Winter melon serving bowl

Togan-gama, made using one whole winter melon, is also a dish devised by our founder. Lift the lid off the refreshingly cool-looking togan-gama, and inside is a piping-hot simmered assortment. This noppei stew, enjoyed with a touch of squeezed ginger juice as an accent, warms a body chilled by air conditioning and calls in a sense of summer coolness. We serve it in front of the guest set on a Rosanjin-style cutting-board plate lined with plain bleached cotton cloth (sarashi).

1. To preserve the winter melon's green color, peel it as thinly as possible, taking off only the very surface of the skin.

2. Cut the winter melon into bite-sized pieces, and peel the Ishikawa baby taro into rounded shapes. Choose smaller dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrate them, and simmer them in a light seasoning. Use maki-grade kuruma prawns of about 20 g each, and thin slices of aigamo duck meat of about 10 g each. Blanch the okra to bring out its color before using.

3. Simmer each ingredient separately in a light seasoning, then finally combine everything and simmer together in the cooking broth, thicken it with kuzu starch, and pack it into the pre-warmed togan-gama, then serve in front of the guest. Portion it out into individual vessels, one serving each, with squeezed ginger juice as the accent.

Shinbashi Kanetanaka