Food Picks: Michelin-selected Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa opens in Singapore
The folk at Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa have been in the eel trade for a long time – 93 years, to be exact. They started with Nakasho Shoten, a unagi wholesaler that fed Japan's love of the rich, fatty fish.
The family business is now run by fourth-generation owner Kikukawa Yuhei, who took this prized product and slapped it on a binchotan fire. His brainchild, Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa, has since spawned 35 outlets worldwide, including one in Singapore's Shaw Centre, which opened in April.
It is sparsely decorated, washed in blond lightwood. All its intricacy lies in the tray that arrives at your table, on which is balanced handcrafted Japanese tableware, an assembly of sides and, most eye-catching of all, a thick, handsome slab of eel in a phenomenally tantalising shade of burnt umber.
The core product remains pretty much the same: caramelised meat perfumed with a whiff of charcoal smoke, flame-kissed yet still moist and buttery within. It is served on a bed of plump Japanese rice, as part of the Kabayaki Ippon Jyu set ($48), which also comes with a bowl of eel liver soup and seasonal vegetables.
Far more fun, however, is the Ippon Hitsumabushi set ($50), which chops the eel up into strips that can be enjoyed in a variety of ways: mixed with spring onions, wasabi, nori, or transformed into a comforting ochazuke with a few spoonfuls of dashi.
Somehow, the eel tastes crispier when presented this way, its charred edges contrasting nicely with the soft, warm rice, and gently aromatic broth. This set is also available in a smaller size for $37.
The $37 Hitsumabushi set from Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa.
PHOTO: UNAGI YONDAIME KIKUKAWA
Such prices are arguably a bit of an indulgence, especially in times like these, though it is worth nothing that they are comparable with that of the nearby UYA Unagi restaurant at Wheelock Place, where large and medium hitsumabushi sets also retail for $50 and $37 respectively.
In any case, it is a worthwhile extravagance, so clearly a cut above your run-of-the-mill bentos that drench their sad unagi strips in teriyaki sauce so cloying it altogether obscures any taste of the fish. Here, on the contrary, the eel is given room to breathe and flex its natural, umami-flecked sweetness.
Where: 01-12 Shaw Centre, 1 Scotts Road
MRT: Orchard
Open: Noon to 3pm, 6m to 10pm, daily
Info: yondaimekikukawa.com/en
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