Continued from post here.
After leaving Otaru, we drove along the beautiful coastal highway route leading to Shakotan. Located in the western peninsula on Hokkaido’s west coast, the water is pristine, cool in temperature, and rich in nutrients due to the water currents. As a result, the konbu (kelp) here are some of the best in all of Japan, and prized in many kaiseki restaurants. Rich in umami, it is this kelp that the sea urchins feed off of along Shakotan. As a result, the uni here has a taste that is richer and sweeter than sea urchin caught anywhere else. In fact, Shakotan uni is known to set the price in fish markets like Tsukiji and throughout Japan. Unfortunately, the uni fishing season here is very short, only from June to August.
As we drove along the coastal highway from Otaru to Shakotan, we can see first hand this beautiful shoreline and its clear and clean waters. Just by looking at this portion of the Sea of Japan, you can start to understand why the seafood is so good here, with its crystal clear waters.
We made a slight detour to try out uni fished directly from these beautiful waters. Our goal was to stop by Osokujidokoro Misaki, which is a popular restaurant in Shakotan. It is only open during the summer season, from late April to October. The owner is also a fisherman and he is famous for his seafood dishes, so despite this remote restaurant, there is always quite a crowd. The owner catches his own uni during the uni fishing season, so you know you will experience first hand uni from Shakotan.
There are two types of uni harvested off of Shakotan. The longer spine with a dark purple color is called murasaki uni. Its roe is lighter with a yellow cream color and it has a sweeter taste. The other uni is called bafun uni. It is rarer here and has short, tightly packed spines. Its roe is more of a bright orange in color and it has a richer taste.
We arrived at Misaki by around 3pm (near closing) in the afternoon. Unfortunately, by this time only the murasaki uni-don is left. The staff mentioned that the bafun uni bowl sells out before the afternoon and it is best to come in the morning if you want to try the two types side by side.
We ordered the murasaki uni-don set. The bowl of rice that came was generously topped with the creamy yellow roe of the urchin. It came with a miso soup and tsukemono. When my wife and I had our first bite, we could not help look at each other with huge eyes. We love uni, but this was special. The taste had zero iodine taste, and was so buttery and with a taste sweeter than any other uni we have had. Truly hard to describe the difference, as it’s just a clean and pure taste of the briny sweetness. Best uni ever.
Our older two children ordered the uni, ikura, and kani bowl. They also loved their late lunch. The ikura in particular was plump and sweeter than what we normally have in the states . Your younger two do not like uni, so they had the kani and ikura don.
After our big lunch, our next stop was a hiking trip along Cape Kamui to walk off all the food we ate.
Restaurant Information:
Osyokujidokoro Misaki (お食事処 みさき)
北海道 積丹郡積丹町日司町236番地
236 Hizukachō, Shakotan-chō, Shakotan-gun, Hokkaidō 046-0326
Telephone: +81-135-45-6547
Hours: 9:45 ~ 16:00 (Last order 15:45)
Opens only End April to October – and if you can read Japanese, you can find out what stock they have available at their website.
http://osyokujidokoromisaki.com/