In search of... Matsutake Dobin Mushi (before the season ends)

[J.L.]

Hi all,

Mrs. J.L. & I love this time of year, when matsutake mushrooms start appearing on menus throughout this great city of ours.

Where can we find some good matsutake dobin mushi?

As always... Thanks in advance!

[ldodb]

Go's Mart in Canoga Park was offering Matsutake Mushroom Tempura when I was there 2 weeks ago.

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Go's Mart
22330 Sherman Way # C12, Canoga Park, CA

[antonis]

Just had a wonderful MDM at Jinpachi
http://tinyurl.com/yzrgnle

Taka-san has his own tweak (no ginnan for example) with lots of the precious 'take and a broth to die for.

Standard caveat - call ahead if you absolutely want to make sure it's available when you go.

For the matsutake junkies among us ... yeah, buy them fresh and make even the simplest of dishes at home (toaster-oven mushiyaki? matsutake gohan?) to get that devine hit. Otherwise the price tag for the season can be astronomical (though always worth it). Pick the smaller ones and tear them apart by hand...

[tissue]

Sushi Murasaki in Santa has this. It was wonderful. They also have other dishes like matsutake chawanmushi but i didn't try it.

[Hailyn]

If you'd like to prepare the matsutake yourself, the Little Tokyo Marketplace supermarket (formerly Mitsuwa) at Alamed and Third, carries fresh matsutake right now, packaged charmingly with pine needles. I was there this past week and there was a huge supply of them.

[J.L.]

Been there, done that. Thanks though!

Just made my 3rd batch of MDB for this season tonight - The mushroom flavor is not as intense as the first crop of the season (which is to be expected), but it's still holding up nicely.

[Jerome]

su;shi kiyono sometimeshas it as does the izakay place, izayoi. kiyono is in beverly hills, izayoi on central near 1st st. downtown.

[JudiAU]

I had it at Hirozen a few nights ago. Sometimes he has fresh yuzu but this time it was lime. Lovely,

Greedy toddler JudiAU ate most of it.

[J.L.]

The lad is developing a taste for the finer things in life, I see... :D

[JudiAU]

Seriously, the kid can eat.

We ran out of FM's fruit this week and lamely tried to substitute from Whole Foods. He was really unimpressed.

[J.L.]

Whole Foods fruits? Ick. Go for the pesticide laden (and then washed off) 99 Ranch market fruit.

Went to Place Yuu (again) tonight - Wow, what a matsutake dobin mushi they have!

[Servorg]

"Went to Place Yuu (again) tonight - Wow, what a matsutake dobin mushi they have!"

Glad my suggestion worked out for you... ;-D>

[exilekiss]

Hi J.L.,

Very nice. :) Do you know where the Matsutake you had were from? Thanks.

[J.L.]

Hey exile, I recall Mori-san at Place Yuu saying that the matsutake he serves comes from British Columbia. We've been enjoying Mori-san's matsutake dobin mushi (let me call it MDB, for sake of ease) each year for over 5 years, and the quality is consistently good. They don't skimp on the mushroom there. AND if Mori-san has yuzu, he'll serve a slice of yuzu (instead of lime) with the MDB, which makes a big difference, IMHO.

I just had the MDB at Thousand Cranes in the Kyoto Grand Hotel last week - Not so good. You can barely taste the mushroom's distinctive flavor, and Thousand Crane's broth doesn't bring out the flavor of the matsutake like Place Yuu's.

If I'm ever in Japan during matsutake season, I'd like to compare & contrast it with the Japanese matsutake (though they are in essence the same species)

[exilekiss]

Hi J.L.,

Thanks for the info. Definitely give Matsutake from Japan a try when you get a chance. They are *incredible*... the aromas and depth of fragrance from there are something I've yet to replicate here in the States. I wonder if Mori Sushi gets in Matsutake Mushrooms from Japan when it's in season? Maybe Porthos would know.

[Porthos]

Last season, both Mori and Providence started serving matsutake from Mexico in August (a bit early).

I don't know where Mori is getting his this season or if he changes sources as season progresses. Mori always serves his version with fresh yuzu.

[Porthos]

Had matsutake dobinmushi tonight at Mori. He's getting them from Oregon this year. Delicious.

[J.L.]

Still in season?!

[Porthos]

Had them last night :)

[Porthos]

I usually go to Mori or Kiriko for matsutake dobin mushi. Thanks for the reminder!

[exilekiss]

Hi J.L.,

Wow, this season has been a blur... I usually love to try some Matsutake (even have an internal clock on this :), but I totally forgot this year with everything going on recently. From Porthos' nice reports I'm guessing Mori-san would have Matsutake Dobin Mushi (unless he's out already).

If you find some good versions this year, please let us know. Thanks. :)

[J.L.]

I'll go try Kiriko's soon... will report back.

[Servorg]

Place Yuu on Sawtelle would be a good place to start your quest (at the far north end of the little one story mini mall that contains Hurry Curry, Manpuku, 2117, Little Hong Kong and the Blue Marlin, et al.).

2101 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
[phone]

[J.L.]

Yes, I forgot to mention...

Place Yuu is our go-to place for an excellent matsutake dobin mushi. I think Mrs. J.L. & I are putting owner/chef Mori-san's (no relation to Mori-san at Sushi Mori) daughter through law school. :-)