It may be Christmas Eve Eve in the Western world, but yesterday was a national holiday in Japan — the Emperor’s birthday! I asked M.’s host how this holiday is traditionally celebrated, and he said, “Hmm. The emperor comes on TV. Everyone stays home to watch. It’s not very exciting.”
He made it much more exciting for us by taking us and another couple out to a wonderful restaurant meal — after first checking multiple times to be sure I was willing to eat traditional Japanese food. I assured him this would not be a problem. :) It’s a little tragic though, because every dish was beautiful — but I didn’t take any pictures because I didn’t want to look like a total dweeb. I did, however, do my best to retain a detailed list of what we had:
We started with a little bento-style dish with six tiny aperitifs: mushrooms with I think red-bean-dyed tofu chunks? and little chunks of squid (ika), and half a brussel sprout with chopped red pepper, and daikon slices with sweet black beans. And I don’t remember the other two.
Then we had incredibly delicate thin sliced white fish in some kind of fruity marinade with chopped cucumber and shrimp. At the same time they brought plates of raw duck breast with sprouts, shoots, and a fresh tofu cube, which we dipped in a pot of hot oil to cook. The duck was delicious, and the tofu amazing — smooth and silky! Tofu is usually so dull in the States, but it’s a completely different experience in Japan. Not that I’m any tofu expert or anything, but in my experience.
Then they brought out bowls of fruit chunks (pear, plum, pineapple?) with a slice of camembert all in yogurt sauce. This actually worked surprisingly well together, and we all pretty much thought it was the end of the meal, because it was a sweet. BUT NO.
Because then they brought out little bowls with lightly steamed daikon, broccoli, and big fat oysters.
Then came little clementines that had been carved out and filled with shrimp roe, with a whole shrimp artfully capping the dish.
The came little ramekins filled with what can only be described as shepard’s pie. It was like a tomato-y vegetable sauce topped with mashed potatoes and maybe a little cheese and then baked. So like… western? But done in this incredibly delicate and delectable way that could only be Japanese.
And then, just when I thought things were winding down, they brought out huge plates of sushi! I mean, they were probably only slightly bigger than standard size sushi dishes in America, but after all the other food… wow. And the salmon, instead of being on a rectangle of rice, was draped over a little ball of rice and looked like an adorable little animal. And there was tomago (egg) and shrimp and mackerel and unagi (eel) and ika (squid), and a fried tofu roll. I managed to finish everything but the tofu roll… yum but also a ton of food! And then M.’s colleague’s wife was like, “yeah, I can’t eat more than a piece or two of this, do you want it?” and he wound up eating most of hers, too.
Then came a very smooth, light pannacotta with red bean sauce, along with a teeny tiny scoop of matcha (green tea) ice cream. And kocha (black tea).
And with it all, we started with big glasses of Asahi beer, then moved on to many different kinds of sake… when M.’s boss found out we’d been drinking minimart sake, he insisted we try sakes from every region of japan, both cold and hot. Lovely!
And the whole thing was served on low tables and tatami mats and we exchanged gifts and talked about Idaho and bears and stuff. All in all, an amazing dinner… And now as I pack up to spend a very long Christmas day on planes and in airports, I at least feel as though I’ve had a real holiday meal.
