Savour the texture

It turns out that I frequent the Japanese outlet at Toa Payoh HDB Centre's Koufu food court many of the times before I go for my weekly music theory class.

I had sushi, Teriyaki Chicken and soft-shell crab today. The sushi is nicely done, considered value-for-money for its price range. I think I still like sashimi to Teriyaki Chicken. The Teriyaki Chicken has a fairly generous portion of chicken, just that I still like sashimi. I do find the sauce for the Teriyaki Chicken a little salty for my bland-preferring taste. The sashimi at the outlet is better. It serves by far the best sashimi set-meal that I have tried for that price range.

Perhaps it is a reward to loyal customers, I got to sample this nice item this evening. I later found out that this sushi-looking item is supposedly a popular dish in Japan (but don't ask me for its name please, because I don't know). Basically it looks quite like what we normally know as salmon sushi. I was later told that salmon belly was sliced and used to make this item. The sliced salmon was grilled very lightly before the item was served. Then a dash of mayonnaise is placed on top of the sliced salmon.

The item appears to need to be savoured rather be swallowed down one's palate. When savoured, one realised that the core of the sliced salmon is raw like a slice of sashimi. The exterior lends a nicely warm and cooked texture. The warm exterior is nicely complemented with the dash of mayonnaise. When savoured, it does give one's palate the feeling that the item is melting in one's mouth. I like the contrast in the texture between the raw core and the grilled exterior. It was a nice chew. I think I chewed on it for more than two minutes. (Considered long if you know how fast I chew and swallow my food.)

Maybe that might be my first and last time trying this, because this item is not on the menu. Anyway, I can only agree that the hospitable boss of the outlet does have a balanced way to make her regular customers feel valued. (If I were to be treated with any greater privilege, I might have shy away from the outlet.) Wishing the outlet good business so that I can continue to enjoy its sashimi before music theory classes.