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Dinner on the second night was just as fantastic as the first.

This local river fish had been smoked and salted, and I just about picked the bones clean it was so moreish (we had seen these cooking on a walk around the market earlier that morning). On the side was was a pickled bamboo shoot, a knot of sansai (mountain vegetable), some candied and skewered gingko nuts and a takoyaki (octopus ball).

A bowl of simple hand-made udon was light but warming, especially as it was rather chilly in the mountainous air of Takayama.

Lightly salted edamame always have me hankering for beer. It was so lovely to eat these fresh. The frozen ones we get here are such a poor imitation.

This long bamboo shaped ceramic dish contained a rather large panko crumbed ebi (prawn), a side of mayonnaisey potato salad and a cute-as-a-button cherry tomato.

This was an interesting take on a nasu dengaku, or grilled eggplant with miso. Usually eggplant is topped with a paste of white miso, sake, mirin and bonito, and grilled. But on top of this, a layer of cheddar cheese had been melted. It actually tasted pretty good! I’ll have to try this one at home.

Our hibachi (fire bowl) dish of the evening was another Hida beef braise, this time rich with enoki and shitake. A beaten egg was added as it simmered towards the end to thicken the delicate mushroom sauce.

Along with rice, pickles and miso, another meal was complete.

Written by mellie on May 17th, 2008 | Tags: Japan | Category: Uncategorized |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL