Tag Archives: 観光

美食, 観光, 農業, Gastronomy, Japanese Gastronomy, Tourism

“Great Fisherman’s Catch Plate” at Hana Oto

August 14, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

Service: Very friendly and attentive
Equipment: Great general cleanliness. Beautiful toilets
Prices: reasonable
Strong points: Great use of local ingredients in beautiful Chinese Cuisine. Great sake and shochu!

What is absolutely extravagant in Shizuoka, and I’m talking about the whole of Japan, is that you can (and should!) expect top-class sashimi even in a Chinese-style izakaya (and else!)!
Actually, Hana Oto in Shizuoka announced their sashimi of the day at the very top of their menu!

What is even more tempting is that they not only offer a range of individual sashimi, but also a whole plate of them over a bed of extra fresh Shizuoka-grown leafy vegetable, the whole called 大漁サラダ/dairyou sarada/Great Fisherman Catch Plate”, mostly featuring fish and seafood from Shizuoka!

This time it included nama shirasu/生シラス/raw sardine whiting, maguro/鮪/tuna, saba/鯖/mackerel, madai/真鯛/seabream and tako/蛸/octopus!

Not only it was absolutely delicious, but it was great fun to pick it all from the dish and arrange it on my plate for a photograph!

I’ll take the opportunity to show some other tidbits we had that day: mizunasu/水茄子/ “Water eggplant/aubergine eaten raw with thin sticks of daikon and seasoned with katsuo bushi/鰹節/dry bonito shavings!

Fried Amagi Shamo Chicken liver in Dijon seed mustard and marinated cucumbers!

To be continued…

HANA OTO/華音
420-0032 Shizuoka Shi, Aoi Ku, Ryougae Cho, 5-8, Shin Kamogawa Bldg., 2F-D
Business hours: 17:30~24:00
Closed on Mondays

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

美食, 野菜, 観光, 農業, Gastronomy, Japanese Gastronomy, Organic Vegetables, Shizuoka, Tourism, vegetables

Organic Vegetables from Matsuki Bio Farm at Uzu and Hana Oto!

August 13, 2011 dragonlife 2 Comments

Summer Vegetables “Gorogoro” Salad at Uzu!

Matsuki Bio Farm in Fujinomiya City at the foot of Mount Fuji is a leader when it comes to organic vegetables agriculture.
True to say, as Shizuoka Prefecture is also a leader in the whole of Japan, there are many other organic farms in our Prefecture, but Matsuki Bio Farm is one of the larger and more reliable producers as well.

You do find their products on many restaurant tables across Shizuoka Prefecture and Uzu and Hana Oto make an extra large usage of them!
Both establishments serve them in many ways, two of which I’d like to introduce here today!

The picture above is another view of the top photograph.
Kenya Yoshimura at Uzu serves a big mixture of these seasonal organic vegetables as a Summer (also in other seasons!) Vegetables “Gorogoro” Salad/夏野菜ゴロゴラダ.
Varied vegetables are either kept raw, steamed or fried and then cooled down before mixing them with a dressing of Kenya’s invention.
A very simple and most appropriate way to serve vegetables at their best!
Such salads include some very unusual vegetables such as Hasu Imo, which is not actually the tuber itself but the stems, eaten as green vegetables. Can you see those three strange whitish slices in the front?

Misonaise Vegetable Gratin at Hana Oto!

Whereas Uzu is a Japanese-style Izakaya which serves these vegetables as vegetarian food, Hana Oto is a Chinese Cuisine Izakaya, a very happy hybrid of Japanese and Chinese gastronomies, which serve their food without any particular concern for vegetarianism.
Yuusuke Tozaki’s concept will appeal to all nationalities, especially in colder weather as it is hot and nourishing!

Now, what is “misonaise”?
A mixture of miso paste and mayonnaise!
Some of the vegetables are first fried while others are steamed, boiled or raw.
The sauce, including enough condiments to season the whole, covers a generous portion of those vegetables before being cooked as a gratin in an oven!
Try it at home! It’s worth it!

To be contimued…

UZU
Shizuoka City, Otowa-cho, 3-18
Tel.: 054-249-6262
Business hours: 17:00=23:00
Closed on Mondays and first Tuesday
Reservations recommended
Credit cards OK
HOMEPAGE (Japanese)

Service: Excellent and very friendly. Very Japanese atmosphere.
Facilities: Excellent washroom facilities. Great cleanliness overall
Prices: reasonable.
Strong Points: Great sake from Shizuoka and Japan Great Shochu. Home-made umeshu. Mainly local products, especially organic vegetables.
Non-smoking on Sundays and National Holidays

HANA OTO/華音
420-0032 Shizuoka Shi, Aoi Ku, Ryougae Cho, 5-8, Shin Kamogawa Bldg., 2F-D
Business hours: 17:30~24:00
Closed on Mondays

RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES

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Chicken, 美食, 観光, 農業, Gastronomy, Japanese Gastronomy, Restaurants, Tourism

Amagi Shamo Chicken at Uzu!

August 11, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

Amagi Shamo is arguably the best chicken in Japan and it is bred by only one farm run by Toshiyaki Horie and his father.
The chicken are bred free of stress for 120~150 days up in the Amagi mountains in Izu Peninsula and being fed with grains, soy milk and wasabi leaves, the latter both from Izu Peninsula!

Not many restaurants can serve Amagi Shamo Chicken as the quantity is limited. You do need a personal introduction before you can purchase it!

Kenya Yoshimura of Uzu in Shizuoka City is one of the rare chefs who has a regular if limited supply of this succulent chicken!

So the other day we felt ourselves lucky to be able to savor at least some parts of the chicken. Practically the whole animal is eaten raw, semi-raw, seared, grilled or whatever. I’m afraid that people from Tokyo will have to travel all the way!
To make a long story short we sampled it in three different manners.
First as shown as above in broiled “tebasaki/手羽先” style remiscent of buffalo wings, but far more sophisticated!
The skin is crackling and the meat so tender and smooth!

The second dish was served in “aburi/炙り/seared style.
This is chicken thigh grilled only from the skin leaving the meat half raw.
Served with plenty of chopped scallions and fresh wasabi (from Umegashima, Shizuoka City), it is a morsel worth travelling miles for!

Finally we had a dish of fried hot/piquant innards including the liver and gizzards cut in small pieces and stir-fried with plenty of chopped chili pepper!

For another view….

The combination of crunchy gizzards and soft liver is just impossible to describe!
To be continued…

UZU
Shizuoka City, Otowa-cho, 3-18
Tel.: 054-249-6262
Business hours: 17:00=23:00
Closed on Mondays and first Tuesday
Reservations recommended
Credit cards OK
HOMEPAGE (Japanese)

HORIE CHICKEN FARM/堀江養鶏
410-3203, Shizuoka Ken, Izu Shi, Yaguma, 296
Tel.: 0558-87-0644
Mobile: 090-7449-5655
Fax: 0558-87-0763
HOMEPAGE (Japanese)

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美食, 野菜, 観光, 農業, Gastronomy, Japan, Japanese Gastronomy, Tempura, Tourism

Tomato Tempura at Uzu!

August 10, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

Tempura must be one of the most known facets of Japanese cuisine!
It looks simple enough but good tempura does need a lot of experience and great skills!
And when it comes to serve water-filled vegetables as tempura it becomes a true challenge!

As mentioned before, instead of venturing into long-winded reports about full meals I take at my “regular spots”, I will concentrate on their seasonal dishes!
Now, Mr. Kenya Yoshimura/吉村健也さん is a master of vegetables.
I just can’t imagine the timing and the temperature but when the tomatoes came on my table last night I was once again nonplussed by the sheer simplicity of the dish in its presentation!

This is actually a regular dish at Uzu although the tomatoes will change with the seasons!
In winter I remember having had the same with green tomatoes! The heat had enhanced their hidden “umami” to the point one forgets they were actually unripe!
But the present red tomatoes (organic by the way!) were ripe. I just don’t know how they didn’t explode in the hot oil!
They come with home-made yuzukoshio seasoning. The perfect “marriage” of flavors!

That was how I “presented” it to myself!
All these flavors breaking inside the palate…

To be continued…

UZU
Shizuoka City, Otowa-cho, 3-18
Tel.: 054-249-6262
Business hours: 17:00=23:00
Closed on Mondays and first Tuesday
Reservations recommended
Credit cards OK
HOMEPAGE (Japanese)

RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES

Must-see tasting websites:

美食, 観光, 農業, Gastronomy, Italian Cuisine, Italian Restaurants, Japan, Shizuoka, Tourism

Italian Cuisine: Dinner at Contorno in Mochimune!

July 27, 2011 dragonlife 6 Comments

Service: Excellent and very friendly
Facilities: great cleanliness overall
Prices: reasonable.
Strong points: Many local products be they from the land or the sea. Organic vegetables. Car park.
no-smoking-logo1 Entirely non-smoking!
Map

Mochimune in Shizuoka City is famous all over Japan for its shirasu/シラス/sardine whiting but it has other treasures to be discovered such as white peaches, oranges, a whole array of fish and seafood and a more than excellent Italian restaurant, Contorno!
I had never visited it for dinner although I had the occasions to enjoy great lunches there.
I finally had the opportunity when the young IT staff of Agrigraph joined me for dinner on a busy Friday evening!

As I had three specialists armed with all kinds of electronic devices with me, for once I didn’t have to worry about taking photographs!

The heat had been hellish that day so a beer was in order!

All vegetables used at Contorno are cultivated organically at Nagomi Farm in Fujinomiya City and the salmon is smoked on site!

24-months old raw Parma Ham!

The same with an organic vegetable salad! Extravagant!

The Italian wine amateurs will be happy to learn that Contorno has a decent list for all tastes and budgets!

For the connoisseurs!

Contorno is also renown for its pizza entirely prepared, fermented and baked in a large oven on site.
The above pizza is a Mochimune specialty: Shirasu and mozzarella pizza!

A second great pizza made with semi-dried tomatoes (organic) and raw ham!

I judge the quality of an Italian Restaurant on its gnocchi more than anything else!
These gnocchi in peperocino sauce and large prawns are a certainly a must in Contorno!

It certainly deserved a closer view!

If you must have pasta, then I would definitely recommend their short pasta!

And don’t go for anything fancy! The tomato peperocino is the best!

Served with a beautiful piquant olive oil for the customers who like their food spicy!

If you can manage some space in your stomach you must try Contorno’s desserts!
The sole lady among us couldn’t resist this chocolate cake in blueberry sauce!

As for the “boys” it was cappucino! Sorry, I had already sipped half when I took the picture!

See you again in the Fall/Autumn!

CONTORNO
421-0122, Shizuoka City, Suruga Ku, Mochimune, 5-1-10, Sunrise Mochimune (5 minutes walk from Mochimune JR Station. Second stop after Shizuoka)
Tel.: 054-2565877
Business hours: 11:30~14:30, 17:00~21:30
Closed on Wednesdays
Credit Cards OK
HOMEPAGE (Japanese)
BLOG

Lunch sets: 1,480 yen~
Dinner: Appetizers: 500~yen, 1,000 yen~
Pasta: 930 yen~
Pizza (oven-baked): 1,180 yen~
Carte available

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熱海市, 観光, Tourism

Atami, The Hot Spring City of Yore 3

March 12, 2011 dragonlife 2 Comments

Atami resort harbor/marina.

Strolling in Atami City, that is in the downtown area by the sea can be interesting indeed if you know where to look!

Don’t look up but down for directions!

Difficult to get lost!

There 7 hot springs (including the one in fornt of the JR station), but I couldn’t find them all…

3rd one. Don’t put your hand inside!

4th one. The temperature was alright!

The 5th one. A little beauty!
I couldn’t find the last two. Pity, when you realize they have been used for hundreds of years!

The other major Atami attraction is the Baien Koen/梅園公園/plum tree Park!
It was created more than 120 years ago and subsequently doanted to the city!
let’ have a stroll!

I forgot to chck how many kinds. I can assure you you need a few visits to exhaust theme all!

Now, this is Japan!

Take your time and enjoy the sights!

Flower trees everywhere. You should come on bright sunny day!

A man-made waterfall! Great in summer!

A view from “inside” the waterfall!

Plum tree blooms…

Interesting tree…

Beautiful color!

Can you see the daffodils?
Spring is near and we shall to think and come back again in the summer!

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

熱海市, 観光, 農業, Japanese Gastronomy, Shizuoka, Tourism

Atami, The Hot Spring City of Yore 2

March 11, 2011 dragonlife 10 Comments

Botarga/Mullet Roe/Karasumi/カラスミ!

The shopping streets in Atami City are quite old-fashioned. You almost seem to slipped back 30 years when you stroll along them browsing old-fashioned shops of every kind.

Once out of Atami JR station you will find two parallel streets going down sharply on the right. There you will find the epitome of land and sea products of the region.
Will you follow me?

Atami is located at the northern tip of Izu Peninsula, which means an access to an incredible number of fish. Can you believe that Shizuoka produces 50% of all dried and semi-dried fish in Japan?
And of a great quality!

These dried fish are shirasu/白子/sardine whiting. Rare of that size (and not cheap!)!

The himono/干物/dried fish on the left are not cheap either: globefish/fugu/河豚!

One Japanese confectionery typical of Atami is Onsen Manju!

Onsen manju/温泉万寿/means hot spring steamed sweetmeat cake. Many shops are competing with each other!

A great array of fresh fish paste cakes you eat either as they are, or as oden! Very tasty!

A giant Japanese brochette! The sugn says to be carful and not to push the dispaly with your hands (appe\arently some did with a disastrous result!)!

One great thing about Japan is that most (Japanese-style) restaurants display their cuisine as plastic models in their shop windows! At least you have a good idea of what is available!

More seafood left out to dry to become tasty himono! Traceabilty garanteed!

More, including rare tuna himono (bottom right)!

Now, the beautiful kinmedai/金目鯛 (Top righ) is expensive (but not by Tokyo standrds!)!

Izu Peninsula and Atami City are also famous for all kinds of citruses!

Golden oranges/貴金柑　(front) are beautiful and expensive!
They tend to come up with a new variety every year in that region!

Now, if you want to eat sushi, you will know that the seafood is fresh!

Although this is a sushi chain of the cheaper kind, they have the merit to explain clearly the varieties and the prices (very reasonable!)!

Now, what are these?

Karasumi/カラスミ/Botarga, or mullet roe! You can find anything more traceable. This is a truly expensive gastronomic marvel, even in Shizuoka!

A last long look at the shops and then we’ll go to another toursit attraction!

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sake, shochu and sushi

熱海市, 観光, Tourism

Atami, The Hot Spring City from Yore 1

March 10, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

Atami must be the most famous hot springs city in Shizuoka Prefecture and in Japan! And one of the oldest to boot.
It has always been a favorite destination for Tokyoites in particular.
Shizuoka people do visit the city but in amrkedly smaller numbers.
The main reason for this state of affairs is that Atami is at the eastern extremity of the Prefecture.

The welcoming hot spring just outside the JR Railway Station.

The City counts 7 different hot springs more or less connected to Mount Fuji.
be careful not to touch the water! It is truluyscalding hot!

But you can take a foot bath at areasonable temperature.
Bear in mind that at 16:00 the bath will be emptied!

If you don’t believe, take a plunge! You won’t come back alive! It does look hellish, after all!

The city is celebrated for its plum tree flowers especially in February (and March if you are lucky!)!

One main attraction is the MOA Museum. You had better take a day bus ticket to keep expenses low as the city is half along the coast, half perched on top of steep cliffs. Walking is just a bit too tough. Buis is best!

One can enjoy great vistas from the MOA Museum and other sites atop the nearby mountains!

The park around the Museum is worth a leisurely walk in all seasons!

There are some great photos to be taken outside!
Unfortunately the inside is almost completely prohibited to cameras!

Inside the museum lobby.

Do have a look at the vistas from inside!

One of the rare sights allowed to photographers!

A grand view of the Atami Harbor! The locals call it the Japanese Napoli! LOL

The actual entry of the Museum!

They also have plenty of plum trees in their own park stretching over the mountain slopes.

Difficult to right focus!

It is a vast park that provides qith plenty of physical exercise!

What did I tell you?

Next we shall visit the local markets!

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

Chinese Cuisine, Chinese Restaurants, 野菜, 農業, Shizuoka, Shizuoka agricultural products, Shizuoka Cuisine, vegetables

Chinese Gastronomy: Shizuoka Products at Cham

March 6, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

Service: excellent and very friendly
Facilities: great cleanliness overall
Prices: very reasonable, good value.
Strong points: Great use of local Shizuoka Vegetables and products. Great Chinese Teas!
non-smoking at lunch time/Fully non-smoking from April!

Chinese is a very popular cuisine, but when you discover it is exclusively made with local vegetables, meat and seafood, you have no reason left to ignore it!

Mr. Atsushi Tomura, a very talented young chef, opened Cham in Sptember 2008 with his wife and an apprentice.
He will actually move to another address nearer to the JR Station in April, while his apprentice will go back to his family’s business in Fujieda City.
Check both addresses and homepage at the end of this article!

Since it was my firs (belated) visit I opted for the lunch set.
It is superb combination of vegetables I stopped counted and some meat and seafood.
All vegetables exclusively come from the farm of Mr. Furuya in Asabata, Shizuoka City!
Since they obviously use only seasonal vegetables, you can expect this particular offering to change rapidly!

I’ll try to explain what I had the pleasure to savor, but I’m sure to miss a lot as they were simply too busy to explain in detail. That will have to wait until my next visit(s)!
The above is a dish concocted with5 different daikon, meat and miso paste with eggs in soboro style served with ice plants and red lettuce for warpping.

Pork belly wrapped in Chinese Cabbage and served with katsuona Leaf vegetable.

Kiku imo.

Violet and white Cauliflower and Romanesco Cauliflower and Daikon/turnips.

Ajiwai Dori Chicken roll.

Broccoli and shrimps.
Most dishes had their sauce or dressings under the vegetables for better viewing!

Wakame seaweed and egg soup.

Home-made almond toufu for dessert.

They also offer a great choice of rare Chinese teas of extremely high quality!

The one I chose was called 西湖龍井茶. a real beauty!

Naturally they other Chinese favorites suc as Shoyu raamen, Shyo Raamen, Kuro Kosy\ho Tantanmen, Kuro Kosho Chahan and Yaki Gyoza.
But that is for my next visit!

Incidentally, given one day in advance, they can devise a completely vegetarian menu on order!

Cham
420-0072 Shizuoka Shi, Aoi Ku, 2 Ban-Cho, 4-1
Tel/Fax: 054-253-1300
Business hours: 11:00~14:00; 17:00^22:00
Closed either on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Call beforehand!
(Until end of March)

Shizuoka Shi, Suruga Ku, Minami Cho, 6-7, inside Irifune Yokocho
Tel.: 054-285-71115
Business hours: 17:00~24:00; lunches on order only (1 day advance)
HOMEPAGE
(from April 17th)

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sake, shochu and sushi

野菜, Japanese Gastronomy, Shizuoka, Shizuoka agricultural products, vegetables

French Gastronomy: Shizuoka Products at Pissenlit (Spring)

March 6, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

Service: excellent and very friendly
Facilities: great washroom, great cleanliness overall
Prices: reasonable, good value.
Strong points: Interesting wine list. Great use of local products.
entirely non-smoking!

I was really starving at lunch yesterday and since Pissenlit is just across the street from my work, I just couldn’t resist the temptation again!
At least it is a clever way to combine work am pleasure as this report will also go to Agrigraph!

Ordering was easy enough, but keep in mind we are talking about slow food. Therefore, I was served the above appetizer made with potatoes and octopus (cooked) to help me wait!

The vegetables dish consisted all of vegetables grwon organically by Mr. Hirokawa in Mishima City!
From bottom to top and right to left:
Stick Senior Broccoli, Beni Kururi Daikon, Black Daikon, Green daikon.
Milano Daikon, Carrot.
Romanesco Cauliflower (called Coral Cauliflower in Japanese), Kooshin Daikon and Ayame Turnip.

For another view.
The dressings were milk mousse and olive oil.

Now that I had satisfied my vegetarian steak, I turned carnivorous with wild boapoele with wine sauce.
A real boar of 35 kg which was hunted in Noda, Shimada City.

For a better view of the vegetables:
Leaf Garlic from Fujieda.
Rape plants, Chrysanthemum leaves, Petit Vert.
May Queen potato Dauphinois. All four vegetables organic and grown by Mr. Hirooka.

And now the dessert.
It deserves some explanations:

The strawberries are (right) Toukun, only grown in Shizuoka (for the moment) and Ookimi (left), only grown in Saga and Shizuoka Prefectures!
They are linked with raspberry sauce
Now, what is that cake?

It is a “biscuit chaud/hot cake) made with Hon Yama Green Tea from Abe River in Shizuoka City!

When you open it you will discover a tender cake inside the crispy outside and tea cream flowing out!
Superb!

And to finish, a great coffee with orange and ginger chocolates!

No, I don’t know yet when I’ll be back! LOL

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

Please check the new postings at:
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野菜, 農業, Japanese Gastronomy, Shizuoka agricultural products, vegetables

French Gastronomy: Shizuoka Products at Tetsuya Sugimoto (spring 2011)

March 5, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

Ranking：
Service: Highly professional and friendly
Equipment: Great overall cleanliness. Beautiful washroom
Prices:~
Strong points:Freshest produce and ingredients only, mainly from Shizuoka Prfecture. Organic vegetables. Seasonal food only
Map (Japanese)
Entirely non-smoking!

As it was my turn to look after Fabian, our new German intern at Agrigraph. I just took the opportunity of waht a talented French chef could create with Shizuoka products, me good friend Testuya Sugimoto at Tetsuya SUGIMOTO Restaurant in Shizuoka City!

Tetsuya was kind enough to take out all his treasures of the fridge for our young guest to discover before he chose the ingredients of the day!

Tetsuya prepared two hors d’oeuvres, the first one being yellow carrot mousse and an organic radish (the leaves were delicious) wrapped into burdock roots flakes (a non-vegan mayonnaise was used as the linking agent).

As for the second hors d’oeuvres he used 3 different types of rape flowers to be combined with

mackerel caught in the Suruga Bay off Yui!
The sauces were a dressing made with raspberry vinegar, while the other was an orange olive oil. The powder is crushed senbei/Japanese rice cracker.

He used the above organic vegetables for our main dish!

The same vegetables cooked and before their sauces were added.
One sauce was a mixture of grain mustard, miso paste and honey, while the other was pistachio oil.

The finished dish:
from bottom, right to left:
Black Daikon, Koushin Daikon, Faabe broad beans, Yacon.
Ayame Yuuki Turnip, Violet carrot, Yellow Turnip, Yellow carrot.
Petit Vert, Red Turnip, Kyoto Carrot, Hinona Turnip.
All cooked to perfection for crispiness and natural taste!

The dessert consisted of a mousse made with brown sugar and rum made from sugar cane grown in Kakegawa City, Shizuoka Prefecture, as for the mousse. The caramel sauce was made from the same sugar!

Tetsuya SUGIMOTO
４２０－００３８ Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Umeya,, ２－１３，１Ｆ
Tel./Fax: 054-251-3051
Opening hours：１１：３０～１４：３０，１７：３０～２１：３０
Holidays: undecided
Cedit cards OK
ＨＯＭＥＰＡＧＥ

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Japanese Gastronomy, Recipes

Shizuoka Food Fair 3

March 1, 2011 dragonlife 2 Comments

Chef Tooru Okuda/奥田透 (right), the celebrated 3-Star Chef from Shizuoka, who kindly attended the fair.

As I said in my first installments, Shizuoka Prefecture has put some efforts into advertizing their own goods, as for agriculture and crafts, for some time, and a fairly big Food Fair (しずおか食の彩典) was organized on the 19th and 20th of February at Twin Messe in Shizuoka City.

This is the third part of my report, so please follow me!

The Shizuoka prefecture had taken a full wing to advertise and offer samples of its green tea!

Totoya Shinheie.

They offer high-quality processed and semi-processed fish you can enjoy as it is or re-cooked. A typical product of Shizuoka Prefecture!

Kakusa, a venerable company from Yui, selling sakura shrimp products at Yui Sakura Ebi Kan/Yui Sakura Shrimps Hall!

Steamed Sakura Shrimp rice!

Suzuyo Group, a big company which owns the FDA Airlines!

They specialize in processed sauces and soups!

Yakunen No Ki, a confectionery company.

Their specialty: Rolled Kuchen with Shizuoka Matcha Tea!

Shizuoka Tea & Sweets Marche. Look at that pyramid!

The sign says: “Please don’t touch!”. Very tempting, though…

47 CLUB. Now, what do hey have on offer?

A gifts company, they offer quite a lot, from rusks to gyoza!

Central Shizuoka Yakult Sales.

Famous company, but this is less than minimum service (no staff!)!

Shizuoka Daily Newspaper Books Stand.

Specialised in Shizuoka gastronomy and tourism!

Teraoka Kayoshi Shoten from Yaizu City. They specialise in Tsukudani!

Tsukudani is simmered tuna, another Shizuoka specialty!

Fujita marine Products.

Very appetizing dried and semi-processed seafood from Shizuoka, famous all over Japan!

Uragiku Honten, a traditional food company.

Tasty-looking miso paste and ra-yu hot sauce!

Fumiya from Hamamatsu City!

Gyoza, a product of Hamamatsu celebrated on TV!

To be continued soon (hopefully still in the proper sequence! LOL)

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Sashimi: Konbujime Hirame/Sole Marinated in Seaweed

February 26, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

The Missus prepared this tasty sashimi dish as an appetizer for my first cup of Japanese sake last night.
The concept is pretty easy and can be reproduced anywhere!

First get enoug konbu/昆布/dry seaweed and brush them with rice vinegar. Wait until they have softened. Drain them if necessary but don’t wipe them.

Rub rice vinegar over both sides of the fish. Cut the fish into one-bite-sized slices (or marinate it whole, but the fish will be ready faster this way) and “sandwich” them between the seaweed pieces.
Leave in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Serve them on the seaweed if you are in a hurry, or more artistically with a little wasabi dressing (or any dressing of your liking, or as it is) and chopped thin leeks.

The seaweed can be used in soup or finely chopped and mixed in steamed rice later!

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Shizuoka Food Fair 2

February 25, 2011 dragonlife 2 Comments

Shizuoka Wasabi! (80% of the national production!)

As I said in my first installment, Shizuoka Prefecture has put some efforts into advertizing their own goods, as for agriculture and crafts, for some time, and a fairly big Food Fair (しずおか食の彩典) was organized on the 19th and 20th of February at Twin Messe in Shizuoka City.

This is the second part of my report, so please follow me!

M C Food Service Co. Ltd. Now, what is that lonely gentleman serving?

Croquettes and Spicy fried potatoes! Can you guess which one is called Mount Fuji Croquette?

Fujieda Asa Ramen/Fujieda City Morning Ramen. Yes, they eat ramen in the morning there!

They are also called “Chuuka Soba/中華そば”. Unfortunately they didn’t serve any but in their packs!

Marumatsu Co. Ltd. in Hamamatsu City. They make gyooza/餃子!

The free samples were already gone!

Some stands offered specialties from other prefectures: Yonezawa Beef Charcoal-Grilled Beef/米沢牛炭火焼肉!

They also had croquettes!

Rooster Foods. Now, where did they come from? Among others they served yakisoba!

And Okonomiyaki! They are from Fujinomiya!

Masaki Shoten, specializing in beef from Sasebo (Kyushu Island), 100% beef and American style…

Sasebo Beef Brochettes!

Marikomine Giant Tai Yaki!

Never saw such big Tai Yaki before!

Izumi Foods serving Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki/広島焼 and yakisoba wrapped in omelette/オムそば!

Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, unless it is another variety just called Hiroshima Yaki!

Shioya Foods also serving Sasebo Beef, but as hamburgers!

Beef Tongue Sausages/牛タンソーセージ! Now, that’s a first!

Field Co. from Miyazaki Prefecture (Kyushu Island) serving their own beef!

These doughnuts are not a Miyazaki Prefecture’ specialty, but Okinawan Saataa-andagi/サーターアンダギー!

El Corazon Co. were serving Japanese favorites.

Deep-fried seafood cakes made from octopus, shrimps, scallops and so on.

Yokote yakisoba from Akita Prefecture!

The fried eggs will be served on top of the yakisoba!

Back to Shizuoka with the famous oden restaurant, Umi Boozu/海ぼうず!

Shizuoka Oden!

To be continued soon (hopefully still in the proper sequence! LOL)

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野菜, 農業, Japanese Gastronomy, Shizuoka Cuisine, vegetables

Shizuoka Food Fair 1

February 24, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

Shizuoka Prefecture has put some efforts into advertizing their own goods, as for agriculture and crafts, for some time, and a fairly big Food Fair (しずおか食の彩典) was organized on the 19th and 20th of February at Twin Messe in Shizuoka City.

The event was a good start, but I wished it would have been a bit better organized and more lively, but Shizuoka is probably the most conservative prefecture in Japan for all its incredible products and producers and it will take some time before it really becomes a full-fledged event. At least let’s give them a chance!

Still, there was a lot to see (and taste), and I will try to show everything in a series of easy-to read articles!

Next time I meet some of the organizers I will tell them (it is my “job”, actually!) to better indicate the way!
Only one board (in the wrong place) and no sign at the entrance of the actual hall!

Although I came at the very time of the opening, I can’t say that the information desk was very useful…

I tried to follow the “official sequence” and started with the JA/Japan Agriculture (government-sponsored) booths.
This is the JA Suruga (Suruga Bay) booth with plenty of oranges.

JA Shimizu (Shizuoka City, Shimizu Ku) does represent a very large area and products.
They chose to concentrate on “Red Ole” tomatoes and “Harumi” oranges!