Awamori-Flambéed Maitake and Winter Kabu with Cedar-Aged Tamari Glaze

Introduction

In Kyoto temple cooking, we honor shun—the fleeting seasonal moment when an ingredient offers its deepest truth. Today, we invite the ancient drama of fire into the quiet discipline of shojin ryori. By introducing aged awamori to seared winter kabu and wild maitake in a blistering pan, flame briefly leaps to consume the alcohol, condensing pure umami and sweet earthiness into cedar-matured tamari and kombu dashi.

Ingredients

• 300 g wild maitake mushroom clusters, hand-torn along the grain
• 2 medium Tokyo winter kabu turnips, trimmed with katsuramuki peeling and sliced into wedges
• 45 ml aged Okinawan awamori or dry high-proof junmai sake
• 150 ml cold-brewed ichiban dashi made with Rishiri kombu and sun-dried donko shiitake
• 30 ml cedar cask-aged wheat-free tamari
• 15 ml organic mirin
• 10 g house-fermented sweet white Saikyo miso
• 10 ml cold-pressed toasted sesame oil
• 1 sprig fresh kinome (sansho pepper leaf) for garnish
• 1 pinch hand-harvested Noto sea salt

Instructions

1. Warm the kombu-shiitake dashi gently in a small pot, whisking in the sweet Saikyo miso, aged tamari, and mirin until smooth, then hold at a gentle simmer.
2. Place a heavy cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until faint smoke rises, then lightly coat the surface with cold-pressed sesame oil.
3. Lay the kabu wedges flat-side down, searing without moving for 3 minutes until deeply caramelized and tender, then set aside momentarily.
4. Increase the skillet heat to high, arrange the hand-torn maitake across the hot iron, and sear for 2 minutes until the petal-like tips achieve delicate, charcoal-crisped edges.
5. Return the turnips to join the mushrooms, pull the pan safely back from the burner flame, pour the aged awamori over the hot center, and carefully ignite the vapors with a long match.
6. Gently swirl the skillet while the blue-gold flame dances and subsides, allowing the spirit to burn clean while infusing a toasted, ethereal sweetness into the vegetables.
7. Pour the warmed dashi-tamari reduction into the sizzling pan, letting it reduce and glaze every crevice into a lustrous amber sheen for roughly 45 seconds.
8. Arrange the glazed components asymmetrically in an imperfect wabi-sabi ceramic bowl, season with a breath of Noto sea salt, and finish with fresh kinome leaves.

Transferred gently to an unglazed, wood-fired stoneware plate and accented with fresh kinome, the dish captures a fleeting harmony of smoke, spirit, and soil. Savor each piece mindfully, celebrating how heat and stillness exist together in one bowl.

Hiroshi