Seasonal Japanese Fishes - Shirasu Sashimi, Nodoguro or Blackthroat, 2 styles of Aji Mackerel Sashimi and Unagi

I visited Ginza Kuroson @ Ngee Ann City, a slightly upmarket Japanese restaurant, as you probably can tell from their site. [Anyway, I couldn't find the Singapore/English version of their site, and the Ngee Ann City branch is definitely not indicated there.] They had some interesting, less common sashimi (i.e. not salmon, tuna, squid, octopus, hamachi, amaebi or mekajiki/sword fish). Namely, they used exquisite seasonal fish served in interesting ways and paired with specially curated sauces and condiments.

Shirasu Sashimi

This is small anchovy sashimi, or whitebait sashimi in English. It was served with mashed ginger, which is the yellow past you see on top.It had a light, briny and non-fishy taste. Very smooth and soft, like amaebi (sweet shrimp sashimi)... even slightly sweet, but I think not as sweet as amaebi. The main column of spine bone was so fine that it was like a fruit fibre... like a thin fibre from mangoes near the seed.

The ginger went well with it, as you can imagine. But perhaps it might also be nice to just appreciate it plain, because its flavour is rather delicate, and the ginger kind of overpowering.

Very pleasant and refreshing... a good appetiser in my opinion.

Aji in Two Styles

Next up was two different kinds of aji, or horse mackerel. The first was seared, on the left in the foreground. The waiter recommended having it with yuzu sauce and salt, which I did. I thought it was exquisite, because the fish oil-like mackerel taste went with the bitterness of tanginess of the yuzu quite well, and the salt also went well the way shioyaki style of grilling goes well with the mackerel fishes in general. Overall, it was a refreshing accompaniment to balance the heaviness of the mackerel's fishiness and high fat content.

The second style was minced aji sashimi with ginger and spring onion, which is on the right in the foreground. It had a neutral, light taste... I think the ginger and onion also did a great job complementing and covering up the usual fishy taste. So that was an interesting effect. 

Perhaps it was more the ginger than the spring onion, because when I have negitoro, the spring onion taste complements rather than neutralises the fishy taste. I think perhaps I should try tuna sashimi with ginger then, because I don't like the fishy taste of tuna sashimi (although I'm fine with it for other fishes for some strange reason).

Nodoguro Shioyaki

We also tried the seasonal blackthroat seaperch or rosy seabass, known in Japanese as nodoguro. It's considered a high-grade fish known for its fatty taste, like tuna belly or toro, which is unusual given that it's a white fish and most fatty fishes are red. It was very creamy... a bit like cod, but smoother and less chunky.

I also found intriguing the garnishing of what I believe to be pickled ginger flower stem (the rhubarb-coloured stem). It was sour but herby, and was firm to the bite, like a firm and dense boiled leek.

Unagi with Gobo

Finally, the last thing that caught my attention was an accompaniment of ground gobo served with grilled unagi... I've never seen gobo accompanying unagi before. It made sense though, because the unagi was soft and oily, similar to the sliminess of the gobo. I know the description doesn't sound too appetising, and those who don't like slimy food like lady's fingers or okra wouldn't like it too. But I thought it was a smooth, comfort-food combination, like how smooth and thick Japanese curry goes well with smooth and sticky Japanese rice.

And of course, they had plenty of pickled ginger flower stem lying around I guess, so they threw one in. I suppose it complemented the sweet and soft unagi and gobo by adding a firm punch to the mixture. 

Overall, a very skilled curation of fishes, and I loved how it was seasonal, fresh and natural.