aka kasago/赤笠子：Red False kelpfish, Red Marbled rockfish (bottom)!

Donko/鈍甲,貪子: Dark sleeper!

Shiro mebaru/白眼張、白眼張魚、白鮴: white Japanese sea perch-rockfish!

Amadai/甘鯛: tilefish (top)!
Kuromutsu/黒鱫、黒鯥: Black gnomefish (bottom)!

A Shizuoka specialty: Shirasu/白子(Namashirasu/生白子 if raw): sardine whiting!

A shrimp which made Shiuoka famous all over Japan and beyond: Sakura ebi/桜海老: cherry shrimp

Should plenty more varieties soon!

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Festivals, Fuji City, Uncategorized, Yoshiwara Gion

Yoshiwara Gion Matsuri – Fuji City

June 15, 2014 dragonlife Leave a comment

A must-see by Tokyobling’s Blog!

Tokyobling's Blog

A couple of weekends ago I visited the massively fun Yoshiwara Gion Matsuri, in Shizuoka prefecture’s Fuji City. Like last year’s festival it was huge fun, from morning to midnight and I enjoyed ever second of it. I took these photos near the end of it, following the wonderfully decorated dashi, each crewed and representing a specific neighborhood in the city. Here’s the dashi of Sumiyoshicho and some of it’s very cool looking crew. These dashi are the pride of their neighborhoods and the people take great care of them, making sure they are in top notch condition for the annual festival. I heard somewhere that a typical prize for one of these is about 300 000 USD! Later on, walking down the street I came upon a dashi-seriai (山車競り合い), which roughly translates as “dashi showdown”! I think there were 5 or 6 of them, all drawn up in a…

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Japanese Gastronomy, Recipes, Snack, Uncategorized

Japanese Appetizer (O-toushi/お通し): Pon Kara Maguro/Deep-fried Tuna

May 27, 2014 dragonlife Leave a comment

O-toushi/お通しis actually a bit difficult to translate.
In a Japanese (in Japan) izakaya it is an appetizer that is served with the first drink and that you pay for in general in lieu of a cover charge.
I have nothing against such a notion as it gives you a good idea of the chef’s skills!

Last night Dragon found some bincho maguro, a cheap variety of tuna imported from Vanuatu in the South Pacific, in the refrigerator.
Having thawed it, she cut it into mouthful-sized pieces.
She then sprinkled some ponzu and sake on all the pieces before adding flour and curry powder to coat them completely roughly mixing the pieces inside a bowl. She wouldn’t tell me what other spices she added…
Last she fried them slowly with only enough oil until they reached a nice “foxy color”.

She finally served some in a small bowl with hand broken lettuce, a wedge of lemon and some tartar sauce!

Very tasty, healthy and the right appetizer for the first beer or sake of the night!

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Flowers, Hamamatsu City, Hamana Lake Flower Garden, Uncategorized

Flower Alleys, Hedges, Squares & Houses in Hamana Lake Flower Garden in Hamamatsu Ciy!

May 24, 2014 dragonlife 2 Comments

We spent no less than 4 hours inside the enormous Flower Garden in Hamamatsu city and took more than 180 picture!
I am not going to complete as this allows me to write a series of articles on different themes!
This fifth one is titled Animal Flower Alleys, Hedges, Squares & Houses!
I will concentrate on flowers on the posts after this one!

Many blue flowers in this alley!

Many white flowers in this alley!

One of the many gardeners working there!

Rose hedge!

Alley corner palette!

English country house?

Square full of squares!

Rose canopy!

Another rose hedge!

A Liliputian house! For kids only!

Italian garden!

A stage garden?

A flowery house!

A bed of succulents!

A water alley!

Hamana Lake Flower Garden
Hamanako Flower garden
浜名湖フラワーガーデン
10th anniversary of the 2004 Pacific Flora Garden Exposition and the 21st Japan Urban Greenery Shizuoka Festival

Open until June 15th

Hamamatsu City, Nishi Ku, Murakoshi Cho, 5348-3
Tel.: 53-488-1811
ENGLISH HOMEPAGE

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Uncategorized

Italian Gastronomy: Quick Dinner at Soloio (April 2014) in Shizuoka City!

April 15, 2014 dragonlife 2 Comments

Service: Pro and very friendly
Equipment & Facilities: Great overall cleanliness and superb washroom
Prices: Reasonable
Strong points: Fresh local ingredients whenever possible. Both traditional and inventive Italian cuisine. Good wine list at moderate prices. Open late!

The other day, having been busy all day as it is bound to be on holidays (!) we decided it would be better to visit our friends at Solio Italian Restaurant in Shizuoka City, Aoki Ku!
As they serve only slow food it was perfect for relaxation and great food!

Sommelier Mieko Osawa/小澤三江子さん and Chef Takehiko Katoh/加藤武彦さん

As Takehiko is very particular about the vegetables he uses, one ought to have a go at his great bagna cauda!

All local vegetables including some from his own garden!

I never tire of looking at them!

On that particular day one item than Frenchmen cannot ignore was on the menu!

Ris de veau/veal sweetbread with mushrooms in Marsala wine sauce!

Actually both Takehiko and Mieko had just come back from a week-trip to Italy!
They offered us some succulent wild boar and pork salami served with cold confit onion!

Takehiko is also very careful about the fish he serves especially as carpaccio!

Madai/Japanese red seabream from Shizuoka Prefecture!

Pasta is always made with the best and freshest ingredients!

White fleshed fish and spring cabbage linguine!

Might look simple enough, but I can guarantee that the taste is superb!
We certainly never eat what we can make at home, and there are secrets that will never be fully revealed!

SOLOIO

Chef Takehiko Katoh/加藤武彦さん/Sommelier Mieko Osawa/小澤三江子さん

420-0858 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Tenmacho, 9-7, Kita, 1
Tel./fax: 054-260-4637
Business hours: 16:00~24:00
Closed on Monday
Credit cards OK
Private parties welcome!
Happy hour: 16:00~17:00: 1,000 yen set-3 appetizers plate and 1 glass of house wine!
Smoking allowed BUT Non-smoking until 20:00 everyday!