FUKU Fine Fugu Kaiseki Restaurant (Closed)

Full review:http://nkikichua.blogspot.sg/2015/07/fuku-fine-fugu-pufferfish-kaiseki.htmlQuality at its highest whereby all their ingredients are imported from Japan. Out of the 100 species of pufferfish in the world, only 20 species of them are fit for human consumption. It is imported twice a week all the way from Shimonoseki, Japan, recognised as the world’s fugu capital. FUKU also offers set courses featuring parts of fugu fish cooked in different ways. It is definitely worth trying!Although Pufferfish is known for as a poisonous delicacies but ALL IS 100% SAFE here in FUKU, especially under Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) strict regulations.A must try: paper-thin slices of Tessa (Pufferfish Sashimi) served with the condiments and ponzu sauce. The chewy texture blew me away! It is so different from the cooked ones. I am glad to have ticked this exotic dish off my list! Indeed a gourmet experience, loving every bits of it.If you don't like it raw, have it deep fried - Fugu Karaage. The aroma is heavenly and the marination is amazingly good. The only obstacle stopping me is the chunk of bones. Or have it in hotpots, I personally likes the Soya Bean Soup - the creamy, sweet and thick consistency satisfy a soup person like me. continue reading

This new restaurant located along Mohamed Sultan Road has been in the news recently for being the only restaurant that serves Fugu exclusively throughout its menu.We had the Daikokuten Fugu Course @ $250 per pax. For this set, the fugu that we have is farmed. Understand from the manager that most Fugu eaten in Japan is also farmed, instead of being wild-caught. The restaurant offers wild-caught fugu, but only for the most expensive set meal @ $580. For this, you need a five day reservation in advance to secure your order.To handle Fugu (Puffer fish), the chef has to be certified. We were glad to know that the chef have over 20 years of experience working as a Fugu chef in Fugu capital – Shimonoseki, wich is the largest harvester of Fugu in Japan. The fish has been processed in Japan before it is air-flown to Singapore, so you have less worry about the poison from the Fugu.I had the opportunity to watch the chef who hails from Kobe in action, plating the Fugu into a work of art on a plate.This was a 9 course meal, and the highlights were:- Appetiser: Cut pieces of Fugu simmered in a sweet soy sauce. The fish absorbed the sweet soy and was lovely. I liked it so much that I even drank the leftover sauce in the bowl!- Lightly boiled Fugu Skin: The skin of the Fugu is boiled for a short time and sliced into long thin strips. You can eat it raw or with the finely cut chives and ponzu. We even tried cooking it in the steamboat and it gave a different texture.- Thinly-sliced Fugu Sashimi: This was beautifully plated on a plate and too nice to eat! The fish was cut thinly and the translucent texture allowed you to admire the decoration of the plate it was on.You take a piece, lay onto your plate, put about 3 cut chives onto it, some grated radish, roll it up and dip into ponzu. The fugu is nice and has a good bite, unlike any sashimi that you will eat. The fish was firm and definitely fresh!- Hiresake: This was hot sake steeped with fried Fugu fins. After placing the covered cups on the table, the manager took off the lid and lighted a portable fire-starter. The alcoholic fumes ignited for a brief 5 seconds before he covered the lid back on. After several seconds, we took our first sip.- Deep Fried Fugu: Fugu Cheek Karaage. This was one of my favourite dishes for the meal. My dinner partners all agree. The fugu fish cheek were cut into pieces and coated with batter then deep-fried.- Grilled Milt: This looked like white sausages. It is actually Shirako, or sperm sac of the Fugu fish. We got the grilled version, instead of the steamed version. You can eat it by itself or add the salt or dash of lime, which was served on the side- Fugu Hotpot with Vegetables: We got a tray of steamboat goodies and a hotpot on a portable gas stove. The tray included cut pieces of Fugu cheek, mushrooms, vegetables and Japanese clear noodles. The broth was dashi that has been filtered to give a clear soup with a piece of Konbu (Kelp) in it. After the soup is brought to a boil, the fire is lowered, the konbu is removed and the manager proceeded to put in the cabbage, fish and the rest of the ingredients in. After a few minutes, the food is cooked and we helped ourselves to the hotpot.- Fugu Porridge Japanese style: When we were done with the Fugu hotpot, the manager removed all the cooked items from the hotpot, leaving only the soup behind. Soup was added to top it up, and the Sous chef (who handles cooked items for the restaurant) came to cook the porridge. He added the cooked Japanese rice, brought the soup to a boil, before lowering the heat and adding in beaten egg and stirring it in. This was followed by finely-cut Japanese spring onions and seaweed. Served together with Shio Konbu (Salted kelp), the kelp added some saltiness and a tinge of sourness to the dish. Otherwise, the porridge didn’t have much taste.- Seasonal Dessert: The dessert for the day was yuzu sorbet. This was imported from Japan and I could taste and bite the yuzu pieces that is mixed into the sorbet. Refreshing and nice!No Japanese meal would be complete without sashimi, and we had a sashimi moriawase, which had botan prawns, salmon belly and Hokkaido Scallops. They were fresh and nice. I especially like the scallops which were sliced into 4mm pieces and interlaced with sliced lime. The lime added a nice citrus-sy flavour to the scallops.My first time trying Fugu was in Fukuoka, Japan about 6 years ago. I am glad that I can now enjoy this delicacy right here in Singapore, without the need to fly to Japan! continue reading

Full review and pictures: http://dairycream.blogspot.sg/2014/11/fuku-fine-fugu-kaiseki-restaurant.htmlI had just eaten the world's most celebrated and deadly fish at the first Japanese fugu restaurant in Asia. To be honest, I wasn't thinking much about the potential dangers as I would have done if I were eating this at some Fugu restaurant in Osaka. I could gladly leave my life in the safe hands of Executive Chef Koji Tsukamoto and Sous Chef Toshi Miyanagi because they have more than 20 years of experience as licensed Fugu practitioners in Shimonoseki, also widely known as Japan's puffer fish capital. Moreover, all of the imported puffer fish have been removed of toxins and undergone the vigilant checks by the Japanese authorities.  Torafugu or Tiger Puffer fish, the highest quality among more than 100 species, is flown in twice weekly to Singapore. The Fugu Kaiseki Courses is priced at $150/pax for 6-course Ebisu up to a $580/pax Wild Fugu Course. The course begins with the usuzukuri, fugu sashimi expertly sliced so thin that they are nearly transparent and resembling chrysanthemum, arranged in a traditional flower pattern on exquisite porcelain plates. Every work is like a plate of art and science. This is served alongside with a sprinkling of blanched fugu skin (picture below) at the side.The fugu sashimi taste nothing of the sweetness you get from raw scallops or the melt-in-your-mouth texture of maguro. Being high in protein and low in fat, it is taut and fairly chewy. Just skin-dipping it into shoyu or ponzu sauce together with Japanese baby leeks and spicy radish would suffice, lest the natural flavours be masked. Packed with natural collagen, the strands of gelatinous fugu skin has a borderline addictive crunch like the Chinese marinated jellyfish.Deep Fried Fugu (karaage) Like all other fish, I usually prefer them cooked rather than sashimi style, so I couldn't be any happier than to enjoy them as deep-fried golden nuggets. Firm, meaty yet not sinewy flesh, they are equally tasty when boiled in hotpots together with the genetically-blessed vegetables imported from Japan. This is followed by the ritualistic procedure of using the remaining sweetened broth to prepare the zosui, a comfortable bowl of rice porridge that evoked nostalgic memories of my last hotpot experience with the sumo wrestlers in Tokyo. As a self-confessed coward who shy away from raw shirako (fish milt or sperm), I never expected myself to be attracted to fugu shirako (available also as ala carte $80), which some Japanese men swear by it as a natural virility aid. There isn't any of that detestable fishiness or overwhelming creaminess, instead the texture is spongier than Chinese tofu and it tasted very much like an 80% cooked eggplant; tender flesh firmly tucked beneath an elastic skin. The grilling, natural seasoning from the sea and squirt of lime definitely helped me to appreciate this white creamy blob better, to the extent that I went for my second and third helping. Imagine the double potency if you have this with the hirezake, hot sake with sun-dried fugu fin that is gently heated for that extra flavour and aroma. And finally, the sweet satisfying desserts of Avocado ice cream with honey syrup and the soy milk pudding with Kinako and Azuki bean. While fugu cuisine is the core of this restaurant, there is a good range of ala carte courses featuring non-fugu items like this colorful plate of super fresh sashimi ($40/platter of 6 types), assorted sushi, grilled King crab and even that prized Omi beef Shabu shabu. Now you may ask, why are some people so fanatic with "river pig" (another name for puffer fish) since it tastes so mild? Well, the thrill is perhaps the small dosage of toxins that remain in the flesh, which sends a tingling sensation on the lips as one savours the deceptively plain-looking delicacy. For most first-time fugu eaters, it is only natural to feel apprehensive but you soon realized that it is nothing sort of the inflated notoriety, especially when the most fatal parts (gonads, the liver and the intestines) are out of reach in Singapore. The best thing of the fugu experience, how light and healthy it can be. At least you won't leave with a belly as swollen as that cute pufferfish. Full review and pictures: http://dairycream.blogspot.sg/2014/11/fuku-fine-fugu-kaiseki-restaurant.html continue reading

While most would be familiar with the stretch of Japanese restaurants along Mohamed Sultan Road, it would be worth paying attention to this inconspicuously located restaurant, Fuku Fine Fugu Kaiseki, which is the first restaurant in Asia outside Japan to serve the exquisite puffer fish all year round!Before you wonder if you misread that statement, you did not. Most people, myself included, would assume that puffer fish (also known as fugu in Japanese) is poisonous but what many did not realise is that with more than 100 species of fugu out there, there are only 20 species that are edible. Of which, Fuku imports the most prized Tora Fugu (Tiger Puffer Fish) both wild and farmed, twice a week by air from Shiminoseki (the specialty area of fugu).Under Japanese law, all chefs have to be specially licensed by the government before they can prepare and serve fugu to guests as the fish can be potentially fatal if prepared wrongly. Diners at Fuku can be assured of their safety as all of the air flown fish have to be removed of their internal organs, cleaned and meet the strict regulations by Japanese authorities before they are approved for import into Singapore.What we learnt also was that there are in fact farmed varieties that are bred without the poisonous organs!At Fuku, the chefs prepare the prized fish kaiseki style, which is a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner. It typically refers to a set menu of selected food served on an individual tray to each member at the table or gathering.Starting from S$150++/person for a six-course meal to S$580++/person for a nine-course wild fugu set which requires a 5-day advance booking, each set promises to impress your dining guests and companions.YubikiA popular appetiser for a fugu meal, the skin of the fish is parboiled to become a gelatinous texture similar to cartilage before being served in ponzu sauce, spicy radish and finely chopped chives to enhance the light flavours. For the ladies who crave for their collagen boost, this would be a dish to load up!TessaAn absolutely gorgeous platter of fugu sashimi was served and you could not help but admire the fine slicing skills of the chef. If not prepared right, it would result in instantaneous death hence this was once regarded as gun-powder.Interestingly, the paper-thin shavings or usuzukuri ends with a sloping thicker end for an elegant presentation as above where the translucent and intricate arrangements flaunt the exquisiteness of fugu. On its own, the sashimi tasted quite bland though it has an unique elastic texture to its flesh.We were advised to consume it together with specially imported Japanese baby leeks, ponzu sauce with spicy radish and shoyu sauce with wasabi which collectively instilled flavours to the fish. What I enjoyed in particular was the finely grated radish which we recently learnt about its health benefits during our visit to Tonkatsu by Ma Maison. At Fuku, the otherwise standard grated radish was treated with special care as it was allowed to rest with chilli oil, absorbing the heat to impart flavours to the fugu when consumed together with the other condiments.Like any authentic Japanese restaurant, you could identify instantaneous the quality of its ingredients starting from the shoyu used and more importantly, the wasabi. At Fuku, the wasabi are freshly grated and you could taste the freshness, almost.YakiOne of the popular techniques in serving the fugu is to grill the marinated collar, with an added hint of salt to crisp the skin and also for additional taste of the sea. A simple pairing with sea salt made the delicate meat within the collar a whole lot more palatable.KaraageNobody can ever resist a golden-brown crispy karaage, as portions of fugu were deep fried, giving that much desired crispness on the surface while retaining the juiciness of the flesh on the inside. The juxtaposition in textures between the batter and the flesh made this a clear favourite among the diners!TecchiriAfter showcasing the various techniques of the chef, there was no better way than to enjoy a hotpot! The broth was prepared very simply with dashi water and a big slab of kelp. Many would be familiar with dashi, which commonly forms the base for miso soups. The fugu bones and assortment of vegetables were then added to the broth.For those who enjoy their fugu cooked the right way, I would advise against putting it in together with the bones for that augmented the flavours of the broth. Cook the thickly sliced chunks of fugu as and when you are ready to have some in order not to waste the precious protein as leaving it in the broth for an extended period tends to make the flesh rather rubbery.ZousuiThere was no wastage to the essence of the broth as rice and egg were added to the rich and sweetened broth from the hotpot and left to simmer, forming a luscious and tasty porridge. Adding the specially imported shreds of seaweed, chives and vinegar, this is the usual staple to conclude an elaborate fugu spread.ShirakoAs we enjoyed the Tiger fugu, the filet mignon of puffer fish, it should not be neglected that its distinctive flavours come with its unparalleled concentration of toxins and the shirako is among the most potentially fatal parts of the infamously poisonous fish. Also known as the sperm sac, I was rather sceptical in trying it but curiosity got the better of me and I eventually took a portion, which to my pleasant surprise, was one of the finest delicacies tasted. With a rather elastic texture such as squid on the outer layer, the inside had a lightly mashy feeling which quite honestly one would form either a love or hate relationship though it went well on my palate as the acidity from the lime and salinity from the sea salt balanced the flavours harmoniously.HiresakeWith Fuku importing some of the rare sake labels and top Shochu varieties not available anywhere else in Singapore, the Hiresake, which is a hot sake with the Tora fugu fin caught our attention. Apart from the theatrical display where it was set ablaze, there was a distinct taste and aroma to the sake which made it very easy to drink even for the ladies. The fin was specially sun-dried to remove any traces of blood before being grilled, charred and steeped in the hot sake. Infusing the gorgeous bold flavours from the sake into the fin, expect a robust punch of flavours as you crunch through the fin!SushiWhile Fuku is a fugu centric Japanese restaurant, there are also non-fugu items such as grilled king crab and beef shabu-shabu. During our visit, the chefs had just launched a series of sushi platters and included uni (sea urchin) and different types of sword, fugu inclusive, of course.There are three private tatami rooms which can seat up 8 to 10 persons with two of the rooms being connected by a movable sliding panel. Perfect for a private social gathering or even a dinner with business associates.With a simple traditional Japanese setting decorated by wooden and bamboo features, stepping in for the first time gave a very comforting feeling with warm orange hues to set the atmosphere. Executive Chef, Koji-san (seen in the black uniform) would be at the front of the restaurant to greet his guests upon arrival.To enjoy the prized fish surely does not come cheap with the kaiseki meals starting from S$150++/person but it was truly an experience and cuisine that would not be available anywhere else in Singapore or Asia for that matter apart from Japan itself. It was surely one of the more memorable meals I have had and given an occasion, I would return for an indulgent meal yet!For original review, please visit us at http://www.makeyourcaloriescount.com/2014/11/sg-fuku-fine-fugu-kaiseki-1st-in-asia.html continue reading