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Turnip-steamed tilefish (ginkgo nuts, shimeji, wood ear mushroom, Domyoji rice)

This time, on 'steamed dishes,' I learned from chef Yamamoto (Azabu-Jūban, Azabu Nagasaka Sarashina Honten). This time I take up 'kabura-mushi.'

Gekko Lily Bulb and Yumepirika Rice-Steamed Manju

This is the rice course made with Gekko lily bulb, a Hokkaido overwintered vegetable known as the "miracle lily bulb." Gekko lily bulb and Hokkaido…

• Serves 1 · ¥220

• Cook time 1 hr

Sake-steamed abalone marinated in hishio and soy sauce, abalone-liver somen, saimaki prawn with ginkgo nut, yellow chrysanthemum and garland chrysanthemum greens dressed in hishio, roe-bearing sweetfish overnight-dried, aigamo duck simmered in hishio and soy sauce, chicken tenderloin in a tartare-style dressing

I prepared five drinking accompaniments to go with sake. For the sake-steamed abalone marinated in hishio and soy sauce, the abalone is steamed with…

• ¥300

• Cook time 40 min

Spicy cod roe cheese, oyster nori rolls, yam and bottarga, smoked salmon lotus root rolls, ginkgo nuts

We arranged this as a small appetizer-style plate. For the mentaiko cheese, process cheese is cut into small cubes, steamed, and combined with…

Lotus root, deep-fried and served in dashi

This is single dish course four: lotus root agedashi. Grated lotus root loses its flavor if squeezed too hard, so squeeze out just a little of the…

• ¥490

• Cook time 25 min

Pike conger and matsutake, gently simmered

This is what's known as a 'deai-mono' — a dish pairing two ingredients that come into season together — for autumn. It's a simple dish you often see…

• Serves 4 · ¥5,000

• Cook time 20 min

Matsutake mushroom simmered shigure-style, mackerel checkerboard pressed sushi, lily bulb with chrysanthemum fragrance, sweetfish grilled with its own roe, yam bulbils in a diced coating, mustard-stuffed lotus root, mochi and ginkgo nuts tossed with sea urchin

Pike conger karaage

This is the prep work for hamo. At my restaurant we process hamo by boiling it whole, so when I source hamo, I ask the supplier not to remove the…

• Serves 1 · ¥700

• Cook time 5 min

Chrysanthemum and grated daikon salad, octopus simmered with adzuki beans, monkfish liver in savory aspic, morel, papaya, and white kidney bean tofu dressing, Tatsutagawa tofu, served in a kabosu shell, hagi shinjo

For the octopus simmered with adzuki beans, briefly parboiling the octopus in tea first turns it a deep red color. I then simmer it slowly in…

Rice-bale-shaped deep-fried oyster; set cheese; sazanka-style lily bulb, and more

These are from the tray course. For the oyster tawara-age: sandwich bread is thinly sliced to about 2-3 mm, cut into strips roughly 3 cm long, and…

Blanched pike conger and grilled eggplant in amber jelly, kuruma prawn and udo rolled in a parchment-style wrap, aigamo duck wrapped and grilled with matsutake, Pacific saury with motte-giku chrysanthemum in an apple vinegar dressing, small turnip simmered in all-purpose dashi, bonito skin simmered in tamari, whiting grilled jade-green, and pumpkin and cheese moon-viewing dumplings

For the appetizer's pike conger and grilled eggplant set in amber jelly, the pike conger has been quickly blanched, but since it can be eaten as…

Smoked Winter Mackerel, Beef Tongue Temari Sushi, Cod Roe Karasumi, Beni-Fuji Salmon Shira-ae, Tatami Iwashi and Cheese Hakata-maki

This is a dish paired with Japanese white wine produced in Yamanashi Prefecture. This is an appetizer course. For the smoked winter mackerel, the…

• Serves 1 · ¥450

• Cook time 1 hr

Kumquat and egg miso-marinade, chestnut in its spiky burr shape, persimmon shinjo, grilled ginkgo nuts, acorn-shaped sweet bean, stone-roasted sweet potato, sweet potato in maple-leaf shape, sweet potato in ginkgo-leaf shape

Based on the menu we normally serve our guests, since it was October, I added playful touches to the appetizer course, such as styling the whole…

Rolled yellowtail namasu, horse meat wrapped in yuba, taro and mentaiko naruto-roll, chicken liver, cheese, and foie gras terrine in red wine, autumn-leaf tofu, mochi ginkgo nut, fig hakata terrine

These are the appetizers. For the rolled yellowtail namasu, I chop dried persimmon with a knife, knead it by hand, and bind it with a small amount of…

Yuzu-shell grilled dish, carrot castella, pine-needle-skewered ginkgo nuts, yellowtail wrapped in daikon and grilled, simmered abalone

The appetizer course is plated in the same dish as the grilled course, each item served separately. For the yuzu-shell grilled dish: the milt is…

Niigata Noppe

A modern take on regional cuisine Original regional dish: Niigata noppe Wanting to preserve the 'deliciousness' handed down since long ago for a…

• Serves 4 · ¥1,000

• Cook time 2 hr

Dual-purpose ingredient dish: crispy black-purple rice

During the pandemic there was a period when ingredients were hard to come by, so I had to cook with whatever limited ingredients I had on hand. I'd…

• Serves 1 · ¥575

• Cook time 20 min

Wagyu roast, low-temperature cooked, marinated in fermented seasoning paste and soy sauce

This is the additional course. For the wagyu roast, I used hishio, miso-damari with garlic, and miso-damari with garlic and soy sauce to draw out the…

Himi Yellowtail Turnip Roll

As for the mochi-ginkgo in this simmered dish, if you deep-fry it plain, without any coating, oil gets in, so it's better to dust it lightly in a…

Chrysanthemum-dressed blend, jellied fugu, monkfish liver in amber jelly, turnip and salmon layered roll, yuba white blend

This is the starter course, made up of five dishes, though normally each is served individually. The first is the chrysanthemum-dressed blend…

Young kuruma prawn grilled with an egg-yolk glaze, duck layered and steamed Hakata-style, ginkgo cracker, tube-cut burdock, grilled turnip bed-pickled, and ginkgo-leaf tofu

For the saimaki kimi-yaki, I take the core removed when making the kuda-gobō and let it absorb a thin happō-dashi. I use raw fish paste mixed with…

Takikomi Gohan: Matsutake and Ginkgo Rice

Here I introduce a dish from our restaurant. 'Matsutake and ginkgo rice' is a dish I devised valuing the aroma that conveys the season, arriving the…

Ginkgo tofu, scallop and avocado wasabi-dressed salad, smoked salmon and watermelon radish kinuta-maki roll, and more

First is the appetizer course. Ginkgo tofu normally uses kombu dashi, but this time soy milk was used instead. It is worked together from a ratio of…

Matsutake tofu, turnip, eggplant, lotus root, sweet potato, barracuda, and crab

First is the appetizer course. This is matsutake tofu, using the quintessential taste of autumn. It is based on soy milk sold locally, and by adding…

• ¥680

• Cook time 2 hr