I happened to wander around St. Leonard looking for something yummy for my lunch and came across this 'Bento-ya' on Chandos street. The menu board next to the entrance looks tempting so I did give it a try.
My sakura bento box
My 'sakura bento' comprises three gyoza, two sushi, salad, steamed rice, and prawn teriyaki for the main dish. Considering the price, the portion weren't a disappointment and the taste still ok but one thing really caught my attention when they served my bento box, can you notice from the picture? They mix wasabi into the soy sauce! One thing I hardly found in a Japanese restaurant (even it's not an authentic one). This unusual way of serving sushi reminds me of one page from "Morimoto-The New Art of Japanese Cooking". Morimoto-san gives two advices in regards How to Eat Sushi:
- Don't dunk your sushi rice first into the soy sauce, he said: this spoils the the texture of rice that I've worked so hard to create and overwhelms the delicately seasoned rice.
- Don't mix wasabi into your soy sauce. Ideally, the sweet bite of wasabi tucked under the fish, and the rich, salty slick of soy on top meet each other in the mouth, not before. This create an exciting friction that's lost when they are combined into a murky sauce.
Morimoto also said: I don't believe strict rules should govern how you eat every bit of food, yet I do hope customers will appreciate the efforts I've taken to create a balance and delicious sushi.
