Notes from Japan

We spent ten days in Japan last month, splitting our time between Kumamoto and Kyoto.  While in Kumamoto we were the guests of my colleagues at the university there, who hosted us at several fabulous kaiseki dinners. Kaiseki is a multi-course feast, perhaps a dozen courses, each tiny (just a few bites), beautifully presented and highlighting the particular ingredient.  If you want a sense of what you get with a kaiseki dinner, check the web.  Wikipedia's description is accurate but doesn't highlight how artful and elegant the meal is. The photos in this book offer a good sample, and Google has hundreds of images of kaiseki dinners.

We had two full kaiseki dinners, one in the traditional style and one in a nouveau Japanese style. (Interestingly, we had tables and chairs at the traditional restaurant, and sat seiza or cross-legged on the floor in the nouveau restaurant.  A four hour meal is a lot of time to sit seiza on western knees, but fortunately I'd worn pants rather than a skirt so could switch to the agura pose traditionally used by men -- what we called Indian-style in grade school.   Kaiseki is served slowly, one dish at a time, allowing diners to savor and appreciate the dishes, and to have lively dinner conversation.  The beer, shochu and sake flowed freely which contributed to the conviviality as the evenings progressed.  Our hosts arranged in advance to accommodate my vegetarianism, so while the others had fish and meat dishes, I was able to sample tofu presented in several ways, a variety of vegetables, shabu-shabu, and the traditional rice and soup to close the meal.  Traditional foods like lotus root, pumpkin, tofu, yuba and radishes were accompanied by fresh and seasonal ingredients.   The dishes were cooked in every way you could imagine: fried, simmered, sauteed, raw, pickled, with or without sauces or garnishes. 

While in Kyoto, we had the chance to eat two tofu-based meals.  You might think to yourself that it would be challenging to eat tofu served eight different ways in one sitting and enjoy every bit of it, but the Japanese are masters of tofu innovation.  And, the tofu is fresh and delicious.  Highlights included fresh tofu simmered at the table in a light broth, then dressed with tamari and ginger, and tofu made from sesame which was distinctive and tasty, like a cross between hummus and tofu. I've been trying to find the sesame tofu since we returned home.

We also ate a full vegan, tofu-based lunch at the Nanzen-ji monastery in Kyoto.  The guidebooks say that Kyoto has more than one thousand temples and shrines, and it is indeed a culturally and historically rich city.  The Nanzen-ji temple was built in the 13th century and is still active.  The temple is famous for a massive brick aqueduct, built several hundred years ago to carry water to Kyoto, that crosses its grounds. It also features the Chosho-in, a traditional restaurant which has been serving vegetarian meals for 300 years.  Lunch is simpler than a traditional dinner, a five course meal of tofu, vegetables and rice, prepared and served simply.