Autumn goodies

Autumn in Japan equals to delicious good food.
It's this time around when people start to gain weight and the fat would stay until the end of the winter season, like what we see in American black bear, with exception that we don't hibernate.

The Japanese autumn seasonal foods are, matsutake (Pine mushroom), kaki (persimmon), sanma (Mackerel pike), kuri (chestnuts) and satsumaimo (Japanese sweet potatoes). Among all these, the most expensive one would be matsutake, the reason for why we haven't had the chance to taste it. The price of matsutake can go as high as $1000 for half a kg. Matsutake are hard to find (though simple to harvest) and therefore they are expensive. What Japanese love about matsutake is their intense spicy/cinnamony aroma.

Matsutake mushrooms

We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant yesterday. While looking at the menu, we decided that it's time for us to try the matsutake mushroom for the first and probably the last time, regardless of the price.

松茸釜飯セットMatsutake rice set (my choice)

A closer look at matsutake rice

松茸小鍋セットMatsutake hotpot set (Hubby's choice)

Just add the ingredients into the pot until the fire goes off.

Ingredients of the hotpot

Matsutake hotpot

Side dish 1: Sashimi

Side dish 2: Tempura

Side dish 3: nimono

Side dish 4: radish pickles

Sushi and fried shrimp set (Sya's choice)

So, what's our impression of the dish? The dinner course was delicious (especially the side dishes). The mushrooms had a strong aroma, which was unique. But to be frank, both my hubby and I concluded that it may be difficult for foreigners like us to fully appreciate the taste. It was actually so so for us. We might not come back and pay this expensive price just to enjoy the matsutake mushrooms. We would just go for our favourite dishes like sushi and sashimi.