Shochu in Hot Dashi (Broth)
I was in Tokyo for several days on business and I was kindly invited to dinner at a Kyoto-style oden restaurant (and then a magic bar). The night was extremely cold blustery and oden was the perfect hot and hearty, at home kind of meal to combat the onset or winter. If you are a regular reader of KyotoFoodie you will probably know that Kyoto cuisine is all about dashi (broth) — and water. In Tokyo they don’t have good water, so they can’t make good dashi.
Shochu is often drunk in Japan mixed with hot water. It is quite pleasant for a winter evening drink. Hot plus alcohol is the perfect combination. Recently shochu mixed with hot Chinese oolong tea and sometimes even green tea has become common, but not a favorite of mine. This restaurant kind of out did itself with this homage to Kyoto — shochu and hot dashi soup stock!
I was incredulous when I heard what my mates were drinking. I ordered one up and was very surprised. I was expecting something weird, but it was actually very good. I think the point is that the dashi is fairly light and the shochu used is mugi (barley) shochu.
Restaurant: Raku (Kyoto-style Oden) 楽 京風おでん
東京都新宿区丹町５番地
03-3351-2328
access: Yotsuyasanchome Station on Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line
Magic Bar: Ginza Hachi-ji 銀座 八時
東京都新宿区荒木町８番地
03-3225-8000
http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g636103
access: Yotsuyasanchome Station on Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line
