Sukiyaki Kappo Kitsune

Nara is known for its historic streets, castles and temples, and overall possesses an image of being one of Japan’s cultural and historic strongholds. This makes it all the more surprising that just a seven-minute walk from Kintetsu-Nara Station, tucked away in a back alley, one restaurant — Sukiyaki Kappo Kitsune — is reinventing one of Japan’s most enduring culinary icons: sukiyaki. Dating back to the Meiji Era, sukiyaki remains one of Japan’s most enduring culinary icons, a hotpot dish of thinly sliced beef, chrysanthemum greens, tofu and green onions simmered in a broth of soy sauce, sugar and sake. While the preparation method remains much the same at Kitsune, the restaurant offers three different dips in which to enjoy the hotpot. Guests have a choice of dipping their sukiyaki in an “odorless” egg from Nasu Farm in Kumamoto Prefecture, in an egg mixed with shichimi seven-spice mix from spice maker Yamatsu Tsujita, and finally in the restaurant’s original sauce with seasonal ingredients. By constantly changing up the dips in which the sukiyaki is immersed, Kitsune hopes that each bite will remain fresh and novel, letting guests discover new dimensions in each mouthful, all the way to the last drop of broth. Kitsune also takes particular pride in the ingredients it uses, showcasing local ingredients unique to the Nara locality to give diners a taste of the prefecture’s beauty. The beef used, Yamato Ushi, is Nara’s special brand of Japanese kuroge wagyu black beef, while locally-made rice syrup is used to sweeten the sukiyaki broth. But even with its focus on local ingredients, Kitsune is still a sio group restaurant, meaning that it, too, is hallmarked by culinary innovation. Sure enough, European influence also permeates the menu offerings, with the appetizers and desserts taking a leaf out of French culinary tradition. It’s this unique proposition — witnessing and tasting the evolution of the sukiyaki tradition, even as it stays true to its roots — that can be enjoyed only at Kitsune, and nowhere else.