IzaHakka

It's been some time since we were last at UZA by Nikushou, and we had been thinking of returning to support RAW Yeah. When he told us last week that they would be doing a collaboration with Brother Hon of Sun Hon Kee Restaurant (新漢記) - a restaurant which ranks near the top of Foursheets' favorites list - it took me all of 2 seconds to ask him to save us two seats. There was no chance of us missing out on this special event!

We were seated at the counter around the open kitchen, which afforded Foursheets a good view as Brother Hon worked his magic in a small kitchen that he's unfamiliar with. This was really a lot of fun, and I'd been drooling since I got a glimpse of the menu before we even arrived.

Male and female snow crab (松葉蟹 x 香箱蟹) - it made total sense for the meal to kick off with this delicacy. As the season for catching female Japanese snow crabs (香箱蟹) for most Japanese prefectures have already finished, these came from Hokkaido. Always feel privileged whenever I see this in front of me, and I love how tasty Japanese snow crab meat gets!

Chargrilled unagi from Hamanako (白燒濱名湖鰻) - tonight the skin side was very crispy but seemed more charred than usual, and the bitterness showed. The eel from Lake Hamana (浜名湖), of course, is always nice.

Konagai oyster (小長井牡蠣) - fatty and creamy oyster from Nagasaki Prefecture (長崎県).

Kan-buri and baby tuna sashimi with hana-wasabi (寒鰤 稚鮪 花山葵) - yellowtail (鰤) is best in the winter, when they're more fatty. I normally don't eat (bluefin) tuna but... I didn't want to make a fuss tonight... so I dutifully enjoyed the 10-kg young Pacific bluefin tuna (メジマグロ).

Live baby squid in soy sauce (醬油鮮活珍珠吊筒) - these baby squid, which were supposedly live-caught bigfin reef squid (アオリイカ), were just so, sooooo tender and fresh. Served with a drizzle of light soy sauce (生抽) to highlight the sweetness, along with some blanched Chinese chive flowers (韭菜花). I could eat 2 plates of this myself. Probably more.

Chargrilled asparagus, Shizuoka tomato, miso (燒蘆筍 靜岡番茄 粒味噌) - the Amela tomatoes (アメーラトマト) were very sweet, as expected. Served with some togarashi moromi miso (唐辛子  もろみ味噌) on the side.

Semi-dried oyster and dried hotaru-ika in yuzu honey (柚子蜜金蠔 配 燒螢光魷魚乾) - THIS was really interesting. The usual "golden oyster (金蠔) is much more moist than we expected, although they've seen some heat from the flames and the edges have become a little crisp. They were served with some yuzu honey - the kind that comes in big jars and made into sweet drinks with water - to add fruity sweetness to them. Firefly squid (螢烏賊) have been dried and grilled until crunchy, and this concentrated their flavors even more than usual. Finally, we have some cured Chinese sausage - whose flavors were also pretty strong. Overall this dish really packed a punch.

Deep fried prawn soufflé and shrimp paste marinated pork (炸蝦棗 配 蝦醬骨) - these were "soufflé" because they were made with nothing more than prawn and egg whites, and certainly tasted very fluffy and bouncy after deep-frying like satsuma-age (さつま揚げ) or Taiwanese 甜不辣. Meanwhile the deep-fried pork chops were so fatty and juicy in addition to being crispy outside, and thanks to the shrimp paste marinade, the flavors were just incredible. Foursheets was in seventh heaven.

Bamboo shoots with dried shrimp roe (蝦子冬筍) - I do love it when winter bamboo shoots are covered in shrimp roe. So tasty.

UZA chicken karaage (UZA雞唐揚) - here comes the signature dish of the restaurant... FRIED CHICKEN!

There was a period when the execution of the chicken wasn't consistent, but it seems like that problem has been solved. I was pretty happy to be able to chomp down on a few pieces, together with either the signature mala (麻辣) chicken liver sauce or the grated radish (大根おろし).

Fruit celery and baby zuchini (水果芹 配 青瓜苗) - both the celery and cucumber flowers tasted very clean and pure, but the fermented soy bean sauce was damn salty.

Crispy pork belly in handmade shrimp paste (自家製蝦膏蒸玻璃肉) - YEAH, BABY! Slices of fatty pork belly topped with that amazing housemade shrimp paste, then we've also got slices of blanched cuttlefish with a wonderful springy texture. All over a nice bowl of steamed rice... which I dutifully finished.

Cold served mapotofu (冷麻婆豆腐) - this was pretty mild, and nowhere near the level of numbing or spicy heat I was expecting.

Shrimp paste marinated pork (蝦醬骨) - there seemed to be some extra pork lying around so we were given a second serving... this time with a dab of shrimp paste on top to make sure we got all of the flavors. Can you say "FUCK YEAH", boys and girls?

Mala handmade noodles with beef brisket cartilage and pork liver (麻辣牛胸爽黃沙豬肝伴手製麵) - the flat noodles that had been tossed with mala sauce were topped with some thin slices of beef sternum cartilage (牛胸爽 or 牛白) - which has this amazing crunch once it's been quickly blanched. We also had big slices of pig's liver, but these were the most prized fatty liver (黃沙膶) - or as RAW Yeah described: "sick liver." Soooooo delicious. All of it.

Miso soup (赤味噌湯)

Handmade water chestnut cake (煎手工馬蹄糕) - we each got a tiny little slice, but this was homemade by RAW Yeah and his mom. Texture was softer and didn't feel as "commercial" as the ones I bring home to mom from Fook Lam Moon (福臨門), and definitely not as sweet.

We took some sake from the restaurant's list instead of BYO tonight:

Isojiman Junmai Ginjo (磯自慢  純米吟醸), 2023 - seimaibuai of 55%. Very nicely balanced between a soft attack with a hint of sweetness, which then turned a tiny bit dry on the palate. Classic banana notes on the nose.

Sharaku Junmai Ginjo Origarami (寫楽  純米吟醸  おりがらみ), R5BY - very lightly cloudy, and slightly sweet on the palate.

This was such a happy evening, especially for Foursheets. We definitely look forward to the next one!