The idea was to create a new way of serving matsutake dishes. This time, we are proposing a dish of autumn red leaf sea bream, matsutake mushrooms, and dried kelp. Many restaurants order ingredients directly from the local area, but we wanted to create a dish that would set us apart from other restaurants by combining seasonal red leaf sea bream with the aroma of matsutake mushrooms and cedar.
The kelp scent became too strong after a whole day of  marinating, so we ended up with 6 hours. Himalayan matsutake mushrooms have the advantage of being less likely to be eaten by insects due to their high altitude, and can be used with less waste. In addition, their smell and shape are similar to domestic matsutake mushrooms, so we used them at the restaurant where I used to work. Matsutake mushrooms are marinated together with sea bream, but washing them in hot water makes them soft and improves the texture, and since they are stored together with raw fish for a long time, it also sterilizes them. Kombu marinating causes the konbu to bend, but we wanted to serve the fish with the konbu still in place, so we held it down with a cedar board. We use cedar boards that are individually made by craftsmen in Kiso County, Nagano Prefecture, and the smell, color, and luster are better than commercially available products.