The Kamogawa Food Detectives (Kamogawa Food Detectives, #1)

by Hisashi Kashiwai

‘Stewed arame and deep-fried tofu. Okara croquettes. Kikuna leaves dressed with sesame and miso. Kurama-style sardine. Hirosu tofu ball in broth. Pork belly simmered in Kyobancha tea. Fresh tofu curd with sour plum paste. Oh, and Koishi’s rice-bran-pickled cucumbers. Nothing too extravagant. If anything, the highlights are probably the firmly cooked Goshu rice and the miso soup with ebi-imo taro. Anyway, enjoy the meal. Oh, and make sure you put a good sprinkle of sansho pepper on the soup – it’ll warm you right up.’

He took a piece of the pork belly, dripping with sauce, and set it on top of the white rice before transporting it to his mouth. As he carefully bit into the meat, a smile began to spread across his face. Next he crunched through the coating of the okara croquette, savouring the soy pulp filling. When he placed the hirosu tofu ball on his tongue, the delicately flavoured broth oozed out, some of it spilling from his mouth.

Hideji quickly joined his palms together in a show of gratitude for the meal, then lifted the lid from the earthenware pot. Fragrant steam billowed out. Reaching for the celadon spoon, he began by sipping the broth. He gave a deep nod, then turned his attention to the udon, raising them from the bowl with his chopsticks before slurping them loudly. They were so hot he almost spluttered. Next, he fished some of the negi onion out from the bottom of the pot, arranged it on the noodles, and inserted them into his mouth. He savoured a bite of chicken, then nibbled on the sliced kamaboko.

‘See how it’s partitioned into four? In the top right is a selection of smaller appetizers. In the bottom right is the grilled fish of the day – in this case, teriyaki yellowtail. Top left is a selection of sashimi and pickled dishes: Akashi sea bream, Kishu tuna, and flash-grilled Karatsu abalone. Seared Miyajima conger eel, served with pickled cucumber and myoga ginger. And in the bottom left is the matsutake rice – the mushrooms are from Shinshu, and wonderfully fragrant. I’ll bring some soup over shortly. In the meantime, enjoy!’

‘The sashimi looks wonderful, but these appetizers are simply exquisite. Let’s see . . . rolled barracuda sushi, dashi-maki omelette, and those look like quail tsukune balls. And this simmered octopus – it just melts on your tongue!’

‘Tilefish and crab meat broth. It’s chilly these days, so I grated some kudzu in to thicken it up – you know, make it a little more warming.

famous food writer once said the beef stew at Furuta Grill tastes almost like pot-au-feu, but I actually think it’s a little different. I imagine they were referring to that delicateness you just mentioned, which comes from using a light tomato-based demi-glace rather than the usual thicker kind. The meat is precooked in stock and quickly simmered with port wine. Put it in a pot with the vegetables, add the demi-glace and cook everything down, and this is the result. If you just chuck the vegetables in with the beef from the start, they lose their shape and all the flavours get confused. But do it Furuta-style and the sauce will simply coat the meat. That way, the umami from the beef and the flavour of the demi-glace only come together once they’re in your mouth.’

Fried tofu and mizuna leaves braised in soy sauce. Simmered herring and aubergine. Lightly pickled turnip. Seasoned egg scrambled with sardine fry. Vinegared mackerel. Taro stem dressed with ground sesame. The miso-glazed fish was probably pomfret, and the steam rising from it indicated that it had just been grilled. Miso soup with onions and potatoes.

The moment Tomomi tasted the dish, he involuntarily closed his eyes. That sweetness of the egg, mingling with the slight bitterness of the tiny sardines. The nutty aroma of the sesame oil . . . it was all just like back in the day. Tomomi leaned forward and, in a slight breach of etiquette, hovered his chopsticks back and forth over the various dishes, contemplating what to eat next. Eventually he opted for the herring. It broke apart effortlessly between his chopsticks, and was quite strongly flavoured – just the way he liked it. After cleansing his palate with a slice of pickled turnip, he picked up the bowl of miso soup. Ever since childhood, Tomomi had believed that potatoes and onions were the best ingredients for

‘Miyajima oysters, simmered Kurama-style, miso-glazed baked butterburs with millet cake, bracken and bamboo shoot stew, chargrilled moroko, breast of Kyoto-reared chicken with a wasabi dressing, and vinegared Wakasa mackerel wrapped in pickled Shogoin turnip. In the bottom right you have a hamaguri clam broth thickened with kudzu starch. Tonight’s customer asked me to create something that evoked both the lingering winter and the onset of spring, which led to the dishes you see here. Today’s rice is of the Koshihikari variety, sourced from Tamba. Please – enjoy the meal.’

Dipping the fish in the mix of vinegar and soy sauce provided, Suyako polished them off in no time, then tried a mouthful of the mackerel wrapped in pickled turnip. She’d had mackerel sushi many times. In her hometown of Yamaguchi, she’d occasionally finish off a meal at her favourite small restaurant with a Sekisaba mackerel roll. But she’d never had it with something pickled like this. The sweetness of the turnip mingled pleasantly with the sourness of the vinegared mackerel on her tongue. Next she turned to the bowl of clam broth. She removed the lid, with its maki-e design depicting a budding willow tree, and was greeted by a cloud of steam heavy with the fragrance of the clams and their yuzu garnish. Suyako took a sip of the broth, then let out a deep sigh.

Once Nagare was out of sight, Suyako took the Kurama-style simmered oyster and placed it on top of her rice, then poured some tea over the bowl and began bolting it down. With the occasional pause to sample the wasabi-dressed chicken breast, she emptied the bowl entirely, right down to the last grain of rice.

‘Ah, that was when the owner of a kimono shop asked him to create a fugu menu. That platter there is fugu sashimi, on the hob is grilled fugu, and in that clay pot you can see the rice porridge created from the leftovers of a fugu hotpot. Dad is also a licensed fugu chef, you see.’

Suyako dipped her first piece of tonkatsu in the ponzu sauce, then brought it to her mouth. She chewed carefully on it a few times. Then her face broke into a gentle smile. ‘Delicious.’ The word wasn’t addressed to anyone in particular, but seemed to burst from her mouth. For her second piece, she chose the spicy sauce. This time, before taking a bite, she brought it to her nose, smelled it, and nodded. She ate her third piece with the sweet sauce, then repeated the same order for the other three pieces, alternating them with mouthfuls of the shredded cabbage served on the side until, in no time at all, all six pieces of tonkatsu had disappeared from her plate.

‘Starting from the top left: thinly sliced Akashi sea bream sashimi, with a prickly ash bud and miso dressing – to be enjoyed with the ponzu dipping sauce. Miso-glazed Kamo aubergine. Maizuru cockles sandwiched between slices of myoga ginger. Gizzard shad marinated in sweet vinegar, served in a miniature sushi roll. Fried matsutake, conger eel grilled two ways, Manganji sweet pepper tempura, abalone pickled in Kyoto-style sweet white miso and then grilled. Fish paste noodles, Kurama-style local chicken, smoked mackerel with a pine nut stuffing. Fresh soy milk curd and vegetables pickled with red perilla. Everything’s bite-sized, so it should be nice and easy to eat. I’ll bring you some eel-topped rice once that’s finished cooking. Please, enjoy the meal!’

Asuka dipped the sea bream in the ponzu and inserted it into her mouth, then let out a little gasp. Next, without a moment’s hesitation, she sprinkled some salt on the deep-fried matsutake, took a bite, and nodded vigorously. Nagare arrived with an earthenware pot, steam issuing from its lid, and set it down on the table. ‘Watch out, this is hot!’ ‘Smells wonderful!’ said Asuka, her nose twitching away. ‘Freshwater eel is tasty enough, but there’s something about the lightness of saltwater anago. The rice is topped with grilled anago from Akashi, with a garnish of green peppercorns.’ Nagare removed the lid from the pot, unleashing a thick column of steam. As Asuka tucked in to the eel rice, a glowing smile spread across her face.

‘Seeing as it’s cherry season, I’ve gone for an imitation of a lunchbox from a blossom-viewing picnic. On top of that folded kaishi paper is the wild vegetable tempura. Ostrich fern, mugwort, devil’s walking stick, koshiabura and smilax. There’s some matcha salt on the side, or you can try it with the regular dipping sauce. The sashimi is cherry bass and halfbeak. Try it with the ponzu. For the grilled fish dish, I’ve gone with masu salmon in a miso marinade, together with some simmered young bamboo. Firefly squid and wakame seaweed dressed with vinegared miso, overnight Omi beef, and deep-fried chicken wing-tips. In that wooden bowl is an Asari clam and bamboo shoot broth. There’s bamboo shoots in the rice too, but I can serve you some plain white rice if you’d prefer.

Hisahiko reached for the bowl of broth, took a sip, and let out a sigh. Next he pressed a piece of wild vegetable tempura into the matcha salt and took a bite. The crunch was audible across the restaurant. Then he dipped the extra-thin slice of cherry bass sashimi in the ponzu and placed it on his tongue. ‘Incredible flavour. I’m guessing the fish is from the Inland Sea . . .’ said Hisahiko to himself, though he seemed to be waiting for Tae’s reaction. ‘The Uwa Bay, I believe,’ murmured Tae without turning around. ‘I see. No wonder it tastes so good,’ said Hisahiko, his mouth now stuffed with bamboo shoot rice. He must have been pretty hungry, because in no time at all, he had demolished each of the remaining dishes – the grilled fish, deep-fried chicken wing-tips, simmered bamboo, and the miso-dressed squid – leaving only the empty green bamboo basket.