Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Obachan's Quasi-Kaiseki #3

I guess my quasi-kaiseki is making a slow but steady progress. As you know, now I work at a kaiseki restaurant. Of course, there no one teaches a female dishwasher (me) how to cook, but I can see what chefs do, and later in my kitchen, I can ape what they do. What’s more, now I have this wonderful resource. So being fully inspired, I went through several challenges and did a bunch of aping.

But let me emphasize this: I don't mean to disgrace kaiseki. I know very well that it's not something you can master through aping only. I'm doing this just to express my love and respect towards kaiseki, so please take this attempt as my hommage to this beautiful Japanese culinary tradition :)
Well, now enjoy this virtual full-course meal!
(Photos marked with * in each entry can be enlarged.)

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先付 二種 Two Kinds of Sakizuke (Appetizers)
1.秋の前菜盛合せ Autumn Plate: 鶏肉柚子醤油焼き、きのこ肉詰め焼き、かまぼこ紅葉七味風味、そうめん松葉、いくら醤油漬、銀杏、銀杏芋
Broiled chicken marinated in yuzu-soy sauce, Mushroom meat balls, Maple-leaf shaped kamaboko (steamed fish cake) with shichimi pepper, Somen noodle pine leaves, Salmon roe, Ginkgo nuts, Ginkgo sweet potato
2. 胡桃豆腐 Walnut Tofu


お造り Otsukuri (Sliced Raw Fish)
ワカナ造り Young yellowtail

焼き物 Yakimono (Broiled Dish)
チダイ西京焼き
Broiled crimson sea bream marinated in miso (soybean paste) 蒸し物 Mushimono (Steamed Dish)
チダイ蕪蒸し
Steamed crimson sea bream topped with grated turnip
揚げ物 Agemono (Deep Fried Dish)
海老のコーンミール揚げ、シソ巻き鮭、サヤインゲン、ナス、ぶなしめじ、レンコン、かぼちゃ、銀杏、銀杏芋
Shrimp coated with cornmeal, Salmon and shiso (perilla) roll, String beans, Eggplant, Shimeji mushrooms, Lotus root chip, Kabocha squash, Ginkgo nut, Ginkgo sweet potato


酢の物 Sunomono (Vinegared Dish)
柿なます 
Vinegared persimmon and daikon strips

御飯・止め椀・香の物 Gohan, Tome-wan, Koh no mono (Rice, Miso Soup and Pickles)
しめじ御飯、味噌汁、カブの漬物柚子風味
Rice cooked with shimeji mushrooms, Miso soup, Pickled turnip flavored with yuzu citrus rind

菓子 Kashi (Dessert)
練り切り Nerikiri




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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow Obachan - You've done quite an amazing job...just amazing. Just the other day I was leafing through Yoshihiro Murata's book and thinking to myself, "wow, this looks so intimidating".

Carolie said...

You absolutely astonish me with your beautiful presentations. I love visiting your blog! If you are ever near Sasebo, I invite you to visit!!

corricoo said...

You call this aping ???
I call it Art !

Anonymous said...

This is simply amazing, your works are really wonderful!

And, regarding exchanging food... I think you should look at this one:
http://fiordizucca.blogspot.com/2006/11/i-pacchetti-della-felicit.html

Anonymous said...

Hi Obachan!

Everything looks fabulous! HOw long did you take to prepare everything? I'm so amazed! :)

I like everything! But my favourite is the broiled crimson sea bream marinated in miso. It looks sooo tasty!

obachan said...

kirk
Thank you. I had so much fun doing this, so I’d be happy if you had fun going through all my posts.

carolie
Oh, thanks. Sure, I’ll definitely let you know when I visit Sasebo.

corri
OMG, what a compliment! Thanks. Yeah, maybe aping could be a starting point of an art??

pip
Thank you. :D

lysithea
Well, I made and ate the steamed dish and autumn plate on Saturday, and did all the rest on Sunday. In a nutshell, I would say, it took a whole weekend. Hahaha…

I’m glad that you liked the saikyo-yaki. Its presentation wasn’t too great and I didn’t think many readers would find it appetizing. But I guess some people already knew how wonderfully burnt miso can smell/taste and associated it with the photo. :)

Kake said...

Thank you for posting these! I just spotted the category on your blog sidebar earlier this evening, so have been reading through them. Whether the individual dishes come up to the standard of traditional kaiseki restaurants or not, I think the important thing is that you're proving that's it's not silly or pointless to make the effort to cook well for yourself, and sometimes to cook extravagantly for yourself!

I sometimes find it hard to be inspired to cook something out of the ordinary when I'm on my own for the evening, which is silly, because that's the exact time when I have the chance to cook to my own tastes without having to worry about anyone else :) Why shouldn't I make a beautiful multi-course meal just for me?