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

by Hisashi Kashiwai

‘Nabeyaki-udon. You know, vegetables and chicken simmered with udon noodles.’

‘That’s right, Koishi. There’s no such thing as “dessert” in Japanese cuisine. The fruit served at the end of the meal is called mizugashi.

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.

‘In Tosa, there’s a type of sushi called inaka-zushi, where they use the local yuzu fruit to season the rice. They combine it with the usual vinegar, giving the rice a yellow colour. It has quite the unique aroma.

‘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!’