[Hong Kong Cuisine] Causeway Bay: Iwanami Japanese Cuisine – A Sensory Delight

A while back—actually, about two months ago—I had a New Year’s Eve dinner at Iwanami Japanese Restaurant in Causeway Bay, where I enjoyed sea urchin, sashimi… I started with a glass of @Fleur de Paris champagne. Good food, fine wine, and good company. What a joy! What a treat!

The centrepiece of the starter is baby conger eel—the young of the conger eel—which is only available at this time of year.

Tonight’s dish will feature Hokkaido snow crab as the main ingredient

And then there’s this piece of torro; from the photo, you’d think it was quite a small cut, but it’s actually one and a half chi wide and one and a half chi thick. In a moment, it’ll be cut up and find its way into my stomach.

Octopus sashimi: on the right are slices of the tentacles, whilst on the left, the part with the suction cups has a stronger flavour and is even crunchier.

Yellowtail is a fish that isn’t eaten very often; it has an even marbling of fat, with just the right amount of oil so it isn’t greasy, and the texture is rather like eating non-greasy lard.

Two platters of sea urchin: the one on the left is top-grade ‘horse dung’, and the one on the right is premium. We’ll be using them to make sushi in a moment.

Snow crab sashimi! So tender and full of flavour! I must have been incredibly lucky—my portion was particularly generous. I dipped it in a little soy sauce and popped a big mouthful in. Absolutely delicious!

Hokkaido North Pacific cockle, sashimi with exceptionally thick flesh

Medium-sized toro—need I say more!? Oops, my mistake—it should be wild large toro~~~

This is the best anglerfish liver I’ve ever tasted; it’s as tender and smooth as fresh bone marrow, with a rich, savoury flavour that slowly spreads across the palate—it really is something to savour slowly!

The real stars of the show tonight are four varieties of oysters, arranged from largest to smallest. I won’t list their names here—they’re all in foreign languages and I can’t remember how to write them—but just show the photo to Chef Ricky in the restaurant and ask him to bring you a portion of each.

Cod hotpot, containing pieces of cod, cod milt and vegetables

Matsuba crab legs—dip them in a little white salt and lemon juice to bring out their umami flavour!

The chef is currently frying Hokkaido 3.6 milk tempura. First, the milk is seasoned and mixed with light cream, then dipped in batter before frying. When eaten, it is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Seasonal Pumpkin Tempura

Egg tempura—something I’d never tried before—is a labour-intensive dish where each egg yolk is prepared individually; there’s no shortcut here. The yolks are fried until soft-boiled, then brushed with a sauce made with plenty of sakura shrimp—sweet, salty and full of umami! The soft-boiled yolk slowly oozes out as you bite into it, releasing a rich, eggy flavour.

Wow! OMG! Have you ever tried eating sea urchin like this?

Rice Cake Tempura

Horse-dung Sea Urchin Sushi

Grill the snow crab; with hairy crabs, you eat the crab paste, whereas with snow crabs, you eat the crab meat—it’s fresh and sweet, and even when grilled, it retains its fresh flavour!

Snow crab congee—it’s so sweet, so sweet, and the congee is wonderfully creamy too! The chef’s skills are truly impressive!

VSOP from the sixties – the foodies here are brilliant