Japan Navigator

Food from Okinawa

Ad Blankestijn — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:49:49 +0000

I love food from Okinawa, not only because it is supposed to be very healthy (Okinawa is called the “Land of Longevity”), but in the first place because it tastes so good! Like all culture on these tropical islands, the old Ryukyu Kingdom, Okinawan cuisine contains elements of both China and Japan.

My favorite Okinawan vegetable is the goya, a very bitter gourd that looks like a grotesque, extra knobbly cucumber. Goya can be eaten in salads, made into tempura, but the most common way is to use it in a stir-fried dish called goya-champuru. Besides goya, leeks and eggs are used, and lots of tofu. What is bitter, is good for you, so goya is thought to be the secret behind the Okinawans’ famous longevity.

[Goya Champuru by Maaco]

Another favorite is rafuti, tender chunks of pork stewed in a sweet brown sauce made from miso, soy, sugar and awamori.

Awamori is the national drink of Okinawa, a powerful distilled drink with alcohol percentages between 25 and 30. It is very fresh and tasty, too, as it contains a lot of citric acid. It is often drunk mixed with hot or cold water.

The food that really suits awamori is my third Okinawan favorite: tofuyo. This is fermented tofu, super dense and concentrated. It tastes like a strong moldy cheese and is eaten in tiny bites. It marvelously complements the awamori! Okinawan food and awamori have become very popular in Japan and in all the big cities you can find Okinawan eateries and izakaya (bar-restaurants).

Regional Sake: Saitama Prefecture

Ad Blankestijn — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:47:55 +0000

When I lived in Tokyo, I never thought much about neighboring Saitama as a prefecture with possibly interesting sakes. The image of a series of dreary, endless Tokyo bed towns was too strong for that. But is was exactly the vicinity to Tokyo (the Edo) and its numerous consumers that helped the sake industry develop here. Transport arteries were the large rivers, the Arakawa and Tone Rivers – and they also provided plenty of water for the brewers.

Important highways also passed through Saitama: the Nakasendo and the highway north, the Riku-U Kaido. Saitama is therefore dotted with historical towns. Many breweries are spread out along these two highways and not a few of these were Oshudana, breweries operated by Japan’s best pre-modern businessmen, the shrewd Omi Shonin, merchants of Shiga Prefecture.

The western part of Saitama consists of the natural beauty of the Chichibu basin, with many old shrines. Here, too, there is good water – not for nothing is Ogawamachi an old paper-making town – and therefore plenty of brewing opportunities.

So if you re-assess your image of Saitama on the basis of this information and then hear that it is No. 8 in sake production, with about 40 breweries, that almost sounds like a matter of course. The prefecture is also active in developing new yeasts (”Kaori Kobo”) and common brands (the ginjo “Saiko”). Sake from Saitama is usually light and fresh.

Some famous Saitama breweries are:

Kikuizumi (Takizawa Shuzo, Fukaya City; 1863)
The name means “Chrysanthemum Spring” – chrysanthemums were thought to bring long life.
Stands along the Nakasendo highway, in “brick producing town” Fukaya. All processes are traditional and by hand. Won many prizes in the last 20 years.

Shinkame. (Shinkame Shuzo, Hasuda City; 1848)
Founded in 1848, Shinkame only brews junmai sake. Instead of making flashy young and fragrant sakes, it insists on a deep and complex flavor. Another token of its solidness is that its uses a generous aging period. The name of the brewery ‘Divine Turtle” goes back to a turtle who lived in the pond Tenjin-ike that used to lie at the back of the brewery – that turtle was considered as a messenger of the gods. “Hikomago” is another brandname used by this brewery.

Information from: National Tax Office and Japan Sake Breweries Association, as well as the JAL sake site, Sake, the Liquid Essence of Japan.
Regional profile gleaned from: Nihonshu no Tekisuto (2): Sanchi no Tokucho to Tsukuritetachi by renowned sake journalist Matsuzaki Haruo (Doyukan, 2005). Some information about individual breweries based on Matsuzaki Haruo, Tastes of 1635 Shinpan Nihonshu Gaidobukku (Shibata Shoten 2003), as well as The Sake Companion by John Gaunter (Running Press) and The Insider’s Guide to Sake by Philip Harper (Kodansha International).

Lantern Festival, Nihonmatsu

Ad Blankestijn — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:06:50 +0000

The “Nihonmatsu Chochin Matsuri” (Lantern Festival) is one of the three largest lantern festivals in Japan. It is held every year from Octobber 4 to 6.

[Photo by Ad Blankestijn]

In fact, it is the annual festival of the Nihonmatsu Shrine, going back for 350 years. But contrary to for example Kyoto’s Gion Festival where the daytime parade of floats is the main event, in Nihonmatsu the “yoi-matsuri,” the evening previous to the festival on October 4, is considered as the most interesting spectacle.

[Photo by Ad Blankestijn]

Seven carts from different wards of the town are decorated with about 400 lanterns, strung in six layers above each other. A sacred flame is brought from the shrine and then all the lanterns are lighted. Next the floats parade through the town to the accompaniment of festive music of the drums and pipes played by people inside the carts. Every float has its own festival music and typical rhytm.

[Photo by Ad Blankestijn]

Young people follow the carts energetically dancing and shouting “washo, washo” to the music. The lanterns shine in the dark sky of early autumn and from the many stalls lining the street waft the nostalgic smells of fried squid, soba and octopus balls. The nice thing about this festical is that it is still rooted in the local population. They hold it for their own enjoyment and not just to attract tourists.

Regional sake: Akita Prefecture

Ad Blankestijn — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:57:16 +0000

Akita is lies in the northwestern corner of the main island of Honshu and is a beautiful prefecture of rugged mountains, beech forests and deep lakes. As cold winds blow in from Siberia over the Japan Sea, the severe winters bring heavy snowfall. Tazawako is Japan’s deepest lake and Mt Chokai, in the south of the prefecture, has been nicknamed “Dewa Fuji” for its graceful cone. Kakunodate is a historical town with 200-year old samurai houses. In winter, people huddle around the irori, the square open hearth where they enjoy the local dish of kiritanpo, skewers with pounded rice grilled over a charcoal fire and then added to a hotpot stew of vegetables, mushrooms and chicken.

[Street with samurai houses in Kakunodate, Akita. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Akita is also a true sake land: it is the fourth producer of sake in Japan and advertises itself with the slogan “Kingdom of Beautiful Sake.” Akita has plenty of good rice, crystal-clear spring water and the cold winters help brewers keep the fermentation under control. But perhaps because of its distance from urban centers, it was only in the Taisho-period, in the 2nd and 3rd decades of the 20th c. that brewing in Akita took off, thanks to modern transport. Now there are 50 breweries. Breweries here started early on with ginjo production. There is a small but fine group of local toji, the Sannai toji.

The prefecture is also very active. In 1990, it has developed its own strain of yeast, AK-1 (now also Association Yeast No. 15), which produces very fragrant sake but also calls for fermenting at low temperatures for a long time. A large harvest of medals at the National Competition for New Sake the next year was the result. Akita Prefecture is also one of only two prefectures in Japan that have their own Institute for Brewing Technology. And although Akita still grows a lot of Miyama Nishiki, it has also developed its own types of special sake rice such as Gin no Sei. The Akita Chapter of the Sake Brewers Association has a large English section on its website, where individual breweries are introduced – something we would like to warmly recommend to other prefectures as well! And finally Akita’s brewers are actively looking for customers abroad, by sending missions to the U.S. and E.U. via the Akita Sake Promotion and Export Council (ASPEC).

[Samurai house in Kakunodate, Akita. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Akita’s sake is rich but delicate, with a detailed construction. It is also somewhat on the sweet side, due to the mostly soft quality of the water in the prefecture. Akita people are also known as the greatest sake drinkers in Japan (the prefecture has the highest consumption rate in the country), so 90% of Akita’s sake is enjoyed by Akita itself.

Here are some well-known breweries:

Ama no To (”Heaven’s Door” – from an old song that reads “Quietly open the door to heaven, and let the sunlight shine upon the green leaves of cedar trees in the holy mountain”; Asamai Shuzo in Yokote City).
Founded in 1917. Only uses local rice (no Yamada Nishiki!) and has formed a rice study group with its farmers. Has a famous brew master, Moriya Koichi. Delicate and well-balanced sake. Has won five consecutive gold medals in the National Sake tasting competition using Akita rice and AK-1 yeast.

Aramasa (”New administration” – a name used by the Meiji government; Aramasa Shuzo in Akita City).
Good example of the distinctive style of Akita sake. Founded in 1852. Has won many awards in tasting competitions over the decades. Was the developer of what is now Association Yeast No. 6.

Dewatsuru (”Crane of Dewa”; Akita Seishu in Daisen City).
Located on the Senboku Plain. Mellow and smooth flavor. Founded in 1865. The name goes back to the words of a former brewmaster who said: “May this sake that I brew with all my spirit be like a crane in its caliber and mellowness.”

Hideyoshi (”Hideyoshi” is the name of the famous unifier of japan and also a play on the words “excellent and good”; Gomei-gaisha Suzuki Shuzoten in Daisen City).
Founded in 1689 by a brewer who moved here from Ise. The sake was drunk by the local feudal clan, the Satake, who gave it the name “Hideyoshi” after the brewery won a tasting competition in 1849.

Hiraizumi (”Flying good spring”; Hiraizumi Honpu in Nikaho City).
In contrast to the relative youth of most breweries in Akita, Hiraizumi’s history goes back to the 15th c. (1487 to be exact), making it the 3rd longest history of any brewer in Japan. The brewery was set up bij a wholesaler from southern Osaka, from an area called “Izumi,” and it combined its original wholesaler’s name of “Izumiya” with the name of its Akita location, Hirasawa (”Hirasawa Izumi no Sake” which became “Hiraizumi”). In the early Meiji period, sake brewing became the main business. Different from other Akita sake is the fact that Hiraizumi brews with very hard water, resulting in a dense sake high in acidity. It also uses the yamahai method.
The current buildings date from 1883.

Kariho (”Cut rice stalks”; Kariho Shuzo in Daisen City).
Formed in 1913 as a sister company to Dewatsuru. Brews a gentle and charmingly light sake. Has won many awards in tasting competitions over the years. The name of the brewery cites a famous poem by Emperor Tenchi, part of “One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets:” “Because of the coarseness of the rush mat in this temporary hut in the rice paddy in autumn, my cuffs are becoming wet by the dew on the cut rice stalks.”

Mansaku no Hana (”Flower of Mansaku”, the first tree to bloom in spring; Hinomaru Shuzo in Yokote City).
Established in 1689. The Hinomaru Brewery takes its name from the family crest of the ruling Satake clan: a folding fan with a hinomaru (sun) design. Uses under-well water from Mt Kurikoma. Concentrates on ginjo with a sophisticated flavor. Brews with the kimoto-method. One of the smallest breweries in Akita. Most of the sake is aged in the bottle.

Taiheizan (”Taiheizan” is the name of a sacred mountain east of Akita City; Kodama Jozo in Katagami City).
Started as a manufacturer of miso in 1879. Sake brewing began in 1913 and in 1934 the company received top honors in the national sake tasting competition. That year it also became the first company to sell non-pasteurized sake. Uses abundant quantities of clean well water and superior quality rice. Known for its use of the traditional kimoto-method.

Takashimizu (”Pure water from on High” – a place on a hill where the Japanese court many centuries ago established a local seat of government; Akita Shurui Seizo in Akita City).
Founded through the merger of 12 small breweries just after WWII. A brewing powerhouse that has one of the highest production volumes in eastern Japan. Understandably, much of that is ordinary “table sake,” but the brand also has a few good premium sakes. It takes its water from a famous well that was used by the reigning feudal clan.

Tenju (”Heavenly Long Life”; Tenju Shuzo in Yurihonjo City).
Founded 130 years ago (1874), this brewery uses melted water from Mt. Chokai. Has set up the Tenju Sake Rice Research Association for studying the organic cultivation of rice. A delicate, light sake with a mellow fragrance and rich flavor.

Yuki no Bousha (”Thatched-roof house in the snow”; Saiya Shuzoten in Yurihonjo City).
Founded in 1902. Brews with water that has been filtered down through Mt Shinzan, at the foot of Mt Chokai. The water is semi-soft. The brewery is shaded by a huge keyaki-tree, providing a stable temperature inside the kura. This brewery uses the kimoto-method. Only brews in small batches as it believes large tanks lead to a bland taste. Uses Yamada Nishiki and Akita Sake Komachi rice, and polishes on average to 58%. In 2001, it became the first sake brewery in Japan to be certified as an organic sake brewer. Uses its own yeast. Housed in historical buildings.

Information from: National Tax Office and Japan Sake Breweries Association, as well as the Akita Sake Breweries Map and the JAL sake site, Sake, the Liquid Essence of Japan.
Regional profile gleaned from: Nihonshu no Tekisuto (2): Sanchi no Tokucho to Tsukuritetachi by renowned sake journalist Matsuzaki Haruo (Doyukan, 2005). Some information about individual breweries based on Matsuzaki Haruo, Tastes of 1635 Shinpan Nihonshu Gaidobukku (Shibata Shoten 2003), as well as The Sake Companion by John Gaunter (Running Press) and The Insider’s Guide to Sake by Philip Harper (Kodansha International).

Pickled to Perfection – Tsukemono

Ad Blankestijn — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:49:09 +0000

Tsukemono, Japanese pickles, are a constant part of every Japanese meal that contains rice – they are usually combined into a set with the rice and miso soup (ichiju issai, “one soup and one vegetable”). Pickling was an important way of preserving vegetables and get the necessary vitamins also in winter. In the past, Japanese families did their own pickling, as some farmers still do. There are many ways of making tsukemono, but as none of these involves the use of distilled vinegar or acetic acid, we should in fact call them “preserved vegetables”, rather than pickles in the Western sense. Tsukemono are also eaten with chazuke (”green tea over rice”), or just with a cup of green tea after the meal. Last but not least, they also make an excellent companion to sake.

On menus, such as of the kaiseki cuisine, tsukemono are called “(o-)shinko.”

Here are the major types of pickling:

With salt (shiozuke). The easiest and most popular method. Sliced vegetables are salted and put under a weight in the pickling press (tsukemonoki). The salt is removed by washing before serving. Very light pickles can be made by just keeping them in the press for one night (ichiyazuke). [This is also called "asazuke", although asazuke are not only made with salt, but also with vinegar or rice bran. The original flavor is the vegetable is preserved in this way].
Best example: umeboshi, Japanese apricots.

[Photo by Ad Blankestijn]
With soy sauce (shoyuzuke). Mirin is usually added to the soy sauce.
Best example: Fukujinzuke, a pickle of seven kinds of vegetables (as there are “Seven Deites of Good Fortune,” fukujin), the fixed companion of curry dishes. Has a crunchy texture. Vegetables used are daikon, eggplant, cucumber, etc.
With miso (misozuke). The miso is usually mixed with sake. This method is used for pickling whole vegetables, such as pumpkin.

[Photo from Flickr by framboise]
With vinegar (suzuke). Japanese vinegar is low in acidity, so like the other types, this is also more a preserved vegetable than a real pickle.
Best examples: rakkyo, pickled scallions or gari, the pickled slices of ginger eaten to refresh the mouth between dishes of sushi.
With rice bran (nukazuke). Used with salt and chilies. The vegetables are buried in a bed of the rice bran (nukadoko) for a period of several months.
Best example: takuan, pickled daikon radish, colored yellow by adding turmeric (ukon). Named after a famous priest who purportedly invented this type of pickle.

[Photo from Flickr by shiokuma]
With sake lees (kasuzuke). Sake lees are mixed with shochu, sugar and salt. This method of pickling takes a very long time.
Best example: narazuke, the representative pickle of Nara City, mostly made with pickling melon (shirouri).

[Photo from Flickr by ancorena]
With koji (kojizuke). Koji is a mold that is cultivated on rice and that is responsible for the sugarification of the starch in the rice as well as the production of other enzymes. A pickling method for winter.
Best example: bettarazuke, using daikon. Has a sweet flavor and alcoholic aroma. The name derives from the “stickiness” of this type of pickle.

「Photo from Wikipedia]
With Japanese mustard (karashizuke). A pickling bed is made of mustard mixed with the sakekasu (lees) we already saw above.
Best example: karashi-nasu, using eggplant.

Not all tsukemono fit neatly into these categories. The famous senmaizuke consists of slices of turnip (kabu) pickled with salt plus konbu, mirin and chili pepper so that a distinctive umami flavor develops.

Tsukemono can be bought in supermarkets and other food stores, but there are also specialist shops, often set up by the makers. Kyoto and Nara have many such tsukemono shops and tsukemono from these cities form a popular omiyage (present brought home by travelers).