OF ALL THE DISHES a restaurant critic is liable to get excited about, shrimp salad sure doesn’t seem a likely candidate. Yet ever since my first bite of the ebi sudachi at Tanuki, a tiny Japanese restaurant and bar tucked away near NW 21st Avenue and Flanders Street, my tastebuds have been forever altered for the better. Imagine cold, sweet, tiny bay shrimp (ebi) that have been seasoned with sudachi, a small, round, green citrus fruit that’s rarely seen outside of Japan and that’s more aromatic and piquant than the lemon or lime we’re used to. The shrimp is pickled for six hours in a mashed mixture of sudachi peels, shallot, garlic, a house-blended soy sauce, and a sprinkling of shiso, mint, and coriander. Bite into a forkful of shrimp and you’re privy to a cool, summery combination of salty, sweet, sour, spicy, and savory that’s downright addictive. (During one meal, I told my dining companion that I could feel the flavors actually shifting my brain chemistry as I ate.) Portland Monthly – Read More>
