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Shrimp and angelica herb rolls, 'fresh greenery' deep-fry; Ishikawa taro, sesame-coated and deep-fried

For the deep-fried dish, shrimp-and-ashitaba (a Japanese angelica herb) rolls, 'fresh greenery' style: rather than boiling the ashitaba, I saute it…

Largehead beltfish, stuffed and grilled Horikawa-style

The grilled course's largehead beltfish Horikawa-style -- a style named for Kyoto's hollow Horikawa burdock, here applied by wrapping the fish itself…

Small bowl: snow peas and new burdock, tofu-dressed

Sakura-chaya was founded in Showa 8 — 1933 — and is the third-oldest established ryotei, a traditional Japanese restaurant, in Mukojima, a district…

Tender-simmered yellowtail with a thickened sauce

The larch bolete mushroom in this simmered dish is one that's salt-preserved in places like Shinshu, Nagano; we boil it, rinse it in water, and let…

Turban shell baked in its shell and served in a clear broth with julienned vegetables, fat greenling grilled on bamboo leaf

This is a grilled dish. As for the turban shell tsuboyaki in sawani-jitate broth, a plain tsuboyaki wouldn't be very interesting, and since it's the…

Smoked Carp

This is smoked carp. I shortened the steam-roasting time to keep the carp's flesh juicy. Fillet the carp into three pieces without rupturing the gall…

Momiji-wan

This is the soup course. For the momiji-wan, I made something like a light clear soup with julienned vegetables and meat using pike conger skin…

Young sweetfish steamed with kelp

This is a vinegared dish. The young ayu is sandwiched between sheets of tart shiraita kombu (thin sheet kelp) and steamed; since this also falls on a…

Baby taro in a stone-wall pattern, fern shoots wrapped in tofu skin, eggplant simmered with bonito flakes

This is a simmered dish. The stone-wall-style baby taro is steamed in an egg batter — with no dashi in the batter itself — before being simmered in…

Taro, water bamboo, bigfin reef squid deep-fried in toasted grain flour, maitake mushroom, small shrimp

Pacific saury with spicy dressing

Steamed in Soft-Shell Turtle Broth

This is the steamed course. For the mozzarella cheese tofu, since mozzarella doesn't melt easily, we add Parmesan, milk, and ground sesame, then heat…

Conger eel and summer vegetables with black vinegar glaze

This is the deep-fried course. For the anago and summer vegetables with black vinegar glaze, pouring the black vinegar glaze over them makes for a…

Three appetizers: taro, octopus, and pumpkin

These are the three appetizer dishes. Taro, octopus, and pumpkin are standard in summer simmered dishes, but this time I used them for the appetizer…

Snowmelt-style clear soup

This is the snowmelt-style soup course. I am often asked the difference between two bases: shinjo, a fish-paste dumpling, and hanpen, a steamed fish…

Kuruma-prawn-and-asparagus stuffed deep-fry, lotus-root and shrimp-shinjo sandwich deep-fry, bundled icefish in egg-yolk batter, koshiabura in light batter

For the kuruma-prawn-and-asparagus stuffed deep-fry, one of the fried dishes, I remove the shell from the kuruma prawn and make a cut down the…

Chicken Egg Clear Soup

For the chicken egg clear soup, egg yolk, water, and potato starch are first dissolved together, then thinned out with chicken bone broth. If the…

Snow crab fine-julienne fried, seasoned crisp-fried pufferfish

This is the palate-changer course. For snow crab kinshi-age, we cut Meikuin potatoes into fine strands, soak them well, blanch them with gardenia…

Steamed Shellfish, Its Own Liver, Okra and Wild Yam Terrine

The tray course is steamed shellfish. "Steamed shellfish" here usually means abalone, and since abalone liver is delicious too, I press the liver…

Ise spiny lobster, Rikyu-style simmered

The simmered dish is Ise spiny lobster, Rikyu-style simmered (rikyu-ni, a classic preparation named for the tea master Sen no Rikyu). I lightly grill…

Seared flathead cured with kombu, consomme jelly glaze

For the seared flathead cured with kombu and consomme jelly glaze: I filleted the flathead into three pieces as usual, removed the skin, and cured it…

Three-color chakin-shibori

For the appetizer I made three-color chakin-shibori, cloth-twisted parcels. I dissolve dashi, agar, and gelatin together to give it a savory…

Tilefish wakasa-yaki

The grilled dish is tilefish, finished with a sake-soy glaze. Udo simmered pale is arranged in Hakata style, plated over a bed of kinome miso. The…

Kuzu Peony, Shiso-Pickled Quail Egg

For the kuzu peony, live small kuruma prawns are shelled, roughly minced, and pan-cooked in sake. Lily bulb is peeled apart petal by petal, steamed…