I found myself eating more and more at Japanese restaurants lately – maybe that’s subconsciously my way of getting through the pain of feeling stuck in town for over 2 years already. One of the most recent ones I tried was Nagamoto, a Kappo-style restaurant in Central headed by Chef Teruhiko Nagamoto.
In a sense Nagamoto is a natural evolution from Kashiwaya where Chef Nagamoto-san used to work. In fact, the restaurant sat at the exact same spot where Kashiwaya was when they closed its Hong Kong branch late last year, but completely renovated with a more modern, open setting with counter-only seating around a spacious yet cozy L-shaped wooden counter with Chef and his small team working right behind. A dining theater of sort, typical of those kappo restaurants one would visit while visiting places like Kyoto or Tokyo.
The philosophy of “Shun”, or seasonality, ran deep in Japanese classic cuisine but it’s something Nagamoto-san decided to highlight throughout my time spent watching, eating and drinking at the restaurant one weekday afternoon. From the ingredients, cooking methods to the tableware to the flower arrangement next to the dining counter (done by Nagamoto-san himself, I was told), it reflected the early spring season, or Yayoi (which means the month of March in Japanese), marking the return of warmer days and the time of growth.
The meal began just as everyone was seated, with a ceremonial act of picking our own chopsticks and drinkware. The 11-course menu was presented, which followed the order of formal kaiseki meal. A simple Sakizuke appetizer course was served, with Hotaru-ika (firefly squid), Hana-wasabi and Nagaimo with a splash of yuzu vinaigrette served on a diamond-shaped porcelain dish. The seasonal Hana-wasabi, young wasabi stems with leaves and flowers has a much milder flavor than the fully-grown version (normally served grated), but its slightly bitter after-taste worked well with the refreshing dressing with a hint of acidity.
That distinct bitter taste was often called the Taste of Spring in Japanese cuisine, and that traits continued with the next course of goma-ae, with thin slices of grilled scallops served with udo (Japanese spikenard) and nanohana (rapeweed blossom). Udo and Nanohana were both seasonal mountain vegetables (sansai) typically used during the spring season, and they were served with minimal seasoning and a spoonful of thick grated sesame seed (goma-ae) dressing. The taste was progressively complex, with the bitter taste combined with the sweet toasty flavor and hint of umami.
Dashi in Japanese cuisine is like the Mother Sauces in French, being the foundation and critical component of many dishes. Here, the dashi was prepared daily by Nagamoto-san and he was putting in the finishing touches just as we put down our chopsticks for our appetizers. The katsuo-boshi (dried bonito) was presented to us – with the shaved bits carefully put into the casserole along with water and konbu. We were given a taste of the “first batch” of the dashi – one without any additional seasoning, on a shot glass, and then served in a lidded lacquer bowl with aburame kakiage, myoga, kinome (sansho leaves) and fuki (Butterbur stalks). Only the most tender part of the stalks were used for the hint of aroma and vegetal flavor, and along with the kick from the thinly-sliced myoga and kinome leaves provided the perfect balance to the deep-fried fish fillet served in the dashi stock, now cooked slightly longer and seasoned with salt.
We moved back to a pair of chilled courses with a few kinds of sashimi served in sequence – first madai (red seabream) served with a slightly sweet egg yolk sauce, and then the trio of yari-ika (spear squid), meguro (lean tuna) and toro (fatty tuna) Then it’s another beautifully plated “Hassun” course, with three mini-courses presented as one. The hamaguri-kakiage was memorable, done with a crisp batter and the clam juicy and bombed with umami flavor, the kuruma-ebi (giant prawn) was slightly steamed and served with caviar sandwiched in between for a touch of minerality, and last but not least, a mini bowl of colorful chirashi in a fancy ceramics cup.
Wagyu was our only meat course, with thin slices of Kumamoto-gyu (the tender misuji cut, if I remembered correctly) done “a la plancha” and served with sauteed burdock and sansho gravy sauce on the side. Then there was a second main course, this time the simmered abalone served with chunks of tankenoko (spring bamboo shoots), kogomi (ostrich fern) and a think seaweed sauce, this time served in a porcelain bowl for more seasonal flavor.
The last savory course was kamameshi, cooked in a large earthenware pot (kama) with shirasu (baby sardines) and uni (sea urchins). Of course there’s nothing more sumptuous than the sight of sea urchins nearly arranged on the pot of rice, but my favorite bit was actually the shirasu, the tiny white fish boiled and mixed well with the rice for the unique taste. Just good for the finishing touch (served with soup and pickles, of course), and it’s followed by the choice of tea and two desserts, first the seasonal fruits, then the yomogi cake with red bean filling, made with Japanese mugwort (with a distinct grassy taste) and traditionally eaten in the month of March as festival snack.
Not being able to travel just yet, this is as good as it gets feeling the sense of springtime seasonality in Japan with great ambiance and cooking and carefully chosen ingredients.
(Meal was by inivitation)
When? March 14 2022
Where? Nagamoto, Level 8, 18 On Lan Street, Central, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? Takiawase: Aburame kakiage, Myoga, Kinome, Fuki, Dashi
Drinks? Sharaku Junmai Ginjo Miyaizumi Meijo Brewery, Fukushima Prefecture
冩樂 純米吟醸 - 福島県宮泉銘釀
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