If I ever were to write a 50-must things to do in one’s culinary life, there are a couple of things that would be obvious choices, some of them are fries fried in horse fat, Mediterranean deep water shrimps (aristeus antennatus) directly off the boats – of course you are munching down the whole shrimp including the shell with the seawater still in the head -, live tiny squids still crawling when put in the mouth, aged (plus 10 years) preserved foie gras, Corsican tiger veal and buckwheat fed duck. Just to be clear, eating at the Fat Duck or el bulli would not make it at all to my 50-musts list.
On my Tokyo trip a few new such obvious items on the must do list were added. One of them is to eat at the Kawamura steakhouse in Tokyo. Calling it a steakhouse wrongfully suggests it is a large restaurant, which it isn’t. Shoebox operation is a better description.
The kitchen is tiny with just about enough space for two chefs to work and not without some difficulty. A small counter seating seven people is facing the “kitchen”. That is all there is to this place, which is all about beef and nothing else. But it is not just any beef. It is so good that superlatives like ”exceptional”, “extraordinary” or “as good as it will ever get” all seem insufficient. Nobody going to Kawamura needs to worry about inconsistencies in produce qualities. The chef will simply close the restaurant if he is unable to source top drawer beef and he will advise clients to come and eat another time. Problem is that this is one of the most difficult reservations to score in Tokyo, so the wait for a second chance might be long. The superstitious of those that have secured a reservation might find it useful to make sacrifice to the beef gods a week before the meal.
The beef at Kawamura is not necessarily Kobe beef. He is obsessed with finding the highest quality beef. This strategy is similar to some of the most produce quality oriented chefs in France I know who have told me that they don’t care from where in France the veal for example comes as long as it was the best veal that could possibly be found. At Kawamura only the best beef will be served, regardless of what protectorate it comes from. The chef, proud of his beef, will show it and cut it in front of the clients. The beef is aged, the one we had had been aged for 4 weeks. Beef is served in several ways, raw, cooked rare and cooked through. The filet was cooked rare at low temperature on a grill. The cooking of Passard comes to mind, with the difference that here it is the obvious choice, which it isn’t always at Passard.
How do you characterize the beef? It is incredibly flavorful. A bit as if marrow fat has been injected into the meat. Kawamura gives tenderness a new definition and reference. It is like a steak tartar of aged beef and marrow fat that have been chopped then pressed together. If I would give a score to the quality to the beef, 24/20 – I don’t know why I say only 24 – seems appropriate, since it is better than it could possibly be. This is beef that will stand up to any truly great red wine. A beef fit for the gods.
We started with some beef Carpaccio that set the expectations of what was to come in the right perspective. We also had a fantastic beef broth that had the look of clarified butter and it tasted heavenly.
The filet was served simply with some mustard, onions and beans. Why complicate matters?
The faux filet was sliced in thins slices, slowly stewed for a few minutes with sugar, soy, water and onion and served in a bowl with rice. The result was a spectacular simple beef stew with incredible flavor depth attesting the very high quality of the beef.
One of my eating partners at Kawamura, Pim of chez Pim fame, said that she considered becoming a vegetarian after the meal because she could not eat beef anymore. I look at it differently. It is really another type of produce. The beef we are discussion here is ultra fattened beef. It should not be compared to normal grazed beef. However good Japanese beef can be, one should beware that these animals are obese and probably suffer from being obese.
I said Kawamura is about beef only. Well it is not entirely true. There was dessert too. The wobbly crème caramel was nothing short of a text book example of perfectly executed traditional French cuisine that is so incredibly hard to come by these days. Even Escoffier would have been impressed by the crème caramel.
Kawamura will silence anyone who believes that produce quality is not the absolute cornerstone of cooking and will also support the notion that a large number of the current famous chefs in the world have no cloths. Is it expensive?
I suppose those who need to ask, shouldn’t go.
23 Comments
Fantastic post, as everything else that has been posted here since the reworking of the website, and just in time for my upcoming trip to Japan in a few months! How long in advance did you reserve?
Oh and by the way, I’m really intrigued about “aged preserved foie gras”: never seen nor heard about it, but now I have to try it.
That really looks like something different.
But, is the taste not dominated by the fat with beef so extremely marbled?
@ O,
I am not sure what you can do to secure a table at this place. As I said it is difficult. Best advise is to find a local who is known to the place.
The preserved duck’s liver is quite something after 15 years or more. The result is an incredible complexity. I think there is a recipe in one of Ducasse’s books how to do it on your own. I don’t have it at hand where I am right now. Then it is just to wait…. It is a must for any serious gourmet.
@Felix,
Hi Felix, how are you doing? Yes the taste is dominated by the taste of the fat. The taste is usually in the fat, no? However, as with good fat, the taste is not cloying. It is a bit like the taste of marrow fat.
How I want to go back and eat in this place.
That looks like an amazing piece of beef Micheal. I’m sure Tokyo will be heaven for an ingredients hound like you. Enjoy!
I love liver. I love preserved foods. I can only imagine that preserved foie gras would please me immensely. What is used to preserve the liver, and where do I get it (if at all)?
@ Andy: Yes, Tokyo provides great hunting ground for ingredients.
@ulterior: You need the liver, duck fat, a jar and seasoning. After cleaning the liver and letting it marinate in/with the seasoning, you may first heat it in the fat and then put it in the jar which you sterilise in a normal way. An idea for a future post.
I too like a lot of preserves. Preserved truffles is not one of them though.
@ Mikael: An online tutorial of preserved foie gras would be excellent and much appreciated.
Preserved truffles? You mean that tinned stuff that tastes like dishwater?
@U.E.: Not sure I have had tinned truffles that tasted as good as dishwater lol! I will try to get around doing a post on preserved foie gras. Need to get some good livers from DUPERIER or similar.
my god…this looks amazing.
please make a post covering your 50 things to eat one day, and with links to show us what you are talking about.
I think i had the shrimps but i am not so sure (i am from greece if it makes any difference)
@ Mikael: But you have to remember, your dish water probably tastes a whole heckuva lot better than mine!
Re: preserved foie gras
Is’nt it somewhat easier, not to mention probably safer, to buy already preserved foie gras and let it rest a few years in a cellar?
You mentioned Duperier, I sometimes buy their products, so I know they have preserved foie gras, that should do the trick. Unless I’m missing something!
O,
Why would you do it the easy way? It is like buying preserved jam instead of making it yourself, no?
@ Nick, the shrimp is the one on the image in the banner on this site. There is another deep water shrimp in the Mediterranean called aristeomorpha folicea, which looks a bit like aristeus antennateus but is a bit darker red and has a few more edges on the “sword on the head”. They are distinctly different in taste and texture, perhaps because their eating patterns are different. Aristeus antennateus is a forager while the aristeomorphea folicea is a hunter of larger prey. Both are great produce, but I prefer the antennateus, especially when consuming it raw.
My understanding is that there is mainly aristeoimorphea folicea found in the Greek waters but it was at least some years ago not particularly exploited.
just had a look and you are right on which species is in greek waters, and it can be mainly found in the sea between greece and italy.
looks like you had a great time in japan.
Wow, my knees are weak, stomach painfully empty and tears in my eyes looking at the slab of marbling. It’s so cruel to show this on the internet cus I can feel the taste in my mouth but I can’t bite it. 1 year ago I went to Takayama and had my relevation on what beef can be.
http://6lumens.com/blog/2009/05/meats-the-greatest-hits/
Oh I can’t believe I read your post at 2 am, about to go to sleep now just so craving for that meaty-chared taste.
I can take bowel cancer for this. Die happy.
@ Tzu-yen Wang,
I am sorry that I inflicted weekness in your knees, tears in your eyes and general discomfort by sharing this experience.
But let me tell you that I don’t believe that the risk for bowel cancer, or for any other disease would increase by eating that meat. I would be greatful if anyone reading this blog could refer us to any controled randomized study that will conclusivly show that there is an increased risk for any of the diseases of civilization (cancer, heart disease, diabetes, e t c, e t c,) from eating this kind of beef or saturated fats for that matter. I have never seen any. In lack of any, I eat my beef and I believe it is why I am healthy.
Hey Michael, There are no randomized controled trials on this matter. Only prospective studies on risk. No where near robust enough at a randomized controled trial. Imagining signing up to this study and allocated the no red meat section! haha, I would be so sad.
I will take what ever this meat gives on top of the pure bliss when I think aboutit, eat it and think more aboutit afterwards. I am eating breakfat now and still, my herat skips a little looking that the second picture of the meat. I want some!
For some reason the post after this one is cutting off the left side so I can’t leave a comment.
On the post after this you show a knife you had made for yourself. Do you happen to know if the place you purchase it happens to be online? I was drooling over that knife! It’s beautiful!
@ CuriousEats – Lissa,
The knife company is Aritsugu. They have a shop at Tsujiki market. There is another Aritsugu in Kyoto. They are unrelated but used to be the same company as far as I can understand. I fell in love with that knife. It has proven fantastic to use for large fish for example.
I got some other knives while in Tokyo. One from Masamoto, which I also highly recommend.
Holy marbling! That is one beautiful hunk of meat!
Incredible! This just proves that even in Japan you need to be an insider to score the really good stuff. I just returned from my trip to Osaka and Tokyo as well. Being a student on a budget, I could only afford to try a piece of Tajima sirloin which I bought from Isetan. It was disappointing. I’ve had better with crossbred wagyu from Australia!
Well, I am still young, and hopefully Kawamura will stay open until my pockets grow deep enough.
PS Will you be writing up on the Tsukiji Market? It was the most memorable destination of my trip, I trust that it was equally fascinating for you.
@Roy Wu,
Yes, in that sense Japan is like everywhere. You really need to work hard to get the best stuff.
I will write about Tsujiki. Not sure yet in what form. I went there four full mornings. Two days with a supplier to the top restaurants of the American West coast as a guide. I want to set up a base camp there and cook for three weeks or a full year.
@CuriousEats – Lissa
I face the problem with the page not displaying properly too. Try this: delete “#more-417″ from the url: http://www.gastro…tokyo/#more-417 . It worked for me.
Also, if you are getting knives from Aritsugu, INSIST that they perform a initial sharpening for you at the shop. Aritsugu knives are notorious for being blunt out of the factory as they expect the owner to “breath life” into their knives by sharpening it themselves.
I guess you won’t face this problem as a westerner but just beware.