After several months of procrastinating, I finally started this blog on food and wine at the behest of my friends and T. And I chose to do my first review on Tempura Matsui, in part because I was so impressed by the cooking here, but also because this place is a solid representation of fine cookery of regional cuisines. New York City has a plethora of Japanese spots, from famous sushi-yas such as the refurbished Ushiwakamaru to the NYU cafeteria, Sobaya. But a high-end shop that focuses on tempura like 7 Chome Kyoboshi is a first indeed. And can Matsui-san's shop dispel the stigma of greasy Japanese takeout bento boxes and reaches the heights of Nanachome Kyoboshi? That remains to be found out.
The entrance of this place is rather nondescript. There is only a pair of black curtains hung neatly to cover the doorway. Beside that is an apartment complex. Once in, one cannot but notice the impeccable cleanliness of the place as well as the traditional Japanese architecture, most notably in the wood which I am told is mostly solid white oak. The restaurant is divided into three sections. First, there is a bar which is dimly lit and fit four people. The drinks menu is still rather short with very limited selections on wine and beer, but that could be pardoned as the restaurant has only been opened for no more than a month or two. Sake selections are a bit better - with impressive choices such as the Dassai Beyond. There is also another room that seats 6 (I think?) that is suitable for private dining. The last room is the main dining room, which consists of a large counter and three tables. Without further adieu, the maitre d' led us to our spot and C and I promptly sit down.
As I know I am having tempura tonight, and to combat the relentless heat in NYC, I fish something interesting from my cellar.
2005 Jacques Lassaigne Champagne Brut Nature Blanc de Blancs Millésimé
The bottle is chilled, popped with a gentle hiss and poured a golden, light olive color with delicate effervescence (very very small beads). This chardonnay-only bubbly was let air for a good hour before drinking to let it breathe and reveal its nuances. The nose is very complex; and with time, it reveals a tightly wound bouquet of straw, toasty brioche, granny smith apples, lemon peel, fresh cut grass and steel. There is a distinct muddiness to the nose. On the palate, the wine exhibits a remarkably mineral structure (somewhat chalky even) with balanced acidity. Flavors of rose petals, steel, lemon oils, and bread yeast come to the fore. The finish is long as the acidity towards the end draws out final notes of butter. Superb champagne though from a weaker vintage. Nonetheless, a very remarkable effort with much complexity and balance.
After having a glass of champagne and settling down, we were presented with our first dish of the night.
Sakizuke (先附): Junsai with Sea Urchin
Tororo (とろろ - Japanese mountain yam), junsai (蒓菜 - water lily buds) and Hokkaido uni (馬糞雲丹 - Bafun uni, judging by the looks) are suspended in a cool dashi (bonito and kelp) broth within a frosted glass cup. Quite tasty with a large smack of umami. The uni and tororo works well together to provide sweetness and minerality, while the slight dab of wasabi cuts through the richness and umami. Quite slivery too, thanks to the slivers of gelatinous Junsai. Very balanced flavors, and especially nice to combat the heat.
A trio of appetizers then followed.
Zensai (前菜): Homesade seasame tofu with wasabi and dashi, Simmered octopus Sakura-ni, Simmered eggplant Hisui-ni
The goma tofu (ごま豆腐) here is quite delicious. The dashi provides a much needed earthiness and smokiness to support the richness of the ground sesame. Great balance of flavors, and the wasabi here does provide a slight kick to the morsel.
The tako no sakura-ni is of a classic preparation - low heat simmering in a soy broth for long hours. What you get is a beautifully dense piece of meat. The texture here is of note as it is akin to jerky, with the meat being transformed into stringy but pliant pieces of sweet and earthy fibers.
Finally, the nasu (なす) is served cold with the skin removed, leaving only strips of jade-colored flesh. More umami flavors as I am pretty sure these strips were poached in dashi and topped with slivers of Katsuobushi. Quite delectable.
Chawan-mushi with Red Rice, Tai, and Uni Ankake, Yuzu
This is incredibly delicious. Definitely not your typical chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し) at local Japanese joints. Here we have red rice and tai (sea bream. I believe it is red bream.) suspended in an egg custard topped with Hokkaido uni and an amber-colored sauce. The custard is very creamy and every bite was a joy alternating between chewy rice kernels and the snappy bream slices. The sauce here, however, stole the show. It has a concentrated fragrance of yuzu which reminds me of "mandarin peel" (陳皮) in Cantonese cooking; and this acidity ties the entire dish together.
Sashimi - Tuna, Tai and Sake-steeped Abalone
We are presented with a trio of sashimi.
Tuna (中トロ): This is from the Chu-toro cut. Very standard with a moderate amount of marbling. Great cuts of unctuous meat indeed.
Tai (鯛): This was the standout for me. The sea bream was snappy with a good bite to it. Quite mild flavors that let the freshness of the cut shine through.
Awabi (鮑): Very very tender with a hint of the fragrance from sake lees. Although the sauce made from the liver looks unappetizing, it is actually quite tasty and provides an earthy component to the flavor profile.
After our plates were taken away, we were finally ready for the pièce de résistance. The tempura itself from the master Matsui-san. But before the fried pieces, we were presented with the customary bowl of dashi dipping sauce and a generous serving of daikon (大根) puree. We were instructed to try the daikon by itself first by dipping it in the brown broth and enjoying it sans accompaniments. The daikon here is beautiful, with the piquant sweetness piercing through the umami-rich dip. There is no noticeable sharp tang in the finish either. Great sourcing of ingredients here.
At this point, I was paying close attention to how Matsui-san makes his batter. It seems that he just uses an egg, mineral ice water and flour. I was surprised by how much water is added in as that dilutes the batter to the texture of egg custard. Understandably, he would not tell me the brand as well as the type of flour. As to the oil, it is a mixture of sesame and cottonseed oil (or rapeseed?). Again Matsui-san did not tell me the reason behind, but I am guessing that this blend allowed for better temperature control, much like adding olive oil in a pan while melting butter would prevent it from burning.
Tempura
Shiro ebi (白海老)
These are pretty large specimens as shiro-ebi are often very small. The two pieces of shrimp are done mi cuit - snappy in texture and sweet and slightly briny in taste. The shrimp's tails are sliced in such a way to keep them straight and not curled during the frying process. And of course, the tails were delicious and incredibly crunchy too. What great way for my daily calcium intake.
The heads are also deep fried though is not much roe in the head. Nevertheless, the frying heightens the crispiness of the shells, making them look like miniature glass sculptures. And of course, these morsels very very delectable with a dab of salt.
Asparagus (アスパラガス)
These asparagus spears are peeled and cut in half before frying. Biting in, one can see the beautiful shades of jade and white in the center, showing just how lightly cooked the vegetables are inside the hot oil. Very tender and juicy, no less to the skillful cooking process.
Just look at how thin the batter is! It is almost like a golden crystal lattice veiled over the main ingredient.
Sea scallops (帆立貝) wrapped in seaweed
A single piece of sea scallop is wrapped in a sheet of nori (のり), like a shawl, before being dunked in the batter, fried and halved. This is a pretty big piece of scallop. This too, like the ebi, is done mi cuit. So soft, with the crisped seaweed providing a stark textural contrast. And with the inherent sweetness of the scallop punctuated by the brine? Beautiful.
Cherry tomato (ミニトマト)
This really took both C and me by surprise, as it is definitely the best piece of the night. A pretty large specimen is battered and fried. The result? A molten center filled with unabashed, concentrated tomato juice. It is just like eating a soup dumpling (小籠包) except better, as the crispy batter provides a textural contrast to the mushy core. This is so good that we ordered another. And thanks to Matsui-san, the second piece is gratis. Perhaps he really liked the champagne we offered too!
Alaskan King Crab legs (タラバガニ)
We were given a section of the legs of the Tarabagani (タラバ蟹). Just like the other pieces of seafood, this is done mi cuit as well with a bouncy texture. The piece of crab is very sweet and the center is warm but not hot. Very good.
Maitake (マイタケ)
A bushel of maitake (Hen-of-the-wood) mushroom is lightly battered and flash fried. The high temperature forces the inherent juices out but the batter locks them in. The result? A piece of fungus that is deliciously earthy, juicy and rich in umami. I also notice that dipping this in the daikon-dashi mash further brings out the sweetness of the daikon puree. I can definitely do another piece.
Kisu/Japanese Sillago (鱚)
This is often called Whiting or Smelt-Whiting in English. This specimen here is definitely on the larger end of the spectrum. The fish is de-boned, filleted and fried in the cauldron. The result? A stunning piece of fish that is very sweet in flavor, with a silky texture coated only in the sheerest of batter.
Myoga (ミョウガ)
This is the flower bud of the myoga ginger. After frying, the ginger is sweet and herbaceous with a sharp spicy zing. The sweetness here is a great way to end the tempura course.
Hamo with cucumber and plum sauce
It is summer which means Hamo (ハモ - or pike eel) season. Because there are so many bones in the fish, de-boning is not possible. As such, there is a special scoring technique, called hamo honegiri, to slice through the bones, making the entire fish edible, both flesh and bones. After scoring, the fish is portioned and lightly poached. Because of the cuts, the poaching curls the fish up, making it look like a flower. A dab of ume (梅 - plum) sauce rests on top of the fish. When eaten, the acidity from the sauce heightens the sweetness of the fish. A classical preparation that is very good indeed.
The cucumber served as an accompaniment is of note too. Note the scoring on the cucumber, which is often referred to as the jabara cut (蛇腹). This is to mimic the serpent's belly which can be twisted into certain shapes. Because of this cutting, the cucumber opens up like a flower inside the mouth upon chewing. Very good knife skills from the chef.
Ten-don (shrimp kakiage tempura over rice with tentsuyu), Pickles and Miso Soup
The shrimp kakiage (かき揚げ) consists of prawns that are melded together in batter and fried. The result is a shrimp cake. Here, the shrimps are sweet and spongy in texture, although they are on the more-cooked-than-raw end of the spectrum. The tentsuyu (天つゆ) provides some salinity to the rice as well. To be honest, this is well put together but it does not stand out to me.
The Akaashi Miso soup is of the red miso variety. A piping hot, hearty broth with a concentrated, smoky undertone. The Asari clams are sweet and briny. No sand in them at all which is great. There are some mitsuba leaf stems sliced as a garnish as well. This is a good bowl of soup that seriously calms nerves.
The pickles here consist of disks of radish that is cut and brined. The result? Pickles that are slightly sweet with a moderately sour tang. There is also a very pronounced note of shiso as well. I wonder what type of vinegar they used for the pickling process, as these are definitely more sweet than sour, a far cry from the typical tsukemono (漬物).
Dessert - Peach Compote
Classic Japanese dessert. It is summer season after all so peaches are in full swing. I am guessing that these are Japanese white peaches. The fruits are poached in a very sweet but light syrup with a distinct almond flavor, probably amaretto. Surprising to say that acidity is at a minimal here as the peaches are very ripe. And as a result, they are very unabashedly sweet.
All in all, this was a very memorable meal, not only because of the cohesiveness between each course, but also because of the quality of ingredients as well as the mastery of skill. This dinner completely changed my perception of fried foods, as having grown up in Hong Kong, my understanding was that food items were fried to mask the "non-freshness". For example, it would be heresy to deep fry, rather than steam, a live and kicking, 2-catty heavy red grouper (東星斑). And yet, here I was, pleasantly surprised and impressed how deep frying accentuated the freshness of the ingredients. The price here is surely steep, $200 a pop, but for the eyeopening experience and immaculate service, I think it is more than fair. Really interested now to see how the menu would change based on the seasonal availability of ingredients - a cry to the omakase selections at a top-tiered sushi-yas. (7/25/2015)