Kikunoi Honten 3 ★ ★ 4.9
The defining three-Michelin-star kaiseki room in Kyoto. Third-generation Yoshihiro Murata runs Kikunoi Honten, a 1912 ryotei below Kodaiji. Priced at ¥¥¥¥.
Signature: Kaiseki, Hamo, Ayu
History
Hamo arrives in Kyoto from June to August across the Awaji Strait. The fish has hundreds of tiny bones, so Kyoto chefs developed honegiri, a slicing technique that cuts each fillet at millimetre intervals without severing the skin. The bones soften when quick-poached; the flesh flowers open like a chrysanthemum. The dish became the summer marker of Gion Matsuri, served at every ryotei in July alongside ume-su plum vinegar. Hyotei and Kikunoi serve the canonical version.
Common allergens: Fish
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 400g pike conger eel (hamo) or substitute with conger eel from a Japanese fish market
- 1 tablespoon umeboshi pickled plum paste
- 60ml rice vinegar, 30ml mirin, 15ml light soy
- 1 strip kombu kelp
- Sliced cucumber, myoga ginger and shiso leaves to serve
Method
- If using whole eel, ask the fishmonger to honegiri-slice the fillet: 1mm cuts along the length without severing the skin.
- Make a kombu dashi by cold-soaking kombu in 600ml water for 30 minutes; bring to 80C and strain.
- Combine umeboshi paste, vinegar, mirin and soy for the ume-su dipping sauce.
- Bring the dashi to a gentle simmer in a wide pan.
- Drop the hamo fillets in pieces; they will curl and flower open within 30 seconds. Lift immediately with a slotted spoon and shock in iced water for 10 seconds.
- Plate the bloomed hamo on a bed of cucumber and shiso; spoon ume-su over and serve with myoga slices.
Tip from the editors. Honegiri is the entire dish. If your fish supplier can't do the bone-cutting, choose a different fish; the technique is what makes hamo edible.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat hamo
Hamo in Kyoto
Hyotei 3 ★ ★ 4.9
An Edo-era teahouse at the gate of Nanzen-ji in Kyoto, restyled as a ryotei in 1837. Located in Northern Higashiyama. Led by chef Yoshihiro Takahashi.
Signature: Morning gruel, Hyotei tamago, Hassun
Gion Sasaki 3 ★ ★ 4.8
Hiroshi Sasaki runs a teacher-and-apprentice kitchen on Komatsu-cho. Counter seats deliver a 12-course kaiseki with a freer hand than the old ryotei.
Signature: Kaiseki, Crab, Charcoal-grilled wagyu
More cities are in research. Want hamo covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.