The Most Important Part of Traveling
The food. Hokkaido natives are known for eating well and having access to awesome produce, meat, and especially dairy. Aside from walking lonely beaches, I've been busy stuffing my face with some of the northern goodness.
Baby 帆立 (Hotate, Scallops)
This area is known for its scallops. They net them when they're small, knock a hole in the end of the shell, thread them on lines, and put them back in the water to get big. A fisherman neighbor brought us a big bucket of the small ones, still clapping their shells open and closed.
Eating Local:
Everything here is from this area. Salted salmon, fresh wakame seaweed mixed with vinegar and leek, fresh nori seaweed (!) simmered with soy sauce and sugar, sashimi, and baby scallops simmered in water and miso. Even the miso is made and sold by the local elementary school to raise money for the school. The nori was the best. I've never had non-dried nori before and it was fragrant and sweet.
More Scallops:
We were eating these for several days. They had no fishy smell but were sweet and meltingly soft.
Tea Ceremony Bento:
Soi's aunt is a tea ceremony teacher, and while I was working at her house one day she and some of her tea friends had a practice ceremony that included a bento. The design is very clever- all the courses fit in the tiers, with the lid serving as the shallow sake cup and one empty tier to pour miso soup into.
Revealed!
There was scallop rice (of course), miso soup with wakame and nameko mushrooms, a variety of small bites of food, and sashimi.
Simmered/Grilled Layer:
Everything was handmade by the tea ladies. The fish is 真鱈 (ma-dara, a kind of cod). There is also a bite of rolled omelet, spinach mixed with sesame, homemade sweet black soy beans (I speak from experience: these are a total pain to make. Never seen any this large before), and some simmered vegetables including taro, carrot shaped like a cherry blossom, and shiitake mushroom.
Tea Bento Sashimi:
Featuring 甘海老 (amaebi, pink shrimp) and some sort of white fish. This kind shrimp has a softer texture than your usual cocktail shrimp and a tendency towards sliminess, so I usually avoid it (especially raw), but this was sweet and fresh and lovely.
Baby 帆立 (Hotate, Scallops)
This area is known for its scallops. They net them when they're small, knock a hole in the end of the shell, thread them on lines, and put them back in the water to get big. A fisherman neighbor brought us a big bucket of the small ones, still clapping their shells open and closed.
Eating Local:
Everything here is from this area. Salted salmon, fresh wakame seaweed mixed with vinegar and leek, fresh nori seaweed (!) simmered with soy sauce and sugar, sashimi, and baby scallops simmered in water and miso. Even the miso is made and sold by the local elementary school to raise money for the school. The nori was the best. I've never had non-dried nori before and it was fragrant and sweet.
More Scallops:
We were eating these for several days. They had no fishy smell but were sweet and meltingly soft.
Tea Ceremony Bento:
Soi's aunt is a tea ceremony teacher, and while I was working at her house one day she and some of her tea friends had a practice ceremony that included a bento. The design is very clever- all the courses fit in the tiers, with the lid serving as the shallow sake cup and one empty tier to pour miso soup into.
Revealed!
There was scallop rice (of course), miso soup with wakame and nameko mushrooms, a variety of small bites of food, and sashimi.
Simmered/Grilled Layer:
Everything was handmade by the tea ladies. The fish is 真鱈 (ma-dara, a kind of cod). There is also a bite of rolled omelet, spinach mixed with sesame, homemade sweet black soy beans (I speak from experience: these are a total pain to make. Never seen any this large before), and some simmered vegetables including taro, carrot shaped like a cherry blossom, and shiitake mushroom.
Tea Bento Sashimi:
Featuring 甘海老 (amaebi, pink shrimp) and some sort of white fish. This kind shrimp has a softer texture than your usual cocktail shrimp and a tendency towards sliminess, so I usually avoid it (especially raw), but this was sweet and fresh and lovely.