My guest R and I got home on the cusp of midnight, laden with a variety of new lamps for my future home, a teeny tiny baby hamster named Poppy, and two pieces of yellowtail fish (buri). As I was (stubbornly) determined to take up this week's challenge, we ended up dining until 3 a.m. Which was rather fun. It also meant we could make use of the lanterns I'd bought that day (of course one doesn't have to be eating in the middle of the night to permit the use of lanterns but it does make it feel like more of a feast).
Buri teriyaki - literally 'glazed and broiled yellowtail' - is really pretty simple. Yellowtail is a delicious fish, even unadorned with seasonings - it veritably melts in one's mouth. So it also constitutes somewhat of a barrier to my occasional consideration of the idea of renouncing fish (I already follow a meat-free diet). Though, needless to say, sashimi does the job just as well. So with respect to the tenderness of the fish, the main concern one has with this dish is not to over-cooking. Also to take care, as always, to measure out the correct amounts of mirin, shoyu (soy sauce) and sake - those three indispensable ingredients in Japanese cooking (along with dashi).
As a side dish I constructed this 'sosaku ryori' (original/fusion) confection - an impressive and slightly silly tower (which had to be repeatedly prodded back into shape for its photo shoot) of sesame seed-dotted rice and wilted spinach topped with mushrooms bound together with an oyster sauce, ginger and garlic goo. And also, a green baby leaf salad. The only thing lacking, perhaps, was a dessert of some kind, but it was all very good, my guest thought. And so did I.
We also had a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau 2009 which was a gift from R. I am not sure that red wine is the best alcoholic accompaniment for yellowtail teriyaki, and haven't ever got very excited about this wine mainly because of the absolutely over-hyped advertising campaign in Japan which is apparently the wine's biggest importer. But I have to admit we found it very drinkable :-) Japanese wine , and wine in Japan, is a whole 'nother blog, and one I'd not by any means be able to write but I'd like to know more about it. Still, despite loving this Japanese cooking (and eating) project I still cling to native habits of a glass of wine with dinner, and it does, unsurprisingly, seem dissonant.
The following morning brought big, fluffy flakes of snow to Kyoto. After a repeat performance of the Great Japanese Breakfast, during which I was informed, with some apologetic sorrow, that my dashimaki tamago was rather too sweet, and might qualify best as a dessert, R left for home with a nonetheless full and satisfied belly, and Poppy in a red travelling cage.
Speaking of dessert, a friend told me today of a miso castella cake sold not far from my home. Talk about sosaku ryori (castella is a Japanized version of cake introduced by the Portuguese in the 16th century). That sounds absolutely delicious to me. I wonder if it could beat Zen Casutera, the mouthwateringly good castella made here in Kyoto? In the interests of public knowledge I plan to undertake a tasting and full disclosure of the merits of this product…
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