Korean Dinner at Houba 韓菜酒家 ほうば in Osaka

Our friends invited us to a dinner party in Osaka.  We arrived at a humble Korean restaurant on a side street in Kita-ku, not far from an arcade of restaurants, bars and pachinko parlours.   Despite the lack of glamour, we anticipated an evening of great food because the host and the other guests were food experts.  

It was a family restaurant.  The young chef, in his thirties, and his mother worked in the semi-open kitchen.  A young woman worked the front.  There were only two long tables, one for six and another that seat probably ten as it extended to a tiny counter by the kitchen.  The eleven of us were comfortable in the small dining room since the host had booked the whole restaurant for the private dinner.      

The meal started with earthen crocks of makkoli, house brewed unfiltered Korean rice wine, which had gained popularity in Japan.  The first cup was the clear liquid skimmed from the top.  It tasted mildly sweet and not that alcoholic.  Subsequent cups were scooped from the bottom.  The drink was milky white with a different texture and slightly fizzy.  Both were pleasant drinks.   

Soon into the meal, the lady server brought cold oksusu cha (corn tea), a Korean tisane made from boiling roasted corn kernels in water.  It was most refreshing, with a clean mild toasty taste and a bare hint of natural sweetness.  It went very well with the dishes.  I switched from makkoli to the corn tea for the rest of the meal.  The other folks finished their makkoli and moved onto beer and Jinro (眞露), the best selling Korean soju (燒酒).

It was a ten-course dinner.  Many courses were served in communal style, with a plate of food for every four people.  The other courses were in individual portions.

The first course was an array of namul (seasoned vegetable dishes) which were usually served as banchan (side dishes).  The serving lady brought out a few small plates at a time, arranging them into a group of parallel straight lines.  All together, there were 23 small plates, each made with a different seasonal vegetable.  Some ingredients were common, such as soy bean sprouts, spinach and celery.  Most were leafy Kyo yasai (Kyoto vegetables).  One special item was thin slices of white makomotake (真菰) about the size of a mahjong tile.  I recognized it when the serving lady showed me the raw ingredient.  It was the swollen stem of a kind of wild rice grown in swamps of China and Japan (known as 茭白 in China).  The word “take” was in the name because the stem had been infected with smut fungus.  There were also three traditional kimchee.  The portion of each plate was small, with just enough for each person to have a bite.  Together, the small plates made a lovely course.  I was impressed by the fine knife work and the delicate seasoning.  The group of namul was incredibly satisfying.  I would not mind to have them as a meal.

Next was an individual serving of grilled oysters on top of yuzu “chawanmushi”.  The texture of the two oysters was impeccable; they were firm and moist.  The taste was intense and delicious.  The citrus was used as a bowl for the savory steamed egg custard.

This was followed by a plate of two long golden brown omelets, each cut into four pieces.  One was filled with shirako (白子 cod milt) and the other with nanohana (菜の花) and ebi.  I liked the shirako omelet more (yes, I am a shirako fan).  The pan fried nanohana was a little hard.

Then came awabi gohan – sautéed awabi (abalone) slices on top of rice enriched with the dark green awabi kimo (abalone liver).  It was very well prepared.  The abalone slices were tender, and the rice picked up the“earthiness” of the liver.  Delicious and very Japanese.  

The fifth course was deceptively simple – a small piece of tofu in a small amount of broth, topped with finely sliced greens and a slice of Japanese lime.  The tofu was incredibly silky.  The clear broth was made with suppon (Japanese snapping turtle), a delicacy and a luxury.

At that point, the chef came out from the kitchen with a large stock pot in his hands.  He walked around the room and showed the pot to everybody.  Inside was an aromatic clear broth, a whole chicken and a whole fresh Korean ginseng the size of a baby’s arm.  He took the pot back into the kitchen after the parade.  And I expected a bowl of chicken soup anytime soon.

 Next was a light meat course – thin slices of cooked beef cheek, mizuna (水菜, a Kyoto leafy green) and mustard.  We rolled the meat around some vegetable to eat.

A vegetarian dish followed – thick harusame (春雨 cellophane noodles made from potato starch), soy bean sprouts, carrots, wood ear and some greens, gently dressed with sesame oil.

The eighth was deep fried chunks of bone-in fugu (blowfish).  I had the largest piece with the collar attached (bones made the fish tasted better).  The seasoning was slightly spicy hot, making the fish even more delicious.  Oishii!!

The ninth course was pork belly slices cooked in Korean hot bean paste on a hot plate.  It was accompanied by lettuce, something that looked like arugula, and ggaennip (Korean “sesame leaves”).    We wrapped the belly pieces with the leaves to eat.  The sesame leaves looked like oversized ooba but its aroma and flavor were different.

The chicken soup never came.  Instead the lady served us porridge in individual bowls.  The flavor of chicken and ginseng came through loud and clear.  There went the soup that I was waiting for. 

After ten courses, the dinner ended with “dessert” – a piece of dark green kusamochi (草餅) cut in halves.  Kusamochi is a rice cake made with yomogi (蓬, 艾草, mugwort, wormwood).  The mochi was plain, not filled with red bean paste.  Its taste was mild with a hint of bitterness.  A satisfying way to end the dinner.

The restaurant was 韓菜酒家 ほうげ (Houba), the first Korean restaurant in Japan awarded a Michelin star.  In my opinion, the food deserved at least two stars.  But the location and the decor did not meet the Michelin inspector’s expectation for luxury as it was an ordinary people’s restaurant.  My dinner there was not only my best Korean meal but also one of my most memorable meals of all times.