Hamo, known as sea eel in English is one of my favorite fish, and every year I look forward to having it.
A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I went out a restaurant in Kobe ( the city famous for the Kobe beef) to enjoy it. This was my fist time eating hamo there, so I was excited. One of my husband's friends had recommended the restaurant, and he used to take his clients there for business receptions. It made me think the place must be good.
The best season for hamo is summer, July, August and September. This restaurant specializes in hamo dishes during summer and fugu (puffer fish) dishes during winter, so I'm already looking forward to going back to have fugu.
My husband had reserved a private room for us, and we went upstairs. On the way up, I saw two chefs preparing food.
Sakiduke: the first dish of the course.
Sashimi of hamo : raw fish. We had the sashimi with ponzu ( a citrus flavored sauce) and bainiku (made from pickled and dried plums). I preferred it with bainiku. Since hamo itself has a plane flavor, the bainiku goes with it so well.
Soup with hamo. The orange topping is bainiku.
The left side in the picture shows eggs from Hamo. I had the egg with bainiku for the first time, and I really enjoyed it.
Tempura: including swim‐bladder and shirako (soft roe). You might gross out, but in Japan they are very fancy dish. I had swim-bladder in a soup, too. It tasted like mochi (sticky rice cake), and I immediately loved it.
Hamo shabu: Hamo version of shabu-shabu, which is a traditional Japanese hotpot cuisine.
Zosui; rice cooked in the broth from the shabu-shabu.
Kounomono; traditional Japanese pickles.
Dessert
The last picture shows whole sea eels.
I honestly can't pick a favorite dish because everything was so tasty. I instantly felt in love with this restaurant! Next time, I'd love to go there with my daughter and her family too.
(5017)
Japanese food isn't my favorite but I'm amazed at how varied it is. Your microbiota must be really happy. : D
Thank you for reading and commenting!
Those look delicious! I wonder if I would like any of them
I guess if I don't say which part you are eating, you'll be able to enjoy it. I once took my British friend to a very fancy sushi restaurant and had shirako ( soft roe). When he saw its weird looking, he hesitated to have it. We lied on him, lol, and he tasted it. He liked it, but when we shared the truth, he told us that he would never ever taste it again, lol.
Haha, I'm actually a big fan of sea urchin. I'm sure you need to try authentic Japanese cuisine to really appreciate it, and everyone says it's delicious. My apprehension is more about things like spaghetti floating in deep bowls, lol. But I'm really impressed by the great variety of vegetables you have there.
@Coral I'm surprised when I read your comment about the urchin. How do you eat it? That's my favorite too. I love having it with sushi and pasta.
If you want to try authentic Japanese food, you definitely should come here!! I'd never thought we have such variety of vegetables. I think you have lots of them as well, and we have some Spanish restaurants here too.
@yumiyumayume I eat them raw. I just cut them open with scissors and take out all the bitter, ugly parts.
Yes, we have a good variety here but I've seen vegetables in your dishes that I've never seen before. There are fancy supermarkets where you can get almost any product from overseas, but they're so expensive I don't even think of buying them.
By the way, thank you so much for the invitation. Does tomorrow work for you?😂
@Coral Haha, at least, you need to call me before coming my house!
Wow, your the first foreign person I know to have them raw. I guess some vegetables you saw are hard for you to get, and visa versa. I try to grow them if I can't easily get.
@yumiyumayume Collecting sea urchins by the shore used to be part of my summer routine a long time ago. Then they became popular and we had to dive to find them , but it was worth it. We would eat them by the dozen as an appetizer. They’re delicious when freshly gathered and look nothing like the ones from the store. Their spines can be purple, green, brown, or black, and the best time to eat them is winter (my grandmother used to say: in the months with an “r,” that is, January, February, March, and April).
Haha, don't worry. I'll call you when my plane lands.😂
@Coral Thank you so much for sharing your experience. It sounds so much fun! I've never tried to collect them under the sea. I'm sure they must be very fresh!
In Japan, the season for them is June, Jury and early August. I missed having them this summer. I hope I'll get some next year. Have you eaten them?