Tag Archives: Beef

French Gastronomy: Veal Liver at Pissenlit in Shizuoka City!

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.

Veal is not an easy meat to savor at restaurants in Japan as the Japanese farmers do not usually raise calves the way they do back in Europe or America to obtain a white flesh.
On the other hand veal in Japan is always a tender pink.
The Japanese have always had a special fondness for any veal and veal or beef liver is very much appreciated if somewhat rare.

When Touru Arima/有馬亨さん told me he had just received veal liver fom Fujinomiya City I did not hesitate!
The more for it that we don’t eat any at home! LOL

The veal liver had been sauteed the French way with vinegar and the sauce was prepared with Dijon seed mustard.
Just the way back home in my native Bourgogne!
But the vegetables were definitely Japanese!
The great wedge of bamboo shoot is of course local, slowly fried to a crisp, a very unusual way to cook it in Japan.
So tender inside and so crunchy on the outside! A treat!

Now, the small cabbage is a real organic cabbage harvested very young at Kitayama Farm in Fujinomiya City.
It did require some preparation, though!

Touru Arima/有馬亨さん boiled it a little first to be able to open it carefully. He then filled it with wild boar stew/ragout (the wild boar comes from Shimada City!). He closed the leaves back and sauteed the lot with the liver!
A French delicacy with four ingredients from Shizuoka Prefecture!

A bliss!

To be continued…

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!

RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES

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!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery

Fuji Okamura Ranch in Fujinomiya City.Fuji. Beef by Chiyoji Okamura!

Ever solid Chiyoji Okamura!

Last Friday after our superb lunch at Restaurant Bio-S, the owner Kazuhiro Matsuki/松木一浩 kindly drove me and my journalists friends, Camille Oger and Julien Morelo, through forests at the foot of Mount Fuji to Okamura Ranch.
Okamura Ranch is one of the three beef producers established at the foot of Mount Fuji (there are 13 in all the Prefecture).

View of Mount Fuji from Okamura Ranch!

Chiyoji Okamura/岡村千代次さん was born in Shiga Prefecture in 1955.
The fifth child of a large family there was little left for him back home.
Having graduated from Tokyo Agricultural University in 1978 he tried his hand at agriculture before coming to Fujinomiya City in 1990 to establish a beef producing ranch with 30 heads of cattle. He is now looking after 300+ heads throughout a year.

The meadows reserved to pregnant cows.

He basically breeds his own cows (there is not a single bull on the premises) from 2-months old calves bought from a calf breeder or breeds his own calves after having artificially inseminated his cows.
If a male is born he is castrated while females will be later inseminated.

Very healthy but a bit shy pregnant cows.

The cows are culled for meat after 24 months, a short time compared to meat cattle in Europe.
The abattoirs are located so far from the ranch that the cows never realize their fate and feel very little stress.
Interestingly enough, Mr. Okamura does not produce calves for meat.

A smiling cow!

The beef breed in Okamura Ranch is originally a hybrid of meat-producing cattle and milk-producing cattle.
The BSE problem a few years ago convinced him that the traceability of his meat was of the utmost importance.
He will always meet personally his clients, be they traders or restaurants, before he agrees to sell his meat to them.

In spite of the daily care (no holidays there) vital for the good health of his cows, Mr. Okamura and his wife seem happy enough to spend all their time on the ranch and in their enormous (by Japanese standards) house where they regularly hold bbq’s. After all the two of them look after the cows and have to assume all the roles of cattle farmers and veterinarians!

The cow sheds and the farm were all rebuilt in 2003 and Mr. Okamura’s Fujisan Beef was officially recogniszed as an independent beef brand by the Shizuoka Prefecture Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in 2006!

Each calf lives in its own shed for maximum comfort and well-being.

The sheds are a model of cleanliness!
What with Mount Fuji and the surrounding nature, there is no pollution and the water and natural grass are of superlative quality.
As for fodder Mr. Okamura imports it all from America through a very strictly regulated route.
The used straw and droppings are recycled as natural fertilizer for neighboring farmers.

All these animals need a lot of feed, mainly consisting of cereals including corn and barley!
Mr. Okamura’s own blend of feed devised trough his years of experience and experimenting make the difference!

The sheds are regularly cleaned and provided with fresh straw for maximum hygiene.
Mrs. Okumura takes charge of feeding the calves twice a day and of all the accounts of their business while Mr. Okamura takes care of all the rest.
Quite a few students ask to work with them as interns but only a few are accepted after careful screening.

A very hungry calf!

This is all extremely hard work and I very much doubt that the Okamuras will ever get fat. They are actually extremely fit and smiling and passionate in spite of their shyness.
The result?

Superlative meat difficult to surpass!
it was interesting to note, and Mr. Matsuki concurred, that Mr. Okamura produces an extremely tender red beef without the use of fat as found in other famed beef, a feat that will ask a lot to equal indeed!

Fujisan Okamura Ranch
418-0102 Fujinomiya Shi, Hitoana, 137-318
Tel.: 0544-52-3668
Fax: 0544-52-3668
E-mail: oka5@alpha.ocn.ne.jp

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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!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery

Shizuoka Prefecture Appetizer: Fujiyama Beef, Utogi Wasabi & Ameera Rubbins Pearl Tomatoes!

There are days when things seem to click out of nowhere!
The Missus last night brought home some beef from the newly opened Cenova Department Store.
This was Fujiyama Beef, the equivalent of Kobe Beef bred in Shizuoka Prefecture!
It is expensive but when the Missus noticed the 30% discount tag when she visited the place in the evening she did not hesitate!

The Missus sauteed the four slices (two for each…) up to medium rare in top-class olive oil. Nothing else, good girl!

We had a small pack of Ameera Rubbins Pearl Tomatoes from Iwata City in the fridge. These tomatoes are being grown here and there in Japan these days but until recently only two farmers were growing them in our Prefecture in the whole of Japan. These are very firm and sweet and are eaten like a dessert!

I also happened to have quite a few fresh wasabi roots in the fridge. These were offered to me by farmers who grow them in Utogi, Shizuoka City, the very birthplace of wasabi!
Since Shizuoka Prefecture grows 80% of the total crop in Japan, it is quite a common pleasure here to grate your own wasabi!

Just some grated wasabi and salt for the beef… Simple is best and most extravagant!
incidentally, the red salt is a present from Hawai!
Mind you, true to tell, the rest of the dinner was a bit of an anticlimax! LOL

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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

BBQ With Shizuoka Local Products!

In Japan and Shizuoka BBQ’s are taken very seriously!
Today, Sunday October 9th, I took part in the 2nd Shizuoka Products BBQ organized by Nagashima Wine Shop in Shizuoka City!
The event catered for no less than 50 people and certainly required some organization like the Japanese are so good at!

The event took place on the bbq space of Yamako/山幸 soba shop up in the Mariko mountains in Shizuoka City!

The BBQ was scheduled for 11:00 a.m. but I came early to give a hand and to be able to report on the whole day!
It certainly was hot for an October Sunday!

Plenty of hands needed, but organizing committee included some hefty guys!

We still took time to share a joke or two!

Let me introduce all the good people who made it possible!
Takahiro Nagashima/長島孝博/ owner of Nagashima Wine shop in Shizuoka City, the main organizer.

Kazutaka Takashima/高嶋一孝, owner and master-brewer of Takashima Brewery in Numazu City.

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

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

Shigeru Sano/佐野茂治, owner-chef of Kamoshibito Restaurant in Shizuoka City.

Ken-ya Yoshimura, owner-chef of Uzu Izakaya, the leader of the group!

I took a break to take a stroll in the natural surroundings. Beautiful but unfortunately inedible karasu uri/烏瓜!

Things getting ready!

Preparing the charcoal BBQ!

Washing the vegetables!
All the vegetables of the day, except for the mushrooms and the jumbo peanuts were organic and grown by Bio Farm Matsuki in Fujinomiya City!

Little beauties for the salads!

Organic tomatoes!

Butternut squash!

Oura burdock roots!

Yuzu Koshio and Basil Paste created by Ken-ya Yoshimura at Uzu!

Sauces/dressings for the BBQ!

All the sakes of the day were nectars called Hakuin Masamune brewed by Takashima Brewery!

Kazutaka Takashima makes it known all through his sake labels that the Suruga Bay has the largest number of edible seaweed varieties in Japan!

The water of the day all came from Takashima Brewery’s own well!

All the guests were provided a sake cup with a removable cap to make sure not a single drop would be spilled!

Rainbow trout from Kunugi Fish Farm in Fujinomiya City!

Preparing the rainbow trout sashimi plate!

Beautiful, isn’t it?

Boiled jumbo peanuts grown in Shizuoka City! Great snack!

Pick your tomato!

Gomadare/sesame dressing by Sanoman Company in Fujinomiya City!

Boiled mangenton pork belly slices, cucumber and boiled bean sprouts salad!

The star of the day: dry ageing beef (Holstein) by Sanoman Co.!

The star of the day on the charcoal grill!

Decorating the bbq’d beef tray with mushrooms grown by Mr. hasegawa in Fuji City! To be savored raw!

Cutting the beef sashimi style!

Placing the beef on the tray…

Almost ready… I wasn’t left any time for a last picture!

Mangenton pork sausages!

Red Moon potatoes tempura!

Oura burdock root tempura!

Preparing the butternut squash tempura!

Absolutely delicious!

Organic sweet potatoes!

Anchovy sauce potatoes!

The guest product of the day: mozuku seaweed brought all the way from Miyako Island in Okinawa!

The other star of the day! Toshiyaki Horie/堀江利彰, owner of Horie Chicken Farm in Shuzenji, Izu Peninsula, who came all the way tpo demonstrate the cutting of his Amagi Shamo Chickens!

An attentive audience…

Amagi Shamo is arguably the best and rarest chicken in Japan!

Charcoal-grilled Amagi Shamo Chicken!

Yummy!

Some very happy and contented ladies!

See you again next year same time!

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Must-see tasting websites:

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-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery

French Gastronomy: Suruga Beef at Pissenlit in Shizuoka City!

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

One does not have to explain how good, and why for that matter, Japanese beef is.
Recently, beef produced in the Western part of Shizuoka Prefecture has attracted a lot of attention under the name of Suruga Beef!
Suruga is the name of the large Bay off Shizuoka Prefecture!
I took the occasion of a recent visit to Pissenlit in the company of a good friend to sample two parts of the same animal!

The bavette (above two pictures) is the part covering the bottom of the throat and the top of the breast.
Its texture is halfway that of a filet and of a stew.
Chef Touru Arima first fried the piece of bavette then roasted it before seasoning it with a Madeira wine sauce.
The vegetables were all organically grown at Shizen No Chikara Garden in Shizuoka City.
They included butternut squash, “mizunasu” aubergine/eggplants and buckwheat seeds.

For a closer look of the buckwheat seeds which married so well with the sauce!

My friend had an even better part, actually the best part of the animal, namely the filet!
It was prepared with a heady red wine sauce after being first fried on a hot fire and being finished in the oven.

The organic vegetables were also butternut squash and “mizunasu” aubergine/eggplant while the buckwheat seeds were replaced by Inca Mezame potato!

But the buckwheat seeds were concealed under the filet where they made a beautiful combination again with the sauce and meat!

To be followed (great desserts coming soon!)…

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

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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

Soba Restaurant: Iwa ichi!

Service: Very friendly and easy-going.
Facilities: Very clean overall. Excellent amenities
Prices: Reasonable
Strong points: Soba of course, but traditional Japanese gastronomy on the whole. Excellent all-rounder.
English spoken!
Non-smoking at tables.

Soba has always been a pillar of Japanese gastronomy. In Edo times soba restaurants were the place to patronize if you wanted to drink sake (in good company?).
There are many soba restaurants all over the City, Prefecture and country, but the very good ones need a little research and exploration, if not luck!

Iwa Ichi/岩市 is not easy to find tucked away along a main thoroughfare away from the centre of Shizuoka City.
Although I live nearby and for all its 4 years of existence I hadn’t noticed it. I almost cycled past it yesterday after I had decided to investigate this increasingly famous establishment for a first visit at lunch.

The menu, whatever the time of the day or night, is written in English.
But the owner speaks English! No worries, then!
On that day I chose the set menu (3,000 yen/~40 US$): Kuroge Wagyuu Amiyaki Gozen/黒毛和牛網焼き御膳/Grilled Black Hair Beef Lunch!

Served on a wooden tray, it certainly looked appetizing and beautiful!
A great balance which had already convinced me to return for dinner and a serious chat!

Cold soba in their soup with freshly grated wasabi.

Chyawanmushi/茶碗蒸し/ Japanese salted pudding and Chinese cabbage pickles in front of the beef.

Now, this grilled beef is truly extravagant for a soba restaurant! It is Shizuoka-bred Black Hair Beef under the name of Suruga Gyuu/駿河牛/Suruga (as of Suruga Bay off the Shizuoka shores) Beef. An absolute beauty that even Argentines (and Americans?)would run for!

Served with grated daikon mixed with soy sauce and freshly grated wasabi (from Shizuoka) it makes for the perfect way to savor grilled prime beef!

Madai/真鯛/Seabream sashimi! So tender and delicious!

And a cute salad of Shizuoka-grown vegetables. With plain white rice it makes for a complete, so well-balanced and absolutely delicious lunch!

The Japanese pottery certainly makes for another difference!

But being French (a tame excuse if there was one!) I wouldn’t leave without sampling one of their three desserts:
Soba tofu pudding with brown sugar sauce!
I caught your attention, didn’t I? A dessert made without dairy products or wheat flour!

For a closer view!

Alright, I’ll see you at dinner soon!
After all, I need to talk to the owners!

IWA ICHI
420-01816 Shizuoka Shi, Aoi Ku, Kutsunoya, 3-4-22
Tel.: 054-293-4151
Business hours: 11:30^14:00, 17:30~22:00
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

French Cuisine: Harmony in Iwata City

Service: easy-going and friendly
Facilities: good general cleanliness
Prices: reasonable
Strong points: Most of ingredients are local!
Completely non-smoking!

Do not be misled by the somewhat passé look of this Restaurant and Souvenir Shop along a busy thoroughfare and its interior of a past gone.

The decor might be out of date but the food is alive and worth regular visits!

The sign is not easy to miss in any case!

A retro look?
Maybe, but Chef Hiroyuki Adachi is on a mission: he has devoted his life and craft to the local producers, breeders and fishermen and endeavored to make them known to all through his exclusively seasonal menus he offers his guests whoever they are!

Each month witnesses a different lunch course titled according to the flavor or ingredient of the season/month!

Mr. Adachi has little problem finding his ingredients, surrounded as he is by arguably the richest garden in Japan in Iwata City!

A quick walk in the vicinity after lunch (before the next interview) certainly revealed how good food was close by!

Many farmers offer on-field lessons!

Strawberry seedlings being prepared for the next season!

Chef Adachi and a young farmer, Takeshi Ichikawa (my next interview), who supplies sweet corn (beautiful raw!) to the restaurant!

As this was my first visit I opted for the “mini-dinner course lunch” to get a good idea of the food offered at Harmony!

Enormous appetizers plate!

Semi-dried tomato in olive oil and its essence jelly in the small glass beside it!

In between local vegetables octopus and local seared black bass.

Local vegetables and fruit!

The seared black bass from Hamanako!

A very tasty soup of local seasonal vegetables!

Home-made matcha and turmeric bread!

Local “tai”/red grouper in Southern French style with its local vegetables!

For a closer look!

Beautiful local vegetables!

From another angle!
The “white flower” is actually a lily bulb! Delicious!

Enshyuu Mikawa Beef Filet!

Beautiful and so tender steak! Extravagant in Japan!

The steamed local vegetables. Great with the beef sauce!

Very healthy rice mixed with black rice!

And now the local dessert plate!

Natsu mikan orange blanc mange and strawberries!

Japanese-style matcha roll cake!

Now, why is Mr. Adachi’s creme brulee so famous?
The secret lies under the cream!

Iwata tomato sherbet!
Now, this is a creation!

I hope you understand why I’m planning to travel all the way from Shizuoka City again (1 hour by train!)!

HARMONY
438-0831, Shizuoka Ken, Iwata Shi, Kamishinya, 499-1
Tel.: 0538-21-1511
Fax: 0538-21-1515
Business hours: 11:00~14:00, 17:00~21:00
Closed on Mondays, 1st & 3rd Tuesdays
Big parking available
HOMEPAGE

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French Cuisine at Pissenlit: Suruga Beef, Hirokawa Organic Vegetables and Fukumaru Green Tea Tempura!

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.
no-smoking-logoentirely non-smoking!

This superb dish conceived by Chef Tooru Arima at Pissenlit in Shizuoka City has a history I actively contributed to!
To make a long story short I spent this morning high in the mountains in Hirano picking the first tea of the year in the fields of Marufuku Tea Factory (details at the end of this article) and I was really starving when I came back downtown at noon. I decided to visit Pissenlit as I had a couple of ideas in mind!

I did enjoy a full meal before and after the main dish but allow me to concentrate on the latter as it is a true Shizuoka Gastronomic experience!
First the beef is fillet of local Suruga Beef raised in Aoi Ku, Shizuoka City. It was prepared as a classic French steak with Madeira sauce!

Except for the tea leaves the vegetables come from Hirokawa Organic Garden in Mishima City.
As usual Mr. Arima steamed them to perfection preserving their taste, flavor and crispiness!

Marufuku Tea Factory Organic Tea Fields in Hirano, Aoi Ku, Shizuoka City!

Mr. Bunji Itoh grows among others two varieties of green tea organically in altitude (over 800 m.!) up in the mountains of Hirano, Aoi Ku, Shizuoka City near the source of the Abe River.
I joined him and his daughter, Asami, to pick up the first leaves of the year (Ichi ban cha)!
While workers were busy cutting the rest of the fields I was invited to hand-pick my own new tea leaves, a great honor if there is one!

I knew how to choose and pick the tender tips like the one shown above.
I found myself with a whole bunch of them. By bunch I mean a bag full of them!
The ideal idea came to my mind (sometimes my brain works in the right direction…): I brought them to Mr. Arima at Pissenlit who was more than glad to obtain the first leaves of the year of authentic organic tea from his own city. There are all kinds of ways that a great chef can accommodate them but probably the best one is tempura!

Tender new tea leaves as tempura is not only a gastronomic experience but you can imagine how difficult it is to get the opportunity to taste such a delicacy reserved to the first day of the first crop of the year!
I very much doubt you can be served it even in the best restaurant in Tokyo!

What’s going to be next…? I already have a clear idea! 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

Marufuku Seishya Co. Ltd. (Mr. Bunji Itoh)
Shizuoka Shi, Aoi Ku, Wakamatsu Cho, 25
Tel.: 054-271-2011
Fax: 054-271-2010

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With a Glass,
Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English), Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Chrisoscope, Agrigraph, The Agriculture Portal to shizuoka!

Japanese Gastronomic BBQ in Mariko

Suruga Beef!

BBQ’s are probably the most common way of enjoying great company with great food and great drinks in the whole world even if you are a teetoller or vegan!

And Japan is no exception!
Now, BBQ’s in Shizuoka can turn into extravagant affairs if they organised by local chefs, sake brewmasters and farmers using only local ingredients!

To make a long story shorter, we found about 30 of us last Sunday noon in Mariko, a site famed as one of the stages along the old Tokaido Road used by travellers in the Edo Era.
Being organized by Japanese, it was all very precise and delightful.
For 60 US $ (including drinks) per adult a BBQ site (20 US $ included in the total fee) was rented just beside Sanko/山幸 restaurant up in the nearby mountain.

Sanko Restaurant entrance. Very Japanese!

Beautiful flower arrangement/Ikebana/活花 at the entrance!

Side entrance to the inner garden and facilities (important with all those drinks!)

The event had been organised under the auspices of Nagashima Sake Store in Shizuoka and its owner, Takahiro Nagashima/長島隆博 (far right).

All the sake had been brewed by Brewmaster Takashima San/高島さん of Takashima Brewery in Numazu City. Incidentally that gentleman ,even with a glass in hand, would not be easily overwhelmed as he holds a 5th dan (Black Belt) in judo!

All the sake served was clearly advertized!

The Japanese, even during a BBQ, once they are seated, move only to get their food or drinks (unless a willing lady or subaltern is on hand!), but being an uncouth foreigner, I kept moving around! LOL

Kenya Yoshimura/吉村健哉, owner/chef at Uzu Restaurant, Shizuoka City, needed a baseball horn to make himself heard when announcing the festivities!

Now for the vegetarians and vegans: all these vegetables had been prepared beforehand by Kenya Yoshimura with organic vegetables coming from Matsuki Biofarm in Shibakawa Cho at the foot of Mount Fuji!

Other carefully chosen vegetables had been provided by Takeo Shimura/志村剛生, chef/owner of Narusei Tempura Restaurant in Shizuoka City!

Now for the beef!
All Suruga Beef/駿河牛, carefully chosen and provided by Shigeharu Sano/佐野茂治, chef/owner at Kamoshibito Restaurant in Shizuoka City.
This particular beef, as good as Kobe beef, comes from from animals exclusively bred in Shizuoka Prefecture!

Da the Men! Shigeharu Sano and Kenya Yoshimura!

Shigeharu Sano at work!

Don’t you want to board the next bullet train to Shizuoka City!

Or the next plane? LOL

This being Japan, all is cut beforehand for you!

Now, whatever the occasion, the Japanese will go not without their soup!
This very soup was extravagant as prepared (with other things, pork liver in particular!) by Yuusuke Toozaki/登崎雄介, chef/owner at Hana Oto Restaurant in Shizuoka City.
It was made with miso, vegetables and mangenton/万言豚 pork, exclusively raised in Shizuoka Prefecture!

Now, this gentleman, Toshiaki Horie/堀江利彰 came all the way from the Amagi Mountains/天城山 in Izu Peninsula/伊豆半島 to bring Shamo Chicken/軍鶏 he bred himself until 4-month old with the best feed and environment available in his farm.
Enormous chicken! Look at that neck!

Not only he brought them, but went through the cutting demonstration no less than 3 times!

Although revellers kept at the safe distance lots of questions were asked and most amiably answered!

That knife was flying, I can tell you!

Et voila! All cut and ready. All in less than 3 minutes!

Oh, I forgot to tell you:
All the meat, beef, pork, chicken and some vegetables were exclusively grilled over charcoal!

Now, are you convinced than a mere BBQ can be called gastronomic?

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

Oshizushi/Pressed Sushi Techniques 2: Seared Prime Beef/Gyuniku Aburi

SYNOPSIS:

Sushi exists under many forms and guises.
It is not all nigiri and (more ubiquitous) sushi rolls!
Have you ever heard of Oshizushi?

Oshizushi (押し寿司, litterally pressed sushi), is a pressed sushi from the Kansai Region, a favourite and specialty of Osaka.

Oshibako unmounted

It is made with the help of a block-shaped piece formed using a wooden mold, called an oshibako/押し箱.

Oshibako lined with toppings

The chef lines the bottom of the oshibako with the toppings, covers them with sushi rice, and then presses the lid of the mold down to create a compact, rectilinear block.

Cutting Grilled Eel Oshizushi

The block is then removed from the mold and then cut into bite-sized pieces.

It is great fun to experiment at home for large parties or the family as you can include almost anything.
Moreover, oshizuhi is easy to transport and include in bento!

The recipes and techniques I’m introducing here are professional, but with a little practice I’m sure you will become a specialist

1)Salmon Marinated in Seaweed/Sake Sushi Konbushime

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Japanese prime beef has become a registered trademark all over the world be it from Kobe or other regions.
The present sushi was made with “Kuroge Gyuniku/黒毛牛肉/Black Hair Beef from animals raised to the age of 12 months in Fukui Prefecture.
Do check the origin of your beef!

When preparing this slightly extravagant sushi, choose a large slice of prime beef with plenty of “fat veins” as shown on the above picture.
Don’t choose too thick or too thin, either. Think of the proportion of the beef and rice. Bear in mind that the the seared beef will also loose some of its thickness.

Sprinkle the beef with quality ground balck pepper and salt.
Sear it or grill it lightly on both sides quickly.
This process will enhance the sweetness of the meat.

-Slice the meat into bite-sized portions as shown in above picture at a slant after having cut off the fatty extremity.

Lay the bottom of the oshibako/box with slices of beef as shown in above picture in a “staggering” fashion. If you don’t, the slices will slideaway from each other.
Cover with shiso/perilla leaves.
Cover with sushi rice and press.

Soften light seaweed in lukewarm water and spread it over a clean cloth.
Unloose the sushi out of its box.
The beef should be on top.
Spread the light seaweed over the top.
Cut to size and serve immediately for maximum enjoyment!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Sushi Nomads, Oyster Culture

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

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