Shiretoko Seafood Mission
Dear Ezo Seafoods patrons,
Thanks very much to those of you who managed to get into Ezo Seafoods this Summer -- and to a hearty few who made it in more than once. With summer and also a recent seafood mission to Hidaka and Shiretoko under my belt, I thought it was time for a few updates.
SUMMER TRADING (July 1st -- Oct. 9th). We reopened on July 1st with a new look interior and selection of new ceramics. As with last summer, our menu continued to focus on shellfish from the Sea of Japan as well as Seafood Paella. The drive to the Sea of Japan is only about 1 hour, so I was down there regularly on the weekends. We experimented with some new dishes and some of them became regulars on our weekly menu: Shirogai (White Seashells) Steamed in Sake, Fried Fugu (Blowfish), Sauteed Sanma (Saury) with Roasted Garlic and Balsamic Olive Oil Salad.
We were pleased to see many of last year's "longstay" guests back in Niseko. Many of them were elderly Japanese here to escape the heat of the mainland. Elderly Japanese have refined tastes for Japanese food, and we were pleased that they responded positively to our food! One went as far to praise Keiko's cooking as "Itamae" which was translated roughly as "great Japanese cook." This year, fewer international guests made it to Niseko, but no doubt we'll see a return next year as normality continues to assert itself.
SHIRETOKO Seafood Mission (Sept 30th -- Oct 4th)
Located around the eastern "horn" of Hokkaido, Shiretoko is where I source much of our seafood from, so I try to get up there once a year. This time, I especially wanted to visit the Notsuke Peninsula area which is home to the huge scallops that we serve in Ezo Seafoods. But I also wanted to meet the oyster suppliers because of the looming shortage of oysters following the March 11 Tsunami, which wiped out up to 50% of stock in Akkeshi, and devastated the spat growing areas in Miyagi Prefecture, Tohoku.
Suppliers in each port from Saroma to Konbu Mori -- I visited 4 -- had the same story -- stocks down, prices up and probably 2-3 years before stocks would return to normal. In the case of Akkeshi, the cost price of oysters rose every week over summer, settling at 3 times the pre-tsunami prices. And they may rise higher. This season, Akkeshi oysters will be available at Ezo Seafoods, but I will also try to source oysters from elsewhere in Japan to be able to offer my customers oysters at a reasonable price. I'm now waiting for the first seasons oysters from Mie Prefecture and Hiroshima. (Stay tuned.)
So I set off on the 30th on a 5 day trip.
ATSUGA (Sept 30th) I visited one coastal supplier. To my surprise, they stocked shark meat, which I have always wanted to try out at Ezo for fish and chips. They promised to send me one. According to local sources, the friendly young staff member named Horita apparently took over the family sushi business some years ago after a stint at upmarket Sushi restaurant in Tokyo. He introduced innovative approaches which may have been too funky for the local Hidaka population and the restaurant subsequently closed. Horita-san is now biding his time in the fish shop - but clearly a serious Hokkaido seafood aficionado. Would love to see him in Niseko one day.
SAROMA (Oct 1) Next day was a long drive to Saroma, via Chitose. Saroma Oysters were relatively unaffected by the tsunami because of its location on the northern coast or Sea of Okhutsk however increasing demand is expected to push prices up by at least double. The suppliers are of the view that prices will have to settle or regular customers will look elsewhere. Oysters expected to ship from November.
NOTSUKE PENINSULA (Oct 2/3)
The following day we drove to Shibetsu via Utoro and Rausu. I met my Salmon supplier and shored up my order for the coming season. My supplier is actually a fisherman, whose family has been fishing for 3 generations or more. His wife, Naoko, actually smoked the salmon. Its one of our most popular products at Ezo, and a personal favorite.
The highlight of the visit was definitely the Notsuke Peninsula, home of the amazing Scallops that we serve from December. Around 1 hour south of Rausu Fishing port, you take a left and I drive out along the narrow cape road with the ocean on one side and the cape waters on the other. By the time we got down there, it was around 5 o'clock and light was fading quickly. Windswept and wild, with masses of water on both sides of the narrow road, the peninsula is stunning.
We stayed at nearby Utaseya Ryokan utaseya.jp/ right across the road from the Fishing Cooperative, an ideal place to stay with, incidentally, a great seafood dinner that included Hanasaki Crab.
About to enjoy "Hanasaki" Crab at UTASEYA RYOKAN in Notsuke.
Aki-zake (Autumn Salmon/Chum Salmon) catch in progress at Notsuke Fishing Cooperative.
Shibetsu and Notsuke pull in more salmon than anywhere else in Japan. The salmon start their journey from Notsuke/Shibetsu and swim to the Berring Sea all the way to Alaska before returning as 4 year olds. The stocks are managed by the Shibetsu Fishing Cooperatives to ensure sustainable growth.
AKKESHI (OCT 2) The drive from Shibetsu to Akkeshi takes around 1.5 hours. I met my supplier, who explained the full extent of the woes of the local fishermen and oyster growers. Fortunately, the safety of the oysters and all seafood from Hokkaido has been confirmed. However Akkeshi itself sustained significant damage to oyster growing infrastructure when the Tsunami smashed into the oyster growing areas and the port. Around 50% of stocks were destroyed, buried in ocean floor mud. Around 5% of the fishermen -- many of them elderly -- have decided to retire rather than rebuild. And looking ahead, the situation won't get better for several years at least. Akkeshi relies in large part on Oyster spat from Miyagi, which was in the center of the devastation following the Tsunami. (In Ishinomaki alone, 3000 lives were lost). Miraculously 60% of the oyster spat survived, but there are concerns that the huge churn following the Tsunami will affect the oyster growing environment. As mentioned, current prices are around 3 times the pre-Tsunami prices, which means they are selling for around ¥800 a piece in Tokyo!! At Ezo, this presents us with a dilemma. Do we raise prices and risk alienating customers; or take a long term POV, and wait for situation to improve? Actually, we'll do something in between. We're aiming to offer a "Oyster Geography Plate" with oysters from several areas, both high price and low price, so that we offer a dozen oysters at a price below ¥4000.
I bought 3doz oysters and set up a temporary shucking station right on the water.
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