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Thin Kuzu-Thickened Broth: Softshell Turtle and Millet Manju

For the soup course, since there was a time when millet and buckwheat were the staple foods in Shinshu, I made a softshell turtle (suppon) and millet…

Grilled daikon cup, sea bream kimono-style roll, mustard-grilled beef, tsu-curled shrimp, daruma-shaped burdock, sea urchin-grilled scallop

For the celebratory course's grilled daikon cup: I simmer the daikon, brush it with salad oil or olive oil scented with yuzu, then grill it, fill it…

Orange Chrysanthemum Confection

Orange chrysanthemum confection came from wanting to make chrysanthemum, the flower that represents this season, so I tried my hand at a…

Whiting deep-fried Daitokuji style, two-way arrowhead-root fish-paste dumpling, freshly ground yam bulbil deep-fry

The kisu Daitokuji-style deep-fry can be eaten just fine on the saltiness that the Daitokuji natto (a salty, fermented soybean condiment) itself…

Pacific saury heshiko

Right about this time of year, Pacific saury is at its very best, so I tried making it into a rice-bran fermented pickle. However, saury at this time…

Pufferfish milt checkerboard tofu, first-frost style

For the clear-soup course, I finely minced mountain yam and stirred it into a lightly kuzu-thickened soup broth, styling it after the first frost.

Kashima clam fish-paste dumpling

Steamed Ume Rice, Hatchō Miso Soup, and Pickles

Hitachi akisoba buckwheat

Icefish and wasabi flowers with a mild vinegar dressing

Dressed with irizake

The appetizer course should be something we can serve guests right away and that pairs well with sake — and since it's the first thing served, we try…

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day, I added purple-black rice to the chocolate mousse to bring in a touch of washoku (Japanese-cuisine) flavor.

Mountain yam and Japanese trefoil

Mountain yam and mitsuba

Spiny lobster and sea urchin

For the grilled course, the roast duck (aigamo) chive roll: clean the duck, score the fat, sear it once in a frying pan, sandwich it with vegetable…

Conger eel steamed rice

Yuzu shell, glass ayu and taro sushi, miso-marinated wild boar, simmered juvenile sea bream, deep-fried butterbur sprout, usui pea terrine, sea bream roe

Yellowtail and daikon

The small-bowl course's yellowtail and daikon is made by wrapping yellowtail in grated daikon radish to form a manju. When shaping it into a manju…

Shrimp-shaped taro simmered with chrysanthemum, raw cod roe kombu roll, Chinese water chestnut wrung in cloth, plum-cut carrot, fragrant wild mushroom simmered with pickled plum, spiny lobster in a kuzu-thickened simmer, early butterbur stalk simmered green

For the simmered dishes, the chrysanthemum-simmered shrimp-shaped taro is first simmered in a seasoned broth, and once it is lightly cooked through…

Tilefish grilled with a dappled fawn pattern, Noda-style grilled beef and kinpira burdock, pufferfish leek roll

As for the grilled beef and kinpira burdock Noda-style grill, beef and burdock turn out to go together surprisingly well — I think it makes for an…

Octopus simmered in fish sauce

Rock oyster wrapped in kadaif, young kuruma prawn wrapped with green papaya, small myoga wrapped with cheese, and freshly ground hoshiko deep-fried

For the fried young kuruma prawn (saimaki) wrapped with green papaya, since summer tends to cause indigestion, we used green papaya, which contains…

Ise lobster simmered with fermented black beans, sweetfish simmered with plum, small taro simmered golden-style, winter melon simmered in salt, red konjac finished with a pan-simmered touch, hyacinth bean

The fermented black beans used in the simmered Ise lobster with fermented black beans are a Chinese ingredient, similar to Daitokuji natto or…

Summer Vegetable Surinagashi

For the summer vegetable pureed soup, Romanesco and onion are simmered together with hard clams and bacon; once the dashi flavor has come out, the…

Plum Delight