I'm Proud to Say I Got Over My Unagi Phobia

When Sam asked me to join her and Kenny for some review of the unagi promotion Sushi King is having now, I actually had my reservations, simply because I'm not a fan of unagi (which, for the uninformed, is a Japanese dish of grilled eel), and despite so many years of being berated on my lack of enthusiasm for the stuff, I've yet to be completely convinced that it's the best thing the Japanese came up with since sake.

However, since I'm a glutton and will eat almost anything, I decided to go along and try everything with an open mind (and also in defiance of the weight-loss issue mentioned in previous post hahaha).

Phyl, Sam and I got there early, and pretty and eye-catching as the poster was, I must admit I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach at the image of the HUGE piece of unagi that was practically jumping out of it.

The eel on the bottom right looks wayyyyy too happy haha

We were greeted by the manager, a Mr. Hoo Jet Son, who was very friendly and enthusiastic on the topic of Japanese food, more specifically the limited-period-only dishes available as part of the unagi fair that's current ongoing at Sushi King for the entire month.

Soon after, Kenny, Kim, and Alwyn showed up and Jet Son (ooh I love saying his name, Jet Son Jet Son Jetson Jetson Hoo Jet Son Who Jetson hahaha how cool is that name?) responded to Kenny's suggestion that he recommended dishes for us to try by bringing out the whole freakin' menu's worth of different sushi, in multiples of six; and the bigger dishes in plates of two, so each of us got a plateful of everything to try.

Kenny and Jet Son: Who looks more lengjai without spex on?

I'll just blog about my favs among all the food we plowed through, because I'm a lazy, lazy girl and do not have the inclination to do a write up on the more mediocre stuff.

The first dish served was the Unagi Temaki, which got me all excited because I'm a big fan of hand-rolled sushi, even if it's probably the least dignified sushi to consume (I don't even wanna start on the sexual innuendo that could be associated with cramming one of these babies into one's mouth).

Rice, grated cucumber, egg, and a slice of unagi all wrapped in a piece of seaweed, topped by a sprinkle of ebiko (prawn roe), presented in a aesthetically-pleasing neat little bouquet. OK, it wasn't all that earth-shatteringly great (I prefer their soft-shell crab temaki), but I loved it because it tasted not too bad and I didn't get turned off by the unagi as I thought I might be.

After sampling another few unagi-themed sushi and a unagi tempura thing (which didn't appeal all that much to me, to be honest), we were served the Unagi Kabayaki, which was technically just unagi, marinated in sweet sauce and grilled to perfection with a caramel sheen. I actually panicked a little when this was served, because I wasn't expecting for such a huge piece of eel to be placed smack right in front of me so soon.

Everyone was tearing pieces off and eating it with such gusto that I succumbed to peer pressure and gave it a try... and was pleasantly surprised that it was not just agreeably palatable, but very, very good. Tasted a bit like char siew, for lack of a better comparison, with a similarly sweet marinate flavouring the meat.

And then my favourite of the bunch: the Umaki. It's basically a piece of unagi wrapped in a tamago (Japanese omelette), and I loved it because the sweetness of the unagi complemented the egg really well, plus the texture of the egg helped conceal the slight sliminess of the unagi, which was the reason I could never stomach too much of the stuff (I prefer my food very textured, although I've developed more of a tolerance towards slimy foods lately).


Kim mentioned that it tasted a whole lot like french toast and I totally agree with her. I'd probably go back to have this again, I like it a lot even despite the fact I'm not a fan of either unagi OR tamago hahahah. The irony.

I liked the Unagi Boat as well, despite the whole arrangement being a little hard to eat (you're supposed to stuff the whole tofu pocket and its contents into your mouth, else the whole thing disintegrates). It's basically an Inari Sushi (sushi in a little tofu "pocket") with a slice of unagi and some shredded cucumber on it.


I thought the Unagi Chawanmushi the cutest thing served! It's a Japanese savoury egg custard that comes in a little bowl with a lid on, once again with an unagi twist. The edamame (green soybeans) added a touch of colour, and like the Umaki, the unagi-egg combination worked pretty well.


Jet Son explained that it was best eaten with a dribble of nitsume (sweet soy sauce, it's the one in the bottle with the red cap on in Sushi King) to taste, and he was right - it added a new dimension of flavour to the otherwise rather bland-tasting custard.

And then we were introduced to the Unagi Manju, something I've never tried before. Kenny jokingly said that it was a bit like a bak chang, which is a Chinese rice dumpling, albeit coated with tempura batter and deep-fried to give it a crunchy coating.


Jet Son demonstrated the correct way to eat the Unagi Manju, which is to uh, for lack of a better word, spread open the four segments with a chopstick, like this:


And then you pick up one of the bite-sized segments and pop it into your mouth. Genius! (Or maybe I'm just sakai for not having tried something like this before LOL).

At this point, I think all of us were pretty stuffed already. And then Jet Son announced that we would finally be getting around to trying the main course. The main course!!! And we thought the endless procession of food was coming to an end... Instead we were served the Unatama Don - steamed rice topped off with unagi, onions, egg and shredded nori (seaweed).


I love onion! Lots and lots of onions! And I love egg with rice! And I would've loved this (I don't mind the unagi one bit if eaten together with steamed rice), if not for the fact I was already stuffed to the point food was threatening to overflow from my oesophagus. I'll probably go back again to try this again soon, preferably on a very empty stomach this time round =P

And after this was brought out, Jet Son dropped another bombshell on us... there was still the Unagi Bento left to try.


I think everyone kinda groaned at this very value-for-money bento (RM24), not because it wasn't appealing or because it wasn't tasty (it was VERY good, in fact), but because the portion was HUGE and really impossible for anyone to finish at this point of the meal! It was a steamed rice + unagi combo again, along with an assortment of light, fluffy vegetable tempura, miso soup, mixed vegetable salad, deep-fried fish cake, green soy beans, more omelette and some pickled radish.


The unagi fair one of the six promotions that Sushi King will be conducting every year, and will be ongoing at all Sushi King outlets until 31st August, Hari Merdeka, and is actually held concurrently with the unagi season occurring in Japan at the moment. Do go now 'cause this menu will only be available till then!

Special thanks to Sam and Kenny for the invite for dinner! And mucho mucho credits go to Jet Son for being so incredibly patient with educating all of us on the proper way to go about Japanese dining, and answering all our queries, despite all the sometimes rather irrelevant (and inane) questions asked and dirty jokes flying round the table.

Oh, and if the pictures look familiar, it's probably because all my images are credits of Sam, Kenny, and Phyllis - I didn't bring my own camera along because someone was holding it hostage.

I now no longer have unagi-phobia, by the way =)