By Caroline Benveniste
Formerly, Greenwich Village residents seeking Japanese groceries would travel to the East Village or Soho. But now on 6th Avenue between 12th and 13th is a small store with a bright orange flag announcing: “Japanese Deli + Grocery dainobu”.
Unlike some of the other stores I have written about, this store is new, but like many of the other stores, it has a long history. Dainobu, with two large stores in Japan, was started 100 years ago by Kenichi Dainobu. Twenty years ago, Yasuyuki Dainobu, who was quite young at the time, visited New York City and started thinking about opening a store here. Twelve years later, leaving his three brothers and one sister in Japan, he returned to New York and soon opened a store on East 47th Street. Since then, he has opened two more stores, one on West 56th, and a year ago, the Village store.
While the space looks small from the outside, the website claims that it carries approximately 3,000 items, and once you step inside, it is not hard to believe: every square foot is crammed with merchandise, and since it is often crowded it can be hard to negotiate the narrow aisles. Some liken it to a conbini (a sort of Japanese bodega).
Bento boxes and other prepared foods comprise 40% of sales. Many of these are made in a kitchen in the back where there are at least 8 cooks working. In front of the kitchen is a steam table with hot food offerings, mostly udon and soba, plus dishes over rice. Dumplings, noodles and other foods, some meant to be reheated, are displayed in a cooler in the front. There is a counter, a few stools and microwaves for those who wish to eat their food immediately, but if you can wait, many of the items, such as the dumplings, are better when pan-fried. Excellent rice balls are packaged ingeniously so the seaweed does not get soggy. It takes a bit of practice to open them; you have to pull a tab which splits the packaging in two, and then pull simultaneously on the two ends. If all goes well the plastic will come off and the seaweed will wrap itself around the rice. The best ones are the spicy tuna and kombu (seaweed).
Grocery items make up another 50% of sales. There is fresh fish for sushi and sashimi, and a small but well-curated vegetable section with unusual mushrooms, shiso leaves and yuzu (a Japanese citrus). There is also a display with numerous miso and tofu options, as well as fresh ramen from Sun Noodles, the manufacturer of noodles for all the finest ramen restaurants in the US. The ramen kits come with a seasoning packet, and you can find all the other ingredients in the store to make a first-rate soup. Also in the display is Shio Koji, aka the Magic Marinade, which has recently become a very hot item with chefs and home cooks. To make it, salt is mixed with water, rice and the fungus aspergillus oryzae and allowed to ferment. Mitsu, the store manager, recommends it as a marinade for chicken and fish, and grilled chicken that I prepared with it was delicious.
The remaining 10% of sales are Japanese cooking staples and other non-perishables including toiletries and cosmetics. There is the usual selection of snacks, both sweet (think “Hello Panda” and Pocky) and savory (rice and other crackers). There is an endless display of shoyu, soy sauce and tamari (for the gluten-phobic), ponzu, sesame oil, togarashi (red pepper mix) and many other seasonings.
Skip the packaged desserts and choose instead the fresh cream puffs. If you arrive at the right time you can see someone filling them with vanilla, green tea and chocolate cream.
The Dainobu space used to house a Jamba Juice, and then a 16 Handles. This store, much busier and less faddish than its predecessors is likely to last much longer.
Tuna Poke
Poke, a Hawaiian raw fish salad has recently gained popularity on the mainland. Dainobu sells a few varieties and calls them “The Surfer’s Sashimi”. Buy theirs or make your own with ingredients you can find at the store.
*Tuna for sashimi
*Sesame oil
*Yuzu juice (fresh squeezed or bottled)
*Sesame seeds
*Scallions
*Ginger (fresh, pressed in a garlic press or bottled)
*Shoyu
*Shiso leaves or cilantro, minced
*Togarashi (red pepper seasoning)
Minced hot pepper, jalapeno or bird’s eye chili (optional)
Avocado, diced (optional)
*Sushi rice
*Nori sheets
*Wakame (seaweed) salad
Cook rice. Cut tuna into medium-large dice. Combine all ingredients except rice, wakame and nori. Julienne the nori and sprinkle on top just before eating. Serve with rice and wakame salad on the side.
(*starred items are available at Dainobu)
