Japanese New Year’s, or O-shogatsu is a celebration with ancient roots and perhaps the most prominent aspect of it is food and drink. Osechi ryori, or New Year’s cuisine is preserved food and is intended to last for several days. Osechi is richly fortified with cultural metaphor and visual symbolism. Traditionally this was the only time of the year that the mother of the family got several days holiday. Some families still make their own osechi but it is very time consuming and now it is common to order your osechi at a department store or a famous restaurant in early autumn. Kichisen’s osechi is spectacular; preparation starts in July, it serves 5, contains 41 kinds of food and comes in a one of a kind white lacquered box inspired by Shinto shrines, start saving now for next year because it costs about $1,500 USD.

Japanese New Year and Food and Drink
Shimenawa しめ縄: Rice straw ornament with mikan tangerine or other regional citrus fruit used to decorate the house, especially the entry.
Kagami Mochi 鏡餅: A ‘mochi display’ to welcome the God of the year to the home.
Otoso お屠蘇: Sake with Chinese medicinal herbs, shared by all family members to toast in a healthy year.
Osechi Ryori おせち料理: (what you are reading about)
Ozoni お雑煮: Mochi simmered in miso or sumashi soup, the taste and ingredients vary by region.

Origin of Osechi Ryori
O-shogatsu chopsticks, iwaibashi, have no handle, they are tapered on both ends; one side is for God and the other for a human. The osechi meal is one intended to be shared with God.

Osechi ryori is hozonshoku, or preserved food and still resembles what Japanese ate many centuries ago. Salt, vinegar and simmering is used to preserve the osechi food for several days. Traditionally the women of the family spent several days making the food and cleaning the house for the New Year’s celebration. During the several days of shogatsu, women generally did no work. This was their several days vacation out of the entire year.

Kichisen’s White ‘Jubako’ Lacquered Box

The green hollyhock leaf motif on the box is the symbol of Kichisen and it comes from the neighboring Shimogamo Shrine. Tanigawa made the first white lacquered box because osechi is cuisine to be eaten with God, and white, not black is the color of God in Japan, so Tanigawa changed his jubako box to white.

I, Peko, actually wanted to interview Tanigawa because I saw a photo of this white jubako, I actually didn’t know anything about him at the time. If you have seen a lot of lacquer ware, the first time you see this it is astounding, so simple, yet hugely powerful. It is quite astonishing that no one had thought of this before.

Kichisen’s Osechi
Kichisen’s osechi is traditional and orthodox. Preparation starts in summer and uses only the highest quality wild, natural ingredients and utilizes the latest in freezer technology. In July, wild natsu-matsutake, or ‘summer matsutake mushrooms’ are procured. As the shrimping season closes in November, wild shrimp are procured in October and frozen. Wild shrimp can be shelled while retaining the natural firmness, shape and texture of the meat, unlike farm raised, imported shrimp. Most osechi now, even expensive osechi, uses imported, farm raised shrimp.

Santa’s Workshop
So what are the 41 dishes in Tanigawa’s white lacquered boxes? Well, we are going over to Kichisen just as soon as we post this article to see and take some photos. Tanigawa and his students will be up all night getting the boxes ready to ship by ‘cool’ express delivery first thing in morning of December 30. Kichisen’s 2009 Osechi will arrive on December 31, just in time to eat first thing on New Year’s Day morning.

Kichisen’s ‘Old’ Osechi Jubako Box

Black, brown, gold, vermillion, natural wood are the conventional colors for lacquered jubako boxes. This was Kichisen’s design until five years ago when Tanigawa split with the crowd.

Unagi, or freshwater eel, is a very popular food in contemporary Japan and there is a dedicated ‘Eel Day’ in mid-summer (this year July 24th) on which most Japanese eat unagi.

This article tells about the development of unagi cuisine and history of the Ushinohi ‘Eel Day’ custom. This article tells about perhaps Kyoto’s most popular unagi restaurant.

Grilling Unagi at Nishiki Market

Unagi Donburi (Eel Bowl)

About Unagi
After Tokugawa Ieyasu succeeded in unifying Japan with his victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, the capital moved from Kyoto to his base, the provincial town of Edo (now called Tokyo, or ‘East Capital’). Transforming Edo into a modern capital of its day required, among other things, extensive land reclamation projects.

Reclamation projects created temporary lakes and ponds in which unagi quickly invaded and flourished. Land reclamation is low paying work so laborers would simply catch unagi ‘on site’ for free. Physical labor is very hard work and unagi which is high in fat gave laborers the required energy.

In the early Edo period (1603-1868) unagi was considered a low class and unsophisticated food due to the fact that it was caught, chopped, roasted and eaten in the field by laborers and also because of its high fat content.

By the late Edo period though this had changed due to various unagi cooking processes being developed in the capital, namely kabayaki. With kabayaki, fish, generally unagi, is boned, put on metal skewers and grilled over charcoal while being dipped in a thick, sweetened soy sauce several times throughout the grilling process.

Today, unagi kabayaki is usually served on top of rice, as donburi, or unagi-don.

Difference Between Kanto and Kansai Style Unagi
Kanto (eastern Japan/Tokyo) style unagi is first steamed, then grilled kabayaki style. The steaming process causes a good deal of the fat to be removed and the unagi flesh to be soft.

Kansai (western Japan/Osaka, Kyoto) style unagi is not steamed, and therefore it is more fatty and chewy.

Another interesting difference is the way the unagi is cleaned. Edo was the seat of the military (samurai) government of Japan and samurai sometimes had to commit ritual suicide (seppeku 切腹) by cutting their lower abdomen open and slowly bleeding to death in excruciating pain. The purveyors of unagi cuisine were sensitive to this as samurai were among their customers, accordingly they split the eel open from the back, not the stomach; Japanese love this kind of thing. Also, usually the head and tail was removed in the process, though not out of deference to samurai.

In Kansai, in the merchant city of Osaka, there was a saying, ‘talk with your stomach open’; be frank, open and honest. So, in Kansai, the eels were split down the stomach. The head and tail usually remained attached.

About the Ushinohi ‘Eel Day’ Custom
In modern-day Japan, most everyone eats unagi on the Doyo-no-ushi-no-hi (土用の丑の日). This year it is on July 24th, but it occurs one day between mid-July and the beginning of August. The simple explanation why is that this is the hottest time of the year and as unagi has lots of nutritional value and fat content, it gives you the umph to not wilt in the blazing, steamy summer heat.

Historical Development – Eat Eel on Ox Day!
The old calendar of Japan utilized the Chinese Zodiac system of a 12 year cycle with each year being named after one of 12 animals (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and boar). This is called eto (干支) in Japanese.

Doyo: Between each of the 4 seasons was a period called doyo (土用) that is 18 days in length. The doyo period between summer and autumn (mid-July to early August) is the hottest time of the year and unagi gives strength.

Ushinohi: The days of the week were also named after the same 12 animals and ushi-no-hi literally means ‘ox’s day’, ox is ushi in Japanese. Depending on the year, there could be 1 or 2 ox days during the summer doyo.

In Japan there had long been a superstition that if you ate a food that started with ‘u’, for example, umeboshi, udon, uri, unagi and so on, on ox (ushi) day, as both the day and the food started with ‘u’, you would be healthy.

During the Edo period in Edo an eel shop owner lamented his mid-summer poor sales and sought advice from Gennai Hiraga. Hiraga was a learned man; he was a naturalist, novelist, painter and master of Dutch studies (Western learning), especially science and medicine.

Hiraga said, why don’t you put up a sign that says, ‘Today is Ox (ushi) day, Eat Eel (unagi)!’ The eel shop owner did so and lamented no more and as people learned this was on the advice of Hiraga, other eel shops quickly followed suit and soon it had spread throughout the country and became a custom.

Nishiki Market – Unagi Shop

Nishiki Market – Unagi Shop

This is eel wrapped around gobo root stips and grilled.

Unagi Shop – Sold Out!

This is a very popular unagi store in Nishiki Market and it looks like they could not quite meet demand.

Unagi Shop – Sold Out!

It looks like they sold a lot of eel today!

Grilled Unagi Kimo (liver)

The ‘U’ in Unagi on Shop Sign

うなぎ is unagi, notice on the left how the う (u) is eel-shaped.

Nishiki Market – Grilling Eel

The row in the foreground hasn’t been dipped in sauce yet, so it is still very light in color.

Nishiki Market – Grilling Eel

The tub behind the dude is full of sauce and he dunks them in there several time.

Grilled Eel for Chazuke

Grilled and simmered in shoyu and sansho, small chunks are placed atop rice and eaten as is, or tea is poured over it to make chazuke. At 2,200 yen this is a good deal! Chazuke Unagi is very, very delicious. It is one of Peko’s all-time fav quick and tasty meals.

Nishiki Market – Eel Sushi for Sake

Daimaru Department Store – Eel Stand

These eel are from Lake Biwa, just over the mountain from Kyoto.

Eel Stand Offerings – Unagi Bento

Eel Stand Offerings – Unagi Tamago Dashimaki

This is a Japanese style omelet (tamago dashimaki) with unagi inside.

Daimaru Department Store – Eel Store

Daimaru Department Store – Eel Stand Offerings

Eel Store Offerings – Wild Grilled Eel

The grilled unagi on the right cost 12,000 yen, about $120 USD!!

Daimaru Department Store – Popular Eel Store

The line is at least 20 people long!

Daimaru Department Store – Eel Store Offerings

This eel is 8,400 yen, about $85 USD!

Convenience Store Poster

Eel Day promotional poster

Convenience Store Unagi Bento

Kyoto Ryokan: Kyoto Summer Hamo Cuisine at Gion Hatanaka – part 2 (鱧料理)

Hamo ryori is served! Hamo is served five different ways; sashimi, broth, sushi, tempura and grilled. While eating is essential to the ryokan experience, a ryokan is not a restaurant.

Everything in a ryokan is natural; the walls are earthen stucco, the floor is woven grass tatami mats, doors and screens are plain wood and paper, even the ceiling is wood. Artwork and flower arrangements are all seasonal and usually evoke the coming season.

The views outside are either into a well manicured garden that is a summary of the natural world, or in the case in a rural area, with a view focused on mountains, rivers, lakes, the sea and so on.

In this natural setting, the kaiseki meal is enjoyed. The meal itself is a work of art and has numerous references to nature, the seasons and even poetry.

Hatanaka Guest Room – Kaiseki Served with View of Garden

Before feasting our eyes on Hatanaka’s hamo kaiseki lunch, here is a bit about Japanese inns.

Ryokan (旅館)
Staying at a traditional Japanese inn, or ryokan is, like much else in Japan, highly ritualized.

Upon arrival, guests are shown to their room and served tea and wagashi or senbei crackers usually with a small garden in view.

After relaxing a bit comes changing clothes. Guests change into more comfortable attire such as yukata, a light, cotton kimono, sometimes called a ‘summer kimono’. These are provided by the ryokan and usually have the ryokan‘s insignia or some local natural motif dyed on it.

Ofuro (お風呂)
Next comes a quick bath, or ofuro (お風呂). Ryokan are synonymous with not just eating, but also bathing and Japanese are bath aficionados.

Kaiseki Meal, Course After Course
Dinner is served in the room and is a procession of exquisite kaiseki courses that can easily last 2 hours!

After much eating and probably plenty of drink too, it is time for a long and relaxing soak in the bathtub.

An upscale ryokan will often have a private bath attached to each room. A large communal, segregated bath is usually the case with a more budget ryokan. Many ryokan offer both.

Hinokiburo (檜風呂)
Bathtubs are often made of hinoki (檜) wood, the Japanese cedar gives off a wonderful fragrance in the hot, steamy air of the bathroom. (note: Gion Hatanaka’s baths are made of koyamaki (高野槙) wood, which is said to be better than hinoki.)

When families stay together at a ryokan, it is not uncommon for the whole family to bath together.

Soap and shampoo is NEVER used in the bathtub. All washing is done before entering the bath, therefore the water can be used by several people. In Japanese homes water is sometimes used for several days and can be reheated every night with the push of a button. Also, bathing at night, rather than in the morning means cleaner bedding.

Onsen (温泉)
Many ryokan are located in mountain villages in onsen, or hot spring districts. Mineral rich boiling hot water naturally bubbles up from the ground in many of these areas. Japanese absolutely love onsen but Kyoto has no onsen. The water of Kyoto is still very good for bathing, never-the-less.

In an onsen village visitors often go out and walk around the village in their ryokan issued yukata after dinner and bathing in wooden clogs called geta (下駄). The unmistakable click-clack of wooden geta on the lanes can often be heard while finishing dinner. However, Kyoto is a large city and this is not usually done when staying at a Kyoto ryokan.

Hatanaka’s Ofuro and ‘Beauty’ Water
Hatanaka has both private baths attached to each room and a large communal bath. The water comes from deep underground and is the same water as Yasaka Shrine’s, called bijin-no-yu, literally ‘beautiful woman water’.

There is even a ‘bijin’ shrine inside Yasaka Shrine. This shrine is a popular destination for the maiko of Gion.

Hamo Kaiseki Lunch

Hatanaka’s Hamo Ryori Kaiseki

Tempura, sashimi and sushi ready to be served.

Hatanaka’s Hamo Ryori Kaiseki Served

The tables in the room is a traditional Japanese lacquer table. The black streaks are not painted on, they are a layer exposed from beneath the red that has been revealed by laborious polishing.

Hamo Otsukuri (Sashimi)

Of course, otsukuri (sashimi) is raw fish and hamo must be blanched, yet it is still called otsukuri and thought of as, served and eaten like sashimi. Notice that it is served on a bed of crushed ice with shiso leaf physically separating it from the ice. The other leaves and sea vegetables can be added to the shoyu prior to dipping the hamo.

Hamo Otsukuri and Dipping Sauces

On the left is a sauce made of umeboshi, pickled plum and on the right is shoyu.

Hamo Suimono (Soup)

The red spot on top of the hamo is also umeboshi paste.

Hamo Kyoto Vegetable Tempura

The long, golden brown piece of tempura is the eel spine, deep frying it makes it crunchy. It is called hone senbei, literally ‘bone cracker’. The hamo tempura is very white and under the hone senbei and red pepper.

Hamozushi (Hamo Sushi)

There are a lot of visual puns in traditional Japanese culture, here the sushi is served on a maple leaf shaped plate with a green maple leaf as decoration. Often, the coming season is hinted at, and of course, ‘maple’ means autumn in Japan.

Hatanaka Guest Room – Interior

Hatanaka Guest Room – View of Garden

Hatanaka Guest Room – Kaiseki Served with View of Garden

Very sorry: We did a video interview with chief chef Yoshihiko Yano while I sampled the dishes but the sound level turned out to be too low to use. Hopefully we can interview him again in the future.

English:
English website: yes
English speaking staff: yes
Location and Access: Located immediately south of Yasaka Shrine, about 3 minute walk from the intersection of Shijo Street and Higashi-oji Street in Gion.
Address: Kyoto-shi Higashiyama-ku Yasaka Jinja Minamimon Mae (京都市東山区祇園八坂神社南門前)
Telephone: 075-541-5315
Gion Hatanaka website
Map

View Larger Map

Disclosure: Paku was once employed by Gion Hatanaka Ryokan.

Kyoto Ryokan: Kyoto Summer Hamo Cuisine at Gion Hatanaka (鱧料理)

Mid-summer is the time for the most important festival in Kyoto, the Gion Festival. This festival is informally known as the Hamo Festival because the hamo, or conger pike eel is in season at this time.

Is the meat of the hamo especially tasty? No. But hamo is deeply loved in Kyoto and quite expensive.

We were kindly given an insiders view of the preparation of hamo ryori in the kitchen of one of Kyoto’s best ryokan, Gion Hatanaka by the owner Seiji Hatanaka and chief chef Yoshihiko Yano.

Fresh Seafood in Ancient Kyoto
The ancient capital of Kyoto is landlocked and of course it is a very, very rare Japanese that does not love to eat fish. With the seat of the government of the country in Kyoto, financial rewards to get fish to the capital market would be many.

Live Hamo in the Kitchen

Saba (Mackerel)
From the Sea of Japan, the Saba Kaido (Mackerel Highway) was developed to bring pickled mackerel sushi (sabazushi) to Kyoto. This was accomplished by porters literally carrying the carefully packaged sushi on their backs for several days along a ‘highway’ (foot path) through forests and mountains. (see this article for more about sabazushi)

Sabazushi is tasty and a longtime favorite, but live fish from the sea was another matter entirely.

Hamo (Conger Pike Eel)
The hamo is about as strong as it is ugly and this meant that it could survive several days journey to Kyoto in saltwater filled baskets — in midsummer. The hamo is a fighter, a survivor! When I see a hamo, I think, ‘kick boxer’ — industrial strength tough.

The best hamo come from the sea around Awaji Island and the Inland Sea. Hamo is said to taste best after the rainy season which lasts about one month and ends a few days before the Gion Festival’s climax parade of floats on July 17.

As fresh fish was expensive, the commoners that were able to afford fish mainly ate dried fish that had been preserved at the seaside then transported to Kyoto.

The other side of the story is the chefs of Kyoto.

The meat of the hamo is rather bland and the fish is bony to the extent that one wonders if there is a fish with more bones in all the seven seas. The trick is to use ones noggin to improve upon limited resources and this is of course the hallmark of the Japanese people.

Hamo on the Cutting Board

note: the hamo is dead before being pegged through the head, as opposed to being ‘pegged’ to death.

Cleaning the Hamo

Hamo Cleaned

The meat, guts and spine will all be used in hamo ryori, only the head will be discarded.

Bones
The bones of the hamo are situated and distributed throughout the flesh in such a way that removal is just not an option. Some fish, with small, soft and thin bones are eaten bones, head, guts, meat and all. The hamo bones are thick and heavy though, so, this is not feasible.

Chefs solved the problem by drawing upon Japan’s sword culture. A special purpose knife was developed for slicing the bones in the flesh so that it could be eaten. The goal of an adept chef is to put down 26 slices per 3 cm of hamo. That leaves each slice of flesh (and bone) about 1 mm in width! The hamo is 1-2 meters in length, so this involved a whole lot of cutting! This slicing technique is called honegiri in Japanese, literally ‘bone cutting’. (see video below)

Hamo Knife Comparison

The knife on the left is a sashimi knife and on the right is the hamo honegiri knife.

Hamo and Honegiri Knife

Hamo Honegiri

The meat and bones are sliced and the skin is left intact. The bones are substantial enough that slicing through them produces a very audible sound.

Hamo Honegiri

Hamo Honegiri

This is precision work for a skilled professional. The skin must be untouched by the knife.

Cutting the Hamo

Finally, the hamo is cut into bite sized pieces.

Variety of Flavors and Textures
Expert slicing takes care of the bones, next is how to deal with the unremarkable taste of the hamo flesh itself. The hamo flesh is a base to which other flavors and textures are layered upon. Variety is the strategy here.

Be sure to see the videos below for a look at the preparation techniques in detail.

Hatanaka’s Hamo Ryori Dishes
Otsukuri (sashimi) Hamo is not actually eaten raw, it is blanched, chilled and served in the manner of sashimi.
Suimono (soup) Hamo is dusted with kuzu (starch) and boiled and served in a delicate soup broth.
Hamoyaki Hamo is simply grilled with tare and salt and sesame.
Hamozushi Hamo is grilled with tare is pressed onto sushi rice.
Tempura Hamo and Kyoto vegetables are deep-fried. This includes honesenbei, the spine bone is deep-fried. Deep-frying it makes it edible. Very tasty!

Don’t miss our next article to see the meal served in one of Hatanaka’s beautiful rooms.

Hamozushi

Hamo grilled with tare sauce pressed onto sushi rice is a common sight in Kyoto in the summertime.

Video

Hamo Honegiri
The chief chef at Gion Hatanaka ryokan demonstrates how to make Kyoto’s much loved summer meals with hamo. Here he shows how the hamo bones are cut.

Hamozushi
Chief chef Yano demonstrates how to make hamozushi (hamo sushi).

Hamo Kuzutataki
Chief chef Yano meticulously dusts the hamo with kuzu starch and then gently boils it.

Hamotsukuri
Chief chef Yano makes hamotsukuri (hamo sashimi).

English:
English website: yes
English speaking staff: yes
Location and Access: Located immediately south of Yasaka Shrine, about 3 minute walk from the intersection of Shijo Street and Higashi-oji Street in Gion.
Address: Kyoto-shi Higashiyama-ku Yasaka Jinja Minamimon Mae (京都市東山区祇園八坂神社南門前)
Telephone: 075-541-5315
Gion Hatanaka website
Map

View Larger Map

Hannari Brand Umeshu: The tastes of Kyoto are subtle and refined, this umeshu was designed to be hannari, or delicate. In addition to classic umeshu, there are four imaginatively ‘Kyoto’ flavored versions; cinnamon, yuzu, green tea and shiso.

As foodies well know, fine ingredients make for fine tastes. Kitagawa Honke produces its own rice shochu for its umeshu. The shochu, straight out of the still is 35.5% alcohol, shochu sold retail is 25%. As the ume extract and sugar will significantly lower the alcohol content of the finished umeshu, 35% is considered the minimum. The finished product will be about 15%. Lower alcohol content can allow fermentation and spoil the liqueur.

Kitagawa Honke Hannari Brand Umeshu

Hannari Umeshu (はんなり梅酒): Hannari umeshu is made with rice shochu that has been aged 2 years, then after steeping nearly ripe ume fruit for 9 months, the umeshu is aged for 1 year. This process produces umeshu that is complex in flavor and mellow.

Yatsuhashi Umeshu (八ッ橋梅酒): Yatsuhashi is a popular Kyoto omiyage (souvenir). It comes in a myriad of forms and flavorings, but it always includes sweetened mochi that has been flavored with cinnamon, which was a very unusual spice in Japan. This umeshu is flavored with cinnamon! We have never heard of this before. Wow, this is not only clever and imaginative, it tastes very good too!

Nigori Yuzu Umeshu (にごり柚子梅酒): Yuzu, the lemony Japanese citron we have talked a lot about on KyotoFoodie quite a bit last winter. Here the yuzu juice is nigori, or cloudy, unfiltered. (Unfiltered sake is called nigorizake.) Yuzu umeshu is fairly common and this is best rendition I have had of it. Very, very nice!

Uji Gyokuro Umeshu (宇治玉露梅酒): Now here is a masterpiece! Gyokuro is very high quality green tea which Uji, in the south of Kyoto produces. Gyokuro flavors the umeshu which is blended with umeshu made from sake, not shochu. The umeshu is a very gentle background taste with an unbelievably astringent gyokuro green tea flavor raging above it. I have had green tea umeshu before, it was sweet and juice-like. I was stunned when I first tried this umeshu. It is not unlike maccha! As an aperitif or digestif, this is sure to blow guests away! This is a DO NOT miss if you are in Kyoto.

Ohara Shiso Umeshu (大原紫蘇梅酒): In the North Mountains above Kyoto, the village of Ohara is famous for its production of shiso that is usually used in tsukemono, Japanese pickles. Ripe shiso, which is a reddish purple adds a delicious taste and vibrant color to this umeshu. At a recent party at my house, the gals finished a bottle of this umeshu in a flash. I guess this is one of those flavors that is especially popular with ladies.

‘Kiki’ in the Lab

Kiki – Shochu Tasting with Tashima Toji (Brewmaster)

Tashima Toji gave me two kinds of shochu to taste. One is fresh out of the still, this year’s production and the other is aged 3 years. The fresh stuff was pretty rough around the edges, but the aged shochu, though high-powered was drinkable straight at room temperature. The difference that aging makes was obvious to me.

Reference: Green Ume

These were in the lab, they are the typical unripe, green ume. These are from Joyo, a suburb south of Kyoto. I think that they are planning top secret 梅酒R&D with them. Green ume typically produce umeshu that it sweet, but not especially complex.

Over at Okinaya

Kitagawa Honke operates this small store on the main street, next to the river where their sake and good rice can be purchased. We introduced this store in this article about learning to make sake. (map and photos at the bottom of the post)

Ume and Umeshu Lineup

On the left is a bag of ume that was used to make umeshu. These make great snacks! In the middle, the jar contains a generous amount of ume and umeshu. The small jars on the right are about a single serving of umeshu and contain no fruit. These are all Hannari brand.

Ume in Umeshu

Ume in jar detail.

Hannari Umeshu

This is the classic, unflavored umeshu, available in 1.8 liter and 720ml bottles with no fruit.

Hannari Umeshu ‘Kyoto’ Flavors

From left to right; yatsuhashi (cinnamon), yuzu, gyokuro (green tea) and shiso.

The Series
Learning to Make Umeshu: Part 1
Learning to Make Umeshu: Part 2

Umeshu: Japanese plums, called ume (梅) are mainly used to flavor alcohol and vinegar and to make the incredible umeboshi, pickled plum. In early summer, it is popular to make ume flavored alcohol, called umeshu (梅酒) at home, but we were fortunate enough to get to learn from the pros this year.

Our friends and KyotoFoodie fans at Kitagawa Honke Sake Brewery showed Peko how they make their one-of-a-kind, Hannari (はんなり) brand ‘Kyoto style’ umeshu.

Umeshu (梅酒)
To make umeshu, the ume fruit are steeped in shochu (焼酎) for 6-9 months. The shochu is quite strong, 35% alcohol, but the finished umeshu is usually less than 15%. The shochu draws out the ume extract, ume extract combined with the sugar halves the alcohol content. If steeped longer than 6-9 months, the shochu will start to leach out the bitterness of the ume pits. After removing the fruit, umeshu can then be consumed or aged.

Umeshu is not fermented, therefore it is NOT ‘plum wine’. It is a liqueur.

The steeped ume fruit can be eaten and are sweet and tasty, yet quite intoxicating. It is common at New Year’s and other family gathering occasions in Japan to see some children red-faced and buzzing thanks to Grandpa fishing a few ume out of the jar for them to eat.

Now there are many kinds of umeshu available, many combining novel ingredients but it is always sweet and plum fruity. In the winter umeshu is excellent served with hot water and in the summer on ice or with soda water.

Umeshu is often made of the green ume fruit, however Kitagawa Honke uses fruit that are slightly more ripe, being more yellow in color. This creates a mellower and more full-bodied, complex flavor. (More about Hannari brand umeshu in part 2, and the recipe in an upcoming homecooking article.)

Umeshu Production Process
The process for making umeshu is quite simple.

1. De-stem the ume fruit.
2. Check quality, remove any overly ripe or rotten fruit.
3. Wash
4. Place in container with sugar and alcohol (35% by volume).
5. Seal container and place in a cool, dark place for aging.

Ume Season
The ume is in the plum family, but it is actually more closely related to apricot than what Westerns would usually think of as a plum. In the Kyoto region ume blossom in later winter, usually February. If you are lucky, you can see ume blossoms in the snow! The fruit is mature by early summer and often used when green and unripe.

Wakayama Prefecture, to the south-east of Kyoto produces the best ume in Japan. Vitually any high quality ume product in Japan uses ume from Wakayama, or Kishu (紀州) as it was once called. Kitagawa Honke selects ume from Kinan (紀南), which is the southern most part of Wakayama. The warm, mild climate makes for excellent ume.

Sake is made during the cold months so the brewery is not so busy in the summer, however in mid-June, when the ume are in season there is a 10 day flurry of activity when umeshu is made. Early every morning several tons of ume arrive and the fruit are sorted and de-stemmed. In addition to the kurabito (brewery workers) crew, the warehouse crew and the employees that work in the office walk down the street to the brewery and help out. All of this work in finished in the morning. After lunch, the kurabito crew wash the ume and place them in tanks with shochu and sugar.

Shochu
In Japan there are numerous kinds of shochu. The most common shochu are distilled from sweet potato, barley or rice. Many other ingredients are used now; soba, black sugar (kokuto 黒糖), sesame — even milk!

Kitagawa Honke makes the shochu that is used in their umeshu, and as they are a sake brewery, they make it from rice. Rice shochu is fairly close to vodka in taste.

As I approached the brewery this morning, the fragrance of ume fruit was heavy in the neighborhood!

Making Umeshu at Kitagawa Honke Sake Brewery

Crates of Nicely Ripened Ume

All Hands on Deck

70 Crates of Ume

Seventy crates of ume today to sort and de-stem.

De-stemming and Sorting Ume

Everyone in the company joins in, even the ‘suits’!

De-stemming and Sorting Ume

De-stemming Ume – Before and After

The stems are plucked out with a simple needle-like metal instrument.

De-stemming and Sorting Ume

The ume on the left are ‘B’ quality, they have some bruises and blemishes, the ume on the right are ‘A’ quality. When the umeshu is finished, the ‘A’ quality ume will be added to bottles or bagged and sold separately for eating. ‘B’ quality ume taste just fine. (see part 2)

Weighing Ume

The de-stemmed and sorted ume are carefully weighed in preparation to adding to the tanks.

Hues of Ume

From green to yellow, orange and even red, this variety of color produces a more complex flavored umeshu than the usual unripened green fruit. More precision and labor is required, but the quality of the end result is obvious.

Final Check

Two tanks, differing in size will be filled today. Brewmaster Tashima (left) oversees the final check of the recipe and crate count for each tank. The shochu and sugar has already been added.

Washing Ume

The ume absorb water which will affect the taste of the umeshu, so they have to be washed quickly, and of course, thoroughly. Kitagawa Honke uses rather ripe ume fruit, so they are easily bruised by the mechanical brushes in the washing machine. The ume are washed for just 35 seconds.

Washing Ume

As the ume spin on the cylindrical brushes, one of the crew hoses them with Fushimi water.

Washing Ume

After washing, the ume are returned to clean crates then allowed to drain but not quite dry for about 20 minutes. Excess water can cause the umeshu to spoil later.

Steeping Ume

The ume are lifted with the forklift then unceremoniously dumped into the tank.

Steeping Ume

Steeping Ume

I love this shot! And, I got splashed taking it!

Steeping Ume

The ume are all submerged in shochu and then the tank is covered. See you in the springtime, ume.

The Series
Learning to Make Umeshu: Part 1
Learning to Make Umeshu: Part 2

We were privileged to visit one of our favorite Kyoto restaurants, Honke Owariya that is among the oldest restaurants in the world, and learn how to make their incredibly delicious ‘dashi‘ broth for soba noodles. Having about 540 years of experience to draw upon is a fantastically delicious thing!

When I first sat down with the 15th generation owner and president of Honke Owariya, Denzaemon Inaoka to take about this article, I told him that we wanted to learn about Owariya’s wonderful soba, i.e. the noodles. He said that more than noodles, we needed to learn about dashi. And, the water of Kyoto.

Sound familiar? Kyoto water makes great dashi, sake and tea.

Honke Owariya, like a lot of other folks in Kyoto, is very, very particular about the water that they use. They won’t open a restaurant in Tokyo because the same dashi cannot be made with Tokyo water. When they opened their Shijo Teramachi branch which is in a department store, one of their terms was that they would drill their own well for water. In the new Shijo Kawaramachi branch (on the 7th floor of Takashimaya Department Store) a well could not be dug, so dashi is made every morning at the honten (main store) and laboriously transported over!

Making Dashi

Mr. Yoshida, the chori-cho (head chef), showed us how to make dashi the Honke Owariya way.

ingredients:

• water
• Rishiri Kombu (Rishiri Kombu is a high quality kelp from Hokkaido)
• 3 kinds of shaved fish flakes
• saba-bushi (dried mackerel flakes, さば節)
• urume-bushi (dried round herrings flakes, うるめ節)
• mejika-bushi (dried bullet tuna flakes, めぢか節)
• sugar
• shoyu

preparation:

1. Soak kombu in water overnight (if possible). Should be refrigerated.
2. Simmer kombu for 40-50 minutes at 70°C. (time varies depending on season and air temperature)
3. Remove kombu
4. Simmer shaved fish flakes for about 25 minutes. Do not boil and skim the foam (aku, 灰汁) that gathers on the surface.
5. Remove heat
6. Adequately strain the broth and return to pot.
7. Add sugar and shoyu

Simmer the Kombu – Start

Starting to heat the water.

Simmer the Kombu – Start

Simmer the Kombu – Checking Progress

After 40 minutes or so, Yoshida Chori-cho checks the softness of the kombu with his thumbnail. When it has softened to the right degree, it is done.

Simmer the Kombu – Remove the Kombu

When the kombu has softened and lent it’s wonderful taste to the dashi, it is removed.

Simmer the Shaved Fish – Add Fish Flakes

Adding the three kinds of shaved fish flakes.

Simmer the Shaved Fish – Aku-tori

Aku-tori (灰汁取り), literally take ‘foam/scum’. Immediately a heavy froth of aku appears and is removed.

Simmer the Shaved Fish – Aku-tori

Wooden paddles are uses to collect and scoop out the aku, which is pitched down the drain on the floor.

Simmer the Shaved Fish – Aku-tori

Simmer the Shaved Fish – Aku-tori

Simmer the Shaved Fish – Tasting

Yoshida Chori-cho samples the dashi.

Strain the Dashi

A bamboo strainer basket is placed atop and bucket and cotton cloth is laid over the basket.

Strain the Dashi – Pour

Pour the dashi out and through the strainer.

Strain the Dashi

Scoop all the ‘bushi‘ shaved fish flakes out.

Strain the Dashi – Shaved Fish Flakes Detail

Add the Sugar and Shoyu

Sugar has been added and dashi is poured back in, dissolving it.

Add the Sugar and Shoyu

After all the dashi has been return, the shoyu is poured in.

Add the Sugar and Shoyu

Yoshida Chori-cho checks the amount with a notched bamboo pole.

Add the Sugar and Shoyu – Tasting

A final tasting.

Add the Sugar and Shoyu – Final Aku-tori

The sugar produces a small amount of aku which is also removed.

‘Serve’

A large pot from the kitchen is washed out (I don’t think it was really dirty).

‘Serve’

And the finished dashi is poured out. This is then taken to the kitchen and broth is ladled out for Honke Owariya’s signature soba dishes.

Kyoto Water

Why is Kyoto water so great? We hope to examine this subject in detail in the future, just as soon as we can locate the appropriate expert to interview, but a simple explanation is as follows. Kyoto is in a basin, when it rains water is filtered down through the mountains. The aquifer flows under the city from north-east to south-west. Honke Owariya Honten (honten means main/original store/restaurant), and the Imperial Palace is located right in the center of this aquifer.

This aquifer holds a tremendous amount of water. The largest lake in Japan, Lake Biwa, just over the East Mountains, contains only slightly more water than the aquifer flowing under Kyoto.

The natural filtering and mineral content causes the water to be balanced, not too hard, not too soft. This is an essential factor in the culinary culture of Kyoto.