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Varieties of sushi |
This monsoon, experience hilsa the Japanese way. Aura, the restaurant at The Sonnet, is hosting the Unique Oriental Food Festival from August 10. The festival includes a lavish spread of Oriental delicacies combined with the most-awaited crop of the rainy season.
The concept is a brain child of Master Chef Jajo who has come all the way from Myanmar. So what made her come up with this unique concept? “I have tried to add a distinctly authentic taste to Oriental cuisine. Keeping in mind the Independence Day of India, we have tried to Indianise sushi by evolving a special blend of Hilsa in the Sushi platter,” said Chef Jajo.
Begin your gastronomic expedition with the Chef’s unique creation Ilish Uramaki (tempura hilsa fish with wasabi in an upside rice roll) and Spider Uramaki (tempura crab with wasabi in an upside rice roll).
“Sushi is generally made with semi-raw fish like salmon and tuna, but we have made the sushi with fried Hilsa,” said the chef.
Move on to sumptuous non-vegetarian dim sum platter consisting of Shumao or Shaomai (steamed chicken or prawn), Wanton Crispy dumplings of Chicken, Jiaozi or Gyoza (Chinese steamed or pan fried ground chicken).
If you are a veggie then dig into Mixed Mushroom dumplings, Potato carrot green peas dumpling and Water Chestnut and Chinese Cabbage dumplings.
Seal your meal with the chef’s signature dish Tempura fried ice cream (sponge cake outside with vanilla ice cream inside).
The food festival is on till August 19 and a meal for two would cost Rs 1,000 plus taxes. The event also saw traditional folk music performance by Baul singer Sadhab Das Bairagi who had Baul Maki Kazumi from Japan as his companion.
Food and beverage manager Soumen Haldar is delighted with the response the festival has generated over the weekend. “We are getting repeat customers. Hilsa traditionally goes well with rice, which is the main ingredient of sushi. The smoky flavour of the fish is working well for sushi,” he says.
The Japanese offerings are scoring high among clients for sheer novelty value. The live counter where Chef Jajo is preparing the dishes has a steady ring of onlookers.
But customers, Haldar says, are not squeamish about eating raw meat. “People of Salt Lake have evolved tastes. They come knowing what sushi is. They are comfortable eating sushi with raw pork, salmon, squid or avocado, which are all on offer at the festival.”
The questions coming from them are usually on the finer points. They ask about the use of wasabi sauce (a paste made of Japanese horseradish which is used as condiment for sushi) and the order in which to eat their sushis and dim sum. We tell them that sushi, being cold, should be had before the hot dim sum,” Haldar says.
Those coming for dinner often order the buffet comprising a mix of Chinese, Indian and Continental. The buffet costs Rs 714. For an extra Rs 200, they are served unlimited dim sum.
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| Varieties of dim sum |
Hilsa Uramaki |
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