Sushi Sawada – Sublime Sushi

I’m not quite sure if I can describe it. I have no pictures and no proper words. The best way I can think of saying it is - Mind blowing sushi.

The sushi counter is an immaculate single piece of wood that sits only six and behind the counter stands Sawada with his stunning knives, his ice box refrigerator where he ages his fish, a small charcoal burner and also a clock that is 30 minutes too fast (we found out this was to ensure his alcohol enriched guest don’t miss the last train home).

For the few hours at the sushi counter, it is an opportunity to connect with Chef Sawada and for him to demonstrate his skill and passion. The meal is an eye opening experience and these are some of the things that I learnt ...
- My idea of “freshness” was turned upside down. For me fresh always meant – this fish was caught earlier today/ we bought this at the market today/ this just came off the boat – and fresh was always best, but here old is gold and the aging process of the fish is a very large part of making exceptional sushi here because the texture and flavor improves.
- Aburi sushi should always be done the traditional way for the best result. Here at Sawada, he does this by holding a piece of bincho charcoal over the fish for the skin the crisp and the oils to develop. This sounds like a really DUH statement to make but up till then, all the aburi sushi I’ve had have been done aburi-ed with a blowtorch which have always left a lick of butane flavour, in contrast, Sawada does this by holding white hot bincho charcoal which produces a pristine tasting piece of sushi.

This is the rundown of what we had ...
Sashimi
Hirame
Engawa
Chu toro

Squid and abalone with uni (squid aged 10 days)
Aburi saba (aged 2 days)
Aburi toro (aged 2 weeks)
Barracuda maki
Steamed seasonal kisu white bait
Smoked buri o-toro – bacon of the sea
Otoro (aged 5 days)

Nigiri Sushi
Sayori
Mirugai
Steamed Kumura ebi
Akami maguro
Chu-otoro
O-toro (aged 2 weeks)
Aburi o-toro (aged 2 weeks)
Spring Katsuo with smoked rice
Ika
Hokkaido bafun uni (uni ice cream as Sawada jokingly described)
Anago with yuzu salt
Saba
Tamago

Gooseberries to end

Eating here is a very beautiful experience. Sushi Sawada is small and intimate and everything is personal - the napkins that are painted by his wife, the fish that is hand-picked, broken down and carefully aged and the whole meal service is done with so much grace, humility and humour that nowhere else that I have dined at comes close to this experience.

Simply sublime sushi, thank you Sawada-san!

Sushi Sawada
MC building, 3F
5-9-19 Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tokyo

Xenri No Tsuki

My past two visits to Hong Kong have been rushed. I’m in and out of the city in about 36 hours and with only that amount of time, so much to do, a couple of people to catch up with and loads to eat, planning and multitasking is important. The best way to do it, is to share a great meal with the people you want to see, that way the warm comforts of familiar company and conversations helps to season the whole meal.

One of the first things that come to mind when I think about going to Hong Kong is Kau Kee’s beef brisket noodles and seriously the last thing on my mind is Japanese cuisine. But when an offer of two local foodies was made to bring us to their regular sushi place, I couldn’t say no, and it’s been a long time since I had sushi.

I hadn’t realised how long I hadn’t sat at the sushi counter until the night before my flight and I was lying in bed and muttering to myself, “oh man, I can’t wait to get to lunch, I can’t wait to eat sushi” and with those wonderful thoughts, I eventually drifted off to sleep, woke up in a daze, got myself to the airport in the wee hours of the morning and I made it to lunch.

Lunch got off to a late start. There was some mix up in our reservation, the chef thought we were coming for dinner and so was terribly surprised and embarrassed when the four of us turned up and the sushi counter was full. So instead the four of us sat tight in a corner with a bottle of sake and waited for the seats at the counter the open up. Sake, not a bad way to start a holiday and as S puts it, “having sake in the middle of the day is so decadent but I love it!” I love it too but it is a terrible combination with hunger and travel exhaustion.

C-jie, when she invited us told us that this is her regular joint - they have loads of fresh fish and the chef is not Japanese. Chef Andy Li, the man behind the counter, sure he isn’t Japanese, he is a local Hong Kong boy and he explained to us his cuisine, Japanese technique but tuned a little to the local Hong Kong palate. Well, I’ve no problem with that. We are finally seated sushi counter and I’m really ready to eat. So to quote Kaga Takashi, “a la cuisine” (I’m neither French nor Japanese).



We started off with what I shall term as the cold and creamy courses. Shirako, Cod milt or bluntly put cod sperm followed by akimono, monkfish liver and lastly oysters. The Shirako that we had was just coming into season but this was the best I’ve ever had. It looks twisty and brainy but when cooked perfectly brings out the creamy custard like texture, we had it cold and lightly seasoned, this forgave the wait for the seats at the counter in an instant. Following that we had akimono, another cold creamy dish but rich and fattier and more luxuriant topped off with ikura. Splendid start!

Following that we had focused plates of sashimi that showcased beautiful presentation, technique and freshness.



Chef Andy’s personal and latest creation that he was testing on us, a oshizushi, box sushi of Aji, sesame seasoned sushi rice, konbu and topped with truffle, was well-balanced, creative and delicious.



Amaebi served in its sauce made from its own head juices. Head to tail eating, prepared simply with the focus of highlighting the merits of the amaebi.



Triple decked uni gunkan sushi, this was just crazy. It was so tall I could barely fit it into my mouth without losing any of that glorious uni that had just arrived. This was just pure indulgent and generosity from the chef in wanting to pleasure and feed.

Negi toro, labouriously hand chopped that gave the toro a good texture but also maintained the fatty flavours of toro and and garnished with spring onions. Again, this piece of sushi was presented with a generous top flavour, awesome.

Throughout the meal what I felt most of the passion and gentleness of Chef Andy’s love for food and for feeding us. The food was prepared with integrity and had a big focus on flavour. So…so what if he is not Japanese and he is presenting sushi, it still is technically beautiful and a feast for the eyes and the stomach, and he has the magic that what anyone in the hospitality industry should have, a desire to serve and entertain, to bind and to comfort people through his expression of food.

Xenri No Tsuki
6/F, Jardine Centre
50 Jardine's Bazaar
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
+852-2576-1880

Itacho Itacho ...

In Tokyo, there is Midori where the snaking line is one indication that they have found the perfect balance between quality and price. In Singapore, Itacho which has made its way here from Hong Kong tries to fill those shoes. Admirable but the problem is that the balance isn’t quite there yet. When it comes to price versus freshness the quality seems right but with regards to some, the execution quality needs to play catch up. That being said, the value is still evident.

We snacked here, so our sampling size of the menu small. We started with the delicious lobster and mango roll and then got a little carried away with the aburi section, which at Itacho is known as roasted sushi. Sadly, most parts of the roasted sushi section was a letdown with often the fish served over-scorched and other time, an unbalance of proportion of fish to rice or in one case scallop to cod liver. So maybe next time, when I’m in some cute flat shoes and find myself in the line again, I think I’ll start with my traditional favourites and then explore the rolls a little more.

Craving Chirashi

Oh how I badly wanted to eat this today but I couldn’t get anyone to meet me for lunch and I had all these groceries and marketing to get done today. This was the last bowl of Chirashizushi that I had and possibly the best one this year. The chef’s choice for this bowl had lovely nuggets of abalone “skirt”, marinated pieces salmon, tuna, scallop, topped with uni, ikura and something that I fell in love with at Mizutani - tamago castella. Why didn’t anyone tell me earlier that they were topping their chirashis with tamago castella?!

Aoki
1 Scotts Road #02-17
Shaw Centre
Tel : 63338015

Sushi Mizutani: Gaining perspective on Sushi and Tamagos

Not all tamagos are made equal. If there was a standard for tamago, there should be one for all the tamagos I’ve eaten and then there is Mizutani’s. It defies being a regular tamago and it is really a cut about the rest – rich, sweet, eggy and almost custardy – trust me, you’ll want more than a piece and will go back just for seconds.

When it comes to sushi, there are no real measures. No cookbook can tell you how much wasabi to put in a sushi; the parallel measure to that is a pinch of salt – how much? That really translates as: unless you know, you won’t really know. Neither would the book tell you about how much rice. The rice is a delicate balance and for each piece to have a consistent mouth-feel. That’s craft.

Why knife skills matter? It isn’t just how sharp your knife is but also your relationship and knowledge of the muscular structure of the fish or sea treasure that matters. With every slice, there are choices – how thick, what angle? Why it matters? Because it just does; because it can change everything. Abalone sushi to me has always been on a chewy rubbery side but here, Mitzutani slices at a calculated thickness and this transforms it from rubbery to crunchy – amazing, I’ve never had abalone sushi like this.

Now I think I understand. This is the art of sushi. This is sushi Mizutani.

Sushi Mizutani
Seiwa Silver Building B1F
9-2-10 Ginza, Chou-ku
Tokyo,Japan
+81-3-3573-5258

The sushi relationship

Nogawa
100 Orchard Road, #03-25
Lobby Level, Le Meridien Singapour
Tel: 6732-2911

If I’ve learnt anything over the years of eating sushi is that sushi eating is an intimate relationship that you have to cultivate.

I don’t have any qualms about trying a new sushi restaurant but sometimes it is just easier to go to a place where the people know who you are, what you love and what you hate and are willing to accommodate you on the occasional unreasonable request. What more with sushi, where raw fish and strange and unknown ingredients are placed before. I feel that there must be a certain level of trust involved between me and the man behind the glass coffins of pristine fresh fish.

I have had the good fortune of meeting and building good relations with a couple of sushi chefs that have always taken good care about me. I have an annual date with Nogawa and after a few return visits I’ve developed a friendship with Chef Kelvin who works the counter. A friendly face and sweetness in character that comes through his food he has been good in feeding me.

Chef Kelvin has fed me well.

Thank you, it was yum.

Ten-Jyaku - to inspire tranquility

Ten-Jyaku Japanese Sushi
Millenia Walk
9 Raffles Boulevard
# 01-11
Tel: 6837-3960

H's Maki

A few weeks ago a friend brought me Ten-Jyaku - a two year old Japanese establishment that has a small sushi bar, serves up specialty hot pots and has these intimating bamboo cage-like sitting areas.

From the outside looking in, I was apprehensive but when I entered I was met by a familiar face that stood behind the sushi bar, this chef that I met a year ago and I felt a little more at ease.

The good people at Ten-Jyaku serve up fabulous aburi sushi. The courses leading up to that also deserve a mention – a refreshing momotaro tomato consommé jelly, oden, pork ‘sushi’ and homemade salmon tofu topped with oyster and miso. The highlight for me, however, was still the sushi or more accurately aburi sushi. The sushi chef pulled out all the stops and served us what he a sushi roll that he named after himself, let’s just call it Chef H’s sushi. It was a tempura prawn and spicy mayo roll that was stopped with tai and more spicy mayo and gently applied the glowing flames to the sushi’s surface. The whole roll was a great pop of flavours and textures. Following which he served us more sushi of salmon belly, yellow tail, snapper and scallop all baptized by the blow torch flame and topped with a combination of their different flavour enhancing garnishes. And to finish it off, we pieces of rice that was topped with an obscene amount of creamy Russian uni that was free from any fishy scent.

Admittedly I would have liked to have a wider range of fish to choose from, but what they might lack in quantity and choice, they make up in quality and fun through their swift reach to their blow torches and their garnish kits.

And Then I Ate More Sushi

Nogawa
100 Orchard Road
#03-25 Lobby Level
Le Meridien Singapour
Tel: 6732-2911




I think I could live on sushi alone. Maybe I should consider since I imagine that if I fed on a diet of rice and fish only, I would live pretty well.

With the closing of Akane, Chef Nogawa now alternates between his Sentosa and town outlet, serving and joking with his regulars. Different location, but the praise for the pristine freshness and variety of fish is still the same. Everything was precisely prepared and then chomped by us.

My favourite moment was when chef Kelvin told me to get ready to stick my hand out and to open my palm.




“Ready?” he asked
“Yes” and then he placed a small mount of rice that was generously topped with plump sea urchin.
“Eat it immediately!” he instructed and in a smooth tequila shot motion, we popped it in our mouths.




* See all photos here

At Table Tatsuya

Tatsuya
270 Orchard Road
#01-05 Park Hotel Orchard
Tel: 6737-1160

Last night was a night of focused eating. Sushi was the main thing on our minds, so with Akane closed we decided to head to the other well established sushi mecca in Singapore, Tatsuya.

The sushi counter only sits a dozen and the chefs put on quite a show with their sharp knifes, bamboo brushes and blow torches. With such a small sitting and the personal attention you are given with the one to three ratio of sushi chef per customer these seats are coveted and needless to say, costly.

We ordered ‘omakase’ with a qualifier that we were only interested in eating sushi and sashimi. And with that we were later assigned Chef Kan who took care of us for the rest of the night.

The problem with going to a new sushi bar or for any new restaurant is getting the chef to understand your palate and your likes. We started off with a super fresh sashimi platter that consisted of the usual suspects – salmon, tuna, giant shrimp, clams, swordfish – very good, but seemingly conservative for my raw appetite. I sat back and wondered if this was going to be a good meal. The sashimi plate was certain fresh and faultless, but was I going to be taken on that magic-carpet-ride-delectable-adventure that some sushi chefs are capable of?


Aburi toro and salmon


Aburi botan ebi

After popping the first piece of oily-punchy-pepper-seasoned aburi salmon, my fears of being disappointed were dispelled. Following in quick succession was a string of aburi creations, toro, scallop topped with foie gras, botan ebi with mentaiko and matsuzaka beef, all fabulous popping flavour morsels. The most incredible flavour combination was this ‘special unagi sushi’ as Chef Kan puts terms it which was a grilled piece of unagi rolled with a paper thin cucumber slice, topped with salmon skin followed by tobikko and then sprinkled with sesame seeds and a swift brush of yuzu zest and sauce … a mouthful to describe and a mouthful delight.

From the raw department, Chef Kan hand crafted nigiris that included tai with rock salt and squeeze of lime, uni, Hokkaido surf clam, hamachi, arkagai, abalone and chutoro. After which Chef Kan look a little lost since our appetites seemed insatiable as we still peered hungrily into the glass boxes in front of us scouring for more. He then pulled out some squid and sent it to the kitchen to deep-fry as a ‘snack’ or a crispy intermission whilst he thought about what he was going to feed us next. For a treat, he reached below and pulled out the hirame fin then we finally call it a night with the stronger tasting sama and saba.


Hokkaido surf clam


Abalone

Tatsuya is a great table to be at. Bring you sense of adventure and let the chef lead, then either set your budget and boundaries on what you would or would not eat or eat with reckless abandonment and fork over your plastic.

*See the whole set of photos here.

The Kaisan fan club

Kaisan is one of those places that I frequent but haven’t blogged about. The biggest reason for that is, it is such a small place with limited sushi counter seats and it is my spot (I even have this chair that I regularly sit in) and I don’t want too many people to there, it’s MINE. But seriously, who am I kidding when this gem has been blogged about repeatedly.

This is how I rationalise telling people about one of my favourite sushi places: firstly, Kaisan deserves to survive (a) it is a fabulous place where the food gives me so much pleasure and delight (b) the people are delightful, Chef Thomas Kok is a great guy and fatherly in his fish fish/sushi/food education that he always gives us and these is this rather funny waitress that I’ve come to know called Candy. Secondly, if there is a steady flow of traffic through the restaurant, it keeps the fish and produce fresh, and this is a very important and selfish reason of mine.

To be honest, I’ve never ever seen the menu in Kaisan. I usually just take my seat at the bar and leave it to the skilled hands of Thomas. Unless I spot a thing or two at in the glass chiller in front of me, I would make a request, and if I fancied some sake, I’ll ask Candy, she’s got a good sense of taste in that field. Oh and always ask if he has the bamboo clam. Apparently I’ve been a real charm since Kaisan has always had it when I’ve dined there so Chef Thomas has deemed me, ‘lucky’. Ask for the bamboo clam because it is rather amusing to see the clam fighting back for their lives as they hit the hot grill and get slapped with some tasty mentaiko dressing, but spectacle aside they are damn tasty too, I could have two, but I would miss out on the other good stuff.

The sushi/sashimi selection, it is fresh and it is good. I have had the best maguro sushi in Kaisan. The tuna he gets is from Japan, and it isn’t the yellowfin but the bluefin tuna, the kind of tuna that could easily outweigh two human beings and oh, it is so gooood. In my last visit he served us, aka uni, a seasonal product from Hokkaido. The urchin is smaller than the usual sea urchins that is served, and hence more expensive and the gonads are redder in colour, and hence its name. Taste-wise, it is superior to the usual uni, creamier, stronger in flavour sans the fishiness that is sometimes presence. Paired against his crisp nori, my first bite was a sense of crisp crunch, then the uni exploded and filled my mouth, absolutely sensational. On every visit, he also usually ensures that we each get a piece of toro sushi, but the last time we went there, he practically made us a toro sandwich, two slices of toro with sushi rice sandwiched between, total luxury and I was in toro heaven. In short, he is a great sushi chef.

The importance of the raw bar in a sushi bar is top priority, but Kaisan also has a splendid selection of cooked food as well. I’ve had fabulously grilled whole fishes and fish cheeks that were perfectly seasoned with salt and beautifully sweet. The person who mans the grill also does a great job in grilling up the numerous orders of bamboo clams and anago sushi, charred on one side and soft on the other. On my last visit, I had also tried something new to me, but traditional in Japan – a combination of tofu, unagi, grated yam and topped with ikura, it looked and tasted great.

Oh, did I forget to mention that I was a member of the Kaisan fan club?


the view from my regular seat

*See the whole set of pictures here.

Rakuichi

Rakuichi
545 Orchard Road
Far East Shopping Centre, #01-11
Tel: 6737-0757

Hastening my walking pace, I was eager to get to my dinner destination to avoid the impending thunderstorm and furthermore I already ten minutes late. My dinner party was already seated at the sushi counter, so as I sat down, they hungry and eager to get dinner started, passed me the menu and their dinner decision, ‘we think we’ll just do an omakase dinner’. Sure, why not that sounds like a good idea, so we closed our menus, looked up at the chef and uttered, ‘omakase’.



As we nibbled on the appetisers of ikura shioyu zake, kodia mozuku and tatami iwashi shishito, the three of us were rather convinced that we had uncovered another Japanese dining gem that is tucked away in a dingy building. The cliental for the night were mainly regulars, where they walked in, asked for the chef’s recommendations for the day and dictated their menu from that rather than the menu. So it seemed like our choice for an off-the-menu chef’s menu seemed like the right way to go.

This ex-Kuriya team, seemed eager to impress and serve with a sense of earnestly. In the raw, they presented us with a huge sashimi platter and stock-full of sea creature goodies that consisted of: fresh uni, toro, hotate, angawa kanpachi belly, salmon belly, sayori, kodia, sowa gain kareage and ark shell, served with freshly grated wasabi, all of which made me happy and I could have finished off with a steaming bowl of hot soup, but they were not done with serving us yet, a good thing too because I would have missed out of the other cooked courses.



In the raw, the freshness was unquestionable. Cooking-wise, the kitchen crew showcased a fair bit to us. The first of which was our sumiyaki course of ginko nuts, Japanese tomatoes and a nasu dengaku and the remaining half of the kodai, from our sashimi course, that simply grilled with sea salt. Along with that we were served the deep fried head and tail of the sayori and ebi that were served with a miso paste that would make fabulous bar food that I could crunch all night long with an ice cold one. Following that was a simmered dish of anago that tightly wrapped burdock root that I think had too much burdock that made it too aggressive against the gentler anago. Next we moved on to what I would term the ‘garlicky’ section of our dinner – scallop wings and roe and mushrooms teppanyaki with a garlic sauce and salt-baked whole garlic served with miso sauce.

At this point, the three of us won over by this place, there was no question about quality and its taste were simple and authentic natural flavours.

Next up was sushi. Maybe it is presumptuous on my part, but I was expecting them to place the sushi plate in front of me along with a personal mini mount of pickled ginger and pickles (which were very yummy), instead we were served a plate consisting of five different types of aburi sushi – o-toro, hirame, kimedai, amaebi with mentaiko and anago.

What got us all tickled during the night was the knife-work that went into preparing a simple dessert of a single Japanese imported strawberry and a slice of muskmelon. I might have much liked to have popped more of those strawberries in my mouth compared to the time he took to cut and garnish, but nonetheless, I think it is one of the cutest desserts I’ve seen this year.

As we got to the end of the meal, full and happy-bellied, we wondered at the impending financial damage. Nonetheless, we were convinced that we had found a gem and that a return visit was going to be booked in our calendars. So whilst waiting for the bill, we chatted a little with the chef, thanked and assured him that we had thoroughly enjoyed meal. At least we did until the point when the bill, which was the final blow for the night … I was not expecting to drop something slightly shy of $300 for a no-occasion-mid-week dinner - let’s just say my wallet now needs a band-aid. Oh, and the return visit has taken a rain check until my wallet and I have recovered.

Yo-yo-yoshida & NinjaHelloKitty!

Sushi Yoshida
10 Devonshire Road
Tel: 67355014



If I knew the man and was his friend I think I would be inclined to say something really annoying like, “yo-yo-yoshida!” every time I meet Yoshida-san. Maybe it is a good think I don’t know him personally. I have, however, gotten to know his restaurant a little better over the course of this year.

My latest outing to Yoshida was with the one and only NinjaHelloKitty (ninjahk), to celebrate his birthday and of course to eat some damn good sushi. Our original plan was to scale the steps and to lunch at Flutes at the Fort, but my stomach was crying out for some Japanese food and I decided that ninjahk’s aging knees would be happier with Yoshida, since every time I mention Flutes at the Fort, he would tell me about the potentially treacherous steps, especially after one of those slow-food lunches. So yo-yo-yoshida (sorry, I couldn’t resist) was the obvious choice.

We walked past the outdoor prep station, over the tiny tiny tiny wooden bridge, said hello to the plastic lobster that was half-hiding underneath it, passed under the noren and took our seats at the sushi bar.

We pored over the a la carte and the set lunch menus while watching the chefs work in a very economic manner in their tight kitchen and our geeky food bloggerish conversation drifted from wondering what the chef was up to, what we wanted to eat, to debating about macro abilities of our digital cameras. Lunch choices for me was a toss-up between the chirashi and the sushi set and since I had the former the last time stole away to this oasis for lunch, I decided for us that we would have the sushi sets. After all, it is hard not to order sushi or their recommended seasonal sashimi platter in Sushi Yoshida. Ninjahk on the other hand, had more indulgent treats on his mind and determined that we should have a serving of swordfish sashimi, which they unfortunately did not serve and so dictated to the wait staff that we would have an order of chu-toro sashimi and kaisenmushi, well I guess if you don’t enjoy and eat deliciously on your birthday, when will you?

The set lunch started with an appetiser as what the restaurant terms as the tamago course, which is a cold semi-cooked or a very soft soft boiled egg that swims in a dark pond of yuzu-infused sauce that aromatic and refreshing at the same time is a very whetting and scrumptious treat.

While waiting and closely watching the sushi chefs slice and dice and lightly sear some fish or melt some mayonnaise on their sushi pieces with a blow torch, we enjoyed two more interlude courses, the very fresh and melt-in-your-mouth chu-toro that was served with a ginger-infused soy and a normal tamari and the very gentle custard chawamushi that was topped with a very generous piece of uni and popping ikura. All very good, and then they laid our sushi plates before us, ah…this is what we came for, the sushi.





I think I can safely say that it is hard to have bad sushi at Sushi Yoshida. After all, they get air-flown fresh fish up to four times a week and he has trained under our own sushi yoda, Nogawa-san of Nogawa and Akane. That afternoon’s sushi was no different and it was thrilling to eat piece after piece of different tasting and textured slices of raw fish along with vinegared rice. The highlight of the selection was something that neither ninjahk nor I had tasted before – raw white bait – that was slippery and popped in my mouth. It was an excellent and a very filling lunch, I insisted that the ninjahk take a picture of the plastic lobster, after which I slowly and sadly dragged my feet back to work, still thinking sushi and hoping against hope that all that rice would not make me feel sleepy at the desk.


* This image is provided by NinjaHelloKitty

Akane: Omakase Magic

Akane
120 Adam Road,
4th StoreyThe Japanese Association,
Singapore 289899
Tel: 6467 2768

I recently went to meet the sushi guru at Akane.

The members of the Japanese Association chose to name the restaurant Akane, which means sunset, after the natural wonder of a beautiful sunset that you can soak in from the restaurant.

We unfortunately missed the sunset, but went there with a greedy purpose to indulge from a sushi counter stock full of fresh fish that is flown in about four times a week and deftly sliced by the sushi master Yoshio Nogawa, whom is more or less the grandfather of all the sushi masters in Singapore, Ronnie of Tatsuya, Yoshida of Sushi Yoshida and such.

We were fortunate because for a Friday night, the restaurant was surprisingly quiet that we were personally attended to at the sushi counter by the man himself. The evening was a fun, with free flowing conversation with this benevolent, funny and charming Japanese man, who speaks Japanese, English and Singlish that found himself in Singapore 32 years ago. Interestingly, he said the main reason for coming to Singapore was because he wanted to leave Japan after training as a sushi chef because he thought it was too small and too cramp!

He welcomed us with open arms, inviting us to sit in front of him and as we stared blankly at the Japanese-only menu at the counter, he asked, “Sashimi?”

“Omakase”, and with that we established some level of trust with him and marked the beginning of a magical culinary journey for the night.





Nogawa nodded and started working on the sashimi platter, while the waitresses presented us with an appetizer of anglerfish liver. Nogawa looked up and smileed cheekily, “Japanese foie gras, but natural…” The anglerfish liver was marinated with a ponzu, a rather seemingly rich way to start a meal, but the ponzu helped to whet my appetite. After which we readily dived into our sashimi platter that was presented before us containing: toro, tai topped with uni, fan clam, hamachi belly, baby scallop, clams and botan ebi. I used to think a sashimi platter was just a platter of raw fish, but I realised that night that there is a certain craft to this art of slicing fish. Various decisions have to be made—what type of fish and how thick and how to enhance it, and how to place a group of raw fish together that will work together with contrasting flavours and textures—all of which predicates a real understanding of fish.

Despite running multiple restaurants, Nogawa still cooks, or still slices and dices behind his own counter. Just as he finished serving us our platter, he disappeared and I was a tad disappointed, assuming that he had gone to oversee the other parts of the kitchen and that we would be hosted by his other sushi chefs that lined behind the counter, but along with a refreshing watercress salad that they served us, Nogawa reappeared behind the counter and handed each of us a stick of grilled geoduck.

Next up, he served us different soups, a foie gras soup and a toro soup. As we slurped down the delicious consommé-based soups that were richly flavoured with the foie gras and toro repectively, to different effects where the former had a more full on powerful flavour hit, while the latter had slight more subtle with mushrooms, we conversed freely about frivolous topics such as Iron Chefs, where we learnt that Nogawa is a friend of Iron Chef Michiba, who is known to be a master with his stocks, now isn’t that something.



Following a rough traditional structure of a kaiseki styled dinner, he proceeded to served us a nimono (simmered dish) of tai with ginseng followed by a mushimono (steamed course), which was grated yam topped with a thick consommé and garnished with uni. After presenting us with this course, we peered at it curiously and asked, what is this, to which he replied, “try and see if you know it”, and only after about 5 bites did we guess, “yam?” making the connection between an appetiser of grated yam and maguro that we onced sampled, only to be corrected by Nogawa san, where he clicked his clogs and walked into his kitchen, to return with two different types of yam to demonstrate the differences.

Next came the agemono (fried course), “try my new creation” beckoned Nogawa, which was a croquette, stuffed with seafood and mayonnaise, delicious and piping hot, where I nearly burnt my tongue.

“Sushi?”

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“Yes!” and as we agreed, that was the cue where then they laid before us, crunchy pickles and matching blue and white plates with picked ginger. As we watched him work with his hands, a little rice, a rub of freshly grated wasabi, a slice of fish and the final stroke of sauce before he presented it on the plates before us. We worked through a piece of toro, hamachi belly, fan clam, sea eel, ikura and fugu, before we stopped and he asked us if we wanted anything and to scan his glass counter for anything that catches our eye, then he recommended the sea prawns, which were just coming into season, followed by octopus roe,another piece of sushi and Kyoto daikon, then washed it with a clam miso soup. And with that and absolutely filled bellies, we ended our dinner and lovely evening with a serving of fruit and tea, a warm handshake, happy smiles, pleasantries and us promising ourselves that we would go back.

My New Sushi Box

My dad once turned to me in a shopping centre and told me, the difference between men and women when it comes to shopping is that men are hunters; they know what they want when they enter the store and they hunt the item down. Women on the other hand are gatherers, they will walk around the store, look around for things they need and do not need and gather them together. This time my dad was right. While out looking for a larger pestle and mortar to replace the one I have at home, I ended up coming home without the pestle and mortar but an oshibako (wooden mould used to make pressed sushi). When I reflect about it, a sushi box is pretty different and far off from the original item I was looking for but nonetheless I’m rather satisfied with my new kitchen member.

To put my new kitchen baby to the test, I made some oshizushi (pressed sushi) over the past 2 days for lunch, dinner and lunch again. By the third attempt in 24 hours, I think I can safely say I’ve mastered the simple art of oshizushi. The whole process is rather gratifying. It all begins with first lining the box with some sushi rice followed a layer of topping and then pressing it all down with the lid. The final and my favourite step is the act of pulling off the mould to reveal the beautiful compact rectangle of edible art. All that is left is to cut the rice block up into bite sized portions and to top with some nori. Oh the joys of oshizushi!

Spicy Maguro Oshizushi



Ingredients:

500 g cooked sushi rice
500 g sashimi grade maguro, cut into 0.5cm cubes

Spicy dressing
¾ cup Japanese mayonnaise
3 Tbsp sambal
Juice from ½ lemon
2 Tbsp dried bonito flakes
1 Tbsp tobikko
Salt to taste
Nori for garnish

Method:
1. Combine all the ingredients for spicy dressing.
2. Gently fold in tuna into spicy dressing and coat well.
3. Line oshibako with a layer of sushi rice and followed by a layer of spicy tuna mixture. Press the lid down. Continue to press the lid down and slowly lift the box away. Remove lid and slice into desired sizes. Garnish with nori and serve.

* Recipe adapted from Florence Tyler’s Real Kitchen