I wish upon a star

I wish upon a star to be born into blue blood,
I wish upon a star to (yet) grow up in obscurity,
I wish upon a star to have a big adventure in some magical kingdom,
I wish upon a star to meet a star,
I wish upon a star to run away with the star,
I wish upon a star to walk among the clouds,
I wish upon a star to get a makeover from a whoopsie,
I wish upon a star to learn everything I needed to from the very same whoopsie,
I wish upon a star to have the courage to do a solo scene like the whoopsie,
I wish upon a star to become a mouse, but not to live as a mouse,
I wish upon a star to frolick with the star,
I wish upon a star to have the courage to break up with a puppy love,
I wish upon a star to win every big fight I get involved in,
I wish upon a star to live in a palace up in the stars forever,
I wish upon a star that I have read the book before I even saw the movie.

Happy 1st Anniversary with Iketeru

I was expecting an quieter place after driving into a half-empty carpark, instead I walk straight into a assault (Chef Ricky was even behind the Sushi & Sashimi counter for the first time I entered Iketeru)


Starter dish: Boiled Mushroom mixed with Tofu Sauce & Steamed Japanese Yam served with Sea Urchin
Mushroom texture was like covered by jellied vinegar (reminiscent of the vinegar-coated dishes 4 months ago), silky smooth in your mouth (and tangy too) until your first bite, then flavours gushes out and melt together on your tongue. The delight was finding out how well the tofu sauce goes with the mushroom (heck, Chef Ricky probably made a great variant on the white sauce with the tofu puree).



Yam was good, I was a bit worried by the deep coloured urchin, which was not what I was used to having over the past few months, but it tasted good. must master my chopsticks skill so that I can dice the thing into bite size portion, zice it into my mouth and chice around like a kungfu master.





















Soup: Clear Broth with Scallop Dumpling
Scallop? what scallop? I want my scallop!!! (stupid tongue can't taste the scallop, stupid eyes couldn't even see any signs of the scallop)
compared to previous attempts, a bit of a letdown.
Where is that freaking scallop?







Sashimi: Light Grilled Bonito, Raw Amberjack & White Meat Fish
Liver sauce wasn't only bitter (Chef Ricky's comment), it was bloody, just bloody, very bloody......LIVER BITTER (i confess, Ricky, I confess); but it really, really, really goes well with the Bonito (more sake in the preparation might have helped although I prefered it as the basting sauce when you grilled the bonito).

Is it me or does the Amberjack taste much more finnier this time round? At least rich fatty tuna solves everything. (in the middle of the dish, Chef Ricky came up to me and asked me to 'man man sek')


Simmered dish: Simmered Turnip & Prawn with Chrysanthemum Sauce
The picture just doesn't do this dish justice *I just wail and weep at the quality of the photo*. Probably the prettiest dish he has presented so far, A beautiful carved turnip, crowned by thin slices of green, coated in sauce and draped in Chrysanthemum flower petals, with a prawn and mushroom.

The trick to savouring this dish to the ultimate would probably be figuring out the ideal slice of turnip in relation to the sauce (much like the fugu challenge last year). Oh the agony of the golden pi number in this dish......still can't figure it out, sorry!!! Each bite ended up too saucy or too turnipy.












Grilled dish: Grilled Pacific Saury with Salt, Simmered Oyster with Soya Sauce & Assorted vegetables (egg rolls, gingko nuts, chestnut, marinated tuna, lotus root crisps!!!)
Lovely, perfect, wonderful, utopia, best dish of the night.

I miss my japanese egg rolls, I miss tamagu, I miss good quality japanese egg rolls. These are runny, these are soft, these are making me sing (no matter how off key, off pitch, off tone I am) because they are the embodiment of this perfect dish.

A sweet sweet chestnut and simmered oyster, 3 succulent gingko nuts. so utopic.
The lovely marinated tuna in sesame seed oil sprinkled with sesame seed, 7 lovely slices, just lovely, i am approaching Cloud 9.

And the wonderful lotus root crisps: kiss Mr. Potato goodbye, kiss Pringles goodbye, kiss all those potato crisp goodbye. (I am just not ready to throw away my Nachos and Tortilla just yet).
the saury was tasty, i lemon-light it, I garnished it with white radish. yet it was slightly undercooked, this so spoiled my perfect dish of this evening. *sob*














Fried dish: Deep Fried Cod Milt, Matsutake Mushroom, Chilli & Japanese Sweet Potato Tempura
The waitress actually teased me by suggesting that I might want the traditional tempura sauce (which I will pass). The mushrooms, chillis and potatoes tempuras are clingy, light, zen. but the cod milt just bloated like a overwatered skin, it taste so horrible. Another beautiful dish ruined by just one element. (Oh why do they have to have so many customers on my 1st anniversary, these people are spoiling the chefs and my evening).

















Main Course: Rice cooked with Japanese Chestnuts & Red Soy Bean Soup with Eggplant
Unlike previous servings, the rice was not permeated by flavours. Maybe it needs more nuts, the proportion of nut to rice should have been much greater. Maybe I need to go fast in a Zen buddhist temple for 3 days and 3 nights before I come back to sample this dish (I score another Chef Ricky snicker). Yet eating it was Zen, eating well cooked rice until you bite into a chestnut, and the flavour unfolds into your mouth, mixing with rice, until everything becomes a flavourful mush in your mouth which you want to quickly swallow before it becomes bland mush but you just can't because it is still a flavourful mush and you want to savour it slowly. The state of perfection is oh so brief.


Dessert: Sliced Japanese Pear & Grapes, Lime Sherbert & Japanese pastry
The grapes are mellowy rather than tarty, pears were bitey rather than crunchy, the lime sherbert was much bigger than the one I got at last year's MIGF. Red Bean cake were a good addition. (Chef Ricky admits that he is a novice when he it comes to dessert and pastries and is still learning, I still recommend a true blue Japanese sweet chef)



Poor Chef Ricky is getting slammed after the lull of Ramadan, he has a lot of preparations that still need to be done for the Gourmet festival next month and I thank him from the bottom of my heart for his patience to listen to my prattle.

The evening could have been perfect, I want it to be perfect. I blame the other customers. (Yeah, I am a selfish bastard but I am not blaming the chefs yet.)

Oh well, cheers to my first anniversary with Iketeru.

Awaiting more feedback on my food reviews, Say it so in the comment section.

Malaysia International Gourmet Festival

Cheapest so far is the Bossa Nova (Parkroyal Hotel) at RM90 (RM220 inclusive of wine)
Most expensive is Lafite (Shangri-la Hotel) at RM575 (RM1120 inclusive of wine)

So many choices, so limited time and budget.

Will be looking forward to the Hilton threesome (might have to skip Senses this year).
Am also interested in Il Tempio after meeting the executive chef once and it will also be at Tamarind Spring to boot.

expected budget: RM1051 ringgit
misc budget: RM100.

I really need a bonus.

Two more months until the Malaysian International Gourmet Festival

This was due out in September, sorry for the delay but was without stable & fast internet connection up in Cameron Highlands over the weekend after I had this Kaiseki. Without further ado, the September Kaiseki menu from Iketeru


Starter dish: Boiled Chrysanthemum in Bonito Sauce & Marinated Mackerel in Vinegar Sauce
First look of the mackerel reminded me of mum’s cooking where she marinates fried fish in soya sauce which taste horrible because the texture (anyone ever tasted fried stuff steeped in water for say 1 minute?). At least the acidity of the vinegar cuts through the texture and softened the fish up just nicely. Chef Ricky pointed out that both preparations were mixed when hot so that the heat speeds up the marination.

The other dish was very familiar, must check past menu. (Chef Ricky fessed up that he did served the Chrysanthemum before last year. At least I won't have to trawl through my previous menus to dig that one up)

Soup: Clear Broth with Seaweed Dumpling
After the first bite of the dumpling, I thought the texture of seaweed used in the dumpling resemble stringy Fatt Choy (which grows in the Xinjiang plateau). When I told Chef Ricky later, he even snickered at the comparison. At least I can see the Seaweed as opposed to the Sea Urchin dumpling last month.

When I pointed out the cute decoration of the veggies, Chef Ricky mentioned offhandedly that it resembles the autumn leaves.



Sashimi: Raw Bonito, Flying Fish & White Meat Fish
A distant relative of the Tuna family, The bonito tasted like the non-fatty part of Tuna with a distinct mellowness. Was quite pleased to finally taste it as compared to just sipping it out of stocks and sauces.

The Flying Fish and White Fish Meat were similarly light (compared to red fish Meat), which is typical of their type but I found the Flying fish to be springier in texture and have a mellowed tartness in taste.

















Simmered dish: Simmered Herring & Eggplant with Bonito Sauce
The Herring was cooked until it was so soft that it bordered on mushiness (at least it still has some bite), absolutely no worries of any stray bones getting wedged in my throat. The eggplant served this time was good too but very firm compared to previous servings, have mentioned it to Chef Ricky. The Dish was garnished by thin slices of okra and seaweed mush (that was cooked with Konbu), which went well with the Herring.
















Grilled dish: Grilled Pacific Saury with Liver Sauce, Sweet Prawn with Salt, Yam, Roe Cod Salad, Salted Gingko Nuts, Smoked Salmon Sushi and Sweetcakes.
I just love the Roe Cod Salad and Grilled pacific saury (going together like eggs and bacons). The yam was mellowy, prawn was crunchy and the Smoked Salmon Sushi was the icing on the cake. A near perfect dish if not for the off saltiness of the gingko nuts on the sides.

















Steamed dish: Steamed Egg Custard with scallop
My first impression was that of a shark-finny cawan mushi (which earns me another Chef Ricky snicker).

But I love this dish, it comes piping hot (and I do meaning scalding-your-mouth-and-tongue-hot) so every bite really really melts in your mouth after yielding from the initial chewiness.

I think they should have more cawan mushi on the menu more often, don't you?


Main Course: Rice cooked with Autumn Sea Bream & Miso
(Sorry, also forgot to take a photo of this one. Was to good to resist)
Equal to the Unagi Chazaku two months back (if the Unagi rice didn’t come with tea soup, it would have been running a distant second).

When the lid was lifted, the aroma from this dish overpowered previous servings because it was so fragrant, I could see the tea-coloured rice and flakes of ginger. Carefully laid out among them were millimeter-thin slices of Autumn Sea Bream.

From the very first bite, the rice was full of flavour. The Sea Bream ever so moist and the ginger flakes were mellowed to the point that they are no longer astringe. I just Love It! Love It! Love It!


Dessert: Sliced trawberries, Grapes and Pear
The pears were sweet and mellow instead of tarty; but the grapes were sweet and tarty to the point of acidity, almost like eating grapes that were handpicked especially for acidic wines (or more coherently, like tasting acidic wine that has been cocooned in the grapes themselves). Chef Ricky was bemused by my comparision.


After dinner, Chef Ricky and I started conversing on future menus and the MIGF event, which I am looking forward to in November.

secret notes: Anyone want to arrange a pre-MIGF sampling of the festival menu? I am trying to arrange one on MIGF eve once Chef Ricky has gathered all the ingredients. Secret invitation only, pass me your email addy.

Awaiting more feedback on my food reviews, Say it so in the comment section.