Fresh, clean and well presented

Raw, fresh and edible

Visiting the Kuromon-ichiba market today we got to once again witness how equally important cleanliness, freshness and beautiful presentation are in the Japanese food culture. The variety and selection of especially seafood and seasonal vegetables was huge. Not to mention  the famous and mouth watering Kobe - beef.

Sashimi chef at work

 

We enjoyed a lunch of fresh sashimi at one of the many fish stores along the market street. Once again we got to see the process of how the food actually starts unprocessed and fresh, ending on our plates before our very eyes. Not only is the knife handling an impressive show in itself, but to see the freshness and to witness how nothing extra goes into your meal - because honestly nothing needs to go into it when its kept this fresh - is amazing.

Fresh sashimi meal..

Where no cooking is needed, the diner gets to participate in making the dish their own by adding things like soy sauce and wasabi - not to forget some delicious sake or tea. Often in Japanese restaurant dining the customer has a big role in preparing or finishing the meal to their likings, just like we've seen in shabushabu and the different kinds of condiments from daikon to lemon, salt, spicy sauces, leek or even tiny fish.

... with seasonal fish

Fresh pufferfish

Having Etsuko-san and chef Matsumoto as our local guides made it possible for us to learn so much about ingredients and equipment foreign to us. Without their guidance and expertise we would never have found ourselves this unusual place to have lunch in.








Talking about the safety of the food, carefulness reaches its peak in handling the knife while cutting the pufferfish. Anyway, we left the notorious Fugu untouched and swimming this time...

Below is a short video presenting the careful slicing of a quite impressive tunafish at Kuromon-ichiba today. The right way of handling a knife is important even when a wrong move might not cost someone's life.

 

The fine art of steel

After wandering around the foodmarket we aimed for Doguyasugi kitchen goods market. The market was filled with superb quality knives and other kitchen equipment, all of which looked more like works of art rather than everyday items. These are the tools used to add final touches to the dishes so your guests can enjoy a full experience for all five senses.

The importance of presentation in shapes...

... details ...

... and serving