Sake and Washoku Pairing at Tako Grill - Part 1

The Japan-America Society of Washington sponsors many excellent and informative programs. One of my favorites is the Sake and Washoku pairing at Tako Grill in Bethesda, which nicely combines first-rate Japanese cooking with a relaxed atmosphere. Since I couldn't bring Phil this year, I brought my camera and a pen. I decided that rather than take crappy cell phone pictures I'd bring the D200 and just ask if it was OK to take pictures of the food (which it was). Turns out I wasn't alone - another diner at my table asked if he, too could take pictures with his D90. We started a trend; by the time the second course came around, almost everyone had their cell phones out and was snapping away.

I'm blogging this nine-course meal in three parts.

Course 1: Grapefruit and Junmai Apertif
This "course" consisted only of an apertif of grapefruit juice and Hakutsuru Junmai sake (the dinner was sponsored by Hakutsuru, and all the sakes came from their distillery).  It was refreshing and tasted like the sort of drink you can down in quantity in the summer and not realize how much you've had until you (try to) stand. Unfortunately, it was followed very close on the heels by Course 2, so I didn't have a chance to really deconstruct it.

Course 2: Cold Grilled Japanese Eggplant with Ginger Sauce
Eggplant is not my favorite vegetable. Cold, cooked, eggplant definitely is not at the top of my hit parade. So, not surprisingly, this eggplant appetizer struck me as only meh. The pickled plum soba noodles did have a nice salt/umami flavor and were just al dente enough that the texture paired well with the eggplant. The dish also went well with the offered sake, a coarse-filtered nigori that was quite sweet with hints of citrus.

Course 3: Red Snapper Sashimi with Himalayan Salt
The presentation star of the show was the red snapper, shown at the top of the post. Individual presentations of a felicitous grouping of three slices and traditional shredded daikon were simple and good. The chef then came out and informed us that the snapper had been shipped overnight from Tokyo's famed Tsukiji fish market (Wikipedia). He proudly pointed out that the fish was so fresh there was no need to skin it, and that it was so good it would be borderline disrespectful to serve it with the sushi bar standards of wasabi, soy sauce, and pickled ginger. Instead, it was dusted with the lightest coating of fresh-ground Himalayan salt. The fish was sweet, delicate, and flavorful. I'm one of those people who finds salt provenance to be a questionable predictor or taste, but the Himalayan salt did add a nice light pink dusting to complement the snapper's flesh, and the gentle saltiness (caused, I believe, by quantity and not provenance of the salt) was the perfect foil. My serving had a bit of cartilage, but the fish was so fresh and tender I had no problem eating it all. The dish was served with what I decided was my favorite sake of the evening, the Draft Sake (oddly named, as it is sold in bottles), which had a very clean and smooth finish that perfectly highlighted the fish.

Next: Part 2 - bonito intestines, smelt, and beef