Recreated Edo Period Dishes at Nanko Resthouse
Jan 06,2022
Jan 06,2022
Kokyo Gaien National Garden, located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and adjacent to the Imperial Palace, retains the atmosphere of the former Edo Castle. The Nanko Rest House, situated in a corner of the garden, serves an Edo Eco lunch box that recreates the cuisine of Edo (the former name of Tokyo). The lunch box features a variety of meticulously crafted dishes that use ingredients and seasonings as close as possible to those of the Edo period (1603 to 1868), based on historical documents.
We visited Abe Noriaki, the head chef at the Kokyo Gaien National Garden’s Nanko Rest House, and spoke with him about Edo’s food culture and the ideas behind the Edo Eco lunch box concept.
The Edo period lasted some 260 years starting at the beginning of the 17th century. During this time, many different cultures flourished in the city of Edo, giving rise to a rich array of distinctive foods. The Edo Eco lunch box recreates the tastes of Edo in this era with modern ingredients based on period cookbooks and other documents.
The Nanko Rest House sits across from a statue of Kusunoki Masashige riding a horse located in a square facing the Imperial Palace
“Kokyo Gaien National Garden is managed by the Ministry of the Environment, so we have long been focused on environmental initiatives such as installing food waste processors. At the same time, we were feeling somewhat frustrated because we couldn’t communicate these initiatives very well to our users.
“Edo was a city of one million inhabitants, and it is said to have had a circular economy where its limited resources were recycled and reused to get the greatest benefit from them. This gave us the idea of recreating the tastes of Edo with Edo period eco-friendly cooking methods in this location where the Edo Castle, once stood so more people could enjoy these tastes.”
Chef Abe began developing the recipes for the Edo Eco lunch box in 2009, basing them primarily on cookbooks from the mid and late Edo period. Around 100 such cookbooks still exist, but naturally, they do not include photographs or detailed instructions like modern recipe books. One of Chef Abe’s biggest struggles was the lack of any quantities or measurements.
“The recipes in Edo period cookbooks only listed the ingredients and seasonings, not their quantities. So even if I made the recipes with what I imagined to be the correct amounts, it would be difficult to make truly authentic recreations and they would not be convincing. That’s why I asked Professor Ehara Ayako, an expert on Edo cuisine and professor emeritus at Tokyo Kasei Gakuin University, to oversee the project. It took a whole year, with repeated trials and tastings, to finally complete the recipes for the lunch box.”
The san-no-ju [three-layer] lunch box includes vibrantly colored goshiki-dengaku [grilled tofu with five different colored toppings] and Edo-style tempura
The seasonings used to flavor food in the Edo period are different from what we use today. Chef Abe says that he paid particular attention to the ingredients and seasonings in order to get as close as possible to the flavors of the Edo period.
“Plenty of sugar is used in modern Japanese cuisine, but sugar was not used in cooking in the Edo period because it was as precious a commodity as medicine. When we tried cooking dishes without sugar, it naturally resulted in lower salt content, creating a light, dashi stock-like flavor that brought out the inherent sweetness of the ingredients to a surprising extent. We also discovered that the dietary habits of the Edo period align with what modern people seek in a delicious and healthy meal.
“Dashi stock is essential to Japanese cuisine. In the Edo period, dashi stock was commonly made with small dried sardines, mackerel, and other fish called zatsubushi. Accordingly, we use zatsubushi stock in our miso soup and simmered dishes. We have found that this boosts the umami flavor and the deliciousness. We also carefully select soy sauce and miso made using traditional methods.”
Abe Noriaki, general manager and head chef of the Nanko Rest House
Another distinctive Edo period seasoning is irizake. Irizake is a condiment made by boiling down umeboshi [pickled plums] in saké with salt and shiso leaves. It was widely used before soy sauce became popular. There are many variations of irizake depending on the cookbook or recipe, with some versions featuring dried bonito flakes, soybeans, and salt while others add in kelp broth.
“Today, soy sauce and wasabi are the standard accompaniments for sashimi, but in those days, sashimi was often eaten with irizake. Three seasonings — soy sauce, irizake, and vinegar — and three condiments — wasabi, mustard, and ginger — were used in various combinations depending on the type of sashimi.
“People in the Edo period may have known more about how to innovate and enjoy sashimi than we do today. In our Edo Eco lunch box, the sashimi in the fourth layer is served with homemade irizake and mustard.”
Irizake, a versatile seasoning that can replace soy sauce, is characterized by its wonderful acidity and mellow saltiness
The five basic cooking methods of the Edo period were raw, simmered, grilled, fried, and steamed. However, with time and ingenuity, dishes that are truly astonishing were created with just these methods.
One example is kori [icy] tofu, a dish created during the Edo period by solidifying tofu with agar to create a cooling sensation because ice was precious. Kori tofu was often eaten as a dessert with a brown sugar syrup topping. But for the Edo Eco lunch box, it is served with a vinegared miso sauce for a refreshing taste. Another example is oboro-daikon [fluffy daikon], which is soft steamed daikon radish pureed in a dashi broth, mixed with bracken powder, and kneaded into a paste. The chewy texture and subtle sweetness make it hard to believe it’s a daikon radish dish.
“Edo period dishes feel very novel to us today. Even for me as a chef, Edo period cookbooks are a treasure trove of ideas. Even with familiar ingredients like vegetables and tubers, I’m often surprised by the creative ways they were used. Texture was also prized back then, and menus were composed with both crunchy dishes and crumbly dishes to give the meal interesting variations.
“I arranged the items on each layer of the lunch box with reference to Edo period patterns while being mindful of the five colors — red, blue (green), yellow, white, and black. I envisioned a festive picnic lunch that people would enjoy during outings like cherry blossom viewings or going to the theater in the Edo period.”
Many schoolchildren on field trips and social studies tours visit the Nanko Rest House. Chef Abe says that one reason for developing the Edo Eco lunch box was to give kids the opportunity to enjoy a meal unique to the location — the Imperial Palace — during a school event, which is a place for learning.
“We were worried at the start about whether kids would take to the Edo flavors. But the kids that tried the Edo dishes reacted much more positively than we expected. The biggest surprise was how many kids said the simmered dishes were their favorite.
“This made us realize that there is a big gap between what tastes adults assume kids like and what tastes kids actually find delicious.”
Chopsticks featuring the Imperial chrysanthemum crest and a booklet can be taken home as souvenirs
The Edo Eco lunch box comes with a small booklet explaining each dish and describing daily life in Edo.
“After enjoying your lunch box, be sure to take the booklet with you and think back on Edo cuisine at home. We would be delighted if conversations with your family about the food you ate here turned into a deeper interest in history, food, and the environment.”
Abe is the general manager and head chef at Nanko Rest House in the National Gardens Association’s Kokyo Gaien National Garden. After gaining experience in cooking French and other Western cuisines, he assumed the post of head chef at Nanko Rest House in 2006. He began developing the Edo Eco lunch box in 2009 in partnership with the Eco Cooking Promotion Council and Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. He developed the recipes after revisiting Japanese cuisine from the standpoint of seasonings. The Edo Eco lunch box uses seasonal ingredients from the Tokyo area with carefully selected seasonings to recreate the flavors of Edo, all done by hand.