Niigata Kaiseki

旬越料理 妙高 Shunkoshi Cuisine Myoko. Shinya Kimura

 

Niigata Kaiseki, Japanese Cuisine, from the mesmerizing rice terraces to the seamless integration of art into nature that is reflected in the refined multicourse banquet of Niigata Kaiseki. The dishes are featured with ideas that are planned with care and reflect the bounty and the harvest of the land. It includes: (1.) Fresh-Seasonal Niigata Ingredients that display local ingredient expertise and creativity, (2.) Successive local dishes in a Decorative Appearance, (3.) Textural slices and carving to enhance the experience of the tongue, (4.) Exquisite local artisanal servingware with correlated color. Visitors to the area have gone to Niigata Kaiseki Restaurants to begin their journeys on understanding the techniques and traditions that tell the tale of Japanese cuisine in the regional area of Niigata Prefecture and the way it changes from area to area within the prefecture by different chefs way of making their vision of Niigata Kaiseki.

A Kaiseki Meal gives the opportunity to try a wide range of flavors and ingredients, so to make it easier to think about there will be examples of each course given in the explanation. It starts with the first course three dishes (Sen no Rikyu): a soup dish like Soup , rice dish (koshihikari), and mukozuke appetizer (fire fly squid, arame seaweed, and edamame). The second course of dishes served are: nimono-wan a simmered dish (blue-eye bones, grilled bamboo shoots, and fishcake), yakimono grilled dish (sawara spanish mackeral). The third course features hassun, a dish of seafood (sashimi plate), and dish of the fields or forests (mushroom rice porridge. japanese oyster mushroom, bunashimeji, maitake, tomogi, nameko). 

As Kaiseki 懐石料理 entered Restaurants the food went from simple to something much more elaborate and even higher more formal and more volumes of foods. These would be accompanied with a Formal Tea Ceremony is the first way of enjoying Kaiseki and the second way is with Sake, but some places take it one step further that is a sake tasting that is paired for certain dishes. Sipping on Sake while eating small portions of a number of different dishes is a great way to get full, evoke a profound awareness of the time of year, and understanding of temperatures with pacing. As Niigata chefs have went for training and shared ideas with established and generational restaurants they cross the currents of culinary knowledge to strengthen the distinction and identity of Niigata Kaiseki Cuisine with added techniques, influences, and aesthetics as it continues to evolve day to day as it is always moving.

Ingredients from Niigata have a distinctness about them and there are reasons why chefs choose to use Niigata ingredients that are more than just the flavors of the food, the aroma, and the texture. 

An Award Winning Kaiseki restaurant is Kappo Hokushinkan in Niigata Shibata City (Japanese Cuisine Awards 2022-2023)  is run by Niigata Chef Makoto Koyama who won the “Skill award” for reinventing Niigata Local cuisine that was the theme of the year. It opened in the Edo period (Kaei era) and is from the area where Shibata chef “Rikitaro Shibuya” the “Father of modern Japanese cuisine''. 

Niigata Kankou- Kappo Hokushinkan https://niigata-kankou.or.jp/blog/931