By Chuck Martin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Tozan Matsuda and his wife, Kimiko in his Evendale food store. (Gary Landers photos) | ZOOM |

Tozan Matsuda sells many Japanese ingredients and foods at his little Tokyo Foods market in Evendale: Pristine scarlet tuna cut for sushi; tiny purple eggplant and jade-green chives; frozen, ready-to-cook potstickers; shelves of noodles, soy sauce, sake, miso and more.

"More than 2,500 items,'' Matsuda pronounces proudly.

But more than any one Japanese food, beverage or condiment, Matsuda will sell you first on "clean.'' He comes in early every morning to sweep and mop. Even the stainless-steel floors of his walk-in freezers, where no customers venture, sparkle.

Health inspectors leave Tokyo Market shaking their heads. They've never seen a store this sanitary.

"No bad smell here,'' Matsuda says, playfully pinching his nose with his fingers.

Give him a minute and he'll point out that his case of frozen shumai dumplings are orderly. The brands and flavors of the short dumplings, stuffed with pork, crab and shrimp, aren't mixed up. He stocks the case, and no doubt checks often to make sure there's no dumpling confusion.

"He's always been like this,'' says his wife, Kimiko, while bagging fresh vegetables in the back of the store.

"Clean" means "quality" to customers, Tozan explains. They expect clean. He delivers.

Mayumi Fukumori of Sycamore Township buys fresh produce at Tokyo Foods. ([name of photographer] photo) | ZOOM |

For more than 15 years, since he opened Tokyo Market squeezed into a strip shopping center on Reading Road, Matsuda has been practicing his extreme clean routine. He and Kimiko moved to Cincinnati in 1976 from Tokyo with their son, Kenji, then 1. They opened a barbecue restaurant in Colerain Township in 1983, but closed it a year later due to slow business.

The Matsudas could have served authentic Japanese food like no other restaurant in town. But they knew that wouldn't work either.

"That was before Americans knew anything about Japanese food,'' Tozan says, sighing. "They didn't like sushi or fish then. Now they do."

American customers up

Their timing in opening Tokyo Foods in 1988 was close to perfect. There were Chinese and Asian markets in Greater Cincinnati, but only one or two small stores specializing in Japanese food. The Matsudas have served a growing Japanese population in the Tristate, employed by General Electric Toyota and other companies. And the number of American customers looking for authentic Japanese ingredients also has increased.

"When we opened, I'd say we had only 3 percent American customers," Tozan says. "Now, it's maybe 30 percent."

The Americans come looking for the freshest tuna, nori (thin sheets of dried seaweed) and other sushi ingredients, organic udon noodles and soy sauce.

Tozan is there, ready to answer questions. Other stores may sell Japanese food, but they don't have Tozan behind the register.

"I don't know anything about Korean food or Indian food," he says. "I know Japanese food.

TOKYO FOODS

Where: 10738 Reading Road, Evendale Hours: 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m.Tuesday-Saturday;noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Browsing the aisles: Japanese ice cream and ices; fresh vegetables, including daikon, cucumbers, chives, shiitake mushrooms and kabocha squash; fresh tuna for sushi, squid salad and fresh pork loin; frozen Japanese fish; udon and other Japanese noodles; miso (a paste of soybeans, salt and fermented grain); pickled plums; roasted seaweed and nori; soy sauce, ponzu sauce and sesame oil; Japanese beer and sake; Japanese movies (on video); toiletries; electric rice cookers, other cooking equipment and utensils.

Tozan and his wife, who live only five minutes from the Evendale store, operate it alone. He stocks the shelves and freezers, and cleans. Kimiko bags the vegetables and cuts and packages the fish.

The market is open every day but Monday, when Tozan spends the morning doing inventory. He grabs a nap Monday afternoon and plays with his dog, Kiko, a bichon frise. The next day, it's back to work.

Because the Matsudas have no employees, they can't often leave for vacation. They see their son, now a 28-year-old electrical engineer living in San Francisco, occasionally on holidays.

Tozan hasn't been back to Tokyo in more than a decade. Kimiko last visited her mother in Japan four years ago.

"But after two days, I already missed Cincinnati," she says. "Tokyo is so big. So busy."

Vegetables flown in

Every Wednesday morning, Tozan battles the traffic to drive to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, where he picks up a shipment of vegetables from California: Tiny Japanese cucumbers; eggplant, about twice as fat as a pencil; small, curly green peppers called shishi-to and daikon radish.

"You've seen daikon in other stores, but not like these," Tozan says, pointing to the pale-colored radishes, nearly as long and as big around as his arm. "True Japanese daikon."

In the back of the store, behind a black curtain printed with red bamboo leaves, Kimiko quickly, efficiently slips the radishes into slender plastic bags and staples them closed. She cuts the frilly green tops off some of the radishes, but leaves them on others.

JAPANESE GLOSSARY

Glossary of Japanese ingredients Daikon: Giant white radish used raw or cooked in Japanese and other Asian cuisines. Dashi: Distinctively flavored fish and seaweed stock used to flavor Japanese dishes. Instant dashi is sold as liquid, ready-to-use powder and granules. Miso: A protein-rich paste made from pureed soybeans and other ingredients used to flavor Japanese soups and other dishes. Available in different types and flavors. Nori: Thin, dried seaweed sheets used as a wrapper for sushi rolls. Also finely shredded and used as a flavoring ingredient. Ponzu sauce: Tangy, citrus-based sauce used as a dip, dressing and marinade. Shumai dumplings: Short Japanese dumplings stuffed with pork, shrimp, crab and other ingredients. Frozen shumai dumplings can be quickly microwaved or steamed. Soba noodles: Made from a mixture of buckwheat and wheat flours, these beige-colored noodles are medium-thick and squared in shape. Served cold with a soy-based dipping sauce or hot in soups. Udon noodles: Thick, usually round, wheat flour noodles served in soups, simmered dishes or cold with dipping sauces. From "The Encyclopedia of Asian Food and Cooking" (Hearst; $25)

"Some people cook the radish tops," she explains. "Japanese use daikon many ways."

She packs the daikon and most other vegetables in plastic to keep it moist. She stacks the bags in a cardboard box.

Then she sweeps the floor.

When the cardboard box is full, Kimiko slides it across the floor to the refrigerator case, where she neatly stacks the daikon next to the cabbage.

She hears the jingle of a bell signaling the arrival of a customer, and runs to the front of the store. Her husband follows.

"Konichiwa (Good afternoon)," he says, greeting the smiling woman who grabs a shopping cart.

Tozan knows most of his Japanese customers when they walk in.

"They live here three to five years before their companies move them," he says.

After his wife leaves and the store is quiet except for the mechanical hum of freezers and coolers, Tozan is glued to the television hanging on a wall behind the register. He watches newscasts, beamed via satellite from Japan. On this afternoon, as it often is now, the news is dominated by the tensions between the United States and Iraq.

"I don't trust the Iraqis," he says. "They are liars."

Like other Americans, Tozan worries about war. He thinks about it when he closes his market that night, and when he mops the floor the next morning.

Recipes

Radish Shreds

1 medium daikon (giant white radish)

Salt, to taste

2 fresh red chiles, seeded and shredded

1/2 cup Japanese rice vinegar

Sesame oil and sugar, to taste

Peel and finely shred daikon. Place in a dish and sprinkle generously with salt. Knead with fingers until radish softens, then rinse well under cold water and drain.

Toss drained daikon with shredded chiles. Mix rice vinegar with sesame oil and sugar to taste. Pour dressing over radish and toss. Cover and allow to sit for 30 minutes.

"The Encyclopedia of Asian Food and Cooking" (Hearst; $25)

Udon with Ginger-Sesame Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup mirin (sweet cooking wine)

1/2 cup bonito flakes

6 tablespoons white sesame seeds, toasted

3 tablespoons sesame seed paste, preferably Japanese

1 tablespoon finely grated ginger

Dried udon noodles (about 3 servings)

1/2 sheet nori (dried seaweed), finely shredded

Combine soy sauce, mirin and 1 cup plus 8 teaspoons water. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and add bonito flakes. When mixture returns to boil, turn off heat. Let mixture stand for 2 minutes. Strain mixture and discard bonito flakes.

Grind sesame seeds in mortar until they appear oily. Add sesame paste and grind some more. Add 5 tablespoons of the soy sauce mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, and mix until smooth. Add all of the remaining broth and the grated ginger and mix well. Cover the sauce and refrigerate until using.

Cook udon noodles in boiling salted water until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir noodles often with spoon or chopsticks to prevent them from sticking together. Drain noodles and rinse well with cold water, rubbing them with your hands until noodles no longer feel sticky. Drain noodles and set aside.

To serve, place cooked cold noodles on trays or plates, garnished with the shredded nori. Serve dipping sauce in bowls on side. Makes about 3 servings.

Adapted from "The Japanese Kitchen" (Harvard Common Press; $29.95)

Japanese-Style Steak with Fried Sweet Potato and Lotus Root

1 pound sirloin steak, trimmed of excess fat and cut in half

Salt and black pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons sake (rice wine)

1/2 cup daikon

1 sweet potato, peeled, sliced thinly and soaked in salt water for 10 minutes (optional)

1 lotus root, sliced thinly, and soaked in 2 cups water and 2 teaspoons vinegar for 15 minutes (optional; see note)

Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

1 to 2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons brandy

2 tablespoons mirin (sweet cooking wine)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 to 1 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper beef on both sides. In a dish, combine sake and grated daikon. Marinate beef in this mixture for 30 minutes. Remove beef and discard marinade. Blot beef dry with paper towel. Set aside.

Drain the sweet potato and lotus root and dry with cloth. In wok or skillet, heat 2 inches of vegetable oil to 320 degrees. Fry vegetables in small batches, until they are slightly golden and crisp. Drain vegetables and sprinkle with salt.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon butter. Add beef and cook until desired doneness. Remove beef and cover with foil.

Pour off excess oil from skillet and add 1/2 cup water and mirin. Deglaze skillet over medium-high heat, rubbing bottom of pan with wooden spoon. Add brandy and light flame to cook away alcohol (or cook brandy for about a minute to remove alcohol). Add soy sauce and 1 tablespoon butter, cook briefly and add sugar.

Remove skillet from heat. Cut beef into bite-sized slices and serve with sauce poured over. Serve fried vegetables on side. Makes 2 servings.

Note: Lotus is a type of water lily. Its root has the crisp texture of potato with a flavor similar to coconut.

Adapted from "The Japanese Kitchen"