We picked up a box of the cakes last night in the train station while waiting on the shinkansen to arrive. Branded on top, but filled with the most delicious custards and the cake itself is almost a souffle texture. Perfect with a spot of green tea after our morning soak in the onsen.
Yesterday we stopped into a tiny house along side the road near Nakijin-jo, which turned out to be an English tea room, decorated for Christmas. I think we’ve heard Christmas music nonstop since we arrived in Japan. Anyhow, the place also had udon, naan and Japanese curry, and pasta. I chose to have the linguine with clams, which I was afraid would be bland but was perfectly seasoned. It tasted of butter noodles and clam liquor. For dessert, a surprise of cakes with adzuki bean. Subtle yet the perfect ending to a meal.
Instead of the standard French toast, the Japanese decide to curve the edges of the toast a bit (to hold your syrup in), and of course there must be tiny dishes of something. In this case, in addition to the syrup, there was berries and the lightest vanilla cream I’ve ever had. Oh, and did I mention that the egg mixture was perfectly soaked all the way through?
Last night we wandered by the little town next to Moon Beach, trying to decide what to eat. We decided on a place that featured “famous” Aguu pork (I say this in quotes as I have no idea how famous it is). We settled on steamed pork, wagyu beef, and charcoal-grilled vegetables. The pork was layered with bean sprouts and cabbage, and brought out in a steamer basket over a very hot iron skillet. I poured spirits through the pork, and as it dripped through the steamer basket, it created the steam for our dish. Very novel, very tender, and very tasty. The wagyu beef was brought to the table prepared, but it was no less amazing. Also very tender, and the flavor was out of this world! I’m tempted to go back tonight for another plate.
latest posts from the Kitchen the latest from Madd Hatter’s Diary
