Gion Chigo Mochi covered in sparkly ice-like flakes, filled with sweet and salty miso has been a Kyoto favorite for about 100 years!

This is a very popular and historic wagashi mochi treat in Kyoto. It is simple; gyuhi mochi dusted in sparkles on a stick filled with a sweet and salty white miso.

Gion Chigo Mochi with ‘Sparkles’

Gion Chigo Mochi is made not in Gion but at a quaint shop called Sanjo Wakasaya at the Sanjo-Horikawa Street intersection, in the entrance to one of Kyoto’s largest ‘shotengai’ shopping arcades. Gion Chigo Mochi is the Sanjo Wakasaya’s famous product.

Actually, this mochi is for the Gion Festival but it is available all year.

Icy Sparkles
The sparkles that cover this mochi are made from kori mochi (氷餅), literally ice, or frozen mochi. Kori mochi is from northern Japan. To make it, blocks of mochi are wrapped in paper and hung under the eaves of houses in the winter to freeze dry.

In times past people ate kori mochi but now it is more often used to decorate wagashi. Kori mochi when crushed into flakes looks similar to ice crystals or freshly fallen snow.

The Gion Festival is held at the height of the summer heat and Japanese love this kind of icy look to provide some psychic relief from summer.

Gion Chigo Mochi is only slightly sweet and contains salt, this is a taste that traditionally Japanese found appropriate to combat summer.

Gion Chigo Mochi Bag and Pamphlet

Gion Chigo Mochi ‘Chimaki’ Package

Gion Chigo Mochi Unwrapping ‘Chimaki’ Package

Gion Chigo Mochi – Served

Gion Chigo Mochi – Served

Gion Chigo Mochi – detail

Gion Chigo Mochi – Sweet and Salty Miso Filling

World War II Rationing and Wagashi
During World War II, in the interest of rationing, the government forbade the production of non-essential and luxury products and sweets were included in this prohabition. Gion Chigo Mochi was only one of 18 wagashi products in Kyoto that were permitted production during the war. Many traditional Kyoto shops did not survive the war, though Kyoto was never subject to airstrikes.

Sanjokai Shotengai
If you want to see an old shotengai (shopping arcade) the one here, Sanjokai is a good one, though not as remarkable to a foodie as Nishiki Market Street. Shotengai were the shopping centers of Japan before big-box shopping centers began to sprout up. There are a few other interesting shops in Sanjokai but mostly it offers a look into the prosaic lives of regular folks’ shopping habits. Sanjokai is quite long, running the distance between Horikawa and Senbon Streets on Sanjo Street.

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