Boruto Launches Hidden Gems of Kansai Promotion

Kansai is the western region of Japan, centering around the ancient captials of Kyoto and Nara. Being Japan’s “second region” after Tokyo, it has long been famous for its food, and many well-known Japanese dishes come from this area. Traditionally, Kansai food is based around dishes made with high-quality, flavourful dashi stock and light soy sauce. The people of Osaka, a major part of Kansai, are enthusiastic about their local food. They are so enthusiastic that it is often joked about how Oasakans will spend all their money indulging on food until they go bankrupt. Sake is another specialty of the region, the areas of Nada-Gogo and Fushimi produce 45% of all sake in Japan.

We had a taste of Japan and Singapore culture in Buruto, a modern izakaya which offers innovative, localised and twisted modern Japanese food together with over 100 brands of sake, shochu and Japanese whisky. For the next 3 months, Boruto will showcase unique Kansai products through 6 course set dinner at $98++, a la carte tapas based on Kansai seasonal produce and of course sake from Kansai region.

Are you a fan of oysters? If so, you will enjoy fresh oysters from Mie Prefecture with malossol caviar. They have a beautiful coastline and are famous for their oyster culture. My favourite was the Omi wagyu from Shiga that is smoked and chopped with scallions. Besides the very fine fat marbling, this meat is distinctive for its lustrous fat and sweet, smooth flavour.

There are two noodles dishes in my omakase menu that night. First was the king mushroom “pasta” from Tottori with green asparagus, the other was Udon from Hyogo braised with squid ink stock and topped with firefly squid and yuzu molecules. There is a soft egg on top of king mushroom “pasta” you can burst and coat it with the pasta. Octopus is one of the popular foods in Japan, and we can find it all over Japan especially in Hyogo. Chef has also created a clear soup with octopus from Hyogo with shijimi clams simmered with sake and chorizo picante. Our dinner ended off with jelly-like mochi made from bracken starch coated with kinako and matcha powder.

One of the hidden gems of Kansai is Japanese sake There are thousands of sake breweries in Japan and each one has its unique taste and flavour which derives from the local rice and water. Sake requires a unique fermentation process which needs a skilful manipulation by experienced brewers. We got a taste of sake by Konotomo brewery which has won the Gold prize for 2 consecutive years.