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Crab deep-fried tofu fritter, matsutake mushroom in light batter, autumn eggplant fried and then simmered, millet wheat-gluten cake deep-fried and simmered, leaf-shaped kabocha squash simmered to soak in the broth

This is a simmered dish. The crab hiryōzu is made from a base of pressed tofu, fish paste (surimi), and grated mountain yam mixed together, into…

Corn tofu, fruit tomato stuffed with prosciutto mousse, salt-fermented pike conger roe

What is served in the glass vessel is a small palate-opening course. What is in the hollowed-out kabosu shell is hamo roe shiokara. The swim bladder…

Quail Shinjo

For the clear-soup course, the quail shinjo, we start by making the niyose (a simmered-and-set preparation). We combine 60% of the twice-ground quail…

Warm-smoked mallet-shaped roll, rolled dried baby-sardine sheet, sansho-leaf dressed dish, layered black soybeans, monkfish liver egg-yolk-batter fried

For the tatami iwashi yatsuhashi, I spread a thin layer of shrimp fish paste onto the tatami iwashi, a sheet of dried baby sardines, roll it around a…

Beef tongue rolled cylinder, new potatoes in butter

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

Miso-and-sake-lees-cured monkfish liver, wrapped in green onion

For the appetizer course's miso-and-sake-lees-cured ankimo wrapped in green onion, I remove the thin membrane from the monkfish liver, soak it in…

Oil-Poached Sardines, Conger Eel Kombu Roll, Pike Conger and Winter Melon Roll

These are the simmered dishes. For simmered dish one, oil-poached sardines: the sardines are steeped in olive oil as if marinating them, then cooked…

Smoked Bonito, Seared Live Conger Eel

This is a vinegared course. For the smoked bonito, we smoke the silver skin of bonito that has been briefly blanched in hot water. Line a frying pan…

Grilled lotus-root cake, julienned vegetable clear soup

This is the soup course. For the grilled lotus-root cake, when making the lotus-root cake I add a little lily-bulb paste and glutinous rice flour…

Akebono Pinecone-Scored Squid Stuffed with Minced Tuna

This is the festive appetizer. For the Akebono Pinecone-Scored Squid Stuffed with Minced Tuna, since it is "akebono" (dawn), the red part — the…

Hatoshi with Baby Tiger Prawn

This is the fried course. As for the hatoshi with baby tiger prawn, I'm originally from Nagasaki, and hatoshi is a dish that came from China — it's…

Lily bulb steamed bun, halfbeak chrysanthemum sushi, chrysanthemum-carved turnip, tubular chrysanthemum cheese, eel baked in pastry

In place of a standard appetizer course, I made everything in a single chrysanthemum theme, with every dish styled to resemble a chrysanthemum. For…

Mugwort Tofu, Mt. Fuji Salmon Marinade

Starting with the appetizers: mugwort tofu. Setting mugwort alone in kombu dashi does not bring out enough flavor, so I add ground sesame at half the…

Mochi ginkgo, shimeji and duck jibu-ni, manganji pepper stuffing, turban shell liver salad, and more

The mochi ginkgo is made by cooking ginkgo nuts through, pressing them through a fine sieve, mixing them with glutinous rice flour, steaming, and…

Sweet potato simmered with sugar, Kyoto-style, duck pickled in kyo-koji, hairy crab hermit-crab-style with gelatin vinegar, and more

For the duck kyo-koji pickle, the fatty side of the duck is first seared to render off some fat, then steeped overnight in kyo-koji. The duck is then…

Shuto-cured dried conger eel, splendid alfonsino in chilled aspic, octopus rolled with sprouts, and more

For the upside-down egg cured in Saikyo white miso, the contents are removed from the egg, only the yolk is put back in and steamed, then the egg…

Tilefish steamed with yuba

The steamed dish is tilefish steamed with yuba. Well, since it is New Year's after all, one might want to use red sea bream, whose name puns with…

Conger eel yawata-maki

Soy pulp and soy milk sponge cake

The okara and soy-milk castella comes out with a texture something like cheesecake. Because I strain the okara through water before using it, there's…

Two-Color Dumplings with Sesame

For the two-color dumplings with sesame, the kabocha squash and green peas are each steamed and pressed through a fine sieve; we mix in rice flour —…

Pine cone abalone, daisen-ni; molded sea cucumber; honeycomb tripe, Yamato style; rein-pattern sushi; plum-blossom lily bulb; green-fleshed daikon and bottarga

For the celebratory course's pine cone abalone daisen-ni, I score a small abalone into a pine-cone pattern, then rehydrate it for about six hours in…

Winter melon in its shell, skin-on steamed Ishikawa baby taro, tender-simmered octopus, pumpkin, savory shiitake

This is an assortment of separately simmered ingredients. For the tender-simmered octopus, we remove the sliminess with rice bran, tenderize it by…

Fugu milt steamed in a yuzu shell, herring roe sprout roll, monkfish liver mousse

This is the appetizer course. For the fugu milt steamed in a yuzu shell, meringue and milt are combined and lightly salted. Into this we mix chia…

Beef fillet seared in oil, smoke-flavored, with mustard sauce, beltfish grilled with kenchin vegetable filling, sakura shrimp and cheese cracker