For my fourth place in Japan, I picked the San-in coast and, in particular, the town of Matsue. On the northern coast of western Honshu, but, really, in the south of Japan, it is known primarily for two things: (1) it has one of only 12 remaining castle keeps in all of Japan and (2) it abuts Lake Shinji-ko, and has crafted a regional cuisine based on the "seven delicacies" of the lake.
I bet you can guess which one sealed the deal to make me visit.
So, with two dinners there over successive nights, I decided to try out two recommended eateries that specialize in this cuisine. They ended up going head-to-head with only a few rules, so we'll play out the contest here. Who will be crowned Lord of Matsue cooking?
The rules:
-- Must use the seven delicacies, wherever possible and in season
-- Budget of 3000 yen for the meal, plus extra for sake
-- Cannot provide me any reprieve nor any Americanized food
And for those keeping track, here are the seven delicacies:
(1) isuzuki or hosho yaki - steam-baked and paper-wrapped bass
(2) shirauo - whitebait tempura or sashimi
(3) amasagi - sweet tempura or teriyaki
(4) shijimi - freshwater clams in miso soup
(5) moroge ebi - steamed shrimp
(6) koi - baked carp
(7) unagi - grilled freshwater eel
For the photos for each course, the top one is from reigning champion Yamaichi. The bottom one is from talented contender Kawa-kyo. Ok, without further ado, to the match!
Course 1
To start we have steamed and marinated clams from Yamaichi (note, these are not shijimi) and a tag team of roasted edamame and seaweed and eel carpaccio from Kawa-kyo. A strong start for both! The clams were to die for - I wish I knew what was in the sweet marinade. They were bold but not fishy and with a gorgeous orange color to the meat. The unagi was also a treat, with strong sesame notes; the roasted edamame, well, I could have eaten a full bowl of that. At the end of the day, though, the clams are what I'd go back for.
Winner: Yamaichi
Course 2
In the 2 hole we have an entry of mixed fried and stewed proteins from Yamaichi battling tempura-ed whole prawns / shrimps from Kawa-kyo. No contest here! The mixed fried items were, to a one, bland and with awful texture; the only saving grace of the dish was the delicious wasabi mustard. The prawns, however, had layered flavor, bizarre and interesting texture (the prawn whiskers tickle the throat...), and great crunch.
Winner: Kawa-kyo
Course 3
To put like with like, I'll go a bit out of order and match up the dueling sashimis here. Yamaichi presented a trio: horse mackerel, unknown whitefish, and conch / snails. Kawa-kyo countered with five: horse mackerel and conch / snails plus bonito, kawahagi with fish liver, and some of the special ingredient shirauo that came complete with their own dipping sauce. Easy call here, with the bounty taking home the prize. Each selection was lively, well flavored (whether plain or sauced) and they all balanced well together.
Winner: Kawa-kyo
Course 4
Continuing apace we have mixed tempura with scallops, shirauo, and a green vegetable from Yamaichi. From Kawa-kyo there were seven big shells. The tempura were a delight. Freshly fried, light, and with flavor of the ingredient inside. Plus, they had my favorite tempura accompanient: flavored salt, this one with matcha (green tea). The shells, well, I could write a novella about that experience but reliving it might make me die. These were essentially massive snails, with no implement for cutting them available to me. Also, I'm not sure if I was eating them properly, because well...so...shells are bottom feeders, right? And when they feed off the bottom, they are basically eating everyone's leftovers. Then they digest it themselves and, you get the idea: it was too much like (what I imagine to be) eating poo. But I powered through all seven, and it took a lot out of me. Kawa-kyo, big demerits on this one that even beautiful plating cannot fix.
Winner: Yamaichi
Course 5
The big fish course! I needed a normal protein after those shells... From Yamaichi there was a whole fried fish while Kawa-kyo brought forth special ingredient paper-wrapped bass. both were delicious and I would eat either again in a heartbeat. A particularly fun moment came when the Yamaichi waitress, determined to have me eat it properly, reached in and ripped the head off the fish, broke it into a couple of bits, and mimiced eating it. So! You eat the whole thing but the spine! Oh, ok. Fantastic, and with a salty, spicy sauce to boot. The bass was moere of a cross section filet, but also came with lemon and a dipping sauce. And, it included instructions and a back story!
All in then, ever so slight edge Kawa-kyo for use of special ingredient.
Winner: Kawa-kyo
Course 6
Into the homestretch we went. Yamaichi offered up shijimi miso soup - a direct hit on the special ingredient list. Kawa-kyo also aimed at our delicacy list with its own shijimi stew. For Yamaichi, the shijimi just paled in comparison to the lovely clams from course 1. Kawa-kyo had found a crafty sauce that imparted enough flavor to the clams to make them likeable.
Winner: Kawa-kyo
Course 7
As is tradition, both meals ended with rice and pickles. Yamaichi added some spinach stewed in miso sauce. Kawa-kyo added a basic miso soup, also adding seaweed to the rice. Both were a mixed bag here, and need some remedial pickling lessons. I love pickled things, and some of these made me gag. The light green pickles and the yellow daikon from Kawa-kyo were begging not to be eaten. The Yamaichi pair of pickles were just bland and limp. However! Judging was made easier when the spinach turned out to be transcendant. I think the waitress knew this, because she kept saying "Popeye" and pointing to them. Memorable, and I want that recipe!
Winner: Yamaichi
Ambiance
A quick note on the je ne sais quoi of each place. Yamaichi was tucked in a spot just over a bridge, with a cozy counter and two tables behind. I spent my dinner staring at a eight container steamer with lots of mixed goodies from course 2. Not a plus. But, my severe communication difficulties with the wait staff, even when I tried to just let them order for me, were fixed by a bilingual older Japanese man. He translated, and then the food started flowing. He also coined me "Mr. San Francisco" and got a few chuckles from everyone else in the place (I think I got some of the jokes...). Also, the cold sake from this place was tasty and made me toasty.
Kawa-kyo was going for more of the eclectic and cluttered look. It lost points for being on the main tourist thoroughfare and for having other English speakers inside (double boo). It recouped some due to the daring duo of mother and daughter who tended to the place and to the customers. I also got the chance to help the daughter with her visa application to go to Cambodia, which was new. Their hot sake was a tasty but a notch below the Yamaichi offering. Finally, they threw in a free sakura sake and some fruit at the end of the meal.
Ambiance winner: Tie!
Final verdict
So, it's come to this, the final decision. As this post was being written I knew it was close and honestly had no idea how it would come out. But we seem to be settling on a winner and it is:
KAWA-KYO!
Congratulations to both entrants and to my stomach. May I get to eat the fried fish, paper-wrapped fish, lovely spinach, delightful sashimi, magnificent clams, unagi carpaccio, and tempura-ed shirauo again sometime soon. Oh, and please keep nasty boiled proteins, including tofu, and ESPECIALLY icky icky shells away from my plate for the foreseeable future.
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