Last Updated on April 25, 2023
Japanese haute cuisine is a multi-sensory experience
When eating dinner in a luxury hotel I try to dress the part. In a Japanese ryokan (a traditional inn) this means donning pyjamas and a gown and going to the restaurant in slippers. On a visit to Hoshino Resorts KAI Hakone, I was invited to partake of the kaiseki dinner. The pinnacle of haute cuisine in Japan is called kaiseki-ryori. This is a multicourse meal that follows a set order and is an introduction not only to the technical skill of the chefs but an insight into Japanese reverence for seasonality, ingredients, colour, texture and much else that comprises this style of cooking. In Japan, I learned to eat with my eyes and to listen with my taste buds. The dishes that are served in a kaiseki meal are sometimes subtle to Western palates and those who pay close attention will find depth in the nuanced flavours. The presentation is exquisite and adds much pleasure to the experience of the meal.
A kaiseki dinner is usually offered in traditional Japanese accommodation where the meal is often served course by course in your room while you are sat at a low table on a tatami mat. At KAI Hakone, the seating was more conventional, and dinner was served in the restaurant where each party had its own self-contained cabin, enclosed by sliding wooden slatted screens.
As in all ryokans, prior to dinner one will have had a good soak in the hot spring bath called an onsen. Then, clad in Japanese pyjamas and a yukata (a gown tied with a fabric belt called an obi) and wearing indoor slippers, one sits down to dinner. The kaiseki menu follows certain principles. Above all is seasonality – not simply the four seasons, but even the month or week in which certain ingredients reach their peak. As it was sakura season (the blooming of the cherry blossoms) I anticipated that this would be the theme of the kaiseki dinner at KAI Hakone. No detail was too small with the menu printed on a pink card and the placemats carrying the cherry blossom design. We selected to have a sake pairing with our meal and we were presented first with a small bottle of Bikkuri Gyouten which was a refreshing sparkling sake.
The meal began with a dish entitled Paris Soir – Japanese Style and was designed to resemble a Parisian sunset. It was a vichyssoise and consommé jelly with smoked salmon. This refreshing cold dish carried a slight saltiness from small pieces of lightly smoked salmon which, along with the pink flowers, symbolised the setting sun while the two soups intermingled to resemble clouds in the sky. The vichyssoise and the jelly consommé blended together as one ate. The beauty of the food was enhanced by its presentation on a wooden tray on which was perched a set of leaves.
The second sake was presented in a silver jug alongside Mt Fuji sake cups. As Mt Fuji is highly revered in Japan it felt appropriate to be drinking a superior sake, which was very smooth, from such containers.
The next course was called Assorted Delicacies – a multitude of gorgeous bite-sized offerings served on a series of levels in a range of dishes. It resembled a still-life painting and was accompanied by a small vase with a flower arrangement in green, white and pink. In front sat a beautiful parquetry box. Parquetry is a handicraft practised in the Hakone area and derives its colourful patterns from the skilful use of a range of woods that grow locally. We lifted the lids to discover sashimi of horse mackerel, sea bream and cutlass fish on a grey ceramic platter. The fish skin shimmered with freshness, one silver, another golden, the third pink.
Having eaten the delicate sashimi we turned our attention to the seven other items. As it was sakura season, one of the dishes was topped with cherry blossom. It was a ball of deep-fried sesame tofu, crumbed and so silky inside it was like a mousse. In Japan, the delicate cherry blossoms are eaten after being brined and they have a salty flavour. This complemented the delicate tofu very well. There was shrimp and egg yolk sushi style which was served on a delicate white place with a geometric inlay. This comprised an egg yolk mousse enveloped by a shrimp. It was a fabulous mouthful and my only regret was that there were not at least half a dozen.
There was yuba (tofu skin) cut into very thin slices which were soft and delicate and served with boiled clam muscle with Japanese pepper leaf miso and three sweet and tender scallops. Micro tomatoes as teeny as could be imagined floated in a liquid with a water shield and Sudachi lime slices. In Japan, water shield is known as junsai and is a herb that grows on the surface of a pond. It was served in a tiny cut glass cup the sort I had seen earlier that day in the Odaka Museum of Art. I felt as if I had stumbled down the rabbit hole into Alice In Wonderland.
Kelp sandwiched sea bream sushi had a lovely flavour of ginger and was a mouthful of utter joy. The rice was light, the fish even lighter and the ginger sweet. A rhubarb relish served alongside was so good I could have eaten it by the spoonful. A slice of duck loin was served with green canola flowers dressed with sesame – green and pink on a canary yellow dish that was shaped like a petal. There was a fine balance between meat and vegetable. Each tiny plate was an artwork in itself. The colours – pink, white and green – were themed for the sakura season as were the dishes in which the items were served.
While we ate, our waiter lit a brazier and placed a heavy ceramic container on to cook for half an hour. The contents were to be revealed later.
Our next course was served in a lacquer-lidded bowl. It had green, black, gold and brown stripes and inside was a Japanese Spring soup – hard shell clam and cod paste dumpling with deep-fried fava beans and seaweed. There was so much beauty in this bowl. Firstly, I noticed the colour scheme of green, white and pink. There was young, dark green kelp as silky as a handkerchief. It formed a sea on which floated an island made from the clam and cod paste dumpling topped with a tree-like construction of fava beans topped with a cherry blossom flower that added a slightly salty and bitter note. Secondly, the flavours and textures: the dumpling was light and full of shellfish flavour. The fava beans added colour and an earthy flavour. This was my introduction to a deep-fried fava bean and I am converted to this as a preferred cooking method. This was a beautiful ode to the land and the sea. It also incorporated various cooking methods – the steamed dumpling, the fried fava beans, brined cherry blossom and boiled kelp. Kaiseki incorporates a number of cooking methods, ingredients, colours and textures into each dish and this soup was an excellent example of this style of cuisine.
After the soup course came the steamed dish: green pea and grilled chicken dumpling with starchy sauce and petal-shaped lily bulb. It was served in a bright red-lidded bowl with white flowers etched into it. Yet another beautiful bowl amongst many we had already enjoyed. Once the lid was lifted we found a floral theme of a pea-green dumpling surrounded by a sauce in which floated the white and pink petal-shaped pieces of lily bulb. Once again the Sakura colours were present – green, white and pink. Cutting through the pea-green outer layer of the dumpling revealed two internal layers of an egg mouse enveloping a chicken mousse. Not only was this delicious, but it was also a witty comment, I thought, on the question of what came first, the chicken or the egg?
The feast continued with the grilled dish which was dramatically presented inside exquisite parquetry boxes. As the lids were lifted, steam escaped from inside and cleared to reveal slices of grilled abalone that had been brushed with butter and caramelised into a deep yellow hue. The thick slices of tender abalone were served in a black ceramic dish the shape and dimension of an abalone shell. On the side was a green, petal-shaped dish with a very special salt flavoured with shonan gold orange which is a hybrid citrus fruit that grows in the area. This attention to local products is what makes any kaiseki meal so special. The fruit, shonan gold, was developed in 1988 in Odawara, a town close to the hotel and is only grown very locally. It ripens between March and April and hence it features on the kaiseki menu at this time.
At this point, we were served the third sake which was warm and was poured from a gold decanter into tiny exquisite parquetry bowls. We had travelled from the effervescence of the first sparkling sake to the intensity of the third. Each of the three sakes was stronger than the one before and this one was fit for purpose with the meaty main course to come.
Our server placed a gas burner on the table and began to cook, just the kind of theatrical cuisine that I most enjoy. This was the main dish which was sukiyaki, a much-loved dish in Japan and my first tasting of it. Before beginning, our server presented the ingredients for our inspection. These included chunks of wagyu beef, mushrooms, Japanese greens and leeks. This dish is the chef’s special at KAI Hakone: sukiyaki served with sakura miso Meiji era style. It is known in Japan as Meiji Gyunabe, – meaning hotpot – an original dish that references the beef-eating history of Japan. Beef began to be introduced into the Japanese diet during the Meiji Era (1868 – 1912). Prior to this meat eating was considered to be against Buddhist religious practice. Since the Meiji Emperor enjoyed eating beef himself, he overturned a ban that had been in place since 675.
The dish was served with high-quality rice that had been cooking in its clay pot on a sideboard while we ate the previous courses. I love the sense of ceremony during kaiseki meals when the clay pot is finally opened and the server cuts through the rice with a wooden spatula. The best bit of rice in my view is what in Persian cuisine is known as the tahdig, the caramelised bottom. There is such reverence in Japan for rice and the quality thereof. The main course was accompanied also by pickled daikon (radish) and a miso soup and smoked tea. This is to keep each mouthful fresh and clean. The wagyu was superbly tender. Usually, when eating sukiyaki, each mouthful is dipped into a bowl of raw egg, but we were presented with a lightly poached egg, perhaps catering to anticipated foreign tastes. The idea is that once the meat and vegetables are eaten, one mixes the leftover eggy gravy and miso and pours it over another helping of hot rice. Comfort food at its best.
The dessert was amazake and ginger panna cotta, served on a beautiful parquetry tray. It was accompanied by two small wire animals, gifts for us to take away – a crane and a turtle which symbolise respectively eternal life and destiny. The panna cotta had two layers. A sweet amazake layer (a fermented rice drink that is sweeter and lower in alcohol content than sake), and an upper layer of ginger jelly topped with gold leaf. It was a light and refreshing finale to a beautifully executed and sumptuous meal. On the side was a chocolate wafer with a welcome message. It was served with green tea.
The meal at KAI Hakone was a wonderful introduction to kaiseki ryori which emphasises balance and harmony with nature. Location and season are of utmost importance. While the food itself is showcased, enormous attention to detail is observed in garnishing the food as well as how it is presented. Everything is beautiful and carefully chosen to reflect the season, from the dishes in which the food is served, the serving utensils and the extra adornments such as flower arrangements with particular dishes and the like. The meal is considered in the round and should include all five tastes – bitter, salty, sour, sweet and umami – and should also please all five senses. Five colours should be present in the food as well as five cooking methods. I have read that diners are expected to think about five attitudes that are drawn from Buddhist traditions. I must admit that I was not aware of this. However, I did know that before beginning any meal in Japan one says ‘itadakimasu’ which roughly translates as giving thanks for the food – not only to the chef who cooked it, but to everyone involved at every stage of the growing process of the ingredients. When savouring a meal of this nature one is very grateful indeed.
230 Yumotochaya, Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun 250-0312 Kanagawa Prefecture
For more about our stay at Hoshina Resorts KAI Hakone, check my earlier feature
