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Sweet shrimp with salt-cured shrimp-head paste dressing

For sweet shrimp with uzui dressing, we use the head paste of maki-ebi shrimp that has been salt-cured and preserved. This keeps well for six months…

Snow Crab and Vegetables in Citrus Dressing

The course marking the end of the sake dishes, snow crab and vegetables in citrus dressing, is, in essence, vegetable ohitashi mixed with snow crab…

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…

Bluefin tuna cut into small cubes, Ise lobster rinsed in equal parts sake and water, sea bream rolled with mixed julienned vegetables, cuttlefish

Halfbeak okara-pressed sushi

For the sayori kirazu sushi, we blanch the okara — also called kirazu — briefly in hot water and squeeze it dry, season it the same way as sushi…

Winter yellowtail simmered Arima-style with sansho pepper, kuruma prawn with daikon simmered snow-ring style

This is the simmered course. For the kuruma prawn with snow-ring daikon, we remove the prawn's head, skewer it straight using the noshi-gushi…

Deep-fried shrimp shinjo, rice-bale style

This is the fried course. For the shrimp fish-paste dumpling tawara-age, we lay plastic wrap over a bamboo rolling mat, arrange boiled green-tea soba…

Snow Crab Wrapped Hōsho-Style

This is the vinegared course. For the snow crab wrapped hosho-style, I salt-boil the crab, remove the meat, take out the cartilage, and wrap the crab…

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…

Red shrimp Shōnai-style pickle

This is the tōshi-zakana course. The irizake, a traditional plum-and-sake seasoning, used for the Shōnai-style pickled red shrimp is made by slowly…

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…

Winter melon, fried tofu, young kuruma prawn

The azukebachi — a shared simmered course — is an assortment of ingredients, each simmered separately and served together. In June and July I often…

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…

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…

Today's Catch, Five-Kind Assortment

Conger eel and shrimp-shaped taro, deep-fried and simmered

Roasted Spiny Lobster with Shio-Koji, Served with Ponzu, Diced Beef, White Asparagus, Manganji Pepper, Sansho Pepper Blossoms

Clear broth, burdock shinjo

Shrimp-shaped taro simmered to absorb the broth

For the simmered assortment's ebi-imo simmered to absorb the broth, if you don't have rice-rinsing water on hand, parboil it in rice bran instead…

Spiny lobster simmered in the shell, with garland chrysanthemum greens

Rolled shrimp sandwiched with bottarga, abalone fried in a white-fan shape, ginkgo nuts

For the abalone hakusen-age, I rinse the abalone in mura (soy sauce), dust it with potato starch, and finish it as a white-fan fry.

Uni and kumquat

For the soup-course dish uni and kumquat, since it's New Year's, I added glutinous rice flour to bring out a mochi-like texture. With plum-shaped…

Crab, Scallop, and Fresh Suizenji Nori Hakata-Style

For the vinegared dish, I made a Hakata-style arrangement of steamed and mashed scallop, fresh Suizenji nori, a rare freshwater alga, set with…