Kyoto Autumn Theme Wagashi 嵯峨野生菓子

While I haven’t seen any chrysanthemums in bloom yet this year, mine are just budding, the theme of culinary delights in Kyoto are changing from summer to autumn and I thought that the foodies of the world would like to see some photos. So, here you are!

This namagashi (wet, or raw confection) comes from one of my favorite stores in Kyoto. I want to do a proper article about them in the near future. Namagashi is used in the tea ceremony and it invariably anko (red azuki bean paste) covered in one of several kinds of mochi and is hand-formed into a seasonal motif usually from nature or classical Japanese literature, painting and so on. Namagashi is almost never flavored with anything other than the mochi and bean. I find this a bit disappointing sometimes and have complained about it in other KyotoFoodie articles about namagashi.

Kyoto Autumn Chrysanthemum Shaped Namagashi

Kyoto Autumn Chrysanthemum Shaped Namagashi

Chrysanthemum Shaped Namagashi – Cross Section

Japanese would never eat or serve a namagashi like this! This un-Japanese presentation is only for the benefit of our readers. Inside is anko (azuki bean paste) and wrapped in mochi hand-formed into a seasonal flower.

SHARE! Kyoto Food and Drink Forum

Tweet! Tweet! Find out what’s going on in Kyoto right now, follow me on Twitter.

Giving and receiving gifts is an essential aspect of Japanese culture. Gifts are usually small and often given spontaneously. On the way back from an appointment today I stopped in at Kisen to return a very old and precious book on Kyo-ryori to the owner that I had been lent earlier this autumn.

Itadakimono: a gift humbly received

I was seated and served tea in a room that always has a flower arrangement in which the vase or basket is attached to the wall, rather than simply sitting on a surface. I was just there to return a book. Today was yellow chrysanthemums in a ceramic vase. In an alcove behind me I notice an incredibly colorful woodblock print that was a montage of New York City.

Mr Tanigawa, the owner; part boxer, part Zen master came in in a nylon gym suit with the biggest, roundest daikon radish I had every seen while ordering underlings to bring this dried kelp and that tsukemono press, then handing the daikon off and ordering it to be wrapped up. Then, “hey, bring him a bag of rice too.” It’s shinmai, or ‘new rice’.

The rice is grown especially for his restaurant by a farmer in rural Kyoto.

Itadakimono

I was given a quick lesson on how to make tsukemono with the daikon and Mr Tanigawa ordered some out from the kitchen for me to try. I plucked out a wedge shaped slice of daikon pickled simply in salt and kombu (dried kelp).

I haven’t made tsukemono for a few years, but I am going to give it a try with this wonderful itadakimono, which if successful will go extremely well with this fine new rice.

For lunch Miwa took me to Yorozuya, a tiny noodle shop in Gion that is known for it’s Kyoto scallion udon. If you come to Yorozuya for lunch, you might find yourself sitting next to a maiko also enjoying a bowl of udon heaped with scallions.

Hidden Lunch Spot in Gion and Kyoto Vegetables
Just a few minutes walk from Hanamikoji and Gion Corner, Yorozuya is one of those little Kyoto shops frequented by locals that is famous for a single dish. One of Kyoto’s famous vegetables, kujo scallion is combined with a generous helping of grated ginger in hot dashi with udon noodles (soba is also available).

Gion is the entertainment district of Kyoto and maiko (apprentice geisha) and Kabuki actors often visit the unpretentious Yorozuya for lunch.

Negi Udon Lunch

Kujo Negi and Heaps of Ginger

Kujo Scallion Udon
While enjoying lunch on a recent brisk autumn day, Miwa asked the owner about the dashi and kujo negi. The dashi is quite rich in flavor and is made with a lot of shaved fish. The scallions are first blanched and this removes the bitterness. They are then simmered with the dashi for several minutes, this makes them sweet and adds complexity to the dashi. The soup is heavy with the taste of fresh scallion but is not bitter or ‘oniony’. One bowl of kujo negi udon contains 7 to 8 scallions!

Miwa ordered ankake negi udon. Ankake is a kind of noodle broth that has katakuriko (starch) added to it which makes it very thick. Ankake is about the consistency of heavy cream. The starch adds no taste, but the dashi does retain heat much longer. If you burn your tongue easily you will probably want to avoid ankake! Ankake is wonderful in the cold seasons as it really does warm the body up. It is a great way to add richness to dashi without more calories.

For my taste, the udon noodles were too soft and not at all al dente. A lot of Kyoto people like noodles to be well cooked though, it is considered more sophisticated by them. Probably the majority of Japanese prefer noodles al dente.

If you want to order noodles in Japan al dente, the Japanese word is katame (固め).

Shichimi and Sansho Spice

Shichimi, or seven spice is a must for any Japanese noodle dish. Sansho is in the unopened container. There are several shops in the Gion neighborhood famous for shichimi and sansho. We have an article on the way for that, but for now you can check out this topic on spices at Kyoto Support forum.

Shichimi on Negi Udon – detail

Negi Udon

Ankake Negi Udon

Ankake broth is considerably thicker than regular dashi.

Kujo Negi

Award winning Kyoto scallions!

About Kujo Negi
Literally, ‘ninth street onion’, is a traditional Kyoto vegetable, or Kyo-yasai that came to Kyoto from current day Namba, Osaka about 1,300 years ago. Today, Kujo (ninth street) is just south of Kyoto Station. Over the centuries kujo negi developed their own ‘Kyoto’ flavor and since the Edo era this area produced most of the scallions for Kyoto and thus they became known as kujo negi. Kujo negi is available all year now but traditionally they were in season in November.

There are now two types of kujo negi, thick and thin. Yorozuya uses the thin variety.

Yorozuya Storefront

Neighborhood

The neighborhood is typical of Gion; a jumbled mix of exclusive, traditional and seedy. You can peek into a moss covered temple garden or buy some booze from a vending machine and take it with you to the Hotel King (a love hotel).

Neighborhood Temple

The area infront of the gate to this little temple is quite dumpy, but take a look inside.

Neighborhood Temple Garden

The carefully scuplted pines, the moss and stones are so Japanese. I love the diagonal, half useless stone path.

Neighborhood Love Hotel

If scallions in hot dashi put you and your mate in the mood, you are in luck! You can stop in at Hotel King just down the way for a ‘rest’.

Neighborhood Guard Dog

This sleepy and uninterested dog was sitting on top of a barrel at the entrance to the storeroom of a liquor store. In the background is a vending machine (brown), the white character on it means sake.

English and Access

English menu: none
English website: none (Japanese language website)
Service/Staff: very friendly and helpful
Hours: 12noon-10pm, open everyday (except around Golden Week, Obon, New Year’s, Obon, )
Location and Access: Five minutes on foot from Gion Shijo Station (Keihan Railway). From Shijo Street walk south on Hanamikoji to the second street and turn right (west) and walk about 1 minute. Yorozuya is on the left (south) side of the street, opposite the small temple gate shown above.
Address
: Kyoto-shi, Higashiyama-ku, Shijo Hanamikoji-sagaru, Futasujime Nishi-iru, Komatsu-cho 555-1 (京都市東山区四条花見小路下る二筋目西入る小松町555-1)
Telephone: 075-551-3409

Near sightseeing Spot: Yorozuya is located near the first Zen temple in Japan, Kenninji. It has some very old and architecturally significant buildings and the gardens are well worth your time. If you are in Kyoto and don’t have time to get out of the center of the city but still want to see some Zen gardens, try Kennin Temple.

Map

View Larger Map

I collected some fallen ginkgo leaves on the grounds of a shrine and a church in northern Kyoto for this article, while shooting these photos I was particularly struck at how similar the namagashi really resembled the actual leaves, both in form and in color.

Ginkgo Leaves Inspire Confection
The ginkgo, or icho in Japanese, is a tree that has a leaf said to be shaped like a duck foot. Kyoto is best known for it’s maples in the autumn but around the city there are a number of remarkable and towering ginkgo trees that turn yellow and rain down thick, heavy leaves that never seem to dry out and thus are not easily scattered by the wind. They amass like snow beneath the tree.

The ginkgo leaf is the inspiration for a namagashi from a 300 year old shop in Gion called Kagizen Yoshifusa.

Ginkgo Leaf Shaped Wagashi

Ginkgo leaf shaped namagashi and real ginkgo leaves.

Sightseers Taking in the Autumn Colors in Kyoto 紅葉
Hanami 花見, or cherry blossom viewing of the spring in Japan is well known abroad, in the autumn koyo 紅葉 is just as popular. Kyoto has numerous places for koyo.

Kyoto Autumn Colors – Sightseers

Kyoto Autumn Colors – Sightseers

Kyoto Autumn Colors – Ginkgo Leaves

Kyoto Autumn Colors – Ginkgo Leaves

Kyoto Autumn Colors – Fallen Leaves on Shrine Roof

Kyoto Autumn Colors – Ginkgo Tree and Shrine

This ginkgo tree is one of Kyoto’s biggest.

Kagizen Yoshifusa Wagashi Shinise in Gion 鍵善良房
While we were walking back from some errands near Kiyomizu Temple, Miwa took me around to several of her favorite shops in the neighborhood. As she lived in the neighborhood for two years when she worked at Gion Hatanaka, she has many. Last we dropped into Kagizen Yoshifusa, a shinise known for it’s kuzu based wagashi that started around 1720. Kagizen Yoshifusa is especially known for it’s confections made with kuzu root.

When we walked in, this ginkgo leaf shaped namagashi immediately caught my eye. The simplicity and restraint in expression is representative of Kyo-gashi 京菓子 (Kyoto wagashi).

Kagizen Yoshifusa Noren

Kagi means key in Japanese. That is a key on the shop curtain, or noren. Now that’s an old fashioned key!

Ginkgo Leaf Shaped Namagashi from Kagizen Yoshifusa – Wrapping

Ginkgo Leaf Shaped Namagashi and Ginkgo Leaves

Ginkgo Leaf Shaped Namagashi – detail

Ginkgo Leaf Shaped Namagashi and Ginkgo Leaves – detail

Taste
As is typical of namagashi, the confection looks remarkably like something in the natural world that with artful folding, pressing, wrapping or sculpting is formed from mochi and filled with a sweetened bean paste, either white or red.

The actual taste though refined and delicately sweet does become less unremarkable with time.

Perhaps I digress but; Please, someone try making namagashi that tastes like something different! Enough with centuries with nearly zero variation. How about some kaizen?!

Kuzu Root – Photo in Kagizen

The Yoshino region of Nara Prefecture is famous for it’s kuzu root which is used to make some kinds of traditional Japanese confections. This photo is in the entry to Kagizen. By the way, kuzu was not used in this namagashi.

Reference and Links
Kagizen Yoshifusa website (Japanese language)
Kuzu Wikipedia article

Ground sardines make a rich and wonderfully nourishing focal point to miso soup with udon noodles. Hand chopped or pureed in a food processor with ginger and scallions then gently simmered in broth mellows the heavy sardine taste.

Iwashi-no-tsumire, or sardine ‘meatballs’ is a fairly popular food in Japan, but is probably not widely known abroad. Sardines are an aozakana, which means they are in season in the autumn and winter and full of nutrients and energy, and of course rich in flavor. Iwashi-no-tsumire goes very well with rich miso based soup in the cold months.

We added some mibuna greens to ours, which is a traditional Kyoto vegetable, or Kyo-yasai.

Iwashi Tsumire Iri Miso Udon with Vegetables

Iwashi Ryori: Fishballs in Miso Soup
Hopefully this iwashi ryori dish is also one that you can adapt and make with what you have available where you live. You need sardines or another aozakana, mackerel will taste fine too. Fresh is best, but frozen fish ought to be fine. You need udon noodles, fresh are preferred, but dried is ok. Also, you need miso for the soup, we prefer sweet (light in color) to salty (dark) and some seasonal vegetables. I think that most any root vegetables would be a great addition.

Miwa’s (AKA Paku) iwashi-no-tsumire is particularly ‘home cooking’ tasty. Fishballs can easily be made in a food processor but she makes hers long hand. She cleans the sardines and chops the fillets with a large knife. The taste and especially the texture of hand chopped is different. Hand chopping makes meatballs chunkier and softer.

If using a food processor, simply gut and gill the sardines and chop them up, head, bones, tail and all. The click of a button will save you at least 30 minutes. If you use a food processor it is my theory that the fishballs are actually more nutritious as the skin, bones and head contain a lot of calcium and nutrients absent in the flesh only. If you are using larger fish, you probably don’t want to have the bones or head included, judge according to size. The less ground the fish is, the more it will be like hand chopped.

See our KyotoFoodie article on how to clean sardines here if you want to do it the old fashioned way.

Japanese Meatballs and Fishballs: The Difference Between Dango and Tsumire
Dango Properly, dango is a sweet and made of mochi. Niku-dango 肉団子, or meat dango is made of chicken or meat.
Tsumire Dango made of ground or chopped fish are called tsumire and usually goes in soup.

Iwashi Tsumire Iri Miso Udon – Ingredients

Sardines, vegetables and udon comprise the main ingredients.

Ingredients

• 6-12 whole sardines (depending on size)
• scallion (at least one bunch, for my taste, the more the better)
• 1/3 cup flour
• fresh ginger grated
• miso paste (light/sweet is recommended)
• dashi soup stock (powdered or liquid concentrate is fine, made from scratch is better)
• 1/2 cup cooking sake (optional)
• 1 tablespoon mirin (optional)
• miso paste (light/sweet is recommended)
• udon noodles (fresh are preferred but dried are fine)
• carrot julienned (consider other root vegetables)
• fresh ginger julienned
• fresh greens such as mibuna, mizuna, kikuna, (spinach as a substitute)

＊As with all our recipes here on KyotoFoodie, we just give you the ingredients, photos of the preparation process and send you in the general direction. Fine tune to your taste. The only thing to be careful of with this recipe is that the fishballs do not get too hard and rubbery from excess flour. You can also use a little starch but they will get rubbery in a big hurry. Adding egg yolk will help hold the fishballs together and add flavor. An egg yolk on top of the soup just before serving is also great.

Preparation

Chopping the Sardines
Cleaning the sardines is step one. Again, see this step-by-step article on how to clean sardines. If you are chopping by hand, Miwa says that you want to be sure to pull off the skin as it makes it much harder to chop.

Chopping in the Flour
Chop the sardine fillets into small chunks then “chop-chop-chop” for about a minute. Then add chopped scallions and about 1/3 of the flour. Continue “chop-chop-chop”ing and fold over the mixture with the knife. Repeat this process several times adding the remaining flour.

Chopping in the Ginger and Miso
After you have “chop-chop-chop”ed for a few minutes add about 1 tablespoon of grated fresh ginger and about 1 tablespoon of miso paste and just keep on “chop-chop-chop”ing, folding over the mixture as you go.

Notice in the photos below that the mixture is pretty course. Miwa says (and I agree) the secret is to have the tsumire course and chunky but finely chopped enough to hold together for simmering in the soup. If you are not completely confident your first try, just add a little more flour, or God forbid some starch. Total “chop-chop-chop” time is about 5 minutes.

Cooking

Soup
Make the dashi. In a sauce pan bring about 1/2 liter of water to boil and reduce heat to gentle boil. If you have tap water that has a chemical taste to it, consider using bottled water. If you can make dashi from scratch, that is best. The powdered dashi or dashi concentrate is fine too. (We’ve got a great dashi recipe article coming.) Add sake and mirin if desired.

Once you have the dashi ready and gently boiling add the tsumire, forming into balls with a spoon. Cover and simmer gently for a few minutes. Next add the ginger and carrots. Cover and continue to simmer. Add the greens last. Cut the greens into 5cm sections and add to simmering broth, add the root ends first as they will require more cooking time.

Add the miso and dissolve in a ladle as shown in the photos below. Miso should be simmered and not boiled.

Udon
Depending on the type of udon you have, fresh or dried, cooking time will vary. See instructions on the package. Cook until al dente.

Don’t let the greens get over cooked. Ideally, you want the soup and udon ready to serve at the same time.

Point
Miwa says that the tsumire and dashi will taste better the longer it is stewed. This is one dish that will taste better the next day. However, the fishballs can easily disintegrate into the soup with the passing of several hours if you have too little flour. You can cook this dish well in advance and blanch the greens and boil the udon just before serving.

Serving

Udon should be rinsed with cold water after boiling to firm it up. If you want it piping hot at serving, return it to the boiled water for a moment, the soup should be hot enough to reheat the udon though.

Place the udon in a large bowl and ladle on the tsumire and miso soup, placing the veggies on top.

Enjoy!

Kyoto Greens – Kyo-yasai Mibuna

Kyo-yasai 京野菜 (Kyoto Vegetables) are the traditional vegetables of Kyoto of which Kyoto is very famous for. Mibuna is one of several Kyo-yasai greens and is part of the mustard family.

Kyo-yasai Mibuna – detail

Mibuna leaves are soft and the taste is quite mild, maybe somewhere between spinach and Chinese white cabbage, with just a hint of mustard green.

Iwashi Tsumire – Chopping Sardines

Iwashi Tsumire – Chopping Flour and Scallions into the Sardines

Iwashi Tsumire – Chopping Flour and Scallions into the Sardines

Iwashi Tsumire – Chopping Ginger and Miso into the Sardines

Iwashi Tsumire – Chop and Fold, Chop and Fold

Iwashi Tsumire – Forming Fishballs with Spoon

Notice that the mixture is still pretty course.

Iwashi Tsumire Iri Dashi – Simmering the Fishballs in Dashi

Iwashi Tsumire Iri Dashi – Simmering the Fishballs in Dashi

Iwashi Tsumire Iri Dashi – Add the Vegetables

Add the greens very last, root ends first.

Iwashi Tsumire Iri Miso Udon – Dissolving the Miso

Iwashi Tsumire Iri Miso Udon – Dissolving the Miso

Iwashi Tsumire Iri Miso Udon – Dissolving the Miso

Repeat this process until all miso is dissolved in the ladle.

Iwashi Tsumire Iri Miso Udon – Served

Iwashi Tsumire Iri Miso Udon – Served

Reference and Links
More on mibuna at the ‘Vegetables of Interest’ blog.

Bells, flowers and leaves. While expressed in subtle terms, the simple beauty, the inventiveness in theme, the attention to season and the variety of the color palette of namagashi never ceases to amaze.

Gion Oharameya Shinise 大原女家
The other day while passing through Gion, I dropped into one of my favorite wagashi shinise stores, Oharameya 大原女家 thinking that they ought to have some clever and attractive autumn namagashi, and I was definitely not disappointed.

Ohayameya, founded in 1897, is actually better known for some of it’s other wagashi rather than namagashi. I especially adore their yuzu flavored kamaburo かま風呂 wagashi. I find that their namagashi is particularly beautiful and always very colorful. Traditionalists may object to the perhaps excessive use of color used in some of their namagashi but Ohayameya’s namagashi always strike me as modern and free of that tea ceremony ‘attitude’ that is occasionally encountered.

I bought a delightful three-piece set of autumn themed Kyoto namagashi. The motifs are; Gion bell, tsubaki 椿 (camellia) flower and autumn maples leaves.

Autumn Theme Namagashi Set

Namagashi: Gion Bell

Namagashi: Tsubaki (Camellia)

I think that this tsubaki piece is a real masterpiece.

Namagashi: Autumn Maple Leaves

Autumn Theme Namagashi Set – detail

Ohayameya Previously on KyotoFoodie
By the way, one of our most popular articles here on KyotoFoodie, Father’s Day Wagashi also came from Ohayameya.

Oharameya website (no English, but nice photos)

Boiled chestnuts mashed with sugar and twisted in fabric into shape makes kurikinton, an autumn delicacy and favorite souvenir of the mountainous areas of central Japan.

Kurikinton and Omiyage Culture

Omiyage, or the giving of souvenirs, usually famous products from ones own region or a visited destination is an extremely important aspect of Japanese culture. Last week, a business associate from Gifu Prefecture came to see me in Kyoto bearing kurikinton from a small but very famous shinise. Gifu, the mountainous prefecture near the big city of Nagoya is very famous for its chestnuts and persimmons. The store that makes this kurikinton, Tsuchiya in Ogaki city is this year celebrating its 250th year in business and has a grand total of 4 products producing about $22,000,000 a year in revenue. That’s a lot of chestnuts!

Authentic kurikinton only has two ingredients; chestnut and sugar. Not even any water. Fine Gifu chestnuts are boiled and then mashed with sugar. They are then hand-formed into a ball inside a piece of cloth which is twisted at the top, producing the distinctive kurikinton shape. The taste is like much else in Japan; deceptively simple, rich, not too sweet and delicately refined. While the recipe may sound like it would produce a pasty confection it is not. The consistancy and some aspect of the taste might tempt one to think of cookie dough, but the flavor is neither immature nor half-baked.

The night my friend arrived, at dinner he passed out beautifully wrapped packages of Gifu kurikinton omiyage to several lucky people including myself. The next day, after we took in some Kyoto sights and lunch, before departure he was hunting down some novel Kyoto omiyage to take back to family and employees. In Japan, one would imagine that no matter the economic downturn, the omiyage business never suffers.

In true shinise form, Tsuchiya has a really crappy website from which you can order by fax. How’s that for modernity? I guess that makes getting their creations for a visiting friend all the more special!

Kurikinton Box

Kurikinton Under Wraps

Kurikinton Unwrapped

Kurikinton Served

Kurikinton – detail

Kurikinton Interior

Tsuchiya website (Japanese language)

Autumn is persimmon time in Japan. The shibugaki is an astringent persimmon that can be enjoyed only when it is very ripe, or has been blet. I like to spoon the soft, dripping flesh out like ice cream from a paper cup.

Persimmons are called ‘kaki’ in Japanese.

There are numerous varieties that come in two very distinct categories; either astringent or ‘regular’.

Fuyugaki The regular persimmon, or fuyugaki is similar in shape to a conventional tomato and is eaten like an apple; peeled and sliced into wedges. This is the ‘garden variety’, entry level persimmon.

Shibugaki The shibugaki is a foodie’s persimmon. The astringent shibugaki is very astringent. A shibugaki that is not over-ripe cannot be eaten, the mouth revolts in immediate protest and extreme pucker, by instinct. (I have tried.) Ripening breaks down the culprit tannins.

Ways to Enjoy Shibugaki

1. Over-ripen Time is required and direct sunlight facilitates this. The inner flesh becomes extremely soft and the taut skin is like a bag holding it together. This is simply an unforced bletting.
2. Steeping in Alcohol Japanese put shibugaki in a plastic bag and pour in some shochu (watered down vodka would be similar) and put it in the refrigerator overnight or for a few days. Alcohol serves as a bletting agent and hastens decomposition.
3. Harvest after Frost Freezing breaks down cellular structure and this hastens decomposition as well. In Japan, ravens love to eat persimmons too, so leaving them on the tree late into the season is especially attractive to ravens.
4. Dried Persimmons Hoshigaki, literally ‘dried persimmon’, is the most common way that shibugaki are enjoyed in Japan. (look forward to an upcoming article on hoshigaki)

How to Eat

I gently cut the top off the shibugaki with a small, sharp knife. Then, with a spoon, simply scoop out the flesh. The fruit is actually decomposing, the tannins decompose too, however the sugar content increases with the ripening and decomposition process.

note: Actually, the shibugaki in the photos below, while it did not taste astringent could easily have been ripened for several more days. The fruit is still firm and holds its shape. Personally, I prefer shibugaki to be about the consistency of very thick yogurt, or homemade applesauce, and that would take several more days.

Japanese Persimmon Shibugaki Ripening in the Sun

Japanese Persimmon Shibugaki – A Gorgeous Specimen

Ready for the knife and spoon!

Japanese Persimmon Shibugaki – Removing the Top

Shibugaki – ‘Lid’ Removed

Shibugaki – Ready to Scoop

Shibugaki – Scooping out the Flesh

Reference and Links
This is a great article with recipes, historical quotes and links. Persimmon Beer!
The Old Foodie: Puckering up with Persimmons
Bletting Process (Wikipedia article)

Matsutake is one of the most well loved — and expensive — foods in Japanese cuisine and it has been an autumn favorite in Kyoto throughout the centuries. Matsutake is in season now!

Masutake (松茸) in Japanese literally means ‘pine mushroom’. In Japan it grows under red pines.

Matsutake and Sudachi

Walking through the Teramachi Shopping Arcade yesterday, I noticed that Toriichi Shinise was fully stocked with matsutake, both domestic and imported. Autumn is indeed upon us!

The rich, smoky, earthy flavor, and especially the fragrance are much loved by Japanese. The signature fragrance of the matsutake is best extracted and enhanced by steaming or simmering, therefore it is most commonly seen in broths and cooked in rice. Sudachi, one of the three Japanese citrus fruits essential for cooking probably goes best with the unique flavors of matsutake.

Matsutake cannot be cultivated, so all are harvested in the wild. The people who gather matsutake must brave rugged terrain and steep mountain slopes as well as occasional encounters with bears and wild boars, even the odd rattlesnake.

The most favored matsutake in Japan, domestic matsutake fetch up to about $2,000 per kilogram. That is VERY expensive! Therefore, more economically priced imports from China, Korea and now North America and Europe account for the more than 90% of matsutake in Japan.

By law, imported matsutake must be washed and this dilutes and damages the flavor and fragrance. Imported mushrooms simply cannot be as fresh as domestic ones as well.

The best flavor and fragrance is contained in matsutake in which the cap of the mushroom is not fully developed. When I first came to Japan, it was explained to me that the best matsutake look more like a penis than an umbrella.

Cooking and Eating Matsutake
Matsutake gohan (matsutake rice), matsutake tempura and matsutake dobin mushi, or matsutake simmered in broth, are all wonderful autumn foods in Japan.

One of my all-time favorite Japanese dishes is matsutake dobin mushi, which is absolutely wonderful. Dobin is a ‘clay vessel’ and mushi means ‘steamed’. So, matsutake mushroom simmered and steeped inside a ceramic pot.

A small teapot-like vessel is filled with broth, a shrimp, a cube of chicken maybe a ginnan nut and a few pieces of precious matsutake. It is then simmered for some time and served bubbling hot. It is served with a slice of sudachi, which is squeezed into the broth. This is allowed to steep for several minutes at the table, then the broth is then poured into a tiny cup and is sipped, piping hot, just like tea. The fragrance of the matsutake infused into the broth is just exquisite!

After all the ambrosia-like broth in enjoyed, the pieces inside the pot are usually eaten, but their best flavors have been lost to the broth.

Toriichi Shinise
Toriichi Shinise sells the finest seasonal vegetables. It is a specialty shop and it basically sells only one item per season.

Spring: Bamboo Shoots (mainly from Kyoto)
Summer: Kamonasu Eggplant (from Kyoto)
Autumn: Matsutake
Winter: Senmaizuke, thin sliced pickles made from very large turnips. (from Kyoto)

Toriichi Shinise – Storefront and Seasonal Offerings

Matsutake

The woven bamboo basket on the lower left is worn like a backpack by those gathering matsutake.

Matsutake Offerings

Prices are about $120 to $150 per basket! These are domestic matsutake.

Matsutake Split in Half

Matsutake and Sudachi

Matsutake and Sudachi – detail

The one at the bottom center is of optimal shape for matsutake, the cap is still not spread out.

Nicely Packaged Imported Matsutake

These are imported from Korea.

Chestnuts

Chestnuts are also pricey at Toriichi, these baskets are about $30 to $50 each. These are big, fat chestnuts.

Toriichi Shinise Staff Packaging Matsutake Gift Packages

Toriichi Shinise, while just a small shop in Kyoto is a name known to many throughout Japan and when people want to sent the best seasonal gift possible, seasonal vegetables from one of Kyoto’s finest specialty shops cannot be topped.

English Service

English brochure: none
English website: none (Japanese language website)

Service/Staff: not friendly, several of the staff can be quite rude
Hours: 9am-9pm, open everyday
Location and Access: Toriichi Shinise is located in the Teramachi Shopping Arcade, just north or Sanjo Street. Ten minutes on foot from Kawaramachi Station (Hankyu Line), 5 minutes on foot from Sanjo Station (Keihan line), 3 minutes on foot from Shiyakushomae Station (Subway Tozai line).

Address
Kyoto-shi Nakagyo-ku Teramachi-dori Sanjo-agaru Tenshojimae-cho 523 (京都市中京区寺町通三条上ル天性寺前町523)
Telephone: 075-231-1508

Map

View Larger Map

Aomikan, or ‘green tangerine’ mark the beginning of autumn. They are more sour than sweet and make a wonderfully refreshing snack in the still hot late afternoons and early evenings of this season.

The early autumn aomikan has a delightful, berry-like ‘tingle on the tongue’ tartness to it, similar to the sensation of a perfectly fresh strawberry.

The mikan (ripe) tangerine are a winter staple and favorite of Japanese. During the New Year’s holiday, Oshogatsu, families will often buy a whole crate or more of mikan to enjoy together during the lazy several days of the family-centered, Christmas-like celebration.

In this season though, mikan are not quite ripe, but that makes them all the more tasty! Aomikan is one of Peko’s favorite fruit of all time. Mikan only stay ‘ao’, green naturally for a short time, so this is the time to enjoy them!

Ao, literally means blue, but in the case of aomikan it means green. Japanese often don’t differentiate between blue and green clearly. And that irks Peko.

Aomikan don’t just look exotic and taste great, they have medicinal value! Aomikan contain lots of hesperidin, which is an antioxidant. Hesperidin strengthens blood vessels and reduces cholesterol and blood pressure. There are lots of supplement type products available in Japan now that are extracted from aomikan. Now this is all very important stuff, but for a foodie, most importantly, it tastes novel and damn good!

Enough talk, now feast your eyes!

Aomikan

Actually, these aomikan are getting fairly yellowish. More expensive aomikan, especially those from a fruit specialty store would be deeper green.

Aomikan

Aomikan Peeled

Expertly peeled by Paku. Japanese like to have the skin be neatly in one piece after peeling.

Aomikan on Blue

Japanese often have difficulty articulating the difference between blue and green. I think this photo makes it clear!

Aomikan Inside and Out

Inside is mikan orange.

Aomikan on the Supermarket Shelves

I took this photo with Paku’s new and shiny iPhone a few weeks ago. Now, citrus, especially oranges and mikan are available year-round in Japan but green mikan are only available for a short time in the early autumn. By the way, these aomikan were grown in a greenhouse to make them ‘ready’ by Obon, in early August.

Aomikan Abroad
Aomikan is one of those things that could easily be available back in the US, where I (Peko) am from. But, I have never seen any. Have you?

Aomikan aren’t a new and exotic fruit, they are just a new and exotic approach to enjoying our existing tangerines!