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Pike conger coated in kuzu starch, reconstituted pickled plum, small melon, Bubu-arare

This time, on the 'soup-bowl course,' I learned from chef Katō (Meguro Gajoen). This time I take up the 'hamo soup bowl.'

Kuruma prawn snake's-eye umbrella, abalone tender-simmered, octopus grilled with sansho pepper, pumpkin carved as a frog, mountain yam hydrangea

Five appetizers. For the kuruma prawn janome-gasa, a skewer is run through the kuruma prawn and it is curled, topped with wakame, wrapped up with…

Tai milt, beef tongue and corn fritter, new onions from Awaji Island

For the fried course, tai milt. This too is something I froze in water for storage back when it was plentiful and in good supply. I coat this milt…

Hydrangea Garnish

The base of the appetizer's hydrangea garnish is soy milk tofu, set with 900cc of soy milk, two sheets of gelatin, white wine, and a little sugar…

Conger eel, firewood-bundle style; pike conger deep-fried with plum fragrance; edamame kakiage; deep-fried lotus root; wild garlic deep-fried in egg-yolk batter

Arrow-Fletching Whale, Pinwheel Carp, Whiting Wind-Streamers, and Chicken Liver Greens Roll

Our restaurant has many occasions to use whale, so for the arrow-fletching whale appetizer I used whale bacon. The bigfin reef squid layered together…

Sea Bream Milt Kan and Sake-Simmered Sea Bream and Bamboo Shoot

This makes use of sea bream milt. I myself love fishing, and sea bream is a special ingredient — good to catch and good to eat. Its seasons are…

• Serves 1 · ¥1,000

• Cook time 1 hr

June tofu simmered with egg yolk, pike conger kenchin roll, sake-simmered kuruma shrimp

This is the simmered course. The simmered minazuki tofu with egg yolk, prepared for June, is made by rehydrating azuki beans without breaking them…

Fresh water shield jelly, white asparagus with saikyo vinegar made from sweet white miso

As this is the June menu, the appetizer's fresh junsai jelly is plated to evoke passing through a ring of woven reeds used in the mid-year…

Deep-fried corn

Thread-wound tilefish, octopus hidden in seaweed, white taro stem, tube-cut burdock, maple-shaped fu

The simmered course I've named thread-wound tilefish. I wrap the tilefish in winter melon, and over that I wind strands of fish worked into…

Small clam adductor steamed dumpling and winter melon

Seafood Washoku Gratin

The seafood washoku gratin uses rice porridge, since this is a Japanese dish. I've added matcha, but since that makes it a little bitter, I've also…

Softly simmered whale skin, crab and eggplant steamed Hakata-style, and new potatoes in sweet soy glaze

For the simmered dish, the softly simmered whale skin: the whale skin is parboiled in rice-bran water, rinsed in cold water, then gently simmered in…

Ise Lobster Umani, Thistle-Cut Winter Melon, Shikishi-Cut Kabocha, Sea Bream Roe and Shiitake Simmered Together, and Brussels Sprouts

This simmered assortment (takiawase) is actually a chilled simmered dish. I tried topping it with a jelly made from a rich, flavorful dashi.

Soup finished with soba-boiling water

Yamagata is known for its soba, and since soba groats keep well, I use them often. Here I mixed them into a pounded shrimp fish-paste dumpling to…

Char dusted with kuzu starch

This is a clear-soup course. For the char dusted with kuzu starch: the char is cleaned, salted, cut into fillets, and given fine cross-cuts…

Conger Eel Sushi

These are the three sushi. At our restaurant, we always make a point of including sushi when serving the appetizer course, and it has gone over very…

Eel grilled as cattail spikes, salt-grilled young ayu, young sea bass oil-passed grill

This is the grilled course. To evoke a June waterside scene, I styled the eel as cattail flower spikes. The cattail spike is also the origin of the…

Isoyoi, Kinki Yaki-Hitashi, Hakata-Style Steamed Napa Cabbage

Three appetizers. Isoyoi is a name I coined myself: it combines sea squirt, squid shiokara, and dried yamakaigetsu. Shiokara here is a salted…

Young sea bass, oil-grilled

The grilled course is oil-grilled young sea bass. Both sweetfish and young sea bass are sometimes eaten with smartweed vinegar, but rather than…

Black Abalone

For the black abalone, abalone and daikon are placed together in a vacuum-sealed bag and steamed as is. This creates what is essentially a…

Conger Eel Tōji-Maki, Simmered Duck Loin, Ginger-Simmered Rolled Shrimp

For the simmered course, the conger eel tōji-maki (a yuba-wrapped preparation named for Tōji temple) is wrapped in the green outer leaves of round…

Whelk and potato-noodle steamed dish

The "mosso-gai" in the mosso-gai and potato-noodle steamed dish is a shellfish — a type of whelk — caught from the Sanriku coast up through Hokkaido…