It has been a long while since I posted a Food Diary entry. So, I thought maybe I'll do one about a female chef here in Singapore, Chef Eno Akane.
Much is already said about the fact that Akane-san is one of the few female chefs who have risen up the ranks in the strict, male-dominated world of Japanese sushi, and more broadly Japanese cuisine. So, let's skip all that.
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| Chef Eno Akane-san grilling the nodoguro. Watching the rising smoke, and the fats dripping over the binchotan, I was almost drooling in anticipation (IG). |
The name of her place, Ichigo Ichie, references the Japanese idiom "ichigo ichie", which translates as "one moment, one meeting" or "once in a lifetime". A reference to transience and evanescence. But also very apt in view of the focus on seasonality in Japanese culture and cuisine.
Ichigo Ichie used to be a once-a-week secret at Sushi Kimura (Singapore), when she was a sushi chef there, assisting Chef Toomo Kimura-san. I have a vivid memory of her there, as she was the chef who took care of us when Hubby and I first dined at Kimura. It was an experience that Hubby and I distinctively remembered because it was such a rare encounter to have a female sushi chef at a sushi-ya. Of the many sushi-ya trips in the course of the past 5 years, we had only seen a female chef assisting at the counter twice. The first was at Nakamura in Tokyo, but from our second visit, she was no longer there.
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| Ichigo Ichie (IG) |
When she first opened, we tried to get a dinner booking but weren't able to. After a while, we had the lockdown, and then life just kind of went on when Phase 2 kicked in...until last week with Sakuta-san at Sushi Kou. I passingly mentioned about craving kappo or kaiseki cuisine at Sushi Kou, and restaurant manager Mika-san immediately said "Akane-san?" And I remembered that we'd been meaning to try booking dinner again. I think it was, like, 2 months ago when we were also talking with Jeffrey (Oven Bird) about wanting to go, and he waxed lyrical about it, and about how it was also his philosophy to support chefs who were going their own, and were not owned by or unconnected to the major F&B groups.
Anyway, I digress.
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| Maguro toro, ponzu jelly. Ichigo Ichie (IG) |
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| Kyoho grape with tofu sauce, scallop, abalone with liver sauce. Ichigo Ichie (IG) |
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| Anago, braised daikon, spinach. Ichigo Ichie (IG) |
The anago was one of my favourite dishes in this meal. It was super soft and pillowy, and was delicious with the braised daikon. The daikon was just perfect - soft enough to cut with the chopsticks, but still with a firm bite.
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| Sashimi box. Ichigo Ichie (IG) |
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| One of her signatures: botan ebi, murasaki uni, caviar, somen noodles. Ichigo Ichie (IG) |
Okay, I knew uni goes well with pasta, but omg with the somen and botan ebi...(─‿‿─)♡
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| Charcoal grilled nodoguro and edamame. Ichigo Ichie (on IG) |
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| Wagyu beef and pimento. Ichigo Ichie (IG) |
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| Matsutake mushroom and ginkgo takikomi gohan, topped with ikura. Ichigo Ichie (IG) |
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| Pineapple sorbet and adzuki anmitsu, with Kyoho and muscat grapes. Ichigo Ichie (IG) |
Such a treat! Before leaving Hubby made the next booking. (￣▽￣)/♫•*¨*•.¸¸♪
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