For thE PrinCe & thE PrinCesS: Isetan KLCC Foodmarket Kyushu Fair 2011

KLCC new Isetan Food Market is now a new place for grocery and food shopping. Since their opening in September, i was very excited to see their new products imported mainly from Japan. My previous posts are: imported frozen food, tempting pastry, imported fresh fruits and vegetables.

Isetan KLCC organizes food fair quite often. Now it is Isetan KLCC Foodmarket Kyushu Fair 2011 from 23rd September to 2nd October 2011.

Kyushu Fair at Isetan KLCC Foodmarket

A simple introduction to Kyushu:

" Kyushu, the third largest island of Japan which is located in the South, has earned the title of "Food Island" by producing one fifth of Japan's agricultural products. Kyushu is also the birthplace of Shochu, and is home to many makers of this exquisite liquor. Local cuisine includes Nabe dishes (Hot Pot), Mentaiko (Pollack Roe), braised dishes and plenty of seafood. The southern prefectures of Kyushu are also well-known for producing nutritional food items."

~~ courtesy from Isetan Foodmarket Kyushu Fair brochure

1. What is Shocu?

Shocu at Kyushu Fair, Isetan KLCC Foodmarket

Shocu is a type of Japanese distilled beverage made from barley, sweet potato, or rice. Sometimes it is produced from brown sugar, buckwheat or chestnut. Typically it contains 25% alcohol by volume. The production is now everywhere in Japan, but it is believed that it is started in Kyushu.

~taken from en.wikipedia/shochu

2. What is Nabe?

Special Eat-in Chanko Nabe at Kyushu Fair, Isetan KLCC Foodmarket

Nabe in Japanese, is a short term for Nabemono. Nabe = cooking pot, Mono = things, Nabemono means varieties of Japanese steamboat dishes. It's also known as one pot dishes.

The pots are traditionally made of clay or thick cast iron. Clay pots can keep warm for a while after being taken off the fire, while cast iron pots evenly distribute heat. The pots are usually placed in the centre of dining tables, shared by multiple people. This is a sociable way to eat with friends and family.

The varieties of Nabe includes: Yosenabe, Chankonabe, Yudofu, Sukiyaki, Oden. Shabu Shabu and Motsunabe..

Chanko Nabe (as stated in brochure), is a traditional steamboat dish eaten daily by Sumo wrestlers.

~ taken from en.wikipedia/Nabemono

At Kyushu Fair, you can order any bowl of Chankonabe according to your favourite ingredients, and you have the chance to enjoy original recipe from Japanese chef.

Display of Chankonabe

3. What is Mentaiko?

Karashi Mentaiko at Kyushu Fair, Isetan KLCC Foodmarket

Mentaiko is marinated roe of pollock, a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine.

Roe is a fully ripe internal ovaries or egg masses of fish and certain marine animals, while Pollock is the name of a type of marine fish.

~ taken from en.wikipedia/Mentaiko

What attracted me in the Kyushu Fair is, the food sampling of ocean seaweed. We normally see a black to purplish seaweed. But here, i saw the colourful seaweed.

Seaweed food sampling at Kyushu Fair, Isetan KLCC Foodmarket

There are 3 main types of seaweed: Sea-algae, Sea-birdnest, and normal seaweed.

3 main types of dried seaweed

They are packed in small packets, sold at RM44 per packet and at the promotion of Free 1 packet for any 3 packets bought.

Packets of seaweed

The sales-person then soaked the seaweed in normal water.

3 types of soaked seaweed for food sampling

And she put into Miso soup for us.

Miso soup to mix with soaked seaweed

The soaked seaweed with the mix color of red and green, is called the sea-birdnest. When chewing, i felt like biting raw plastic. However according to the salesperson, there are different nutrien for different types of seaweed, including Iron, Calcium and Collagen. Collagen is to improve humidity of one's body and hence improve beauty, suit best for girls.

Other types of seaweed product

I saw a Dorayaki and Sponge Cake, opss, they looked so real but actually was for display purposes only, and not edible.

Sample of Dorayaki

Sample of Castella, a Japanese Sponge Cake

Demonstration of Castella wrapping

Besides Seaweed sample, there are so many other special food to try: Japanese tea, Soymilk jelly, Salmon fish, mini fish pancake, fried and braised seafood, and many more.