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Blended miso style, diced fried tofu

For the soup course, Tokyo guests tend not to favor the mellow, heavy flavor of white miso, so I made a blended-miso style by combining white miso…

Phyllo-wrapped bake

For the grilled course's phyllo-wrapped bake, pate filo is something like the wrapper used for Middle Eastern spring rolls. It comes in thin sheets…

Simmered Course

For the simmered course, shishi daikon is normally made as a sweet-and-savory simmered dish of wild boar and daikon, but in the Chichibu region it…

Translucent baby conger eel

For the vinegared course, the noresore, translucent baby conger eel, is washed thoroughly in a seawater-strength salt brine, and served in a mild…

Duck meat, tofu skin layered and grilled, young sansho leaf, and grated daikon

Okoze steamed Yōrō Falls-style

The clear-soup course is okoze, steamed in the style of the Yōrō Falls legend. Since okoze pairs well with oil, I salt it and then deep-fry it…

Sesame-vinegar dressed salad

For the sesame-vinegar dressed dish, since fava beans weren't available, I substituted edamame that I pressed through a sieve and shaped to look like…

Softshell Turtle and Sansho Pepper Aspic Molded with Summer Daikon

The chilled dish softshell turtle and sansho pepper aspic molded with summer daikon is made by filleting the turtle in the usual way, quick-blanching…

Scallop shinjo deep-fried with yuzu, shrimp deep-fried with pine nuts, and monkfish liver wrapped in a pressed dried sardine sheet and deep-fried

Fukiyose Salad-Style Assortment, Kombu-Cured Sea Bream, Seared Scallop, Chrysanthemum-Cured Sweet Shrimp

This variation on the sashimi course is prepared salad-style and served with a Japanese-style dressing. The sweet shrimp is tossed with land caviar…

Vegetable Kakiage, Toji-age, Ginkgo Nut Spring Rolls

Since the serving dish for the fried course is large, we finished it light and fluffy, but the original idea was actually xiaolongbao (soup…

Beltfish and tofu, kuruma prawn simmered in sake and salt, chrysanthemum-cut baby turnip, scallop coated in egg yolk

Light kuzu-thickened clear soup, fugu milt tofu, and kinko ikomi

For the kinko ikomi in the clear soup, we soak the kinko (a prized species of sea cucumber) in water mixed with straw ash and leave it for about…

Shogoin turnip pureed soup, tilefish, matsutake mushroom, and lotus-root roll

Herring simmered in sweet soy, checkerboard conger eel roll with dried gourd strips, oil-fried Dutch-style set egg

For the simmered course's herring kanroni, soft-dried herring is easier to work with, but hard-dried is tastier. I'm particular about the…

Unagi Inro-ni

Stuffed, simmered eel: grill until fragrant, then steam. Piercing the bone from both sides with a skewer loosens it for removal. Insert udo and…

Kombu-Pressed Fugu

This would normally be a straightforward sashimi course, but this time I used fugu (pufferfish). For the kombu-pressed fugu, I sandwich the fugu…

Japanese Parsley and Yellowtail Toji-Maki

This is the fried course. For the Japanese parsley and yellowtail rolls wrapped in yuba — named for Toji temple's famous tofu — I simmer the…

Shamo-Rock chicken sukiyaki

For the additional hearty course, shamo-rock chicken torisuki, we use Otome no Namida (a very sweet cherry tomato variety). It was used with a…

Spiny lobster simmered in the shell with sesame miso, diamond cherry-blossom taro

The simmered assortment course is Ise lobster gusoku-ni with sesame miso. I made a base of sesame miso, light-colored soy sauce, and mirin, thinned…

Three-flavor grilled dace

Kuruma Prawn Simmered in Sake

This is starter two (Aio). Aio Bay was the first place in Japan to begin kuruma prawn aquaculture. As always, we simmer it in sake. Anno sweet potato…

Clam clear soup with an egg to sip

Mantis Shrimp Peacock, Tea-Flower Lily Bulb, Karasumi and Mini Melon Checkerboard, Mukago with Ocean-Scented Kuzu Suisen

This is an appetizer course. For the mantis shrimp peacock, the mantis shrimp is boiled in salted sake, then shelled, and rolled up with thin egg…