rokkasen

“kung hei fat choi” is already out-of-fashion these days, and chinese usually greet each other happiness during new year. what’s the use if everyone is “fat choi” (rich)? that only means it will take more fiat money to buy the same thing. and if not everyone is rich, then somebody’s prosperity would be poverty for somebody else in the world, which is not a very nice thing to wish for. so, let’s just hope everyone health and happiness.

my new year so far isn’t too bad. despite a million things that i can complain or fuss about, recovery from a chronic illness is as good as i could wish for

rokkasen (六歌仙) shinjuku was the where; a very cold and snowless night was the when. between yakitori (japanese style grill with skewers) and yakiniku (korean style grill with hot grid) for dinner, L preferred the latter for a beef indulgence so we decided to head off to rokkasen specialized in matsuzaka-gyu. the top three beefs in japan are kobe (神戸牛), matsuzaka (松阪牛), and yonezawa (米沢牛); they all drink beer, eat japanese feeds, receive massage from time to time, and they are all steers or heifers (matsuzaka cattles are grown slightly older until 3 years old for their flavor to develop). at their best quality there is not much difference in price or reputation, especially betwen kobe and matsuzaka – some people prefer kobe for a more buttery, foie-gras like texture whereas others prefer matsuzaka for a stronger taste.  internationally, kobe is the most renowned out of three, mainly due to larger production scale and exports.

the four of of us arrived at rokkasen at 7pm without reservation but was lucky enough to secure the last private room.

    

ox tongue, matsuzaka beef karubi and rosu, vegetable platter, black pork, squid, tea-rice. beef was evenly marbled and not exceedingly fatty, as we ordered only the A4 wagyu. many foodies prefer A5 but IMO A5 is too fat and oozes oil as soon as your teeth sink in. highlight of our meal was, surprisingly, the kurobuta (black pork); it was rich, crispy, and not like any other kurobuta i have had in hong kong. we ordered both the one with sea-salt and with sauce, and the sea-salt one retained a better original flavor. cooked dishes were very korean-style - we found a variety of bimbimbap but not a single roasted onigiri (rice ball).

good meat selection and quality at rokkasen, though it was not the best grill restaurant i have had in tokyo (the best one is horumon bun, which is very out of the way in northern shinjuku near waseda university). beef was tender and flavorful, but the real surprise was the pork. japan treats agricultural business very seriously and produces some of the best meat and vegetables in the world – and its top-quality crops are most often not exported. i’m just glad i’m on the right side of the ocean

big thanks to H who did most of the cooking that evening like a good japanese woman. J kept saying jap girls knew their places and we hong kong girls should learn from them… whatever! i do not mind cooking but you would need to point a gun at my head to have me pour tea for a bunch of men!

rokkasen
東京都新宿区西新宿1-3-1
サンフラワービル6F/7F
tel: 03-3348-8676
hours: 11am-5am daily

cafe hyatt

i normally do not care much for buffet – it is foodlover’s hell with a range of frozen food on display, chicken recycled several times from steamed to fried and finally trickled down to chef’s salad, and just about everything greased up for cheaper calorie count. but once every year, my family would have buffet lunch together to celebrate christmas/new year, as we do get a pretty good kick from the idea of “eating anything as much as we want”. it is straight up overindulgence.

this year we chose the new kowloon hyatt as our buffet venue. hyatt was previously located in the canton road side of TST, but rising rental has forced the hotel to relocate to TST east, and it now shares 3/F-5/F  with a new designer-concept shopping mall called K11. 

cozy interior with rosewood shields and warm lighting

the small restaurant was packed with locals by the time we arrived. the food tables were fairly spaced out, so there wasn’t any long line formed other than the seafood section.

         

salad section – very run-of-the-mill salad selection that included potato salad and caesar.

seafood section – crayfish, baby lobster, clam, mantis shrimp, cocktail shrimp, whelk, and snow crab claw. whelks and mantis shrimps were surprisingly delightful, whereas the rest tasted like the shaved ice that they had been stored in.

chinese food section – bbq pork, chicken, suckling pig, noodles made-to-order, dim sum, fried spare ribs, and a few other traditional chinese dishes. i was quite surprised to see tan tan noodles made to order.

teppanyaki & tempura section - mushroom, shitake, chicken, asparagus wrapped in bacon, and beef on the teppanyaki side; yam, mushroom, and shrimp on the tempura side. teppanyaki was okay but tempura definitely a highlight - the batter was airy, aromatic, and did not feel greasy at all. it’s probably one of the best tempura i’ve had in hong kong other than inagiku.

dessert section – there were at least 15 desserts to choose from, including froyo/ice-cream. while most desserts were pretty mediocre and the christmas log cake was pathetic, opera cake was amazing!

come to mama!

overall food quality was okay. i have had better buffet at cafe too of island shangri-la and harbourside of intercontinental, but a few dishes at cafe hyatt were worth noting, such as tempura and burger meet patties. i felt the dessert section was probably its strongest as both opera cake and mango pudding really stood out. food selection was excellent; there were not many dishes at each table, but the variety of cuisine from indian to japanese was impressive. i totally pigged out – having been sick and bedridden for three days, i needed to recoup body mass (i do not model for christopher bailey or karl lagerfeld!) and build strength for baking/social events ahead!

i swinged by work after lunch and found a surprise x’mas gift on my desk:

secret santa

i have always wanted to invest in some gimmicky kitchenware but just couldn’t convince myself to pay the price premium. i know who you are, secret santa. thanks so much!

this will be my last entry for the year of 2011. i have crammed many to-do’s into this year, only to finish with more new to-do’s; i fear not being able to complete all my to-do’s, but maybe it is the outstanding to-do’s that breathe purpose into our life.

yes of course you know what i mean. happy new year, everyone.

un petit chef

baking with a day job can be challenging - 2011 has been a hectic year in the financial markets and even the month of december is uncharacteristically busy.  then i need to catch up with the baking orders when luck has not been on my side - sometimes i would run out of simple ingredients like almond powder while other times the freaking batter just wouldn’t rise right. one night, my mixer even broke down in the eleventh hour, so i had to hand-whip meringue and cream – i swear my biceps became 0.5cm bigger in radius. it’s been so exhausting that i even fell asleep on a date (in my defense, that leather chair at the theatre house was bloody comfortable!)

my bible - pierre herme's ph10

something i've been doing repeatedly - brush tart with strained beaten eggs then poke holes at the bottom - actually it is best to brush with cacao butter, but does not balance my book

bake at 160C for about 16min till golden brown - it shouldn't shrink too much if rested long enough

roast almond/hazelnut at 160C for 15min

caramel - boil 1 part of sugar with 1/3 water. add some glucose when boils. cook until dark amber color. stop the cooking with 1/2 part of warm heavy cream. add a slice of butter for better texture

pour in caramel to the blind-baked tart till half full. add nuts. freeze till set

add chocolate ganache (1:1 dark chocolate to heavy cream, and a little butter for texture). garnish

creme patissiere - trick is to slowly add sugar while mixing the egg yolk to produce a light yellow emulsion

 

it’s physically demanding but also a lot of fun. now, all i want for christmas is… a good night’s sleep :-O