1.
>>> hokuriku shinkansen <<<
In the middle of a summer afternoon, even in Kanazawa, Hokuriku, it is difficult to stop the continuous heat. Bored waiting for the tram at the station, watching people coming and going, there are farewells, there are greetings, there are rushes to and fro, and there are group photos.
This Shinkansen is an express train, driving east to Tokyo, an old couple sends a young girl on the train, listens to a flute, the electric door of the train slowly closes, seeing the old couple outside the isolation door, the man's eyes are sluggish, the mechanical hand is waving, the woman keeps crying, and the hand holding the handkerchief seems to be trembling.
To the east, Kanazawa enters the territory of Toyama Prefecture, and students who are not familiar with Japanese geography often confuse Toyama with Mt. Fuji, with Mt. Toyama bordering the Sea of Japan to the north and Mt. Fuji to the south. The last time I went to Toyama was in the winter five years ago, and hokuriku was a snowy area in winter, and I remember that it was a snowy day, and from time to time there were trains that were delayed due to heavy snowfall.
Today, with the Hokuriku Shinkansen, the journey from Kanazawa to Toyama is convenient and fast, but in 30 minutes, the train arrives in Toyama. Waiting for streetcars next to JR Toyama Station, Toyama is one of the few cities in Japan with streetcars. The town is small and laid-back. Outside the hotel, the toyama Castle Castle Keep, which is actually completely rebuilt, is a symbol of the city and still attracts many tourists to stop.
2.
>>> Kimura Yoragi <<<
The town is really not very scenic, and it is difficult to think of how many attractive elements there are in the small town of Toyama, in addition to foraging and mountaineering.
In fact, in Japan, in addition to the Tokyo Metropolitan Area and Keihanjin, at most, nagoya, Sapporo and Fukuoka, the other so-called cities are also small towns. Even in the evening "evening rush hour", there are few cars and people in the city.
Dinner was a sushi restaurant called Bassman, in an inconspicuous corner of the town. The age of the small shop is not long, and the store is also in the early ten years. Eating sushi in Japan, the masses and food bloggers are happy to hear, always the general will be a famous shop apprentice, what teenagers to enter the industry, starting from the most basic level, such as cooking rice for how many years, the people look at the positive energy, quite inspiring.
The Bass people opened their doors in Toyama City.
Kimura has seen the world in Tokyo, loves sushi, visits countless famous restaurants, and has a good personal relationship with many chefs. However, when it was his turn to open a shop, he did it himself, had no resume, and had not eaten "dried radish rice", and there were few customers in the store. Back then, Kimura didn't think he was bad at his craft.
"It's that I really don't know how to run a sushi restaurant."
Just as Kimura hesitated, his friend in Tokyo, Mizuhiro Araki, the owner of the ginza famous shop "あら輝", reached out to Kimura. As the owner and chef of a three-star Michelin-starred sushi restaurant, Araki not only cultivated Kimura in cooking, but also taught him methods in management, so much so that word came out in Tokyo that Kimura Izumi of Toyama Washito was a disciple of Mizuhiro Araki of Ginza.
Araki believes that toyama Bay is also very rich in terms of all of Japan, and has the reputation of Tokyo Bay in the Sea of Japan, so instead of searching for fish in all of Japan like Tokyo sushi restaurants, Kimura should make full use of the ingredients of Toyama Bay to create a sushi restaurant with a local flavor. Kimura was deeply impressed, and following Araki's teachings, he began to exert his strength, and the bass people gradually took off under Araki's promotion. In 2013, in order to accompany the children who went to study in the United Kingdom, Araki refused to be retained from all walks of life, and resolutely closed the then Samsung あら輝 to london to develop. Before he left, he went to Basso and had a long conversation with Nakamura again, hoping that he would stick to the style. At this time, Basso had become the first sushi restaurant in Toyama and even Echizen (the first in tabelog score In Toyama Prefecture), and also had a high reputation throughout Japan.
Tips Why can Toyama make good sushi?
fish
Toyama is located in the middle of the coast of the Sea of Japan on the island of Honshu, Japan, and most of the Noto Peninsula, which belongs to the neighboring Ishikawa Prefecture, penetrates deep into the Sea of Japan, forming Toyama Bay, one of Japan's three deep bays. With a depth of more than 300 metres and a depth of more than 300 metres, fishermen can quickly return their catch to shore, where the Tsushima Current passes, bringing with it a large number of migratory fish. In addition, the terrain of Toyama Prefecture rises rapidly from north to south, and the meltwater from the mountains flows into Toyama Bay, which is rich in nutrients and further nourishes the seafood of Toyama Bay, and about 500 of the 800 species of fish caught in the Sea of Japan can be caught in Toyama Bay. All of the above factors have made Toyama Bay a "natural fishery".
water
In the "Japan Famous Water 100 Selection" selection organized by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Four toyama Prefectures were selected as the most "Famous Water Kingdoms" in Japan. As mentioned above, the terrain of Mount Fushan gradually rises from north to south to Tateyama Peak at an altitude of 3,000 meters, and the mountain meltwater, forest water, and groundwater are abundant, and these waters are used as sushi to make, which greatly improves the quality of the cuisine.
3
rice
Nourished by famous water, Toyama's land is fertile, with 96% of the cultivated land being the highest in Japan. Toyama has four distinct seasons, and the temperature difference between day and night during the rice growing season has cultivated many high-quality rice, so that sushi chefs have more and better choices.
>>>-Chuchu Sushi <<<
Kimura wears a kitchen hat, and from the brim of his hat, his braids are clearly visible. Compared with the many craftsmen who shave their heads for sushi, Kimura's image seems uninhibited, but it is very compatible with his former designer identity.
Ginger slices | wasabi | red vinegar rice
Kimura's voice was hoarse, and after confirming the reservation, he arranged a seat, instructed the apprentice to pour wine, and gently put the ginger slices.
The ginger slices in Kimura's shop are marinated in red vinegar, the color is darker than in other shops, and the pickling sugar is three warm sugar, and the chopsticks gently pick up a slice and put it in the mouth, feeling that the taste is sweet.
The true wife wasabi from Izu Shuzen-ji Temple. Shizuoka Prefecture's Izu produces more than 60% of Japan's wasabi production, making it the first choice for japanese restaurants to choose wasabi. Kimura uses the True Wife Wasabi produced at the foot of Mt. Nakai tenjo, which is the highest variety of Izu wasabi.
"This wasabi is spicy and sweet." Kimura grinds wasabi while talking to guests.
Kimura's vinegar rice is made of koshimi rice grown by the Toyama cooperative farmers, and is made with Iwate Prefecture's southern iron utensils as a cooking utensil, with Toyama Tateyama Izumi water (one of Japan's 100 famous waters), and then seasoned with three years of ripe red vinegar, placed in a wooden barrel made of Akita cedar, and every aspect is very attentive, how tempting the red vinegar rice in the barrel is.
Do you know how to evaluate the use of vinegar for vinegar rice?
The quality of the sushi restaurant's cuisine, vinegar rice, fish raw and fish rice combination is the three major elements, in the evaluation of these three elements, the combination of fish and fish and rice, the need for diners to have a considerable dining experience and basic knowledge, but the evaluation of the taste and texture of vinegar rice, even re-entry guests can immediately give answers. Therefore, most sushi restaurants are very attentive to vinegar rice. In the preparation of vinegar rice, it is a very important step to use vinegar to taste. Sushi lovers are often interested in the proportion of vinegar seasoned in sushi restaurants, and are happy to explore whether famous restaurants use red vinegar (sake lees vinegar), rice vinegar or mixed vinegar (red vinegar + rice vinegar, also known as light red vinegar). Akaki was originally the origin of vinegar for Edo-mae sushi vinegar rice, but after entering modern times, sushi rice with rice vinegar was whiter in color and milder in taste than red vinegar, and more and more shops used rice vinegar became more and more numerous. However, it is interesting that the popularity of rice vinegar has caused diners to love red vinegar inexplicably, as if using red vinegar to force a higher level. Of course, this is not the case, the process and cost of making red vinegar rice is not higher than rice vinegar rice, how to use it still depends on the chef's preferences and raw fish. Chefs who are more nervous in this regard even prepare two kinds of vinegar rice in the shop, and decide to use red vinegar or rice vinegar rice according to the characteristics of raw fish.
Red vinegar and rice vinegar rice from Taku Nishi-azabu (Rice 2) in Tokyo
Red vinegar and rice vinegar rice from Sapporo "Himsalo" (Rice 2).
"That's the beginning of today's cooking."
Kimura leaned over to me and then handed me the first course of the day.
Vietaka Bay Sashimi
Koshi naka oyster is a representative ingredient in the Sea of Japan, but there are few restaurants outside the coast of the Sea of Japan. Snail shellfish are generally hard, in order to soften the taste, sushi chefs generally cut them thin, so does Kimura, and with is the famous salt merchant of Ishikawa Prefecture, Zhuzhou salt made of seawater salt, the whole sashimi taste crisp but not hard, fresh and sweet, very flavorful.
Boil the throat blackfish
Traveling in Hokuriku, it is also quite difficult to avoid eating the throat blackfish, which is too common in Hokuriku. Kimura's dish, the throat black light shabu, and then served with radish puree, fish half-raw, slightly sour, very appetizing.
Sweet shrimp and white shrimp
"Today's sushi starts with sweet shrimp and white shrimp."
The shrimp is very soft, it is not easy to knead into sushi, Kimura moves quickly, using his own hand to pinch out sweet shrimp and white shrimp, put them in a dish and present them. On the right is the prolific sweet shrimp of the Sea of Japan, the shrimp meat is red, the sweetness is strong, the shrimp meat has elasticity, but it melts quickly. Kimura Sushi's sake sauce is Soy Sauce (highly reputable soy sauce) made from Hata Brewing of Toyama Koyabe, and is made with Toyama's local Ashita Sake Brewery Manjuzuzumi Pure Rice Sake, and the sauce, sushi ingredients, and vinegar rice are very well matched, especially the rice is hard and grainy, which is very much in line with my preference for the taste of rice.
On the left is Toyama's specialty white shrimp, which is different from the taste of sweet shrimp, the taste of white shrimp is very sticky, and when processing, Kimura also wrapped it with Konbu from Hakodate, and the fresh sweetness is more obvious than that of sweet shrimp.
"Mr. Kimura, this is delicious."
Sauce boiled rock oysters
Northern purple sea urchin
Hokkaido Rishiri produces northern purple sea urchin, which is a rare non-local ingredient in the bass people's set menu. Summer is the best season for northern sea urchins, northern purple sea urchins and Ezo horse dung sea urchins, the grain is more delicate, it is reasonable to say that sea urchins such a heavy sushi material, mostly found in the back of the set, but Kimura at the beginning of the presentation, quite interesting.
Plum juice chawanmushi
A tea bowl steam is a specialty of a sushi restaurant, which may be something that no one else thinks of, and the elements of the whole dish are simple, egg soup, plum juice and water. But the key is this water, which is the gushing spring water of the market town at the foot of Mount Kengaku, which is rich in minerals and is called shiny water by the people of Toyama, and Kimura drives himself to enter the water every week, only in this tea bowl steaming. The simpler the dish, the better the quality of the ingredients, the sweet and salty acid of the tea bowl steaming are appropriate, and the taste is excellent, which is surprising.
Plum meat stained perch
I'm afraid I won't find a dish in other sushi restaurants, with summer seasonal sea bass and then wrapped in plum meat, which has a strong sour taste. It seems that it takes a good tongue to taste the sea bass, or rather, I think the design of this dish is a bit confusing...
Perhaps Kimura wants to use this sour dish to make guests start to welcome the arrival of sushi.
Kombu stained real flounder
The first sushi that was always placed in front of the board was made from the sea fishing in Toyama Bay.
Winter turbot, summer white meat fish, or true flounder as well.
"The fish was killed alive yesterday and then coated in khumbu overnight."
When it is delivered to the mouth, the elasticity and umami taste are excellent, and the graininess of the rice is still very obvious.
Horse mackerel
Horse mackerel on land in Izumi Fishing Port. In summer, horse mackerel is the most abundant in oil, and the oil of fish meat can be seen in the photos. Kimura squeezed the ginger into the fish and gently placed the sushi in front of me.
"Make only two sushi for a fish."
"Yes, the horse mackerel I chose is smaller."
Horse mackerel is the basic sushi ingredient of sushi cuisine, about his knowledge to expand reading, please poke here "Do you really know about horse mackerel when playing Japanese food".
Bamboo wheat fish
Bamboo wheat fish, also known as anchovy, is not supposed to be a very common sushi ingredient, but it can also be eaten in Shanghai, so Chinese guests should be familiar with him. This bamboo wheat fish landed in the slippery river (fishing port in eastern Toyama Prefecture), and the fat was so much that even the wine juice was difficult to attach, and when it went down, it was like eating a piece of fat meat, and the white meat fish was so eye-opening.
Grilled black onion and crab meat sushi
The restaurant's signature dish. Food critics have different opinions about this dish. Those who like it think that it is baked properly, and the ingredients are of high quality, and it is a unique sake dish. Those who don't like it think it is not too appropriate for a sushi restaurant to go to the bird wind. However, in terms of taste, this dish is really pleasing to the skin and juicy fish.
However, the crab meat sushi with this roasted bird style is a bit of a problem, the crab meat is very cold, and the sushi rice is much hotter, which is not too suitable to match.
"You're Chinese, aren't you?" Kimura asked me.
"Yes."
"There are more and more Chinese customers in the store, how do you know about my shop?"
"Introduced by a friend, she also left your phone number."
"Oh? Is it? Thanks thanks. ”
"Besides, you're a Michelin restaurant?"
Hearing Michelin, Kimura laughed. "But I don't have a star in my house, I just got selected."
"Kimura-san, what I like about your craft is not a Michelin star." A guest on the side suddenly showed loyalty. I originally wanted to ask Kimura about the popular shop but did not get the star, in this atmosphere is also difficult to say.
Tuna naked with a large belly
After presenting the tuna naked, Kimura pointed to the shipment list pasted on the wall, meaning the origin of today's tuna. Following Kimura's hand, the words Hokkaido Spitfire Bay Fixed Net are very eye-catching. Summer is not a good season for northern bluefin tuna, and finding good fish with rich oil requires more effort by fishermen and mid-traders.
"This fish is very fat, and I was surprised to find such a color in the summer."
Kimura's tuna is cut in a hand-shaped shape and pinched into a very beautiful boat shape. The large belly is also hand-shaped, and the cut is slightly longer. The extra tendons of the large belly were cut very cleanly. The two sushi are tasted, and the naked body is very refreshing, and the big belly is as usual, "melting in the mouth" !!!
Steamed abalone with wine
Black abalone from Toyama is prepared by steaming sake and cut into pieces with corrugated cuts, and is served without sauce. The whole abalone steamed is very soft, and there is no sauce, is it necessary to cut into ripples, or just cut it casually, Kimura is either demanding of himself, or is used to cutting it like this.
Do you know what a corrugated cut is?
Corrugated cutting is a Japanese knife method used to handle ingredients such as octopus and abalone that have a smooth surface and are hard, and are not easily stained with sauce. When applied, the chef uses the wrist change to cut a ripple-like engraving on the surface of the ingredients, which is convenient for attaching the sauce and softening the taste. Whether the engraving is regular and whether the spacing is consistent is the basic consideration for testing the chef's knife method.
sardine
When modern refrigerated logistics were not yet developed, sardines, which are very perishable fish, are only eaten raw near the production area. Hokuriku is rich in sardines, and sardines must be a common sushi ingredient in Hokuriku sushi restaurants.
Kimura's sardines are also from Toyama Bay, and because freshness is guaranteed, Kimura does not use vinegar and directly pinches green onions and ginger into raw sushi. Sushi lovers probably know that the sardines in the rainy season are the best, although it has now skipped the rainy season, but this sardine still has the feeling of collapsing in the mouth, which is really not better.
"Is the amount of the package OK?" Kimura came to inquire.
"Well, yes."
"Then I'll hand roll it for you."
Eel hand rolls
The eel skin is very crispy and goes well with the seaweed of the Saga Ariake Sea.
"Eels are supplied directly from Tsukiji, and there are not many eels here in Hokuriku, so you can only go to kanto to buy them."
The miso soup made from fish bones in the restaurant that day
Glutinous rice cake ice cream
The shop's signature dessert, which combines glutinous rice with sea salt and bakes into a cake, is then added to ishikawa-made ice cream, ending the meal with a collision of salty and sweet.
As a foreign guest, Kimura seemed to be very concerned about me, inquired about the dining experience in detail, and took the initiative to exchange social network accounts. Since he still wanted to go to have a supper, he did not ask for additional sushi, nor did he greet him, and left the store directly under his delivery.
4.
>>> a few evaluation <<<
Local ingredients. The localization of the ingredients of the bass is very high, except for a few ingredients, the materials of Toyama Bay or Toyama Prefecture are preferred, including fish, water, and rice, which is very grounded for diners from afar.
Use "Little Feather". With the same ingredients, Kimura seems to like to use small fish, especially in the selection of silver body fish, and the horse mackerel and sardines in the set are made of small fish. Everyone knows that the use of small fish is much more demanding for the chef to handle, which shows that Kimura is very confident in his own skills.
Flawed. Mainly the design of individual dishes makes people feel senseless, such as the plum meat stained sea bass. Also, the temperature control of the crab meat sushi made me not very satisfied.
Well worth a visit. In addition to the flaws, as far as my understanding and evaluation of Edo-mae sushi is concerned, Kimura's shop is a very good sushi restaurant, whether it is the ingredients, the basic skills of the chef and the menu design, it is very unique, it is an inevitable choice for visiting Toyama and tasting sushi restaurants.
Bassman is a first-class sushi restaurant, even if it doesn't have a Michelin star.
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