Nearly a year ago, some of my friends had plans to visit Japan and the trip was to coincide with the Cherry Blossom Festival. The itinerary would have included Tokyo and Kyoto, with a possible side trip to Osaka. Filipino and Japanese friends there would have acted as guides to the most popular tourist attractions, and restaurants for a taste of authentic Japanese cuisine.
In preparation for the trip, I viewed nearly all my videos related to Japanese food which includes Iron Chef Japan, Rick Stein and the Japanese Ambassador, Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservation series and Andrew Zimmern Bizarre Foods series and Arirang Channel’s Trilogy of Cuisine (China, Japan and Korea). Credit card and luggage were ready but more important work related appointments came up and with a heavy heart, my vacation had to be cancelled.
Last week, there was some consolation for that busted Japanese trip with an invitation from Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu (beside SM City Cebu, North Reclamation area, phone +63 32 4029900) for Endless Discovery of Japanese Flavors. Executive Chef of Radisson Hotel Narita Katsuya Ono and Chef de Partie Yasuhiko Ishii flew in from Japan to prepare the extensive selection of traditional and innovative Japanese dishes.
Many years ago, that famous gourmet society, La Chaine des Rotisseurs featured a traditional Japanese dinner and that was the first time that I was introduced to the intricacies of authentic Japanese cuisine. All your favourite food columnist knew then about Japanese food was limited to sushi, sashimi, tempura and ramen. After that dinner, medyo improved na and I had understood words like Otoshi,
Ginsai, Suimono, Nimono, Agemono, Sunomono and Yakimono cooking. The latter was my favourite since it was my introduction to the real Kobe Beef Teriyaki.
At the Radisson Blu Japanese Food Festival, I began my culinary treat with some of the special sushi and salad selections: Smoked Salmon with Cream Cheese & Herbs, Scallops with Plum Mayonnaise, Rock Lobster Salad with Sesame Dressing, Beef Salad with Mustard Sauce and Marinated Tuna Salad with Soy Sauce Dressing. My beloved readers still have the opportunity to taste all these since the food festival will end on March 23, 2012.
For soup, I tasted the Crab and Tomato Egg Soup while recalling a food video about soup served in Osaka, reputed to have the largest number of centenarians in Japan. It is said the favourite meat there is pork cooked with large quantities Japanese sea vegetables. Another contributing factor is the lower-stress lifestyle compared with that of mainland residents in Japan.
The main dishes during the dinner buffet were the following: Pan Fried Yellow Tail with Teriyaki Sauce, Chicken and Turnip Stew, Fried White Fish with Sweet Sour Sauce and Grilled Assorted Mushroom. The latter reminds me of a wish list of mushrooms I would like to try and the Matsutake mushroom which cost about $ 2,500 per kilo is one of them. Japanese desserts served were the Wasabi Ice Cream and Meiji Chocolate Cake.
With food festivals like this at the Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu serving authentic Japanese cuisine, that aborted vacation to Japan had been softened. However, a shot of sake (preferably Kame no O manufactured by Wataribune) would have hastened the healing process.