11/28/09: Day 9 in Japan, Part III - Dinner in Osaka

Afternoon was spent traveling to my next destination, Osaka. Osaka is one of my favorite cities to visit for their positive vibe and awesome food. Since I had no reservations, only thing I knew was that I'd meet up with a friend, and go for a random walk.

We came across some izakaya, yakitori, Korean, then this one caught our eye. Isshan is like a yakitori place, except that they cook their meat on heated stones rather than over coal. Apparently, this is style originated in Kumamoto prefecture in Kyushu.

Unlike yakitori, you can also order beef, pork, seafood, and vegetables. Here, we ordered minced chicken, chicken thigh, "kurobuta kalbi" pork, and chicken "horumon."

Chicken cooking on a polished stone grill. This type of food was perfect for shochu. My choice for the evening was Kuro Kirishima potato shochu.

We also ordered mushrooms and gyoza.

We finished with their signature rice dish cooked in traditional metal pot ("kama").

They use Kikuchi rice, said to have been served to Shoguns and the Emperor. We ordered "Chicken Kama Meshi," steeped in dashi stock. I could've easily eaten few orders' worth for sure.

My friend and I agree, Isshan is a must-visit! Fortunately, Isshan has multiple locations throughout Japan.

11/28/09: Day 9 in Japan, Part II - Visiting Tenzan Brewery, Continued

What are these, you ask? They are pieces of tree that make up the sugidama (a.k.a., "sakabayashi"), those green or brown balls (depending on the season) you see decorated in front of breweries. It takes about 1 week between brewing to complete.

After the tour came tasting. I tried Tenzan line of saké...

...as well as Shichida line, which reflects the family name of the proprieter.

Tenzan brand is made in the traditional style. From this group, I especially enjoyed their "Extra Dry" honjozo (SMV: +10, Acidity: 1.2, Rice: Saga grown Reihou, Seimaibuai: 65%) for their sweet flavors of grain and clean, sharp, and dry finish. Interestingly, it says "saké for the guys" on the label.

Shichida brand, on the other hand, was started by Kensuké Shichida, the current Managing Director. These sakés are made in the image of what Shichida-san sees as ideal saké, and are brewed unfiltered and pasteurized once, prior to shipping. I particularly enjoyed their Junmai Ginjo Muroka Nama (SMV: +4~5, Acidity: 1.5~1.6, Rice: Yamadanishiki, Reihou, Seimaibuai: 50%). The saké had a sweet aroma of a ginjo, followed by gentle yet firm flavor.

After the tasting, Shichida-san treated me to their local gourmet: koi. Koi, as you may know, is carp. Ogi City is famous for carp, and many restaurants shuttle in diners with buses.

Appetizer comprised of locally grown ingredients. I have never had the green leaf vegetable next to the cucumber. It was incredibly crunchy, and good.

Miso soup was next, containing koi meat. They used white miso, which is milder in flavor and imparts more sweetness than the red, making it an ideal pairing for fish.

Koi served on the rocks. Koi is said to be very gamey in flavor, but the clean water and restricted diet is said to remove the intenseness. The flavor was indeed mild with excellent texture.

Shichida-san in front of Ogi City train station.
Thank you very much for your hospitality!!!

11/28/09: Day 9 in Japan, Part I - Visiting Tenzan Brewery

The hotel breakfast was a buffet, and it included, among others, a non-traditional breakfast item such as tako-yaki.

After that, I was on my way to a town of Ogi to visit Tenzan Brewery aboard Karatsu line. Incidentally, this was to be my only brewery visit of this vacation.

Tenzan is available in the U.S., famous for their junmai genshu wrapped in bamboo leaf packaging.

The brewery is located at the foot of Mount Tenzan, along the Gion River. During summer months, the river is said to be illuminated by swarm of fireflies.

The property is surrounded by rice paddies and orange groves.

The kura itself is comprised of 3 buildings that are named after recent Emperors: Showa Kura, Meiji Kura, and Taisho Kura.

Here are some of the rice used by Tenzan: locally grown Yamadanishiki, Yamadanishiki from Hyogo, Omachi from Okayama, and locally grown Saga No Mai.

Here is their machine to wash and soak rice.

Conveyer to cool down steamed rice.

Stacks of rice in the process of being converted to koji.

Fermentation tank to make shubo mash.

Active fermentation.

Looking into storage tanks from above.

Looking at the storage tanks from the ground level.

Tenzan uses yabuta for pressing.

As luck would have it, yabuta was on, meaning freshly pressed saké.

Shichida-san poured me a glass, a very rare treat. The saké was very crisp, vibrant, and intensely juicy, which is not unexpected when it is unfiltered and unpasteurized.

After the saké is bottled, they are packaged. For the aforementioned junmai genshu, the bamboo leaves are carefully wrapped by hand. The purpose of the bamboo leaves, imported from China, is not only for appearance - it also serves to protect saké from light.

The sakés are refrigerated until shipping.

One of the things I enjoy about visiting breweries is their architecture. Looking up, you can see intricate structure of the beams supporting the kura.

TO BE CONTINUED...

11/27/09: Day 8 in Japan, Part II - Izakaya in Saga City

The next stop on the itinerary was Saga City. I knew very little about the prefecture of Saga, but my reason for being here will become apparent in the next entry.

I checked in at a business hotel in front of the JR Saga station. One of the great thing about Kyushu so far? Hot spring bath every day, even in business hotels.

As I had no agenda this evening, my dinner option was up in the air. Checking the internet didn't yield an "a-ha!" moment, so best bet was to walk around the old neighborhood. Just couple of blocks away, Za Watami visually caught my attention.

Za Watami is an izakaya, and as being in Kyushu, featuring shochu. I received a seat by the bar.

The menu was colorful with lot of pictures. "Cherry Meat Sashimi" looked great, so I ordered it as part of the first order. It was melt-like-butter soft. I found out after the fact that "Cherry Meat" is a code for "horse meat."

Also part of the first order was spring roll wrapped in yuba, or chewy tofu skin...

...and yellow tail sashimi.

The drink was barley shochu all the way. I had Shira-shin-ken from Oita Prefecture, home of Yufuin.

The second order included juicy pork cooked in sukiyaki-like sauce served with scallions and egg...

and deep fried chicken tatsuta-agé.

The last order (〆) was fried champon noodle with egg served in a hot stone bowl, inspired by Korean bibimbop. With all the food, I took home some of the fried chicken and noodles for lunch the next day.

The total tab was about 4,000 yen ($46). Not bad at all! As Za Watami is a chain izakaya, it's definitely worth a visit when you're in Japan.