It's time for... Mushrooms!

One of the products of Fall is mushrooms. Accordingly, our school lunches are full of mushrooms, restaurants are serving them in various dishes, and everyone around is excited to eat foods in which they can savor mushrooms freshly collected from the mountains around us here in the Noto. A couple weeks ago myself and three co-workers had dinner together at a local ryokan, a traditional Japanese style inn. We went especially to eat kinoko nabe (mushroom stew), which was delicious and satisfying on a cool Fall evening!

In Japan stew is generally cooked and served right at the dinner table, even at home. A portable gas burner is set in the middle of the table, on which a ceramic pot called a nabe is placed full of broth inside. Next a tray heaping with piles of cut vegetables, meats, tofu, and anything else that will go in the stew is brought to the table. After bringing our tray and turning on the burner, the ryokan owner let us put the ingredients into the nabe ourself. This style of do it yourself cooking at the table is very common in Japanese cuisine (other examples are yakiniku and okonomiyaki). We placed the raw meatballs in first, and then piled the vegetables on top, in order to give each ingredient the optimum amount of heat so it would all be ready at the same time. We placed the top on the nabe and opened it 15 minutes later to find the vegetables cooked down and simmering in a lovely aromatic stew ready to eat.


We were served various other side dishes with our meal, demonstrating many styles of mushroom preparation. There were little salads, stewed dishes, and even maki rolls filled with soba. I also ate several types of mushrooms for the first time!

The three varieties of mushrooms featured in our nabe

One of the highlights was a usimono, clear broth soup, made with Matsutake- pine mushrooms. These mushrooms are famous for their strong pine scent and flavor and apparently many people dislike them. Also, these are a luxury mushroom. While in the car driving to the ryokan we speculated what kinds of mushrooms might be served during our meal, and I wondered aloud if we would eat Matsutake. One of the men from our office laughed and said he did not think we would have any since they are apparently quite expensive. He estimated that one large mushroom might cost 1 man, or 100 dollars!

However, we were pleasantly surprised with a small tea pot of usuimono, featuring the matsutake and a few other ingredients for flavor. At first upon sipping the soup I did not notice a strong flavor. But after we began eating the regular nabe, and I sipped the matsutake soup again I noticed how distinct the flavor really is! It really was quite piney, and I thought very pleasant and foresty.

I am so glad I got to go enjoy such a fantastic meal!

Our pot of soup was made with a single sliver of matsutake