My friend, Chef Tanigawa, the owner-chef of Kichisen was frustrated to see a total absence of overseas visitors to Kyoto this spring. The disaster in Tohoku is that cause, however the exaggerated media coverage has made the local tragedy into a national economic calamity, with far reaching consequences, and for no rational reason. While the nuclear meltdown is deadly serious, so far, just two workers at the plant have required treatment for radiation exposure. Apparently, simple soap and water was their only required treatment.

From what I heard and saw this spring, Kyoto hospitality related businesses lost more than 98% of their customers from overseas. Yet, there was absolutely no damage or danger in Kyoto. That fact didn’t stop the media from going into frenzy mode and report that the situation in Japan was as bad as Chernobyl. This inflicts real damage on small businesses and local economies. And then, the media just move onto the next crisis, their greener pastures. It is very irresponsible, to say the least.

If you want to help Japan recover from this tragedy and you have a trip planned. Don’t cancel! Come, enjoy yourself and support the economy. If you cancelled or postponed a trip, please consider coming!

Kichisen White Miso and Tofu Served with Rice Tea Ceremony-style and Sashimi

So, here we go. Kichisen’s recipe for Kyoto-style white miso.

Temperature: Usually miso is made in the winter so it doesn’t need refrigeration as it ferments. We started this in late May so it will have to ferment in the refrigerator over the summer.

Name: Kyoto white miso, called ‘saikyo’ (west capital) miso in Kyoto and ‘shiro’ (white) miso in the rest if the country, has a lower than usual salt content, so the temperature during the fermentation process is important.

Kichisen Shiromiso Ingredients

• 1.2 kg soybeans (best quality, from Hokkaido)
• kome-koji 2.5 kg (malted rice)
• arajio salt 450 g (natural sea salt)
• water 3.5 liters

Ingredient: Hokkaido Soybeans

Ingredient: Hokkaido Soybeans - Soaked

Ingredient: Rice Koji

Preparation: Simmering Soybeans

Preparation: Simmering Soybeans - Done

Preparation: Soybean Grinder

Preparation: Mixing in Salt

Preparation: Adding Liquid

Preparation: Mixing

Preparation: Packing and Removing Air

Ready for Fermentation

Preparation Steps

• Soak soybeans in cold water overnight.
• Drain and rinse soybeans.
• In a large pot bring 3.5 liters of water to boil, reduce heat and add soybeans. Simmer for about 1 hour.
• Drain and allow to cool.
• Mash, grind or puree the soybeans. (Kichisen uses a meat grinder with a fine hole plate attachment.)
• Mix by hand the soybean puree with kome-koji thoroughly and then add salt while continuing to mix.
• Add liquid. Use the cooled ‘soup’ leftover from simmering the soybeans to soften the mix. Ladle in this liquid little-by-little and mix by hand until evenly absorbed creating a soft paste. The ideal liquid content will make the paste ‘the softness of an earlobe.’
• Vigorously knead paste and remove air bubbles.
• Make into balls and place in non-reactive container. Flatten the balls of miso paste until you have filled the container.
• Cover container and ferment at about 5 degrees C for 3 months.

Final Product: Kichisen White Miso - Done!

Final Product: Kichisen White Miso - Smokey and Pungent

About kome-koji: Rice koji (malted rice) can be made if you can obtain the active koji mold. In Japan we purchase this from a company that specialized in making kome-koji. Chef Tanigawa ordered his from a company in Shikoku. If anyone is interested, I can get the company name and contact information. However, kome-koji must be used fresh and kept refrigerated until use. I guess it is impossible to be shipped abroad.

Sake breweries, miso breweries and so on make their own kome-koji but usually purchase the actual koji mold. There are many varieties of koji in Japan and in sake and miso they play a large part in determining the taste of the final product.

Obtaining Koji Spores Abroad: Vision Brewing
The koji seeds are dry and extremely stable and are stored in an air lock bag. They have an indefinite shelf life being dried conidia, they need no refrigeration and the packet can be opened and closed frequently without harm done to the contents. Postage (air mail, 7 working days) is the method of shipping.

Things had been slow going between us, I must have gone to Kichisen five times to try to explain to him what I wanted to do. I even took Miwa with me a few times. He was always friendly and polite but never said yes, he didn’t say no either.

On one occasion that I went Chef Tanigawa lent me this old, out of print book about Kyoto cuisine written by one of his masters. After a month or so I thought I should return it, but before doing so, I photocopied the book as I thought that I wasn’t going to be able to get my hands on a copy again. I brought it back and he asked me if I was really done with it. I matter-of-factly said that I photographed the book. He was surprised, I assured him that I photocopied it literally from cover to cover. He said that as New Year’s was fast approaching I ought to do an article on his Osechi. I gladly agreed to that and quickly planned it into a major series!

He yelled into the kitchen for the apprentices to wrap up a big round daikon radish for me and told me to make tsukemono with it. This was the first time that I saw Kichisen apprentices scurrying about for me. Next came a bag of shinmai new rice. When I got home I laid them out on my desk in the sunny south room and photographed them.

I think that photocopying the entire book might have impressed him into taking me seriously. I really don’t know.

Almost a Year Has Passed: 2008 New Rice from Chef Tanigawa

2009: The other night the telephone rang and it was Chef Tanigawa saying that he had received his 2009 new rice and that he had made some onigiri rice balls and was having an apprentice run them up to my house. I had actually just finished dinner when the telephone rang and was not very hungry.

The onigiri were nearly gooey soft yet there was tons of okoge in them. They were not wrapped in nori seaweed or stuffed with anything. They were especially salty though and I distinctly feeling grains of salt crunching between my teeth! On the side was his beni shoga pickled ginger, also over-the-top salty.

This is what arrived in a natural wrapping of bamboo sheath.

Kichisen Shinmai Onigiri and Bamboo Sheath Wrapping

Kichisen Shinmai Onigiri Unwrapping and Green Leaves

Kichisen Shinmai Onigiri with Beni Shoga

Notice the yellow okoge in the onigiri. The beni shoga pickled ginger is separated with a still green ginkgo leaf.

Kichisen Shinmai Onigiri with Beni Shoga

I decided that at least for myself, I wanted to recall this last year. I can’t count how many times Chef Tanigawa has called me over to Kichisen to tell me something, taste something, photograph something or give me something. It has been an experience that I never could have (or would have thought to) wish for. I am quite sure that there is no one else like him in Kyoto. He not only defeated Chef Masaharu Morimoto on Iron Chef, he beat him in a clean sweep. Yet, Chef Tanigawa is very down to earth and very accessible, open and friendly. The kind of master Kyoto needs a whole lot more of!

He is such a nut and is really into Ed Hardy. When he is not in his hard starched and pressed white chef/priest robe, he is decked out in Ed Hardy clothing, Chrome Hearts bling and a Louis Vuitton bag and Gucci shoes.

One more than one occasion I have called him around dinner time, when he is most busy to ask him how to make something in particular. Just for a pointer or two, not even a recipe and he says I’ll be up to your house in like 45 minutes! Like the day I called to ask about the broth he used for his boiled tofu dish.

Chef Tanigawa Explaining His Turtle Soup (or the effects thereof)

After Sake at Asakura

On the last night Zenchef and Norecipes were in town we went to Sake Bar Asakura to taste some real sake.

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Learning to Make Kyoto-style Sushi from Chef Tanigawa

About Helena Chlepnac and Sushi Fusion
Helena is lives in Switzerland and does Sushi Fusion, a sushi catering company and now offers sushi classes which are very popular. Helena has over 300 students learning to make sushi in Switzerland!

Prelude to Sushi Lesson: Furosen Sake and Funazushi Day Trip
Before learning to make Kyoto-style sushi from the Iron Chef defeater, we went up to Shiga Prefecture for a day to experience a bit of Shiga’s culinary culture.

First we visited Uehara Sake Brewery to see the how they make the world’s greatest sake: Furosen. We were given a tour of the brewery and a generous tasting. Uehara Sake Brewery revived the tradition of using wooden barrels for brewing sake and Helena remarked that her favorite champaign maker is the only one that continued to use wood while everyone else changed to stainless steel. Now, how is that for good taste!

Uehara Sake Brewery and Sixth Generation Owner Mr Uehara

Uehara Sake Brewery Tasting Furosen Sake

This is the greatest sake in the world.

Two Year Old Funazushi

In the afternoon we visited a tsukemono maker called Marucho that has been making tsukemono with Shiga vegetables since the Edo era to see how they make their pickles and Shiga’s meibutsu (famous product): funazushi. Funazishi is made from a special variety of carp from Lake Biwa that has been salted and fermented with rice for 2 years. It is a variety of narazushi (fermented fish ‘sushi’) which is the origin of modern-day sushi. Fermented fish is not popular even among many Japanese foodies for reasons that you can imagine. It is not bad though.

At Marucho they make the real deal; funazushi that has been made with the finest wild carp from Lake Biwa and fermented for 2 years. (The cheaper funazushi is made with aqua-cultured carp and only fermented 1 year.) This proper way of making funazushi is called hon-jikomi (authentic production). This requires frequent washing and changing of the rice. This is what separates the good funazushi from the bad. Additionally, the bones of the carp are quite robust and the two year fermentation process softens them to nearly the same as the meat.

Marucho generously offered us a sample of their best, hon-jikomi funazushi. Helena remarked that if she didn’t know that it was fish, she wouldn’t have known from the taste. Funazushi made the old-fashioned way is not fishy and is surprisingly sour. If you like cheese, you would probably like funazushi. The best funazushi is nearly bursting with eggs. The taste of the eggs really reminded me of mimolette cheese, both in flavor and in texture.

It was a fun and interesting day, but I sensed that Helena was really looking forward to her sushi day!

The Main Event: Sushi Lesson at Kichisen

Helena went to the Kyoto Central Wholesale Market with Chef Tanigawa bright and early and selected fish with him. From mid-day the lesson began in the kitchen. Helena learned how to make most all the summertime Kyoto sushi styles from Chef Tanigawa. Miwa translated and I only joined the party late in the afternoon, just in time to eat.

This is what Helena learned:

1. How to Clean and Prepare Fish

• Ayu (Sweetfish)
• Tai (Sea Bream)
• Saba (Mackerel)
• Hamo (Pike Eel)
• Ika (Squid)
• Akagai (Red Shellfish)

2. How to Make Kyoto-style Sushi

• Hamozushi
• Sabazushi
• Sasamaki Zushi
• Ayuzushi
• Isomaki Zushi
• Ryuhimaki
• Temarizushi (ball-shaped, similar to nigiri sushi)
• Kikuzushi (chrysanthemum flower-shaped, similar to nigiri sushi)
• Komakizushi (Kinzanji Miso, Shiso and Cucumber)
• Tsukemono Sushi (also nigiri sushi)
• Inarizushi (deep fried tofu pockets stuffed sushi)

Cleaning Fish at Kichisen

Sea bream ‘tai’ for several kinds of sushi.

Cleaning Fish at Kichisen

After cleaning the tai for sushi, the head is split for soup or rice. Nothing is discarded.

Making Sushi Rice

Chef Tanigawa kindly gave Helena his recipe for sushi rice — I got a copy of it too.

Helena Shaping Rice for Hamozushi

Chef Tanigawa Demonstrating Cutting Hamozushi

Chef Tanigawa Demonstrating Cutting Sabazushi

Finishing-up in the Kitchen

Epic Sushi Plate One

From top to bottom; hamozushi, sabazushi, inarizushi, sasamaki.

Epic Sushi Plate Two

From top to bottom, left to right; ayuzushi, kikuzushi, temarizushi, isomaki, komakizushi, tsukemono (nigiri) sushi, ryuhimaki sushi.

Assortment of Kyoto-style Sushi

My fav was the one on the bottom right, it is called ryuhi maki. It is a ‘bozushi’ made with tai on rice with sansho leaves wrapped in soft and chewy kombu and has slices of raw green yuzu between each piece. At the back right is one of Kichisen’s exquisite homemade umeboshi. On the lower left is ayuzushi.

Hamozushi (Pike Eel Sushi) – detail

Hamo is only eaten in Kyoto.

Sabazushi (Mackerel Sushi) – detail

Sabazushi is perhaps Kyoto’s most common and popular sushi.

Sasamaki (Sasa Bamboo Leaf Wrapped Sushi) – Wrapped

Sasamaki (Sasa Bamboo Leaf Wrapped Sushi) – Unwrapped

This is kodai, literally ‘small tai’ (young sea bream).

Temarizushi (Ball-shaped Sushi) – detail

This is squid (ika), notice the sprig of green kinome sansho leaf under the squid.

Q&A with Chef Tanigawa after the Feast

Chef Tanigawa said that he is open to doing such lessons occasionally for chefs from abroad. If you are a chef and going to be in town and want to learn from a Kyoto master chef, feel free to send us an email.

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Tsukudani is a Japanese condiment that is usually made of seaweed that has been simmered in soy sauce, cooking sake and mirin. Kitayama, or the North Mountains of Kyoto are famous for Tsukudani made with mountain vegetables and mushrooms. Some tsukudani shinise stores in the city make tsukudani with wagyu beef.

Tsukudani is easy to make and goes well with rice and also with sake. Try it with wine too.

Tsukudani (佃煮)
Earlier in the spring of this year I got this incredibly delicious tsukudani from Tanigawa-san at Kichisen. He made it with whole togarashi pepper plant; the stems, leaves, tiny fruit and all. It was quite salty due to the amount of soy sauce used, fairly dry and the taste of pepper was obvious. I had wanted to make it myself but had only found that pepper plant in the store once.

I had wanted to make this tsukudani for myself and found Kyotona (京唐菜) the other day at the market. ‘Kyo’ means Kyoto, ‘to’ means pepper and ‘na’ means vegetable. I checked later and this wasn’t the exact same vegetable that Tanigawa-san used for his, it is more leafy but the peppery taste is definitely there.

I bought three bunches of kyotona and some wagyu beef to make mine. I wanted it to be something that I could use to flavor onigiri, so not insanely salty.

I checked around on the internet for recipes and they all used far too much soy sauce for my taste. I ended up using 1/5 the amount that one recipe called for. (See my recipe below.)

The Main Ingredients: Kyotona and Wagyu Beef

Wagyu Beef

Washing and Separating the Kyotona

Kyotona in the Pan

Cooking Down the Kyotona

Simmering with Soy Sauce and Sake

Finished

Sliced Dried Chili Pepper

Kyotona and Wagyu Tsukudani

Here is my recipe:

• 700 grams of kyotona (weighed before washing)
• 100 – 200 grams fatty wagyu beef
• 1 cup of ryorishu (cooking sake)
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup of high quality Japanese soy sauce
• 1/2 cup of mirin (sweet cooking sake)

optional ingredients

• a few tablespoons of sugar
• 1 – 2 tablespoon of sesame oil
• finely chopped ginger
• dried red chili pepper (not too hot)

For my tastes, start I started with 1/2 cup of soy sauce per 500 grams of main ingredients (beef and greens). Add and adjust other flavors from there to your liking.

1. Slice beef into strips, not cubes as I did. Long and slender will keep them from separating from the greens. Saute for several minutes. Add sesame oil if necessary.

2. Wash the greens and remove stems. By hand squeeze out as much water content as possible. (At first I thought that I had committed a Kyoto-style sacrilege by not using the stems. But I simmered a few and tried them, they were quite woody and inedible. I imagine that with other varieties of greens the stems could be used though. Stems would probably need to simmer longer than the more delicate leafy greens.)

3. Cook down the greens to remove water content. I added 1/2 cup of cooking sake to a covered wok and steamed down the greens over high heat. Then I removed the cover, reduced heat and allowed most of the water to evaporate out.

4. Add remaining cooking sake, half the soy sauce and mirin. Taste and adjust flavor (add soy sauce, sugar, mirin, ginger, etc) accordingly to your taste. Simmer down until most liquid is evaporated and flavors are fully absorbed in the greens and meat.

5. Allow to cool, uncovered. I added finely chopped dried chili peppers. The fancy, Kichisen way to do it is to just add the seeds. I added the chili after the tsukudani had cooled down because I didn’t want the spicy hotness to be absorbed too much into the tsukudani, I assume that heat and liquid content facilitates this. I used 3 chili peppers and that might have been a little too much. I don’t want the tsukudani itself to be spicy, I just want it to contain some bits of spiciness in it.

How did it taste?
My tsukudani turned out not too salty, a bit sweet with the pronounced green peppery taste of the greens. I wish that this variety of greens had been more peppery though. The hotness of the chopped chili was about the right contrast to the oiliness of the beef.

Tsukudani Regional and Seasonal Varieties
In Japan tsukudani is made with many regional and seasonal ingredients. In mountainous areas, mountain vegetables and wild mushrooms are common and near the sea, fish, especially shellfish, are commonly used. Kombu kelp and other sea vegetables are probably the most common base ingredient, even in areas removed from the sea.

In Kyoto many people make tsukudani as a side dish with daikon radish greens.

Try making your own tsukudani inspired dish!
Usually the more expensive the tsukudani, the more salty it is, as it is only intended to be a tiny bite to accent kaiseki cuisine. Again, my recipe was intended to produce something that could be used to stuff or flavor onigiri or as a ‘topping’ for rice.

Try making tsukudani with whatever you can obtain in your region. You just need Japanese soy sauce, sake or cooking sake and sugar to get the base taste of this dish.

Tsukudani can be something to go with rice, or it can be more like an appetizer that would go wonderfully with wine or dark beer. I can imagine wild mushrooms in Europe or oysters in North America making some killer appetizer type tsukudani.

Despite the gross unfairness of Iron Chef and host Takeshi Kaga to challengers, Yoshimi Tanigawa soundly defeated Masaharu Morimoto, former executive chef of Nobu, in a clean sweep!

“…(Chef Tanigawa) is said to be trying to change the over-decorative trend in recent Kyoto cuisine and working hard to revive the sophisticated style of true Kyoto cuisine with a 1000 year tradition. Chef Tanigawa carries the future of Kyoto cuisine on his shoulders.” (Iron Chef introduction)

Yoshimi Tanigawa it the owner and head chef of Kichisen, one of Kyoto’s most respected kaiseki restaurants. Kichisen is one of the few restaurants in present-day Japan that has an itamae dojo, or training program for apprentice chefs to learn the full spectrum of Kyoto culinary culture and authentic kaiseki cuisine. The course is 15 years long.

Yoshimi Tanigawa on Iron Chef

Iron Chef – Battle Pike Eel (1 of 5)

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUsAkkCvJZU

Iron Chef – Battle Pike Eel (2 of 5)

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToFhpBJfm0o

Iron Chef – Battle Pike Eel (3 of 5)

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX082fHEKYE

Iron Chef – Battle Pike Eel (4 of 5)

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvEu4O80GkE

Iron Chef – Battle Pike Eel (5 of 5)

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XFVbFG2S0Y

Kichisen Osechi New Year’s Cuisine Series on KyotoFoodie:
Osechi: What is Kyo-ryori (Kyoto Cuisine)?
Osechi: Kyoto Kichisen Master Chef Yoshimi Tanigawa
Osechi: What is Osechi Ryori?
Osechi: Shopping for Osechi Fish at Kyoto Wholesale Food Market
Osechi: Shopping for Osechi Vegetables at Kyoto Wholesale Food Market
Kichisen Osechi: Midnight Final Preparation and Meaning
Kichisen Kaiseki: Japanese New Year Shogatsu Ryori

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It is May and the most historic festival in all of Japan, the Aoi Matsuri is upon us. Iron Chef Defeater, Yoshimi Tanigawa of Kyoto’s famed Kichisen restaurant artfully uses the symbols and themes of the Aio Matsuri and seasonal leaves and ingredients for Kichisen’s May kaiseki menu.

Mr Tanigawa offered to let us do an article about his Kyoto kaiseki creations for the month of May which has both the Tango no Sekku (Boy’s Day/Festival) and Aoi Matsuri (Hollyhock Festival). Late spring verdant green, new leaves and seasonal sprouts, buds and fish abound. At Kichisen, flower arrangement and food meet in Mr Tanigawa’s natural and artistic culinary creations.

Sakizuke (Appetizer) with Seasonal Leaves and Iris

(click photos to enlarge)

Japan’s most historic festival, the Aoi Matsuri is to please the deities of the Kamo Shrines (Kamigamo and Shimogamo) and to avert famine and epidemics. For 15 centuries, people in Kyoto have put on this festival on. Kichisen borders Shimogamo Shrine and utilizes the shrine’s aoi (hollyhock) leaf in it’s logo. See photos at the end of this article to see the distinctive hollyhock plant and tiny, delicate flowers. (More about the Aio Matsuri on OpenKyoto coming soon.)

These are the first 5 courses (7 dishes) of the 12 course ‘May’ kaiseki meal.

Sakizuke (Appetizer) with Seasonal Leaves and Iris

The leaves: top two are aoi, then a whole iris and the bottoms leaves on the bottom layer are kashiwa oak leaves. Inside the kashiwa leaves are the appetizers.

The Oak Leaf Wrapped Appetizers
梅干しの天ぷら: Umeboshi Tempura (umeboshi is pickled plum)
賀茂茄子の田楽: Kamonasu Dengaku (Kamo Eggplant Miso Dengaku)
バイ貝と大根のうま煮: Baikai Daikon Umanin (Simmered Ivory Shell and Daikon)

Heian Chimaki and Uni and Yomogi (Mugwort) Tofu

Heian Era Chimaki
平安粽: Chimaki is usually a rice or sweet dish that has been wrapped in the leaf of the ‘sasa’ bamboo plant. At Kichisen, they continue to make chimaki the way it was made when Kyoto was founded 1200 years ago.

Wanmono: Yoshino Hamo Eel (Soup)

Hamo Eel
Hamo is synonymous with fresh fish in Kyoto as it was, historically the only fish from the sea that could be transported to Kyoto and still be alive when it arrived. Hamo is bony and requires a special ‘bone cutting’ technique in order to make it edible. This delicate soup is made with kuzu root (starch) from Yoshino in rural Nara prefecture. The green citrus is a very, very young yuzu.

The droplets of water on the lid are sprinkled on using a chasen, the whisk for making maccha in the tea ceremony.

Mukozuke: Tai, Ika, Kuruma Ebi Sashimi

Awabi (Abalone) Sushi

Soboku
Abalone season has just started in Japan. Traditionally, when fishermen collected them they would be tied up with straw. As Kichisen’s kaiseki retains a deep connection to the tea ceremony, this kind of natural simplicity is incorporated into the dishes. This is the kind of thing that makes Kichisen different from many other kaiseki restaurants in Kyoto.

Hassun: Various Fish Dishes

Hassun: Various Fish Dishes

Food Porn, the Kyoto Perspective
I asked Mr Tanigawa if I could photograph the other courses in this meal but he said that if you want to see them all you have to come to Kichisen for dinner. Interestingly, he said that if you show photos of everything, it cheapens it. Yes, that is a very ‘Kyoto’ approach — don’t show too much. (I am down on a lot of traditional Kyoto attitude, but I think I agree with his judgment on this point.)

Kichisen Restaurant

Kichisen Interior

Kichisen Gate

The plants on either side of the stone steps are aoi hollyhock.

note: The photos above are the property of Kichisen and may not be republished without permission (as often happens with my photos).

Aoi

Aoi Hollyhock

Aoi Hollyhock Flowers

Notice the tiny flowers under the leaves. This variety of hollyhock reminds me of strawberry plants far more than the hollyhocks that I used to grow back in Minnesota!

Sea bream, or ‘tai’ in Japanese is one of the best loved fish and an important symbol in Japanese culture. It is in season in the spring and is called the ‘King of Fish’ in Japan. A whole tai is quite expensive and is enough for an entire meal. Here are three ways to eat one tai.

Itadakimono: Yesterday I was over at Kichisen with a friend chatting with Mr Tanigawa, as I was leaving Mr Tanigawa ordered one of his students to get a tai for me to take home. When they showed the beautiful red fish, I couldn’t believe my luck. It was huge! He also gave me some greens that I had not heard of before: hakusaina.

Sea Bream Feast Served

Sea Bream ‘Tai’

Sea Bream ‘Tai’ – Cleaned

Sea Bream Feast Served

Tai Meshi (Sea Bream Rice) – Ready to Cook

Tai Meshi (Sea Bream Rice) – Cooked

Tai Meshi (Sea Bream Rice) – Removing Meat from Head

Tai Meshi (Sea Bream Rice) – Removing Meat from Head

Tai Meshi (Sea Bream Rice) – Removing Meat from Bones

Tai Meshi (Sea Bream Rice) – Removed Bones

Tai Meshi (Sea Bream Rice) Served with Ki-no-me

Ki-no-me is the leaf of the sansho plant.

Tai Meshi
Tai-meshi is made a number of different ways and Mr Tanigawa recommended that we use the head for that. (We put the spine in too and that was a mistake as it left a fair number of bones in the rice. Surprisingly, we were able to strip the meat from the head, even the lips — with only getting a few small boney bits in the rice,)

The idea here is that the head of the tai will make a lot of excellent dashi (soup stock) for the rice. And that it did! Also, nothing should go to waste. First, the tai head is grilled shioyaki style, just for a minute or so on each side. Then the head goes in the rice cooker and is cooked on top of the rice with some ryorishu (cooking sake), salt and a bit of shoyu.

Removing the meat from the head is not as difficult as you might expect. Tai-meshi is usually garnished with ki-no-me, which is the leaf of the sansho pepper bush.

Tai Nitsuki – Simmering Sea Bream with Greens

Tai Nitsuki – Simmered Sea Bream with Greens

Tai Nitsuke
We made a light dashi with just a few small slices of ginger and simmered half the tai in it. As the end, we added the hakusaina greens as per Mr Tanigawa’s instructions. For me, it is hard to beat fish simmered in sake and shoyu.

Tai Sashimi

Tai Sashimi
The bottom half of the fillet is eaten raw, the skin is stripped off and it is simply sliced. Meanwhile, on the other half of the upper half of the fillet, and the skin that was stripped off the lower half, Mr Tanigawa poured boiling water and then plunged it into ice water.

The scalded skin is sliced thin and mixed with scallion and ponzu. (Ponzu is a citrus juice and vinegar based shoyu dipping sauce. I got this ponzu at a shoyu shinise in Kyoto and it includes grapefruit juice, a novel ingredient!) This is similar to the fugu ‘teppi‘ dish.

The ‘scalded’ sashimi with skin is dipped in ponzu and the ‘raw’ sashimi is dipped in the usual shoyu and wasabi. This contrast was particularly wonderful and the kind of surprise you get at a restaurant like Kichisen.

UPDATE: My bad, I called ‘tai’ red snapper, rather than sea bream in this article and was kindly corrected by Marc@NoRecipes. (22 April 2009)

At Kichisen, the master and students work in the cold through the night like Santa’s workshop getting Japanese New Year’s Osechi ready to send via express chilled delivery to arrive at homes all over Japan on New Year’s Eve day. Kichisen’s osechi is exquisite and as it is a meal to be shared with God, it comes in a breathtaking white lacquer box.

Kichisen’s Signature White Lacquer Osechi Box 白重

The green hollyhock leaf motif on the boxes comes from the neighboring Shimogamo Shrine.

The Meaning and Symbols of Osechi Ryori

Kichisen’s osechi ryori contains 41 kinds of food. Here we introduce 13 of the representative dishes and explain some of the meaning and metaphor.

Osechi is hozonshoku, or preserved food. Historically it was prepared in advance so that the women of the family could have several days off from cooking, it is also very similar to how Japanese ate in centuries past. The dishes in osechi ryori each have a meaning related to health and happiness in the new year. Puns and plays on words and Chinese characters are common. Like the taste of the food, the symbols and metaphors are rather quant and from a different era, they remain largely unchanged today.

Representative Osechi Dishes and Their Meanings

1. Bodara 棒鱈: Eat well
Bodara is dried cod (tara) slow simmered in soy sauce. Tarafuku means to have an rich and abundant dietary life. People eat bodara wishing to eat well in the new year.

2. Iseebi Shioyu 伊勢海老塩湯: Health and long life
Salt boiled lobster. After lobster has been boiled in salt water the meat is pulled apart by hand into delicate threads. It is said to look like the white hair of the grandparents of the family. People eat this hoping to live in health well into old age.

3. Kazunoko 数の子: Many descendants
Kazunoko, herring egg sac, holds an enormous number of eggs and people eat this hoping to have many descendants.

4. Tazukuri 田作り: Bountiful harvests
Tazukuri, literally ‘making rice fields’ is dried baby sardines that have been simmered in soy sauce. In the Edo period, dried baby sardines were used as fertilizer to enrich the soil and increase the harvest.

5. Kinkan Amani 金柑甘煮: Auspiciousness and wealth
Kinkan amani is sweet, simmered kumquat. Kumquat is called kinkan in Japanese. The Chinese characters for kinkan are 金柑, 金冠, or ‘golden crown’ has the same phonetic reading. Japanese of old seem to have loved these kinds of puns.

6. Tataki Gobo 叩牛蒡: Increase good fortune, stability in life
With cooking, the ends of burdock split, people wish their luck to split and multiply. Burdock has deep roots that afford stability.

7. Karasumi Kinpaku Serohan Tsutsumi 唐墨金箔セロハン包み: Promotion, progress in life
Karasumi is the highest quality chinmi in Japan. It is made of the bora fish egg sac. This fish has different names during it’s growth stages, so its name changes as it grows up, so people eats hoping to progress in life.

8. Hirame Ryuhimaki 鮃龍飛巻: Happiness and joy
Flounder wrapped with simmered kelp. Kelp is called kombu, or kobu in Japanese. Kobu is a play on the word yorokobu, which means happiness and joy.

9. Shin Takenoko Fukumeni  新筍子含煮: Prosperity and growth
Bamboo grows very fast, so people eat this hoping for their family’s prosperity and growth to be like that of bamboo.

10. Budo Mame 葡萄豆: Diligence
These beans are black and from ancient times people believed that black has talismanic power. Mame, ‘bean’ in Japanese,  written with different characters means ‘diligent’. People eat this dish wishing to live a ‘beanly’ new year. (Beanly: Miwa made up this word, it was too great to edit. Everyone have a ‘beanly’ 2009!)

11. Matsukasa Kuwai 松笠慈姑: Auspiciousness
The kuwai bulb produces a large sprout, and this is a symbol of growth and development. The bulb is cut into the shape of a pine cone, the pine tree, in Japanese culture is a majestic and auspicious symbol.

12. Kurumaebi Tsuyayu 車海老艶湯: Longevity
Shrimp have long whiskers and their backs are curved, they are associated with elder people. People eat shrimp hoping to live a long life.

13. Ayu Komb Maki 鮎昆布巻き: Happiness
From ancient times ayu, or sweetfish was known as fish that brings happiness, the kombu, kelp wrapping is also a symbol of happiness.

Representative Osechi

From left; cod, lobster threads, herring roe, sardines, kumquat and burdock root.

Representative Osechi: Flounder with Ginger Wrapped in Kelp

Representative Osechi: Black Beans

Osechi Detail: Shoyu Simmered Cod, Bodara

After two weeks of soaking to reconstitute the dried cod, at Kichisen this dish is cooked for 2 days straight.

Osechi Detail: Salt Simmered Lobster Threads

This dish hardly tastes of salt.

Osechi Detail: Herring Eggs, Kazukono

Osechi Detail: Karasumi with Gold Leaf Wrapped in Cellophane

If you are interested in chinmi, seek out karasumi when you visit Japan, it is more cheese-like than fish in taste.

Moritsuke, Literally To Set Out

Osechi Moritsuke, or ‘serving up beautifully’, starts at midnight on December 30. The staff of Kichisen works through the night filling beautiful white lacquer boxes with the 41 dishes that had been prepared over the last few days New Year’s cuisine. For cleanliness, everyone is dressed in what look like biohazard gear. The heat was turned off and it was 2°C indoors.

Osechi Moritsuke: Filling the Boxes

Notice the large photos of the various arrangements for quick reference.

Osechi Moritsuke: Filling the Boxes

Osechi Moritsuke: Filling the Boxes

Osechi Moritsuke: Filling the Boxes

This is fish is called mutsu and has been marinaded in miso and then grilled — heavenly.

Osechi Moritsuke: Chestnuts

The yellow color is natural and achieved by simmering with gardenia seeds.

Osechi Moritsuke: Shrimp

Osechi Moritsuke: Bamboo Shoots

Osechi Moritsuke: Bamboo Shoots

Osechi Moritsuke: Candied Yuzu Peel

The Final Product: Three Layers of Exquisite Hozonshoku

Osechi Box: Bottom

Osechi Box: Middle

Osechi Box: Top

Osechi Box

Osechi Box: The Finished Product, Ready for Boxing and Shipping

At Kichisen, they start shopping for ingredients for osechi in July. Most all shopping is done at the Kyoto Central Wholesale Market. After ordering seafood, Kichisen master Tanigawa heads over to the vegetable section to purchase the finest Kyo-yasai, or Kyoto vegetables for his Japanese New Year’s Osechi. On the way back to Kichisen, we stop in at a favorite ramen shop for breakfast and I get a lesson on how to eat ramen properly.

Master Chef’s Daily Routine
We continue our visit to the Kyoto Wholesale Food Market with Kichisen owner and master chef, Yoshimi Tanigawa. Part 1 is about morning prayers and selecting fish for osechi.

Kichisen Osechi: Searching the Kyoto Vegetable Section

Kichisen Osechi: Kyoto Vegetable Section

Kichisen Osechi: Tanigawa Chats with Vegetable Vendor

In many shops, the kerosene stove is a popular destination for both staff and customers.

Kichisen Osechi:

Kichisen Osechi: Kuwai

Kichisen Osechi: Maru Daikon and Kintoki Ninjin Carrot

Kichisen Osechi: Saya Ingen

Kichisen Osechi: Ingen Mame

Kichisen Osechi: Mini Daikon

Kichisen Osechi:

Kichisen Osechi: Rape Blossoms, Nanohana

Kichisen Osechi: Red Turnip, Aka Kabura

Kichisen Osechi: Turnip, Kabura

Kichisen Osechi: Osechi Kyo-yasai, Ebi Imo

The nine boxes in the center ar filled with ebi-imo, literally ‘shrimp potato’.

Kichisen Osechi: ＠Young Bamboo Shoot, Waka Takenoko

Kichisen uses fresh, ‘winter bamboo shoots’ from Kyoto — we had never heard of these before.

Kichisen Osechi: Kyoto Fruit Section

Kichisen Osechi: Dried Persimmons, Hoshigaki

Dried persimmon are used in a New Year’s decoration called Kagami Mochi.

Kichisen Osechi: Kumquat, Kinkan

Candied kumquat are an important feature of osechi.

Kichisen Osechi: Japanese Citrus, Yuzu

Kichisen’s osechi has candied yuzu peel in it, which we had never heard of.

Ramen Breakfast
We stopped in at a ramen shop near Kyoto Station for breakfast and there I realized that I had been eating ramen ‘the wrong way’ all these years. I always mix everything up before I start eating, but Tanigawa told me that the best way to enjoy the variety of ingredients is from the middle of the bowl, pull up the noodles with whatever ingredients happen to be on top. Interesting.

Kichisen Osechi: Ramen Breakfast

Kichisen Osechi: Ramen Breakfast

I asked if it was alright to take his photo eating ramen, thinking that it might be scandalous.

Kichisen Osechi: Ramen Breakfast

Back at Kichisen

Upon hearing the car horn while we passed by on the other side of the street, the students rush out and assemble to unload and clean the vehicle.

Kichisen Osechi: Unloading

Kichisen Osechi: Unloading

Kichisen Osechi: Unloading

If you look down into the basement garage you can see the master’s punching bag and red Ferrari.

Kichisen Osechi: Unloading and Accounting

Kichisen Osechi: Unloading and Accounting

Kichisen Osechi: Unloading and Accounting

Kichisen Osechi: Unloading and Accounting – Kumquats

These will go into osechi, they were ordered from southern Japan. The kumquats having the green leaves still attached is essential for osechi.

Kichisen Osechi: Unloading – Kyoto Ice

Kichisen Osechi: Unloading – Live Eels

These eels will be cooked for Tanigawa’s aging dogs.

At Kichisen, they start shopping for ingredients for osechi in July. Most all shopping is done at the Kyoto Central Wholesale Market. Every morning, before shopping though is a visit to a temple even older than Kyoto and prayers to a pilgrim from previous millennia.

Master Chef’s Daily Routine
Tanigawa wakes at 5 am and leaves Kichisen at 5:30 for the market. His students, who have only gone to bed a few hours before, have already prepared the vehicle and gather at the door of his apartment, they greet and bow to their master when he appears.

This has been the routine at Kichisen for 28 years. Even though some of his students are experienced and have the eye to choose superior ingredients, Tanigawa goes to the market and chooses everything served at Kichisen himself.

In the car, he listens to NHK radio news and makes a stop at Rokkakudo Temple in central Kyoto located near Shijo-Karasuma intersection.

Kichisen Osechi: Morning Prayers at Rokkakudo Temple

Kichisen Osechi: Morning Prayers at Rokkakudo Temple

Kichisen Osechi: Morning Prayers at Rokkakudo Temple

Kichisen Osechi: Pure Land School Founder Shinran

Every morning Tanigawa stops at Rokkakudo Temple and prays. Rokkakudo is one of the oldest temples in Kyoto. The temple’s record says that it was built in 587, which is 200 years before Kyoto became capital. It is known as the origin of the Ikenobo School of flower arrangement. Rokkakudo Temple is also known for the pilgrimage of Buddhist monk Shinran, who is the founder of Jodo Shinshu, or the Pure Land School sect, Japan’s largest sect. Shinran walked down from Mount Hieizan to Rokkakudo every day for 100 days. On his 95th day, while circumambulating the temple he experienced a vision that led to the creation of the Pure Land School.

Tanigawa visits this temple daily seeking enlightenment and direction in his life’s work.

The gates opens at 5:50 a.m and he is usually the first person to enter.

At the Market

Kichisen Osechi: Local Newspaper at the Ice Vendor’s

The first stop is the ice vendors, Kichisen uses the best ice too! While the lad prepares the ice, Tanigawa scans the proprietor’s Kyoto newspaper.

Kichisen Osechi: Kyoto Wholesale Food Market Auction

(Tanigawa doesn’t participate.)

Kichisen Osechi: Asking the Price for Tarako Cod Roe

Kichisen Osechi: Tarako Cod Roe

Kichisen Osechi: Bodara Dried Cod

Cod is caught in Hokkaido and dried whole exposed to the sun and wind for several months. They are rock hard and require about 2 weeks of soaking to reconstitute and prepare for cooking. At Kichisen, cooking takes two days.

Kichisen Osechi: Bodara Dried Cod

Kichisen Osechi: Examining Live Flounder

Kichisen Osechi: Examining Live Flounder

Kichisen Osechi: Fugu

Kichisen Osechi: Cleaned Fugu Pufferfish

The skin is mighty tasty but the lips are poisonous. One fugu has enough toxin in it to kill about 50 people. (Fugu is not used in osechi ryori.)

Kichisen Osechi: Check Out

Kichisen Osechi: Tuna Dealer – Maguro

Maguro does not appear in osechi ryori.

Kichisen Osechi: Tuna Dealer – Maguro

Kichisen Osechi: Tuna Dealer – Maguro

The tuna’s answer to ox tail.

Kichisen Osechi: Tuna Dealer – Maguro

Kichisen Osechi: Check Out

It is cold at the market in this season. Notice the woman on the right giving change, she has an electric blanket wrapped around her legs.

Kichisen Osechi: Uni Sea Urchin Dealer

Kichisen Osechi: Dried Sardine Dealer

Kichisen Osechi: Dried Sardine Dealer

Kichisen Osechi: Dried Sardine Dealer

Tanigawa swears by this dealer’s dried sardines. He scooped up some for us to eat and told me to remember the taste.

Kichisen Osechi: Really Tiny ‘Jako’

Kichisen Osechi: Inspecting Karasumi, Dried Mullet Roe

This stack of white boxes contain about $10,000 USD worth of karasumi.

Kichisen Osechi: Karasumi

These are huge egg sacs and the highest quality, each pack costs $200-300 USD. This is excellent stuff!

Kichisen Osechi: Red Snapper

Kichisen Osechi: Monkfish and Liver

Monkfish is popular in nabe in the winter but it is not used in osechi.

Kichisen Osechi: Monkfish Liver, Made in USA

An kimo, or monkfish liver is said to be the native foie gras of Japan. It is very good.

Kichisen Osechi

Kichisen Osechi: Namako, Sea Cucumber

(not used in osechi)

Kichisen Osechi: Shellfish

(not used in osechi)

Kichisen Osechi: Kazunoko – Herring Roe

This salted herring roe is from the US. Kazunoko is a prominent feature in osechi.

Kichisen Osechi: Crab

Kichisen Osechi: Inspecting Dry Goods, Kombu and Shiitake

Kichisen Osechi: Inspecting Dried Kombu

Kichisen Osechi: Inspecting Dried Shiitake

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.

Yoshimi Tanigawa is an inspired master of Kyoto cuisine who has dedicated his life to food as an art and near spiritual experience. He teaches his students both taste and discipline. He creates pure Kyoto cuisine, without the excessive decoration that has been added in recent decades. At Tanigawa’s Kichisen, in addition to one of the greats meals of a lifetime, patrons are able to get reacquainted with authentic Kyoto cuisine. Tanigawa’s cuisine is unsurpassed Kyoto Kaiseki that draws on the four genres of Kyoto Cuisine; Yusoku Ryori (court cuisine), Kaiseki Ryori (tea ceremony cuisine), Shojin Ryori (temple food) and Obanzai (household food). If you are going to be in Kyoto and you like fine dining, make a reservation at Kichisen.

Yoshimi Tanigawa
We been trying to we had been trying to interview him for about 6 months. We had exchanged telephone calls, faxes and had some 5 meetings but could never close the deal. Finally when I went to return a book that we had borrowed from him he suddenly said that we ought to do an article on his Osechi Ryori. This is it!

Over the past few weeks I have spent some time at Kichisen getting to know Tanigawa. He has given us radishes, new rice, squid and some invaluable pointers on how to make excellent tsukemono, shiokara and dashi. Though Kichisen was reviewed in the New York Times 20 years ago and defeated Masaharu Morimoto on the Iron Chef television program in 1999, it is a real honor to have to opportunity to tell the English speaking world a bit more about this remarkable, dedicated and inspiring person.

Ikamaryu Shikibocho (Court Knife Ceremony) Master

Humble Beginnings in Rural Hyogo
Tanigawa grew up in rural Hyogo Prefecture, near Kobe. He lost his father when he was 4 years old and this painful experience caused him think deeply about life and become interested in religion.

His mother was often in poor health and from the time he was 9, he cooked for his mother and older brother. While the young Tanigawa had meager resources to make a bento lunchbox with, he had pride and did not want he or his brother to appear poor at school. Over a weed fire, he experimented and perfected techniques adding water and flour to eggs, appearing to have an overflowing bento box, unmatched in the school lunchroom. Tanigawa’s ambition and inventiveness was starting to develop.

Change of Plans
Since junior high school Tanigawa had intended to become a primary school teacher. This was the time that socially and culturally Japan really began to change, he sensed that many people would loose their way and wanted to be a teacher so that he could lead children in the right direction and help them find their way.

Tanigawa set his mind on going to a certain high school known for producing excellent teacher but much to his dismay he wan unable to enter this school. It was the only school that he wanted to go to and as he was able, he decided not to go to high school at all.

Ikamaryu Shikibocho (Court Knife Ceremony) Master

Arrival in Kyoto, Entering the Culinary World
At age 15 Tanigawa arrived in Kyoto. His older brother was working at a sushi restaurant in the city and arranged work at an average restaurant for the younger Tanigawa. Tanigawa said that even at a young age he knew that he was ambitious and always had the desire master what he was learning. He worked his way up and in several years was working in one of Gion’s finest restaurants under renowned master chef Toraichi Takibata.

Learned from the Master: Sunao
While under Takibata’s instruction, Tanigawa mastered the other traditional arts related to cuisine; flower arrangement, the tea ceremony and calligraphy. Tanigawa said that from his master he learned the importance of integrity and straightforwardness towards his cuisine, the customer and himself. (素直な料理、素直な味、素直な人間)

The word he uses, sunao (素直), is difficult to translate literally into English in this case. Some of the applicable meanings in the dictionary are: gentle, mild, obedient, frank. Tanigawa’s cuisine and traditional Kyoto cuisine are sunao.

Ikamaryu Shikibocho (Court Knife Ceremony) Master

Kyoto Kaiseki Restaurant: Kichisen
At age 31, Tanigawa built is own restaurant on Shimogamo Hondori Street, on the south-west side of Shimogamo Shrine. Shimogamo Shrine is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is older than Kyoto.

Kichisen Gate

Kichisen Entry: Master Tanigawa and Kyosaku ‘Encouragement Stick’

Notice the inscribed wooden slat on the wall, it is inscribed by the high priest at Jukoin, a sub-temple at Daitoku Temple. The inscription is called zengo, literally, ‘Zen word’ is a poem. This poem was composed specifically for Kichisen. The ‘encouragement stick’ is used to lightly hit drowsy meditators on the shoulder during Zen meditation sessions. The kyosaku, also known as keisaku, shall we say sets the tone for Tanigawa’s students.

Zen Kyosaku – detail

Signature of Zen master.

Kichisen ‘Sign’

Modesty

Kichisen Interior

Alcove with Ikebana

Dining Room

Large Dining Room

Kichisen Neighborhood: Shimogamo Shrine

Kichisen Surroundings: Shimogamo Shrine Gate

Kichisen Surroundings: Shimogamo Shrine and Tadasu Forest

Links

Iron Chef – Battle Pike Eel (1 of 5)
Iron Chef – Battle Pike Eel (2 of 5)
Iron Chef – Battle Pike Eel (3 of 5)
Iron Chef – Battle Pike Eel (4 of 5)
Iron Chef – Battle Pike Eel (5 of 5)