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AIZUWAKAMATSU | Kaiseki is a type of traditional Japanese multi course dinner, that was originally reserved for Japanese nobility. More than just food, Kaiseki is all about omotenashi, which means “to entertain guests wholeheartedly”, and embodies warmth and respect. The dishes are small and beautifully presented, with a focus on balancing the taste, texture, appearance, and colours of the food. Only fresh, seasonal, local ingredients are used, and a focus is placed on regional specialities. The order of the dishes, and the exact recipes used, are always at the discretion of the chef.
Kutsurogijuku is a hotel with baths that draw water from Higashiyama onsen, and offers a fantastic Kaiseki experience at its restaurant. The meal here follows the traditional Kaiseki structure:
- Sakizuke – an entree served with sake
- Futamono – a lidded dish, typically soup
- Nimono – a simmered dish
- Mukozuke – a sashimi dish
- Hassun – an expression of the season
- Yakimono – a grilled course
- Hanmono or shokuji – a rice dish
All of the food is fantastic, but particular mention must be made of the amazing Aizu beef. Kobe beef is what people in the West know about, but there are several regions in Japan that produce fantastic beef, and Aizu is one of them. The strips of meat are cooked by diners on a small cast iron surface over a hot flame, and you simply season it with a pinch of salt. When the beef hits your tongue, the intense flavour hits you immediately, while the beautifully luscious fat melts in your mouth. This is how beef should be enjoyed. Another highlight is the dengaku – an assortment of produce marinated in miso and grilled over charcoal. The soup, koduyu, is an Aizu delicacy and features mamefu, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, satoimo, kikurage, itokonnyaku simmered in dashi made of dried scallops.
If you’re staying at the hotel, you can end this truly Japanese experience with another distinctly Japanese experience – a relaxing bath at one of the hotel’s two onsen.
Kutsurogijuku
Terayashiki-43
Higashiyamamachi
Oaza Yumoto
Aizuwakamatsu
Fukushima Prefecture 965-0814
Japan
Telephone: 0242 26 0001
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.kutsurogijuku.jp/