Eat to Support Japan - Sushi Fuku-suke

Sake and sashimi. Two things people in Hong Kong have suddenly become afraid of after the unfortunate events of Tohoku. The least we can do is help by continuing to consume safe Japanese produce. A blanket "no" is just dumb. I can't believe one of Hong Kong's most 'prominent' food show hosts, Ah So (So-sze Wong 蘇施黃), blatently wrote in her column in popular local magazine Eat & Travel Weekly that people shouldn't eat Japanese seafood at all, because it's just "too dangerous". What utterly irresponsible behaviour.

So I was more than grateful when some knowledgable foodies found out about Sushi Fuku-suke in Causeway Bay, whose owner/chef is from Sendai (and who, as we sadly discovered later, had lost his brother in the disaster), and counted me in for this exquisite and meaningful (on top of the usual curious and gluttonous) night of eating and drinking.

Cute bamboo sake vessels and cups - a nice thin stream at a time!

We had 3 bottles of sake from Tohoku, thanks to the ever-generous Growing Boy and Cha Xiu Bao. For more about the sake, see Diary of a Growing Boy (I just know they were all divine and increasingly rounded, smooth and delicious as we worked through the bottles...)

There were 2 omakase on offer, one was sushi-only and the other was sashimi - we all opted for the latter.

Appetiser (rapeseed?) with bonito flakes 

I love sashimi. I've always had a problem with empathising with people who don't. If anything I think I sympathise. Why wouldn't you love beautiful, flavoursome, expertly prepared marine life in a totally fresh, unadulterated form? This assortment is the kind of delicious specimen I would present if I were to debate this case. Everything was very good, but the ebi, which I normally don't touch (because bad ones have a floury feel and taste sloppy), were especially brilliant; almost uni-esque in their intensity. I also loved the horse mackerel (bang in the middle) - for me, this meal confirmed how delightful mackerel is.

Hamachi, bonito, sea bream

Deep-fried Mackerel

I didn't like this as much as everything else as I found it to be a little oily, but it was nice to have something hot in between all the cold dishes.

Chu-toro, sawara (Spanish mackerel)

This dish is like the white truffle of sashimi for me. I want to say all sorts of things that are NSFW but I don't want you to get the wrong idea... There was a little half-pea-sized smear of pickled something atop the sawara which went together so perfectly it's like witnessing love at first sight - you just know it works - it almost doesn't matter why anymore, and it will for ever and ever. It was sort of like pureed caper, and I regret not finding out. I can have that combo every day.

Egg and sea eel

Another warm dish to break the 'raw-ness'. Semi-cooked eggs like these are just so delightful, especially with the right amount of seasoning (which is not a lot - you still want to taste the egg itself!).

Kisu kombujime, Uni

Kisu is whiting (sillago?) and this one is, I think, marinated in kombu (seaweed).

Wagyu

Seared or grilled - buttery, warm goodness. I didn't even use the mustards on the side because I was so content with its own juicy beefiness.

O-toro (fatty tuna), hotate (scallop), anago (sea eel)

The o-toro isn't the fattiest I've had, but the funny thing is, I don't actually enjoy overly fatty toro. When I'm ordering a la carte, I usually go for chu-toro because I like the freshness of lean tuna too.

Pickles

A steaming bowl of soup to end (the savoury part of the meal). This was a tasty combination of fish bones, parsley and scallion (?) and lime.

Sea salt ice cream

I think I've had this at Kusuya Rakuen as well; I've always liked the salty-sweet-creamy combo, though the yuzu ice cream on offer would have made a refreshing, citrusy end to the meal too. Luckily I got to try both :D

It's really cute but sad at the same time that they had this sign at the door to tell customers that their food is safe. On the top left is a letter from the Health Dept in Hong Kong, top right is a letter from the restaurant, and at the bottom is a map showing how far away the food they're serving is coming from. But - hello - no self-respecting Japanese restaurateur is going to serve you anything that they think is unsafe. Get with the program. Eat to support Japan.

Sushi Fuku-suke
11/F Macau Yat Yuen Centre (ex-Continental Diamond Plaza)
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
+852 2955 0005


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