This time, Bowl Maru sneaks to Tokyo and visits Tetsuya Hayaot's "Yamajue", the "God of Tempura". Is Yamai Michelin Rating: ★ Tetsuya Hayao Otome, 69 years old, from Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, runs tempura cuisine in Tokyo's "みかわ is Yamaju". Many people refer to him as the "God of Tempura", along with the "God of Sushi" Ono Jiro and the "God of Eels" Kanemoto Kenjiro (recently the media has introduced more, here will not be repeated, you can refer to "Yue Food" or "Food Sticker 3" Oh ~).
Early Otome Tetsuya (picture from the Internet) is also a Gemini, I secretly think that Early Otome Grandpa should not pay attention to this name. Immersed in and enjoying the process of cooking, and pursuing the pleasure of art in a wider space, Gemini truly enjoys the openness of freely moving between entry and birth. Therefore, as a diner, I am also willing to let go of my expectations for the "god of tempura" and taste a carefully made tempura dish with a normal mindset. (Because it is only a dining experience, rather than multiple visits, it is inevitable that there will be biases, and everyone will look at Ha ha critically)
One noon at the end of September, when I arrived at a deserted side street in Tokyo's Koto Ward and walked through a wooden door with a plaque that read "Yes Mountain Residence," I found that the room was overcrowded. Because the guests in front were still eating, we were invited to wait in the lounge on the third floor. I heard that the three-story buildings are the private property of mountain residences, the first and second floors are for guests, the third floor is for bedrooms, study rooms, and also used as temporary waiting areas for guests. On one side of the "lounge" is pen, ink and paper, while the inside is designed as an oval tea room, with tea utensils on a quaint wooden table and ancient paintings hanging on the wall. Sharing your aesthetic with hungry guests is like a Gemini thing to do.
When I returned to the first floor to eat, I found that the dining area was not large, the L-shaped bar could only sit about 10 people, and the only people who made dishes behind the bar were Grandpa Early Otome and a sous chef. A top-hat-shaped range hood hangs artistically and joyfully overhead, and the weeping willows painted by Tokyo University of the Arts Professor Toyofuku Castle sway quietly on the elegant green wall behind it.
There are two types of lunch menus (11,340/18,360 yen), the difference being whether there is matsutake tempura and sea urchin perilla tempura. In this season, the seafood ingredients provided by Yamaju include shrimp, salmon, big-eyed catfish, cave seeds, sea urchins, and soft silk; vegetables include matsutake mushrooms, tea lotus, asparagus, eggplant, sweet potatoes, small peppers, and shiitake mushrooms.
Is yamai's fried oil visually measured is taika sesame oil (bamboo oil) and cottonseed salad oil (Okamura oil?). ) to mix. It is said that the ratio of the two is 4:6 in summer and 5:5 in winter. If you have read our previous articles on tempura cooking techniques, you may know that this means that there needs to be good coordination and control of the ingredients and oil temperature, and it also means that there should not be too many people to serve at the same time. In terms of dough, a large pot of dough was prepared and placed on ice water, as well as a bowl of egg liquid and a basin of sieved flour to adjust the thickness of the dough.
The seasonings are extremely simple, salt, and the day juice with white radish puree made of tateshina juice. Tade is a plant with a unique aroma and slightly spicy taste, which is often used to make a dip for salted and grilled ayu. The white radish selected by Yamaju is also a relatively light and slightly spicy variety. The two are fused, slightly salty, slightly fresh, slightly sour, slightly spicy, and the taste is compound and not ostentatious.
The first thing to be presented is, of course, the shrimp. It is a medium-sized shrimp selected from yamaju, the back of the fried clothes are staggered, and the shrimp body is straight (because the muscles of the shrimp have been torn apart by hand at the 2nd and 7th sections of the shrimp when handling the ingredients in advance, which is called "のす" in Japanese), which is very capable.
I have always heard that the general tempura shop uses 180 degrees to fry shrimp, but the mountain house is fried quickly with a high temperature of 200 degrees (about 23 seconds), and finally the surface of the shrimp becomes cooked, and the central part is about 45 degrees, keeping it fresh and soft. Try it, the shrimp meat entrance is indeed fresh and sweet, look at the cross-section center slightly translucent, but not as distinct as the previous online pictures, may be individual differences. Then notice that the shrimp head of the mountain house is fried with a dipped dough coat. When I went to Kondo Tempura the day before, I noticed that Kondo's shrimp head was fried with flour. In fact, there are no advantages or disadvantages, but I just want to show the different characteristics of the ingredients. According to the practice of the mountain house, the shrimp head fried in the dough coat is obviously more fragrant and crispy, the shrimp whiskers have no hindrance to the entrance, and the aroma of sesame oil and shrimp seeds are closely blended and sprayed out.
Kisu has a delicate taste and a high water content. It was the mountain house's salmon that gave it a slightly thicker dough coat and fried until it was crispy, and the fish inside was still soft and juicy.
The Ink Squid Tempura is indeed very beautiful. The resistance and elasticity are very subtle, the teeth are lightly crossed between an extremely dense and smooth substance, the sweet taste is faintly leached, but the wonderful touch is fleeting, but it is a little sad.
Misaki is a shrimp ball lettuce soup. The soup is clear and delicious; the lettuce is selected with a very delicate tip, smooth and flowing; gently bite open the shrimp meat, the umami taste is compelling. There are too many tempura dishes to eat, and the taste buds are indeed prone to fatigue, so it is really appropriate to drink a refreshing bowl of imperial rice in this gap.
After a short break, the sea urchin perilla tempura appears. Horse dung sea urchin from Rishiri, Hokkaido, wrapped in fried between two perilla leaves, noticed that the inside of the perilla was also dipped in flour, not knowing whether it was to maintain a crisp taste.
The dough is extremely thin and crisp, the sea urchin is slightly cooked on the outside, and the inside is still fresh, and the taste is extremely fresh and sweet, which is unforgettable.
Matsutake mushrooms are not as delicious as expected. Although the juice is rich, the taste is not strong. The texture of the small one is quite brittle, and the large one only has some fiber. I saw that the predecessors said that according to the supply situation, sometimes Iwate Matsutake was used, and sometimes Chinese Matsutake was used. Judging from the size, it is suspected that the Chinese matsutake mushrooms are eaten.
Mint lotus, cut 1/2 longitudinally and fried, has a faint ginger flavor, and the lower part is 1/3 crisp. Personally, I think that cutting and frying is easy to put into the oil and heat up, and the same is true for asparagus.
The big-eyed catfish, called "megochi" in Japanese, is a type of underwater fish with a relatively large flesh. After frying, it has a stronger flavor and stronger texture than the salmon.
The orgasm undoubtedly belongs to the cave. The slender, golden tail was gently cut by Grandpa Otome with a long metal chopstick, and after a soft "click", the hole broke in half, and a "fairy qi" escaped. More than a dozen guests were like saints waiting for baptism, reverently waiting for their "click" to arrive. The kind of smiling after holding your breath is always a pleasant part of a meal. Grandpa suggested that the front part of the cave be eaten with indigo juice, the soft and succulent part with the indigo juice is full of beauty, and the back part is dipped in salt to eat, and the tight and crispy part with the simple salt appears to have a long aftertaste.
Choose two of five vegetables, choose asparagus and sweet potatoes. Asparagus is sliced, partially peeled and fried, without fiber, the texture is between crisp and soft, juicy, retaining the fragrance of asparagus. Sweet potatoes are selected from the yellow meat varieties, sliced and put into a knife in the center to make it easy to fry through, one side dipped in dough coat fried on one side, after frying, the side of the dough is slightly darker in color, dense in texture and luscious in taste.
Among the choices of Xiaozhu Tiantang and tea to make rice, I chose tea to make rice. Then I found that the crispy pillar tempura was submerged in the soup of tea and rice, and instantly became a soft girl, a bit of a pity, regretting why he did not choose Tianbei (Delong Wangshu, is the common human weakness of foodies, alas~).
Finally, at the end, there are two large and sincere boiled beans.
By the way, the legend "good tempura paper without oil" is just a legend, oil has always existed, if you don't see it from the picture, it's because you just changed the paper ~ I know or some people can't help but ask: Where is the god of tempura? Personal feeling is to pursue the ultimate in cuisine with a scientific attitude on the one hand, the arrangement of menus to start and close is on the one hand, and the artistic pursuit of food utensils, decorations, and environment is also an important aspect. While we laymen were eating tempura without heart or lungs, a Japanese aunt sitting next to us had been coveting the bowl containing tea and rice, and quickly drank all the soup in order to see the reverse of the bowl. Sigh, why didn't I have this heart?
Restaurant information
Mikawa Koreyamai
Location: 1-3-1 Fukuzumi, Koto-ku, Tokyo: 03-3643-8383
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., closed on Wednesdays from 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (reservation required).
Fee: Lunch is from 11,340 yen and dinner is from 18,360 yen
The above text content is the original of the Japanese material stack; unless noted, the pictures are taken by the author. If you need to reprint, please contact the public number [Japanese Material Stack] or [email protected]