Homemade Chirashi Don & Beef Don on 6Mar2016

Posted on March 10, 2016 by chefquak

homemade chirashi don

wife went on skiing trip with a friend at rusutsu hokkaido, and brought back some fresh sashimi.

we made a japanese don dinner this evening on 6.3.2016. ^^

chawanmushi 茶碗蒸

i used my usual chawanmushi 茶碗蒸 recipe. 🙂

2cups water. add 2tsp mirin, 2tsp light soy sauce, 1tsp sugar (basically to taste) & whisked with 3 eggs. steam for 15mins. & that’s it!

chawanmushi 茶碗蒸

i did not have prawns & decided not to use chicken breast. instead i marinated with fish sauce & white pepper some frozen hokkaido scallops (not sashimi grade) & also some cheap sutchi white fish fillet.

uni – sea urchin

the uni was super sweet, melt in the mouth, lingering..

hotate – scallops

hotate also very sweet & with the wonderful slight gummy texture, the best!

ikura – salmon roe

ikura slight salty…bursting with flavours…

atlantic surf clams

was surprised by the atlantic surf clams…the ones i remembered taking in singapore were the frozen kind, dry with little taste. these ones were tender & sweet. not in the league of uni & hotate though, for me.

angus beef ribeye medium rare

i did an angus ribeye using my recent oven method – this one 2 hrs at 60degC then chargrilled 1 minute on each side.

homemade chirashi don

the chirashi don was just wonderful & the beef too.

c.h.e.f andy

Excellent Dinner (as always) @ Aburiya on 8Mar2015

Posted on March 12, 2015 by chefquak

hokkaido wagyu jo karubi

had an excellent dinner with wife on sunday 8.3.2015.

we went to our favourite yakiniku restaurant, aburiya.^^ last time we were here was 6.10.2014.

aburiya 烧屋

we called up last minute, & was able to still get a seat inside. the outside was quite full though.

hakkaisan

wife ordered here usual sake, a hakkaisan.

smokeless yakiniku grill

the grill is recessed into the table & also has powerful suction on the side, so it is entirely smokeless. contrast this with axmaya omakaseya yakiniku, which has quite bad ventilation & leaves you smelling of bbq meat when you leave the restuarant.

jo karubi with negi (leeks)

the meats were excellent. the hokkaido jo karubi or special boneless beef rib (top photo) was good. so was the jo karubi negi (with leeks). we did not find the hokkaido beef so outstanding for the price actually. the cheaper beef did quite well.

kurobuta belly

the kurobuta pork belly was great too. i liked it.

kimchi chigae

& we just love the kimchi chigae here. somehow the broth was really very very tasty, even better than the hotpot kimchi nabe at shirokiya.

bibimen

& the other dish we just love was bibimen. i was quite converted actually. i used to like bibimbab a lot more (still like bibimbab) but here we always ordered bibimen. my wife loved it & i liked it a lot now.^^

so tasty with the gojuchang sauce, and it came with a lot of beef. 🙂

the dinner came to S$120nett for 2pax. it was kind of expensive. less the sake it would be like S$90 for 2pax. c/w azmaya omakaseya.

azmaya has much better quality of beef & with the 50% discount the price would be about same or less c/w aburiya for much better beef. however aburiya was a more complete & enjoyable meal for us because we like the kimchi chigae very much and also the bibimen. another thing the ventilation at azmaya is really bad c/w aburiya’s smokeless grill.

for myself though i am quite happy to go back to azmaya if the 50% continues.

c.h.e.f andy

Excellent Food at Saveurs @ Purvis on 1Mar2015

Posted on March 5, 2015 by chefquak

capellini, minced prok sauce, sakura ebi

capellini, minced pork sauce, sakura ebi

wife was away skiing in hokkaido. SKI=Spending Kid’s Inheritance.^^

eldest daughter organised a 3pax family dinner at saver @ purvis on 1.3.2015. 🙂

we had very good family dinner recently at concetto (another saver restaurant) on 18.1.2015.

& this place was just as fun.

the next day i came with my godsis & a good friend’s daughter for the set lunch at S$22.90, & it was just as good. the set lunch menu here is more attractive than that at concetto, which really had very limited choice (they really should review that!).

saveur @ purvis

the restuarant had 2 adjacent dining area. this one was absolutely packed. we were not able to get sitting at the other side where the sitting was more spacious even though we booked beforehand. i booked the next day lunch, making sure i could get the other, but that turned out to be unnecessary as we were the only table. what a difference lunch & dinner!

chef preparing cold capellini

capellini, minced prok sauce, sakura ebi

this saveur pasta was different from concetto pasta. that had crab bisque & ikura, this one minced pork sauce & sakura ebi & priced cheaper at $4.90 (vs S$6.90). i liked both (& was quite happy to take it again the next day).

capellini, minced prok sauce, sakura ebi

one reviewer said it tasted like bakchormee? it didn’t to me, but it was nice, very al dente & flavourful.^^

belly pork, lentils, poached egg

the belly pork was excellent, very tender, moist & still having the texture, excellent low temperature cooking. the crackling skin was not crackling like the chinese roast pork, but totally edible. love the lentils.

pan-seared seabass, potato, crabmeat

the seabass was excellent too! this was really a very good pan seared seabass! liked the potatoes too. 🙂

duck confit, mashed potato, shitake

the duck confit was very good, just like that at concetto.

cookie dough ice cream, cherry kirsch, peanut butter

the cookies & milk ice cream was good, but no wow factor for me, & it was more expensive.

pistachio panna cotta

pistachio panna cottaEx

the pistachio panna cotta was lovely. my doughtier liked it very much. maybe i will try this at home.

c.h.e.f andy

Nice Stroll Along Yunotsubo Kaido & Lake Kinrinko 金麟湖 on 26&26Jan2015

Posted on February 14, 2015 by chefquak

lake kinrinko

arrived yufuin 汤布院 bus station which is 20m from yufuin eki (train station) near noon time on 25.1.2015.

yufuin – view from yufuin eki (train station)

too early for check-in to Gettoan ryokan (after 3pm). as planned, we deposited our bags at the lockers & took a pleasant walk towards yunotsubo shopping street & lake kinrinko 金麟湖. weather was about 14degC, quite perfect!

yufuin

we had earlier planned to have lunch at wasaku (or any nice eats we fancied along the walk). we found wasaku just short distance from yufuib eki, and had very nice bungo wagyu yakiniku lunch there. ^^

yufuin

yunotsubo kaido shopping street

we past the 1/2 dried-up stream to yunotsubo kaido shopping street. the was just at the corner.

yunotsubo shopping street

yufuin-architecture

there was some nice architecture highlighted by other bloggers, and of course lots of shopping. wife was interested in the sake cups.^^

yunotsubo shopping street

yufuin-flower village

there was this flower village.

yufuin-flower village

yunotsubo shopping street

bee honey parfait

there was this bee honey stall which others talked about.

got a parfait. the soft cream here was really nice, just like the excellent dairy in hokkaido (something to do with very good quality milk). as a parfait though, it was kind of “not the real thing”!

lake kinrinko

lake kinrinko was beautiful, very serene.

lake kinrinko

we went back the next morning. the ryokan sent us right to the “doorstep”.^^

lake kinrinko

everything was so tranquil, so zen.^^

we had excellent lunch here at lamp sha sited right by & overlooking the lake.^^

snoopy chaya at yufuin

on the way back we stopped by snoopy chaya.

we spied this the first day, and this was perfect after the lamp sha steak lunch.

macha

greentea parfait

we had macha & the real thing – an excellent parfait, with green tea cakes, mochi, the brown dusted warabi mochi, caramelised chestnut, red beans, cornflakes etc etc. this excellent!

when we got back to ryokan, we were offered another macha at the lounge & served with nice coffee & mochi.

c.h.e.f. andy

Our Favourite Yakiniku @ Aburiya on 6Oct2014

Posted on October 7, 2014 by chefquak

ohmi wagyu beef set – S$39.95

went to aburiya for dinner with wife & daughter on 6.10.2014. 🙂

i had an excellent dinner here last on 19.3.2014. today was just as good! 🙂

yakiniku

aburiya yakiniku

sake

kimchi chigae – S$11.90

bibimen – S$12.90

we ordered our usuals – kimchi chigae & bibimen. i love both these dishes.

kimchi chigae always so tasty, with some slices of thin belly pork. i love the kurobuta kimchi nabe at shirokiya @ cuppage terrace but for a simple small helping of kimchi chigae, aburiya’s is the best.

bibimen is something i come to like because my wife prefers it to bibimbap. now i get to like everything about it, flavours, texture. 🙂

ohmi wagyu beef set – S$39.90

we decided to order the ohmi wagyu beef set (above & top photo). it looked marbled, tasted good, but somehow not quite matching our expectations of the intense marbled flavours of 1 of the 3 best kuroge wagyu (黑毛和牛) in japan, along with kobe & matsuzaka. somehow the last time we had the cheaper hokkaido wagyu here on 19.3.2014, it left a more lasting impression. maybe it’s better just to order karubi or jo-karubi than to have the tokumori mixed set.

for me tajimaya@vivocity’s wagyu was pricy but good too only if there is amex 50% discount, but they did not have the kimchi chigae & bibimen we liked here, so the enjoyment was not the same. 🙂

jo karubi negi (prime short ribs with leek)

karubi negi (short ribs with leek) – S$11.90

we had the cheap australian angus karubi negi (short ribs with leek). it was quite ok. anyway we had always liked it before we started trying the wagyu here.

kurobuta & iberia pork set – S$25

we tried the kurobuta & iberia pork set this time. it was really good. certainly better than the karubi. i think overall our enjoyment of the pork was more than even the ohmi tokumori set, not that the ohmi was poor.

the bill

the bill came to S$143 nett for 3pax including a bottle of sake. quite ok for a very enjoyable dinner. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Excellent Yakiniku Dinner @ Aburiya on 19Mar2014

Posted on March 19, 2014 by chefquak

hokkaido wagyu jo karubi (prime short ribs)

had an excellent yakiniku dinner at aburiya on 19.3.2014. 🙂

had not been there for a while..just checked my blog & it was almost a year ago that i had dinner at aburiya on 26.3.2013.

jo karubi (prime short ribs)

karubi negi

yakiniku

yakiniku

the prices had gone up slightly. we basically ordered similar food. for this evening the jo karubi (S$15.90) was not that great but the cheaper karubi (S$10.90) was good. we also added hokkaido jo karubi (S$21.90) which was excellent, nicely marbled and very flavourful. they did not have the ohmi wagyu though it was on the menu.

bibimen

kimchi chigae

kimchi chigae

ice sake

we always ordered the bibimen & kimchi chigae. both were very good. 🙂

aburiya

aburiya

the inside tables were mostly taken up at 7pm. there were still quite many tables available outdoors.

the dinner including sake (S$15) added up to S$105 for 2pax, not cheap but it was very enjoyable. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

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Tag Archives: hokkaido

Homemade Chirashi Don & Beef Don on 6Mar2016

Excellent Dinner (as always) @ Aburiya on 8Mar2015

Excellent Food at Saveurs @ Purvis on 1Mar2015

Nice Stroll Along Yunotsubo Kaido & Lake Kinrinko 金麟湖 on 26&26Jan2015

Our Favourite Yakiniku @ Aburiya on 6Oct2014

Excellent Yakiniku Dinner @ Aburiya on 19Mar2014

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