By TAN BEE HONG
DESPITE the late afternoon storm, almost all guests turned up on time for the recent Intimate Degustation Course with Michelin-star Chef Yuichi Kamimura at Senja Italian Restaurant.
It was a pleasant surprise, as Malaysians aren’t known for their punctuality, especially with the rainy weather causing traffic snarls all over the city.
Inside Senja, the guests, mostly winners of a lucky draw for Asahi customers, were enjoying tall glasses of ice-cold Super Dry Asahi Beer before sitting down for their real prize – a six-course dinner specially prepared by the chef.
Kamimura is a familiar face in Senja’s kitchen. Known for his fusion-style French and Japanese cooking, he is the owner of the Michelin-starred Kamimura restaurant located in the ski resort village of Niseko in Japan.
He described Asahi as a beer with a lot of heritage, and felt that what made it a top seller in Japan was the beer-maker’s obsession with quality.
Inspired by the dryness of the karakuchi sake, the brewery introduced Super Dry, a crisp and sophisticated beer with a clean finish, in 1987. Carlsberg launched it in Malaysia in 2011.
Dinner guest Chang Tze Bing, who was there with partner Khoo Mei Yee, said the beer, with its refreshing, dry taste, could go with any type of food.
Dinner started with Asahi squid fritter with dried mullet roe. Upon first bite, the squid fritter, coated with crushed shisho and a light batter, took over my tastebuds with an overwhelming taste of ginger.
But as I chewed further, the other ingredients of sesame, kombu, chilli powder and mayonnaise tempered it down to a lingering finish.
Next was scallop confit resting on a bed of tomato salsa alongside pickled burdock, kyuri, red seaweed and chrysanthemum petals.
The translucent scallop was lusciously delicate, with a sweet, buttery flavour.
Next was poached marinated eggplant, which was deep-fried, but soft. It was blanketed under a leaf of deepfried kale on which rested a quail egg with a soft yolk.
Crumbed mimolette cheese added a sprinkle of bright orange hues.
Kamimura is known for his deft hand with seafood, and the scallop we tasted earlier was a perfect example of his skill.
His next seafood dish, the grilled lobster on lobster bisque and potato noodle, was equally sensational. The bisque exploded with crustacean aroma.
Glasses of freshly-drawn karakuchi Asahi helped clear our palates. While wine enhances the flavour of food, Asahi Super Dry works to cleanse the palate with its crisp finish.
This prepared diners for the chargrilled wagyu, served with watercress, caramelised onion and leek.
Khoo gave it the thumbs-up and said the medium rare beef was very juicy and tender.
Dessert was an exquisite pear sorbet with yoghurt cream crumble, nuts, maple syrup and lime. The sorbet itself was smooth and lightly scented but it was the yoghurt cream crumble with a perfect balance of taste and texture that put a happy skip in my gait as I made my way back to the car for the drive home.
Tan Bee Hong is a food critic cum blogger at fatphoenix.my. She can be contacted at phoenixbee@gmail.com.
