Kaiseki - Japanese haute cuisine

One of the things I like most about Japan is the food. Sushi, tempura, miso and all the wonderful flavours that are uniquely Japanese, such as green tea and pickled plums. For the adventurous, ingredients for a lot of J dishes can be found at your local Asian supermarket, especially Thai Kee in Market City, which stocks most Asian cooking supplies in a convenient city location. I can usually find what I need there if I'm looking to make something simple like gyu-don or okonomiyaki, but there are those times when crumbling yakinori over your yakisoba just ain't cutting it like the aonori you're actually supposed to use.

My flatmate found this place in the Northbridge Shopping Centre called Tokyo Mart, a one-stop shop for everything from yamaimo paste to frozen wagyu beef. It was here that I discovered a mother and daughter team running monthly cooking classes out of their North Shore property, dedicated to kaiseki, something like a degustation menu tailored to the seasons, with an emphasis on presentation. I decided to sign up, partly because I like to cook, but mostly because I'll be doing a homestay within the first few days of arriving in Fukushima. I reckon it'd be wise to start the cultural exchange before I actually get there so I don't look like a complete idiot.

I managed to find their place on the day after trudging about 2km uphill in the rain from Epping Road and together with 5 other students, managed to whip up the following yummies:


Sakizuke (The Appetiser) - Seasonal Fruits in Umeboshi

This was followed by Wanmono (The Seasonal Broth) - Poached Duck with Grilled Rice Cake, Grilled Leek, Mizuna and a hint of Yuzu. I'm kicking myself for forgetting to take a photo of it because it was my favourite. D'oh!


Mukozuke (The Cold Dish) - Tuna Cubes and Calamari Whorls with Watercress, Shredded Daikon and Wasabi Garnish


Yakimono (The Grilled Dish) - Prawn, Scallop, Mushrooms and Sweet Chestnuts Baked in a Salt Crust


Takiawase (The Simmered Dish) - Hiryozu: Fried Tofu Balls with Prawns, Black Fungus, Gingko Nuts and Water Chestnuts Simmered in Broth


Aemono (The Vinegared Dish) - Green Beans in Sesame Dressing


Gohan (The Final Rice) - Crab and Fluffy Egg Rice

The whole thing put together looked like this:


Itadakimasu!

The poached duck soup is in the bottom right, for those who are curious. A very short while later, my place setting looked like this:


Burrrrp! Yum...

It all tasted great, not least because everything had its own flavour, even within each individual dish. Iron Chef, eat your heart out! I was surprised that there's a lot more to J-food than the regular stuff we get at restaurants here. Since I'm going to a somewhat more agricultural part of Japan, I'm sure there'll be heaps more stuff I've never eaten before. Bring 'em on, I say!

Welcome to Tempus FuJET

Hi everyone! Just like I said I would (and never let it be said that I'm not a person of my word), I've set up a blog that will chronicle the next few years of my fairly unpredictable life. Gah, it sounds so trite. Anyway, I suppose this is a way for me to keep track of what's going on around me lest it leak out of my already porous memory. Sometimes I'll ramble, other times I'll actually be coherent, so it'll be up to you to figure out what state of mind I'm in. As for the title, I may have already told some of you guys that it'll be my platform when I eventually run for office. Weasels for companionship, sustenance and flavour, just to knock things up a notch. BAM! No home should be without one!

So friends, less than 2 months to got before I head off to Japan on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme. It's been a long trek to this point, from the red tape of permanent residency to the security of Australian citizenship (and the joy of finally having a voice at the polls!). After sending a shedload of documents to the Japanese consulate and a slightly harrowing interview, here I am on the threshold of a new life in a new country... it's deja vu all over again!

(Oh, and just in case the blog address makes no sense, I've been posted to Fukushima prefecture, and the JET participants there call themselves FuJETs. Hey, I thought it was clever...)

This is a public blog, so feel free to comment or spam. I'll try to update it as things go along, or when I feel nostalgic and need to tell everyone exactly what happened from the very beginning, like when we all crawled out of the sea or something. Stay tuned.