Visiting Japan has awakened a deep glutton side of me that I never really thought existed. It's not that I've never tasted the essence of Japan in my home country China, rather, it is the authenticity that I have been missing out on. Afterall, all the dishes outside of Japan are catered to their respective demographics. Each region has their own preferred tastes and over time, foreign cuisines are altered in such a way to fit with the local taste palettes at the expense of authenticity.
One example of this is how Chinese food across the world is assumed to be Fried Rice, and Chicken Chowmein, both dishes native Chinese would not even consider Chinese food. Yet, it is synonymous with the idea of Chinese food to most westerners.
Tempura is a dish we associate with Japan but it is actually of Portuguese origin. It usually consists of some seafood or vegetables that have been battered or deep fried. The batter is made with sparking water, wheat flour, eggs, baking powder, starch and oil. Once your thin strips of seafood or vegetables are dipped in the batter, it is time to fry them, and they are usually flash deep-fried in hot oil. More traditional Tempura would be cooked in sesame oil, and this is one of the ways the flavour is brought out.
Like almost all traditional Japanese venues, the seat arrangement is orderly and overly simplistic. It is something that allows for very little decoration, instead, favouring blandness. This kind of motif is extended to the tableware, thankfully, function is not compromised and you will find everything has it's exact purpose. Little or no functional redundancy can be found, anywhere.
Starters will consist of little soured vegetables, and they are perfect for kick starting the appetite. Serving size is always small, as this is the way of the Japanese. Keeping things in small packages for neatness and for zero excess.
Pork Katsu is frequently served as a kind of curry along side rice. What I have found is that the curry tends to drown out the flavour, overly so that the curry becomes the main taste and not the batter or the pork. I chose to eat the Katsu with just a bit of lemon juice and salad on the side. Again, some pickled vegetables on the side and plain rice are enough to tantalise my taste buds.
Served pre-sliced, the Pork Katsu fillet oozes juice, and this perfectly balances with the Panko breadcrumb batter. In essence it is a Japanese style schnitzel, minus the strong herbal ingredients, but never the less, a very complimentary dish to the rest of the course.
Akatsuklan does a very respectable job of serving Japanese cuisine the way it was intended. Not least for it's native customers, but also for people like myself who yearn for the authentic taste of Japan. Simple dishes such as the Zaru Soba are executed with such precision, and results in an effortless whiff of pure Nippon delicacy. It is a pleasure to be a guest of not only Akatsuklan, but also Japan.