Chirashi soba full#
I ended up halving the amount of fish flake in the sauce because I was afraid it would impart too much of a fishy flavor, because when I opened that package, whoa baby was it fishy! But I think the full two tablespoons actually would’ve been fine. I almost couldn’t find the dried fish flake (katsuo bushi) for the sauce, but I found an unfortunately large package of it at the last minute. But luckily, I found out ichimi is basically just a hot Japanese chili pepper, so I used a little chili powder instead. I couldn’t find certain things on the list, like fish cakes (okay, not that I really looked that hard…) and ichimi pepper. I spent more time in the international aisle for this recipe than for any other, and, in the end, some adjustments had to be made. I mean that in the sense of the ingredients. These soba noodles from Pickled Plum were probably my most “exotic” recipe yet. Why soba? Well, because who doesn’t love a steaming hot bowl of noodles? Sugidama (260 Elm St.Well, folks, this is pretty much the halfway point! And what better way to commemorate than soba noodles? Not sure how it would travel, but it is a good pairing with that chirashi bowl. The other thing under soups on the menu I sometimes like to enjoy is the chawanmushi, a creamy rich egg custard with bits of chicken, scallop, shrimp, fish cake and mushroom to add texture and punch. On the appetizer side, Sugidama, according to my daughter, makes the best tatsuta-age fried chicken beyond Toraya in Arlington (which had to close recently due to lease issues) and she’s right: The savory fried chicken thighs are always moist and flavorful. On those izakaya “small bites”: Sugidama has a great yakitori menu, my favorites being the silky hotate (scallop in a hot shell with soy sauce and butter) and similarly prepared enoki mushroom (sealed in foil, versus a hot shell) and tsukune (chicken meatball on a skewer, which I always get with the raw quail egg option). (If you want to go light, don’t eat all the rice, though I always do.) The other thing that’s great about the chirashi bowl is that you can dress it anyway you want, such as with soy and wasabi. If you like raw fish, it’s a great, satisfying and healthy meal, something I’m sure I’ll turn to more in the New Year when I resolve to lose those holiday pounds. Pickup at the front counter is pretty seamless, even if there is a dose of organized chaos to it. As far as sushi goes, Sugidama’s freshness and quality is pretty high for the price point, and this to-go bowl travels pretty well. It’s essentially the same, but instead of diced fish, it’s sashimi slices (varying some, but always with salmon and tuna). That’s why for takeout I was thrilled to discover its chirashi donburi offering on the diner menu. I always was a fan of the minibowl and soba lunch specials, especially the Mini Kaisen Don, a rice bowl topped with chunks of tuna, scallop, Scottish salmon, shrimp and red snapper with roe and a side of soba either cold (with a side dipping sauce) or hot (in a bowl). Sugidama has done a decent job of pivoting to adapt to Covid-19 if you’re comfortable with dining out, including a small heat lamp patio on the terrace cutting between Elm and Herbert streets its spare, spacious Japanese-styled interior made for socially distanced dining even before the pandemic. If you’re unfamiliar with the term izakaya, it pretty much means a cafe/bar with snacks Sugidama has a healthy sake selection and plenty of small bites to go with its traditional hot and cold soba dishes, donburi bowls and classic sushi slate. The spare, inviting eatery stands out because of its soba specialty – the classic Japanese buckwheat style noodle, made fresh and in-house. Sugidama, which bills itself as a “traditional izakaya and soba house,” is a hidden gem among Davis Square’s variety of Asian eateries. A weekly notebook about food during the Covid-19 shutdown. Remember, if you’re dining out, doing takeout or getting delivery, the people serving up the food are part of the front line keep it in mind when tipping.