Some Japan notes

Soba in the Mountains

Outside the resort town of Niseko, Japan, up in the mountains of Hokkaido can be found one of the world’s great soba restaurants. Though most visitors to Hokkaido come for the golf and skiing, we go mostly for the incredible seafood. But this time we booked an extra day in the countryside and decided to find this place, called Rakuichi, which my husband has had on his list for years. The chef, Tatsuru Rai, not only makes the noodles to order for every portion, he built the simple, wooden restaurant hidden in the trees with his own hands. There are only 12 seats. He does all the cooking and his lovely wife Midori serves and welcomes.

We did not take any pictures of chef making the noodles, but a quick Google search will bring up a number of videos of the master at work, including from the time he spent at a Masterclass weekend hosted by Noma in Denmark. Jonathan said he has seen soba made many times, and has taken classes himself, but has never seen anyone so “bad ass.” I later learned that Anthony Bourdain visited Rakuichi on his Hokkaido show, so I guess you can look for that episode as well if you are curious, but not flight-to-Sapporo curious.

We each ordered cold soba - the true measure of a soba master, in my opinion - and hot duck soup, as well as some vegetable tempura. The soba was nearly indescribable in its perfect balance and texture. It was alive in my mouth. I have had excellent soba before, in Japan and elsewhere, but this experience was the pinnacle.

Note - there is mountain yam on top of the noodles, which is not traditional, but which blends nicely with the duck soup and which acts as a binder, making dipping easier.
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Wow! This looks like a true “worth the detour” kind of place. Many thanks Sarah. You are the best source for cool things to do in Japan. Cheers.

The uni in Rishiri and Rebun is unbelievable!

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Love your Japan posts!

Thank you for that.

Lovely post!

Is this the place Bourdain went with the snow boarders?
Great post btw

Edit, I had just skimmed the text and was going by the pics, sorry.

Classic French with a Perfect Baguette

Even more improbable than finding master-level soba in the countryside of Hokkaido is finding classic french cooking. You will never stumble across Maccarina (named by the chef, even though “c’s” are generally not used when anglicizing Japanese"k" sounds), and to my knowledge no famous personalities or bloggers have drawn attention here.* But visitors to Niseko and some intrepid foodies have sought out this gem, which serves exquisite French food with only minor updates and Japan-izations. The Japanese have always had a talent for taking others’ ideas and perfecting them, so it no surprise that French restaurants in Japan can be sublime. Maccarina is no exception. The chef trained in France (maybe in Burgundy? I’m not sure and haven’t done the research) and returned to Japan to open a restaurant that used local Hokkaido products of the very highest quality, including some vegetables grown in his own garden.

This food is by no means fusion - there are a few touches of herbs not generally available to France, and the substitution of Japanese ingredients here and there (very subtly) - it is more the addition of a Japanese sensibility which makes Maccarina’s food more than the sum of its parts. There is a delicacy and perfection, as well as an understatement, to the cooking which elevates it to a level far above simply “classic French.” Though the reductions are classically executed, they remain lighter and more ethereal than the same sauces often become in Paris or elsewhere. They served us one perfectly braised leek the last time we visited, which was so intensely flavorful it nearly made us cry.

The restaurant has a four small but lovely rooms in a detached building, and lucky overnight guests receive a wonderful breakfast before departing, with everything from hot soup to an excellent croissant and ratatouille. In addition to seafood, Hokkaido is known for the quality of its milk. I love it that not only whipped yogurt with marmalade appears at breakfast, but also a simple glass of local milk. I believe it is raw milk, but I didn’t ask. I know raw Hokkaido milk is widely available.

The dining room is gorgeous, simple and elegant. American standards or jazz play softly in the background. Service is typical Japanese perfection, and we have always found it to be friendly and warm - the same gentleman has served us every time, and we have become friendly. He kindly provided us with the name and telephone number of the baker who makes the astonishing baguettes - there is no logic to a baguette this good in the countryside of Hokkaido. Wine service is particularly good, with proper glassware and a respectable list heavy on champagne and burgundy. BYO is cordially permitted.

I think Maccarina would appeal most to those who understand French food already, its history and its technique, who love an respect the classics, but are maybe a little tired by it. The chef at Maccarina is not trying to take French food further, and his work is not innovative the way we’ve come to apply that word to fine dining. But it is unique, and special, and surprising and very much an experience that awakes your palate.

It was tough choosing just three pics - maybe I’ll post a few more later. My photo of the Hokkaido vegetables and seafood “snacks” doesn’t do it justice. It’s my favorite thing every time, though it’s never the same. One of those little bites is anago (sea eel) french toast. Why have I never had that idea?

  • My husband reminds me an important, multi-national diplomatic meeting of some sort took place at Maccarina a few years ago, so it’s not totally under-the-radar!
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The Land of Milk and Uni

Sapporo is the largest city in Hokkaido, the 4th largest in Japan, and the capital of Hokkaido prefecture. It is mostly known for its annual ice festival and for the Sapporo brewery, but many also come here for the abundance of incredible seafood. Added to the quality of the dairy, beef and produce, Hokkaido brings serious game in the local fresh ingredients game. Some of the best fish in the world hails from the cold waters around Hokkaido, and often the top catches available in Tsukiji Market were brought in from this area. It is especially famous for its crab, shellfish and mollusks of all varieties, ikura (salmon roe), and, of course, uni. The uni from Hokkaido stands alone, in my mind, versus all other sources around the world. It is the clams, scallops and other shellfish, however, which most excite me when I’m here, as we simply cannot get them back home in anything like this variety or quality. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe importing live clams etc. into the US is illegal. Even if it’s not, it is certain we never see these critters stateside.

With only a little over a day to spend in Sapporo, and last night’s dinner given over to a 3* Michelin sushi restaurant, Tanabe (excellent), we knew our eating schedule today would be a full one, so we began early, heading out to find the Sapporo fish market before 7 AM. In Tsukiji terms, a 7 AM start would be deemed late, but Sapporo is a lot more laid back. The fish market in Sapporo is far smaller than Tsukiji or the one in Osaka (the big commercial fish market in Hokkaido is in Hokodate), and is much more of a local place where people come to buy their fish for dinner. Still, tourist do come here to stare at the enormous crabs. It’s even a “thing” to have your picture taken with a store’s biggest crab of the day. We lost ourselves in the market for an hour or so, as it moved from just barely opening to fully bustling, and had breakfast at a small sushi restaurant attached to one of the stores. Sushi is about the only thing available for breakfast at that time, as even the coffee shops are not quite open. The quality of the ikura, crab and Hokkaido salmon was excellent, and the uni was good but not as good as it can be. They told us at Tanabe that the “sea has been bad” for uni lately, so to get the very best, which we did at Tanabe, is quite expensive. We briefly considered having a whole king crab steamed for us at a place that specializes in that sort of thing – after all, this is the land of crab, with mountains of it available at every fish shop – but decided to have a second late breakfast of ramen instead.
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Many spots in Japan have their own specialty when it comes to ramen and Hokkaido is no exception. Miso ramen, particularly with corn and butter is the bowl of the hour and this version did not disappoint.
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With the ramen and the sushi breakfast, plus a visit to the Botanic Gardens and walk through downtown on a gloriously clear and crisp day, the morning played out perfectly. We stopped on the way back to our apartment for a bottle of raw Hokkaido milk. I can’t tolerate dairy other than cheese in the US or Europe, but the milk in Hokkaido does me no harm at all. Sapporo is undoubtedly worth a few days visit, especially with other Hokkaido venues in such close proximity. Japan visitors – do not limit yourselves to Tokyo and Kyoto!

more drooling over here. and I agree, I’ve never seen live imported clams. Scallops and oysters yes, no clams.

YES!!! Please post more!!! The wife and I are planning a trip to Japan this winter and we are big foodies (hate that word but…) so more on dining options would be great!

the seafood from hokkaido is so excellent. All this talk, reminds me hokkaido hairy crab season is coming up in a few short months. DROOL

Eat any of the melons in the photo? those things are pretty good too (for a melon :wink:)

Amazing thread. Keep it coming, please.

Charlie - there are what they were calling “Horse Hair Crabs” abundantly available right now. There are some in the picture. Are those different from the ones you’re thinking of?

We didn’t have any melons yet. Maybe in the airport on the way out today - the Sapporo Airport (CTS) is unbelievable. It’s like an enormous food mall. I’ll post some pictures in a day or so.

that’s the one! I forget we’re in october already, season just started. Usually doesn’t make its way to LA until end of Oct.

Cool. Those are delicious. The sashimi plate at Tanabe had a perfect claw with a big dollop of the roe, which was deeply flavored and very good, but had that edge of “danger funk” - you know the one where your mouth wants to tell you you shouldn’t eat it? Then there was some more crab in a miso soup at the market yesterday morning. Can’t get enough of it here. We’re definitely getting a bigger kitchen next time we’re in town!

Sarah:

Fantastic notes. I haven’t been to Hokkaido in years, but your notes had me looking into flights and hotels. If you make it to Tokyo and have time to share some wine, I’d be happy to open my cellar to you. Enjoy the rest of the trip.

Hokkaido is great. Daisetsuzan is the largest national park in Japan; day hiking there at 7k feet brings glorious high mountain vistas and scenery and lets you sleep comfortably at night in the Sounkyo gorge. Rishiri and Rebun are two islands off the northwest coast of Hokkaido with amazing uni and fields and fields of wildflowers.
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Plenty to do in Sapporo - a Noguchi designed park, the oldest temple in Hokkaido and its surrounding park with wonderful views over the city, Susukino, and the Sapporo Beer Garden. And of course, the food. Definitely try the jingisukan, which was wildly good lamb grilled over charcoal with potatoes and onions frying up in lamb fat. They finish you off with some ochazuke. http://www.life-v.co.jp/KE_Concept.html
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Nothing like Japanese beef grilled up Korean style over bincho-tan! Tons of places to eat in Susukino but I enjoyed this place http://sekiran.jp
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For those of you who have been to Tokyo and Elevage, this joint was similar but purely focused on whisky. The bartender spoke a bit of English, hand chipped his rocks from a block and then shaved them down with a big knife. It was the quintessential Japanese bar experience that I hadn’t ever found before. Highlight was a 1995 single cask Glendronach.
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Otaru is a nice day trip and short train ride from Sapporo. It’s known for a picturesque canal and its seafood market. Besides scallops, shrimp, oysters, some seasonal local fish, we had room only for a small crab!
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Isezushi received a Michelin star a few years ago. It’s not the pinnacle of sushi but it was a nice spot in Otaru and for $50 per person it was amazing value. http://www.isezushi.com

All in - an amazing trip and can’t recommend Hokkaido enough!
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Thanks very much, Steve. We are actually in Tokyo right now (almost didn’t make it out of Sapporo, where there is currently a typhoon), but just for a quick business meeting this afternoon, and out early tomorrow morning to Kyoto. We are in Japan 2-3 times a year, though, and would be delighted to get together for some wine one of these trips. Thank you for the generous offer!