Thinking back on this massive crab from @kappousushi - the meat was super sweet and tender and the crab itself was a sight to behold!
The unassuming store was tucked in a corner of Fortune Centre โ a very quintessential feature of a good Japanese restaurant. I was immediately drawn to the shelves of Sake, a rare sight in SG.
Chef has a bubbly disposition, and it was interesting to see her bounce around the kitchen to get the food served to us.
They offer free sake tasting, which is definitely an experience.
I was pleasantly taken aback by the first dish - uni and king snapper noodles (see top right picture). Everything was very fresh and sweet. Some other highlights include the sashimi platter, ikura don and truffle unagi. I immensely enjoyed the freshness of the ingredients and the interesting fusion of different foods (such as the truffle on unagi). Would definitely revisit!
The prefect sushi experience. Every action she did was taken in account - From The degree of the lime zest was sprinkle to the finger movement she chose to make the sushi. .
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Hotato (Scallop)
A dash of lime zest and salt was all it needed. .
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Akami (leanest part of the tuna)
Completely melted in the mouth. .
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Sea robin
Noticed the fine cut between the sashimi. Not only it soften the texture, the shoya been trapped in between helped to season the fish perfectly. .
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Black fish .
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Ika with uni
This was how uni and ika should taste like. The soft and sweet ika carried the uni flavor to extend its stay on the palate. When you though the uni was the best thing ever happen, the toasted sesame came in. Nuttiness cleansed the entire palate. I literally gave an applause to the chef. .
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At first I didn't understand why sushi was less compressed and looser, until he end, I understood why. Because all the fish was aged, the texture will be softener than usual. Thus, in order for the flavors to merge completely, the rice couldn't be as compared. .
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Mini chiraishidon
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Red bean and sea salt ice cream/ Sakura ice cream
Even the dessert was served to perfection. Just make sure to get all everything into one spoonful to 100% enjoy the flavors. .
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I had tried to explain the experience to the best I could. When you have the chance, please go and try their omakasa. #BurppleSushiMonth
Introduced by @that_dex, led me to this little omakasa restuarant with only 11 seater. The chef attention to the details was the reason why I love this place. The speciality here was that the chef aged her own fish with different "salty" base. This aging process encouraged to bring out the hidden flavors within the fish which heat just won't meet the mark. However, it was a very difficult skill to master. She could only count on her experience and judge by the fat content leave over on the blade. The amount of "salty" ingredients used and duration of aging could only be judge by her years of experience. .
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Vegetables with Yasai miso .
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Golden stripe mackerel .
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Raw onion with tuna belly shavings, ponzu and yuzu dressing .
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Onsen tamago with hokkaido ikura and truffle .
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Seared Fugu with Himalayan rock salt and lime (Special)
Incredible type of fish which was famous of its deadly flavor. The aged fugu torched and sprinkled with lime zest and Himalayan stone salt. The more you chewed, the more it's juice released while the salt and lime deepen the taste. .
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Aged saba with white miso
The SWEETESSST saba I had! No sugar added! The white miso brought out the sweetness from its fat which normally would be dispensed by the heat. After I tried this, no more normal saba!#BurppleSushiMonth
I've more excuses to eat sushi, cos this is #BurppleSushiMonth! This doesn't look like sushi yet, cos this is taken during the elaborate preparation of a negitoro uni sushi.
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Step 1: Otoro skin is torched so that the fat drips onto the chopped akami.
Step 2: Akami is mixed.
Step 3: Fish is sandwiched between distilled water ice cubes and bamboo leaves for exactly one min so that the fat would harden, but when placed over warm rice and in your mouth, it will melt and you can taste it.
Step 4: Rice is shaped, topped with tuna, red miso aged yolk, wasabi and shoyu, then placed on hand to be eaten in one bite.
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Unfortunately I didn't get to try this.. I think it must have tasted amazing too..!
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Surprisingly not so 'fishy' and flavors enhanced using a light brush or shoyu and a pint of salt.
This hidden gem is to hidden in the second floor of Fortune Centre, where the young and promising Chef Aeron runs the place with her dedication and warm hospitality to every single guest present.
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For the $128+ omakase set (highest tier here), we had 4 appetizers (including a camembert-mozzarella mochi cheese and aged saba), 2 sashimi (yellowtail threadfin bream and flag fish), many sushi (including itoyori, hotate, shima aji, kin media, akami tenmi, meijina, buri, aori ika, aged eggplant), a mini chirashi don and a dessert (castella, matcha macaron, granola, dehydrated purple sweet potato).
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It's an interesting experience that lasted 4 hours, also because Chef Aeron is serving all 12 diners only with one assistant. Two days reservation required if you would like to try her speciality of aged fish.
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Pictured: Huinan receiving her ika with moshio seaweed sea salt served on seaweed shin nori.
I do not know the science behind the transformation of the simple eggplant into such a state of fabulousness.
I only know this serving of it, topped with some special miso, had everyone exclaiming in pleasure the moment our spoons went in our mouths.
MIND BOGGLED.
It's a scallop but had the distinct taste of oyster.
This is a fine example of Chef Aeron's style of sushi.
So when dining at Kappou Sushi Tapas Bar, a 12-seater restaurant tucked away on the second level of Fortune Centre, be ready to embrace a world of new tastes.
Furthermore, because Chef likes to describe what goes into the making of each course of her omakase, including how she ages her sushi, you'll learn a lot too.
Do note that dinner here can stretch over a few hours as she has only one assistant and time is needed to prepare each course.
Chef Aeron explained how she specially sliced the hotate in the middle and spread it across the triple variant sushi rice. The result was an absolutely pleasing, mouthful of umami and freshness.
I don't think I've tried aged chutoro and this was really the highlight of the omakase. Aged for 5 days, the chutoro became so buttery and the natural flavors came out a lot more. Brilliant.
If you find waiting months for a seat at lavish omakase palaces tiresome, this well-kept secret that only requires two days' advance reservation is where you can go to enjoy an omakase that specialises in aged ingredients. Located in Fortune Centre on the second floor, the 12-seater place is run by Chef Aeron Choo on her own, who has spent many years learning the art of aging ingredients. Expect unique creations like aged egg yolk in red miso as well as beautifully aged eggplants and red scorpion fish sushi, one of the more unusual fish option available here. The food comes highly recommended by our Burpple community, perfect for impressing your date or celebrating a birthday over a memorable meal. The nine-dish Omakase Set ($68) is a preview of her prowess in the kitchen. Sit by the counter and watch as she works her magic; you won't want to miss anything she does! Pro tip: If you're celebrating a birthday, don't be shy to let her know. She might just whip up a hill of seafood chunks, drizzled with mentai mayo (like what she did for Burppler Dex Neo)!
Avg Price: $80 per person
Photo by Burppler Raine Liu
This is their cheapest Omakase option and it gives you 2 appetisers, 5 sushi pieces, a small chirashi don and a dessert. What's interesting here is the chef focuses on Aged Sushi (fermented fish slices on sushi rice). Most memorable pieces was the negitoro with 14 day old aged egg yolk and the eggplant sushi!!
Negitoro Sushi
One of the extras Chef Aeron was kind enough to prepare for us was this negitoro sushi ๐ฃ with aged yolk! The process of making this sushi was as delightful as savouring the end product!
Otoro was first seared ๐ฅ to allow the oil rendered from the fish fat to drip over the bowl of negitoro. After mixing in the oil, the negitoro wad laid out on a piece of leaf โ๏ธ resting on a block of ice โ๏ธ. Another piecd of leaf covered the negitoro while a 2nd block of ice weighed it down into a piece of minced fish. The chef then quickly prepared her egg yolk aged in red miso and sushi rice.
The idea of this sushi is to consume the chilled tuna with slightly warm sushi rice and further enhancing the flavours with the umami egg yolk. The result is golden silence while the sushi is consumed followed by a radiant smile๐. Enough said!
This item is only available for the $128 omakase set @kappoujapanese . But thank you Chef Aeron' for letting us try this anyway!
Kappou Omakase ($68)
Throwback to last weekend's omakase at newly opened @kappoujapanese tucked away at a quiet corner on the 2nd floor of Fortune Centre. Chef Aeron's dedication to her love of preparing Japanese sushi and showcasing their warm hospitality is evident in the way she runs this place.
Kappou specializes in aging their ingredients from fish to pork and beef. She even showcased her aged eggplant and aged egg yolk. How special is this place? Her fish also isn't the usual offerings at common sushi joints. We were served red scorpion fish, horse mackerel and snapper amongst other seasonal fish. It is best to make an advanced reservation so that Chef Aeron can prepare her aged ingredients and present them to you at their best!
Oh man, where do I start with this... There was so many theatrics and elements to this but man was it amazing! โจ
Let me start with the different elements: Negitoro, Red Miso Aged Egg Yolk, Leek (I think), Wasabi, Sushi Rice
Now ok, you're probably thinking, "Eh, sounds alright..." but geez, hear me out.
The negitoro was probably one of the craziest things I've seen so far. Chef Aeron started out by torching skin from the otoro part of the tuna to let the oils and omega fats drip right into the minced fatty tuna. That alone had us going ohhhh and ahhhh. ๐ THEN, she slams two giant blocks of ice in front of us, lays some leaves on top and sandwiches the negitoro between the two blocks of ice for exactly one minute! โ๏ธ
In between this minute, she prepped the rest of the ingredients like the egg yolk aged in red miso and leek.
Once she assembled all the ingredients together, don't waste any time! Just take your photo if you have to and pop it right in cause the hot and cold interplay between the warm sushi rice and the chilled fats and oil in the negitoro is AMAZING! ๐คคThank you Chef Aeron for letting us try this beautiful creation. Be still in my dreams...
Say whut? Never tried quite a few of the fish we had tonight before and this slightly scary sounding one impressed me the most!
Aged for a few days (I forget how many ๐ ), it's slightly sweet and quite tasty. But the mouthfeel of this one really caught our attention! It almost felt like I was chewing on lobster sashimi. Much preferred this over the red cornetfish.
Chef Arron curiously shared that this fish actually feeds on crustaceans like lobsters and crabs which might explain that?
Have been fortunate to visit @kappousushi twice, and have been amazed during each meal. Pictured is a mini ikura and uni don that was part of a multi-course omakase prepared by chef Aeron, whose bubbly and friendly demeanour also contributes to the great experience at Kappou.
