Early Autumn in Seattle: Migaku’s September Sushi Kaiseki

September changes the light in Seattle. Mornings arrive cooler and a little later, the harbor air carries the first edge of autumn, and the markets begin their quiet turn — late-summer grapes beside the first cold-water fish of fall. For a few weeks, summer’s abundance and autumn’s depth share the same table.

For Chef Migaku Inaba — recipient of Japan’s Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Award — that turning point is an invitation. Each month, he rewrites the Sushi Kaiseki course around what the season offers, and September hands him one of the year’s most generous palettes.

This month, the course opens with a jewel box of the sea served in a polished abalone shell and closes with A5 Wagyu tenderloin — with sashimi, a fisherman’s broth, old-fashioned chawanmushi, and nine pieces of nigiri in between. Here is the September Sushi Kaiseki, course by course.

The evening opens in a single vessel. An abalone shell arrives layered like a jewel box, the treasures of the sea set side by side:

Ocean Jewel Box in an Abalone Shell

— Bluefin tuna toro and Hokkaido scallop.
— Botan shrimp, ikura, and Hokkaido uni.
— Takuan, tobiko, and shiraga negi, drawn together with kimi-joyu, a rich egg-yolk soy sauce.
— Fresh wasabi and shiso to finish.

September’s Sushi Kaiseki adds a dedicated sashimi course: two fish, presented with restraint.

Fresh Bluefin Tuna (Hon-maguro)

— Never frozen, its flavor round and clean.

Kue (Longtooth Grouper)

— Among Japan’s most prized fish and rarely seen on American menus; firm and faintly sweet, it only deepens as the water cools.

Ara-jiru of the Day’s Catch

A bowl of ara-jiru follows — a broth drawn patiently from the frames and collars of the day’s assorted fish, the kind of cooking that wastes nothing and concentrates everything. Naga negi, the sweet Japanese long onion, rounds out the bowl.

Old-Fashioned Chawanmushi

Chef Inaba’s chawanmushi this month is the classic, old-fashioned kind: silken egg custard set gently over steam, hiding shrimp, chicken, ginkgo nut, and shiitake, with mitsuba for fragrance and a goji berry to crown it. In Japan, the first ginkgo nuts are one of autumn’s quiet announcements.

At the heart of the Sushi Kaiseki Course, Chef Inaba shapes nine pieces one by one at the counter, served from right to left in his chosen order:

Hon-maguro Otoro (Bluefin Tuna Belly)

— The richest cut of bluefin, marbled and slow to melt.

Kue (Longtooth Grouper)

— Firm and faintly sweet, prized in Japan and seldom seen here.

Kamasu (Barracuda)

— One of Japan’s defining autumn fish, its flesh growing richer as the weather turns.

King Salmon

— Silken and full in flavor.

Shibudai (Snapper)

— Treasured in southern Japan, where it seldom travels far beyond home waters.

Hotate (Scallop)

— Sweet and faintly of the sea.

Hon-maguro Akami (Lean Bluefin)

— Lean and clean, the quiet counterpoint to the otoro.

Ma-aji (Horse Mackerel)

— Bright and savory, at its best as the season turns.

Botan Shrimp

— Sweet and tender.

The selection shifts with each day’s catch. In early autumn it moves between the lean and the rich, from silken otoro to the sweet snap of botan shrimp.

A5 Wagyu Tenderloin Steak

After the nigiri comes the warmest note of the evening: A5 Wagyu tenderloin — the most delicate cut of the most richly marbled grade — with cherry tomatoes and shishito peppers, finished in Chaliapin sauce. Built on slow-cooked onion and created in a Tokyo hotel kitchen nearly a century ago, the sauce lends the beef a gentle, savory sweetness that suits the season.

The evening closes cool and bright:

Fruit in White Wine Gelée

— Strawberry, muscat grape, and mandarin.

Vanilla Ice Cream

— A cool, simple finish.

Migaku’s September Sushi Kaiseki Course is served for a limited season at the counter in Seattle, with two seatings each evening, at 5:00 and 7:30. Seating is intimate and each course is prepared to order, so the experience rewards an unhurried evening.

Reservations are available exclusively through OpenTable. For the most intimate expression of Chef Inaba’s cooking, the Chef’s Choice Kaiseki seats just six guests at the sushi counter each evening at 7:30 pm, by prepaid reservation. However you choose to join us, we look forward to welcoming you to Migaku this September.