Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Nirai Kanai Okinawan Restaurant @ Liang Court Shopping Centre

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Back in July 2012, I blogged about my Japanese Gourmet Journey at Liang Court Shopping Court with my girlfriend and lovely friends (Celes, Charlene and Zhihao). It was a long and tiring day. We were all famished by dinner time. It didn't help when the restaurants we wanted to visit were all full and we needed to wait for a table.

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Cutting the story short, we ended up dining at Nirai Kanai Okinawan Restaurant. I have recently watched a food documentary show and I got to know that Okinawan cuisine has a lot of influence from the Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisines due to trade in the early dates. In addition, due to the difference in culture, climate, vegetables and other ingredients between Okinawa and mainland Japan, Okinawan cuisine is different from mainland Japanese cuisine.

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Crispy River Shrimp 4/5

We started with some bites and starters while we waited for our mains to be served. The Crispy River Shrimp ($8) was suggested by Zhihao who has it before. Really interesting crispy bites with a tad of saltiness. Be warned to be careful while eating these. I was not careful and the claw got stuck into my gum and I have a hard time removing it.

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Vinegared Mozuku Seaweed 3.8/5

Initially I wanted to try the Green Caviar Seaweed or known as Sea Grapes but they did not have stock that day. Hence we ended up having the Vinegared Mozuku Seaweed ($8). The seaweed was a refreshing starter for a beautiful meal waiting for us.

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Pig's Ear with ponzu or peanut dressing 4.2/5

The Pig's Ear with peanut dressing ($8) was my favourite starters among the three. The delectable dressing accompanied with the crunchy texture was really enjoyable.

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Tebichi, Simmered Pork Knuckle 4/5

As I mentioned we were famished, so all of us went for the set meal which came with our individual mains plus plain rice, soup, vinegared vege dish, fried meat miso and peanut beancurd. I had the Tebichi, Simmered Pork Knuckle set meal ($17++) which was packed with collagen. It was rather "gelat"   (Malay expression to denote extreme weariness and irritation at repetition) if you are just having it alone without other sides.

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Rafute, Simmered Pork Belly Set Meal 4.5/5

Charlene and my girlfriend had the Rafute, Simmer Pork Belly set meal ($17++). The melted in the mouth pork belly was simply "oishii". As you can see, the dish has the influence of Chinese cuisine which is similar to our braised pork belly.

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Buta Kimuchi, Pork Belly with Kimchi set meal 4/5

For Southeast Asian influence in Okinawa cuisine, we can see from the Buta Kumuchi, Pork Belly with Kimchi set meal ($15.30++) which Zhihao had.

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Gyu Saikoro, Cubic Beef Steak 4/5

Celes is the only one in the group that did not order pork for dinner. She order the Gyu Saikoro, Cubic Beef Steak ($18.70++). The beef cubes were succulent, tender and flavourful.


Nirai Kanai Okinawan Restaurant
Liang Court Shopping Centre
177 River Valley Road
#B1-01/02
Singapore 179030
Tel: +65 63394811
Nearest MRT: Fort Canning (DT Line), Clarke Quay (NE Line)

Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri: 12pm - 3pm, 6pm - 11pm
Sat-Sun: 12pm - 11pm

Direction:
1) Alight at Fort Canning MRT station. Take Exit A. Turn right and walk to destination. Journey time about 3 minutes. [Map]

2) Alight at Clarke Quay MRT station. Take Exit C, F or G. Walk along the river toward Riverside Point direction. Cross the bridge to the other end of the river. Turn left and walk towards Liang Court. Journey time about 10  minutes. [Map]

3) Alight at Clarke Quay MRT station. Take Exit E. Walk to bus stop at Clark Quay Station (Stop ID 04222). Take bus number 54. Alight 2 stops later. Walk to destination. Journey time about 6 minutes. [Map]

8 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. The pig ear here is really good. You should try it.

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    2. The Nirai Kanai Okinawan restaurant is too good. Know more about it

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    3. Yes it is goo. Have you try the place?

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  2. You wrote:

    >> For Southeast Asian influence in Okinawa cuisine, we can see from the Buta Kumuchi, Pork Belly with Kimchi set meal ($15.30++) which Zhihao had.

    Are you referring to kimchi as "Southeast Asian influence"? If you are, since when was kimchi from Southeast Asia?

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for the comment and correction. I was not referring to the Kimchi but the method that it was stir fried with the kimchi. I shouldn't have used the sentence Southeast Asian influence, maybe it should be along the line "chinese cooking influence".

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    2. I understand what you're trying to get at, but unless Nirai-Kanai has irrefutable proof that the Chinese/Southeast Asians inspired the Okinawans to stir-fry pork belly with kimchi, won't it be better to exclude such a sentence? The Japanese have been making their own version of kimchi for some time and use it in their cooking; it's not impossible for pork belly stir-fried with kimchi to be a Japanese dish.

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    3. Appreciate your enlightment. I would avoid such statement in future.

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