kaisan

it is difficult for someone living in tropical singapore to understand the concept, and by extension, the consequences of the seasons: a small island surrounded by the sea, and close to the equator, the weather in singapore ranges from warm and humid, to hot and humid. nor can one note the passing of seasons via life itself: winter clothes are confined to mannequins in shopping centres; the durian, once a seasonal fruit, is now sold throughout the year.

unlike the japanese, who pride themselves (or at least are portrayed in the media as such) as the arbiters of all things seasonal, the average singaporean, dare i say, is hopelessly out of touch when it comes to matching produce to the corresponding seasons.

j and i had a first hand experience of this phenomenon of foods affected by the seasons during our recent dinner at kaisan. our prior experience there last february was an extremely satisfying one; the food, while simple, was bursting with intense flavour: the ankimo was firm and creamy, the unspoilt rawness of the sea literally melting in our mouths; the sashimi sweet and redolent, as though the fish were only killed mere moments ago; and the saba-shioyaki was simply the best i've ever had, all oily and firm, yet yielding easily at the slightest pressure, and the texture of the meat, coupled with the slightly charred skin with a hint of hei, simply divine.

however, it is now july, and a posting by umami warned that "june is not the best time of the year for fish from japan". nevertheless, i simply could not bear leaving singapore without a taste of that intense, concentrated flavour that i'd enjoyed so much, and thus, with a nagging thought of the possibility of a disappointing dinner, made a reservation at kaisan last saturday.



we decided on an order of the shima-aji and tako sashimi, saba-shioyaki, gindara-ni, and an additional uni-temaki for myself.

the amuse-bouche consisted of two parts: a serving of julienned vegetables with a miso paste, and a small salad with thousand-island topped with tobiko. the cold julienned vegetables were highly refreshing, providing relief to the terrible humidity outside. the salad was good, if a tad plebian, though the tobiko did add a nice crunch to the mix.

the sashimi was next. both the cuts were fresh, evidenced by the excellent texture, all firm and with bite. the temperature at which the sashimi was served was perfect too. but alas, the taste was somewhat lacking, the most likely explaination being my earlier rant about seasonality, seeing that the freshness of the fish was not compromised. in particular, the sweetness of the shima-aji was overpowered by a strong grassy, muddy freshwater fish taste (though there's a silver lining here: i've finally recognised the particular taste of shima-aji, having experienced this specific incident that juxtaposed the sweet taste with the jarring bitterness - after all, definitions, including matters of taste (in both senses), are relative). also, i thought the tako could do with a more sweetish and slightly thicker sauce, rather than the table shoyu.

the saba-shioyaki was also not as inspiring as the previous version; it was wetter this time, less oily (in a bad way), and lacked a proper yaki touch (or what the cantonese would term wok-hei) which monumentally defined the one we had then. the rice that was served was a tad too gummy, and i found myself sprinkling furikake onto it; something i hardly do when eating rice at proper japanese restaurants.

the gindara-ni was slightly better in the sense that it could be fixed by ourselves at the table: a touch of shoyu transformed the "tasteless" cod, to quote j. i've realised, though, that i don't quite care for simmered seabass; give me steamed or pan-seared ones (ember's version comes to mind) any day.

the sparkle of the day was the uni-temaki: something i merely liked the first time, i found myself appreciating the taste much more this time round. the combination of the sweet, slimy uni with rice is something i believe i will enjoy the more i have it; i'd definitely have to test this theory the next time i go to japan =)

hk joined us at the end of the meal, at which point we proceeded to seah street deli for what was supposed to be dessert (for j and i), but turned out to be a large serving of fries.

would i still go back to kaisan? definitely, but i'd wait for the "winter months", when the seafood from japan is considered at its peak (not that i'd be able to go earlier, seeing that i won't be in singapore); i still havn't tried the ikura that umami waxed lyrical about; and that, in particular, is probably something worth waiting for.