'Whale' — whale throat cartilage (Onagawa's traditional food culture: 'Whale')

This is the appetizer course. Taking as its theme the 'whale culture' rooted in Onagawa, a town on the eastern side of Miyagi Prefecture, I hoped that eating 'whale' — a food ingredient long part of Japan's heritage — could be a chance to reconsider this traditional food culture. Saezuri is whale tongue, a rare cut that is rich in fat and very tender. It carries a strong, distinctive odor, so after soaking it thoroughly in water overnight, I simmer it for a long time in hot water with okara, which removes the smell entirely. In this state, I serve it with a good hit of vinegar for a refreshingly clean flavor.
I borrowed the word 'date' — meaning stylish or flamboyant — from Date Masamune, the Warring States-era warlord associated with Sendai, 'the City of Trees,' and used it as inspiration for a vessel that is a little unconventional and showy, evoking that same association.