部位によって異なる食感 : Toyono Akari

I had to go to the area around Kintetsu Nara Station at lunchtime, so I went back to try the rare Oyako-don (Chicken and egg bowl) I had previously tried and found to be very delicious, with a 10-minute expiration date and limited to five servings. The rice was topped with rare seared Chiran chicken and a raw egg, but whereas the previous time it was thickly sliced and sticky, this time it was crispy and had many small pieces that were well cooked. The taste seems to differ depending on the cut, and this time it was like seared bonito. It seems to be a hit or miss depending on the day, but personally I prefer a sticky version, so if I have the chance I'll return and try to specify the cut, just in case.

The other day, I visited the restaurant to try the Kaze no Mori tasting set and chicken namero, but the words "Totsukawa-produced amago bone sake" caught my attention, so I decided to visit again. This time, I ordered the Kaze no Mori set and the namero and tamahimo stew as standard. Amago is a famous river fish along with yamame and iwana, and I thought the price of 1,780 yen for 2 cups was a bit high, but I ordered it as a life experience because it is rare and is from Totsukawa, and I have never tried bone sake made from anything other than puffer fin. There was a 10-15cm piece of seared dried fish (?) soaked in sake, and the taste was similar to that of puffer fin sake. I tried eating the meat with soy sauce, as it is recommended, but the umami flavor comes out after the broth has been extracted, so it wasn't very delicious, and it tasted like dried baby sardines after the broth has been extracted from miso soup. I probably won't be coming back, but it was a valuable experience.

When I had a rare Oyako-don (Chicken and egg bowl) at lunchtime, I learned that there was a tasting of three different kinds of Kaze no Mori sake, and I vowed to come back at night. This time, I decided to make Kaze no Mori the main dish, and ordered a few side dishes to go with it, enjoying the different pairings with the three kinds. The sake was about half-full of Akitsuho, Tsuyuhafu, and ALPHA1 in a cool glass. ALPHA1 was by far the best in terms of cleanliness, with a light, dry taste, but also a fruity mouthfeel with a sweet aroma like apple juice. Akitsuho and Tsuyuhafu were a little stronger, but still had a very high level of cleanliness, and all of them had a very clean taste. I was impressed once again that they were part of the Kaze no Mori series. I think it's rare to find a restaurant where you can enjoy three kinds of Kaze no Mori sake for just 980 yen. For the appetizers, I chose three dishes with different flavors: miso-flavored namero, salt-flavored chicken char siu, and soy sauce-flavored chicken neck. The namero was particularly memorable. For appetizers, the chicken is cut into small pieces and the miso is light, but the chicken was cut into fairly large pieces and the miso was rich, so I was able to fully enjoy the taste and texture of the raw meat. I also felt that this was the best match for sake. The chicken char siu had a rare texture, but also a smoky flavor that you wouldn't expect from chicken. It tasted like eating high-quality thick-sliced ham, and I felt that wine would go better with it than sake. The chicken neck had a crunchy texture and a delicious charcoal-grilled aroma, but it would be overpowered if paired with the light Kaze no Mori, so I felt that beer would be the best pairing. They also have a lineup of amago trout bone sake from Totsukawa, and I think this is a good restaurant that uses a lot of locally produced ingredients.

I had plans in Nara in the afternoon, and arrived at Kintetsu Nara Station at lunchtime, so I wandered around the shopping street in front of the station and happened to find this shop. The main street leading to the Nanto Bank Head Office was crowded with foreign tourists after the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was a chaotic state full of exotic atmosphere (?), but for some reason, the number of people on the street shrunk dramatically from around Nakatanido, which is famous for its Kusamochi. I went further, with an animal instinct that a truly high-quality shop, not a popular one like the one in the guidebook, would be found in a place like this, and then a sign that said "Best before 10 minutes" caught my eye. It looked like a rare Oyako-don (Chicken and egg bowl), and it said that only five meals were available. I passed it once, but the keyword from before made me curious, so I stopped exploring, came back, and went in. The shop is on the second floor at the top of a narrow staircase, so it seems that it is difficult for foreign tourists to enter, and there were only Japanese people inside the shop, so it had a calm atmosphere. I asked the staff if it would be possible since they only serve 5 servings, but they said it was okay today, so I ordered the rare Oyako-don (Chicken and egg bowl) without hesitation. When you think of chicken in Nara, the first thing that comes to mind is Yamato Jidori, but for this menu item, they deliberately use Chiran Jidori from Kagoshima. When the bowl arrived, the first thing that surprised me was the color of the chicken. Usually, when you think of chicken, you think of salmon pink, but the chicken in this bowl was a vivid red, and the cut surface was shiny with oozing fat, as if it was coated. This is Oyako-don (Chicken and egg bowl) with chicken and egg yolk, but the fact that both are raw is an originality that you won't find anywhere else. It's not quite seared, but it's very lightly seared, so the faint aroma of charcoal spreads in your mouth. At first, you feel a chewy elasticity that bounces off your teeth, but if you push through it and put in more pressure, you'll bite into it with a crisp bite at the point where it exceeds your limit, and it's a fascinating bite. The skin also had a completely different texture from the meat, with a crunchy, exquisite bite that reminded me of wood ear mushrooms. Furthermore, when you mix the chicken with the egg yolk, it adds a mellow, intertwining texture and flavor, creating a harmony that will have you smitten in an instant. What really impressed me was the fact that the restaurant was full of local love for its local produce, with a tasting of three types of Kaze no Mori (Akitsuho, Tsuyuhafu, ALPHA1) that any left-leaning person should know, a menu that will make your mouth water just thinking about it called Tori Namero, and a menu of Miwa somen noodles covered in sudachi citrus. It was a truly hideaway-like wonderful restaurant that I would like to secretly return to, while hoping that it won't be featured in a guidebook and become crowded with foreign tourists.