Kousan no Ie (黄さんの家), a great Chinese restaurant in Hiroshima

[E Eto]

When I reflect on the more memorable meals I had on my recent trip to Japan, I can't stop thinking about two Chinese meals I had in Hiroshima and another in Yanai, in Yamaguchi prefecture. And while I hadn’t planned on eating Chinese food while I was in Japan, my relatives were eager to bring me to their favorite local Chinese places. While the restaurant in Yanai was quite good, the one in Hiroshima, called Kousan no Ie (黄さんの家) in the Hakushima district, just north of the central Hiroshima, was some of the best Chinese food I’ve had anywhere. And that includes the meal I had couple days before I left NY for Japan, at Little Pepper in Flushing, Queens, one of the better Szechwan restaurants in NYC. But that comparison might be unwarranted as these might be considered different category of Chinese cuisine.

In Japan, Chinese food (or chukka-ryori) seems to hold a different status than it does in the US. For many Japanese, Chinese food is meant to be extravagant and celebratory, with the price tags to match. With centuries of cross-pollination and cultural contact, Chinese cooking is well respected, on the same level with those of France and Italy, for instance. China is as popular a culinary destination for chefs in training as are France, Italy or Spain. Take a look at the ranking for the best chinese restaurants in Tokyo through a restaurant finder like Tabelog. While the prices vary to a degree, it's very easy to spend 10-20,000 yen ($100-$200) or more per person on a Chinese dinner. From what I've seen on various Japanese TV food programs, it does seem that a lot of the cooking talent in these Chinese restaurants is coming from the upper tiers of China's culinary community. This is not to deny the existence of a Japanese style Chinese cuisine, or wafu-chuka. Typical dishes tend to be things like subuta (sweet and sour pork, but very different from the American style stuff), ebi-chiri (shrimp in chili sauce), mabo-tofu, kani-tama, hoikoro (twice cooked pork), chinjao rosu (beef with peppers), etc. on the one hand, and then there are the Chinese (or Chinese-influenced) dishes that are now at home as a part of the standard cuisine of Japan, like ramen, gyoza, or nikuman. It’s just as reasonable to think that Chinese food has found another region to call home in Japan.

In the US, Chinese food is one of the staples of the cheapest food, using some of the cheapest ingredients, and unfortunately, some of the cheapest labor. Yet in the US, it is the most popular food, with more Chinese food outlets than all the fast food chains combined (learned this from Fortune Cookie Chronicles, by Jennifer 8 Lee). The flipside of the US scene are the pockets of Chinese communities where the native regional cuisines of China flourishes for locals who seek a taste of home. Luckily for me, Flushing Queens is a minor trek (or the San Gabriel Valley when I’m visiting my folks in LA), providing me access to some wonderful regional Chinese choices. Japan lacks these large immigrant communities, but makes up the difference with the use of great ingredients, and the dedication to the craft of Chinese cuisine.

So back to Kousan no Ie. Kousan no Ie is a modest restaurant, run by a first generation Taiwanese chef, who has succeeded in providing locals good quality and value. When I was first made aware of Kousan no Ie, I did a little research and while the overall feedback online and in publications was very good, the one dish that called out to me was their mabo-tantanmen. Tantanmen in Japan is derived from Szechwan style dan dan mien, but developed a twist as it melded with Japanese ramen, and toned down a bit with the spice. The result in the better tantanmen shops is a broth that has a thick sesame base, and spiced with a flavorful, but not scorching, chili oil. The tantanmen by itself at Kousan no Ie looks like a sexy dark grey sludge. But that wasn’t enough. The addition of a good mabo tofu with a good authentic ma la kick is the exclamation point. I enjoyed the mala spice of the mabo tofu, and also appreciated the restraint with it to allow the broth and noodles to be the star in the bowl. This ramen by itself probably deserves a visit from ramen-heads.

But that wasn’t all. My relatives all got different items, including the reasonable lunch courses, and the plain chuka-soba (ramen). The “ladies” lunch set is pretty popular and a bargain at 1200 yen, including a nice delicate soup, a dumpling tasting course, a sampling of appetizers (piitan aka hundred-year-old-egg, marinated jellyfish, some poached chicken, and a shrimp salad), a daily entrée (ebi chiri), fried rice, and a dessert. I was especially impressed with the sense of balance in these courses. Along with the deep fried and steamed textures of the dumplings, there were also other flavors and textures at work with the refreshing (yes, refreshing) hundred-year-old egg, the crunchiness of the jellyfish, the creaminess of the mayonnaise in the shrimp, and the lightness of the poached chicken. The piece de resistance was the ebi-chiri, and it was masterfully cooked to perfect texture with a velvety and well-flavored sauce (perhaps aided with either crab meat or perfectly textured egg… not sure). The variety of flavors in the entire set were all complimentary. There wasn’t a weak link at all. And I appreciated the size of the portions. I didn’t get a chance to really sample the chuka-soba, but it is a favorite among the family.

Then there were the desserts. I am a big fan of almond pudding (annin tofu), and can’t resist an order at Chinese restaurants, but lately, I’ve been having bad luck with this fairly ubiquitous dessert, getting a bunch of duds in some of the more popular places in NYC (the better ones I’ve had in the US were in LA). So it was with great delight that I found a wonderful version at Kousan no Ie. But while I was enjoying the almond pudding, someone ordered the blanc manger (not a typical Chinese dessert), and it stole the show. It was given a little Japanese twist with a sprinkling of kinako, and a shot of kokuto syrup. I had to pass this down to the other side of the table so I didn’t finish both desserts.

My relatives were very happy that I was satisfied with the meal. Satisfied is the least of it though. I can’t wait to go back to Kousan no Ie on my next trip to Hiroshima, which can’t come soon enough.

Mabo-tantanmen: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4015/4324631954_658e218ae5_o.jpg
Fried rice: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/4323896269_2eb1a575df_o.jpg
Ebi-chiri (shrimp in chili sauce): http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4324631822_145996fbcc_o.jpg
Appetizer plate: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4323896167_9736de9380_o.jpg
Dumpling course: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2790/4323896493_865f99f753_o.jpg
Desserts (blanc manger and almond pudding): http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2698/4323896553_32accff505_o.jpg

Kousan no Ie website: http://www.kosannoie.com/
Another site with some photos: http://ggyao.usen.com/0004050540/

[K K]

Very very cool, thanks for sharing!

It is interesting to see regional variants of Japanese style Chinese (if this is even the correct term to use), as it seems to be different in the more touristy pricey places in say, Yokohama Chinatown (which many shops at least back in 1999 look like they were trying to upsell very coarsely done dim sum but with a more Northern slant), or Nanking Machi in Kobe Chinatown that has a very well known place selling steamed buns with fillings (a la butaman or baozi) that looks even better than most US Chinatown bakeries.

This also partly explains why many Japanese expats in my neighborhood don't seem to be terribly fond of local Cantonese food (unless it is dim sum), but can easily associate with Shanghainese, Sichuan, and Northern style cooking.

[Silverjay]

I think Cantonese is the most appealing to Japanese with focus on seafood, rice, vegetables, and more steaming. Both Shanghaiese and Sichuan cuisines are considered too oily. I traveled to Shanghai with Japanese friends once and while we enjoyed the food, we all had major stomach issues from the oil. And authentic Sichuan food is out of the question, no way. Maybe only the young generation....It's true though that many Northern style dishes are popular, having a fairly long historical tradition based on Japanese army vets bringing back tastes from their "adventures" in Manchuria late 19th century.

[E Eto]

If you go to most historic "little Italy" (read touristy) sections of major American cities, you probably won't find the best or even "authentic" Italian food that city would offer. I speak mostly in reference to NYC. Mostly because the food in these sections are based on an old template that took hold decades ago first for the local Italian immigrants then adapted for local tastes (of that time). It doesn't seem too different for the Chinatowns in Japan. But as the public has grown to appreciate "authentic" regional Chinese (or in my example, Italian) cuisine, and with entrepreneurial Chinese (and Italian) chefs opening restaurants away from those commercial centers reliant on the old template to please the locals, there's a greater chance to find some good cooking going on. And Kousan no Ie, I think, is a good example of this.

[Silverjay]

Did the ebi-chili sauce have ketchup in it? Many Wafu-chuka places do this and I find it kind of annoying. But I kind of assumed it's a Japanese guy's shortcut when making the dish. I'm wondering if the Taiwanese chef did it differently....

[E Eto]

I didn't detect ketchup. Might have been there, but it certainly wasn't obvious. What I did detect was a really nice rich texture in the sauce, which is why I suspected egg or crab (or crab innards) to give it that extra oomph. And to respond to another point you made upthread, I think what especially appeals to the locals with regard to Kousan no Ie is that the flavors are very clean, without that spicy oily challenge that a lot of authentic Chinese cuisine presents for Japanese stomachs. That said, there's just enough of that spicy, oily stuff to make it interesting.

I also had ebi-chiri at a Chinese place in Yamaguchi, and that was also very good, non-ketchupy. It was another example of a first generation Chinese owner/chef operating a small, fairly authentic restaurant. I didn't write about it much since it was completely outclassed by my meal at Kousan no Ie.

[exilekiss]

Hi E Eto,

Great, informative post and review. Thanks. :) I totally agree with what you said about the disparity between Chinese cuisine in the States vs. Japan. I remember passing by a Chinese restaurant near Mori Tower and being floored by the prices posted on their menu outside.

A friend of a friend of mine (who's from Hong Kong) reported back to us that they were taken to 2 dinners at Chinese restaurants in Tokyo (by the Japanese company they were doing business with), and without any Shark Fin soup, it ran about U.S. $250 per person. And my friend's friend's comment was that it was nicely executed dishes, but it would've cost about 50% of the price in Hong Kong.

Kousan no Ie definitely looks like Chinese food prepared and presented with class and dignity compared to the more ubiquitous "value" and "cheaper is better" found in many Chinese restaurants in So Cal. Thanks for sharing. :)