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The Menu of Happiness

Book by Jesse Kirkwood · 3 quotes · Japanese Cuisine, Japanese Food, Eel

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The Menu of Happiness Quotes

“The fish on the rectangular plate are autumn ayu, salted and grilled. One of them is lightly smoked over wood chips from a mixture of cherry blossom and apple trees; the other--- with the roe--- is marinated in a yuzu-infused sauce. Feel free to garnish them with the finely chopped water-pepper leaves on the side. In the cut-glass bowl is some late-season hamo eel, in a tangy nanban-style marinade. You could sprinkle some kuro shichimi on there if you want to spice it up a little. Oh, and don't worry: All the fish is cooked right through! The Oribe bowl contains today's fried dishes: The breaded chunks of autumn eggplant and Omi beef are best paired with the miso sauce, while these two--- surf clam and vegetable tempura, and fried kuruma prawn fish balls--- will go nicely with the matcha salt. And the Karatsu cup is filled with a mixture of miniature taro, baby matsutake mushroom, red konnyaku jelly, and okra.”

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“The skewers in the top left are inspired by those colored mochi balls people like to eat at this time of year. Shrimp dumplings, baby cucumber, and quail meatballs, all speared onto a willow branch. The thick omelet next to that is the sort of tamagoyaki you'd get at a Tokyo sushi restaurant--- cooked with shrimp paste. Then you have the sawara mackerel, grilled Kyoto-style in a sweet white miso marinade, and in the small bowl below, a selection of steamed vegetables. Baby taro, Kintoki carrot, pumpkin, lotus root, and Shogoin turnip. On that tissue paper in the middle are various edible wild plants, all deep-fried: ostrich fern, butterbur buds, momiji-gasa, angelica buds, and mugwort. Those are good with a bit of matcha salt, or you might want to try dipping them in Worcestershire-style sauce in that little pot. To the left of that, wrapped in the green bamboo leaf, is cherry-bass sushi, while the small bowl next to that is flash-boiled Omi beef, with a ponzu vinegar gelée.”

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“He drained his first cup of sake, then maneuvered his chopsticks toward their first destination: the thick shrimp-paste omelet. Layered and rolled into a fragrant cakelike sponge, it was an irresistible combination of savory and sweet--- just the way Takayuki liked it. Next, he began loosening the various elements from the willow skewer and popping them into his mouth. The shrimp dumplings were succulent, the salted cucumber refreshing, and the quail meatballs--- which included the soft bones ground up in the paste--- dense with rich flavor.”

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