Holla ! 안녕 하세요 ! こんにちは ! Halo !
Frosters,
One day I was interested in joining an event that Grand Indonesia Shopping Town, a big mall in Jakarta, Indonesia, held that up. It is an event for Bloggers like me of course. So in Indonesia, now we're still in Ramadhan Month that all of Moslems are fasting. Then Grand Indonesia held a program for Bloggers named ' Buka Bareng Blogger ( Break fasting with Blogger ). For joining this event, we need to submit our article which reported about our food experience in Grand Indonesia. With many enthusiasm, I posted my article about my food experience in Mr. Park, Korean Restaurant. You can see the details here:
As a ' Buka Bareng Blogger ' participator, we can get a privilege to eat in one of the restaurants that Grand Indonesia had been chosen. Those are Tairyo Japanese Buffet, Katsusei Restaurant, and Jun Njan Chinese Restaurant. Unfortunately, I can't get to go to Tairyo, so I thought I just lost in this event and got no chance for another ' Buka Bareng Blogger ' sessions. Just being hopeless ! But know what, I got a surprise email ! See this :
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| E-mail From Grand Indonesia |
Whoa ! That's ridiculous ! Did I really win this one ? Oh God, yes I did! I'm totally happy ! I can't wait for that day, seriously. Before attended this event, I came for another interview for teacher job and I got it. It seems like on that day I got double happiness ! It's my fortune >.<
So I decided to go to Grand Indonesia earlier. I also want to search some books there. Nah, right now ! This is the time ! 5 0'clock already ! I walked to Katsusei Restaurant which is located in East Mall of Grand Indonesia, 5th Level. Anyway, I tried to see around in 5th Level, but I can't find Katsusei. I'm tired actually. But after 3 times went around, I found Katsusei and the location is exactly hiding inside. But I can recognize it because of a team of Grand Indonesia.
The event was not started yet. Grand Indonesia team asked me to re-register on their attendance list. After I signed on it, I started to take some photos of Katsusei. Ready for the real story ? I present it for you now !
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| Warm Welcome From Katsusei |
" Welcome to Katsusei ! " said one of the waitress here. In front of Katsusei, you will be shown menu list of Katsusei. But because I'm not a regular visitor today, I just can go into Katsusei. Anyway, their welcome is so kind !
When I went inside of Katsusei, I saw some Katsusei menus imitation in the display. They looks so real and it made me want to grab them all.
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| The Display of Katsusei Menus |
So do you agree with me now ? Even the imitations are made by plastic, but looks so damn real right ? And now, I can't be patient to get into!
After seeing some menus display, I went inside of it. I saw that Katsusei used a traditional Japanese decoration, but there are still a modern touch on it. The situation is cozy, warm, and comfort. Katsusei also hang some bowls up as a decoration in their glass wall.
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| Bowls In The Glass Wall |
I am just afraid if there are family with children eat at Katsusei and their children keep running around then nudge those bowl. Awwww, I know what will happen at that time. So for you who come with your children, please watch them out. But overall, bowls in the glass wall is still a unique way to decorate this restaurant. Those bowls have a unique and fabulous design, also it's so Japan ! I love to see around on those bowls.
Then we go to our served room for having dinner. Again, I love this situation! Warm and luxurious. Some small watts lamps are set spreading in the above, tables and chairs are made from wood. It makes me being in Japan, although I didn't sit on tatami ( Japanese mat ).
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| The Tables and Chairs At Katsusei |
As a katsu restaurant, Katsusei also set a katsu picture in the wall. This picture describes about how to make a katsu in Katsusei. You can know how they make those katsu by seeing this picture.
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| Katsu Making Picture |
Done with Katsusei atmosphere, now we talked about our event! Yeay !
Actually, Buka Bareng Blogger must be started at 5 pm o'clock, but finally it was started at 6 pm o'clock. Hmm yeah exactly late -__- Because of the break fasting time was already on, Katsusei team gave us kolak and hot tea. Kolak is an Indonesian dessert which is actually being served for break fasting. It is made by coconut milk and mixed with palm sugar also pandan leaves. Usually it's filled by sliced banana and sweet potato. Actually, Katsusei didn't serve kolak for their dessert. But special for Buka Bareng Blogger, they made it. Aww thank you very much!
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| Kolak and Hot Sweet Tea |
The portion is enough for our break fasting dessert so our tummy still have a space for our main dishes. I love this kolak. It's not too sweet and it's blended with the banana and sweet potato. Katsusei also gave us Edamame or pea. I am preferred for pea as a soup filling or in vegetable saute than served live without process it first. So I don't try that one.
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| Edamame |
After done my break fasting dessert, I went to musholla for having Maghrib pray with another bloggers. During that time, some of sponsor representatives gave their speech and greeted those Bloggers. Because I didn't see and listen to them, I can't post their photos.
But my friends said that Ms. Nuniek from FIMELA.COM, Mr. Adhi from Grand Indonesia, and Mr. Priyo from Katsusei Restaurant gave their opening speech to Bloggers.
Before we got our dishes, Chef Irwan from Toranomon Restaurant, Katsusei's brother, would gave us a short talkshow about wagyu. In Katsusei or Toranomon, they always use Wagyu for their beef dishes. Hmm :9 Have you tried Wagyu guys ? Ok I will summarize what Chef Irwan explained to us about Wagyu.
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| Chef Irwan Explained To Us About Wagyu |
Okay, below is a poster which Chef Irwan used to explain us about wagyu.
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| Wagyu Poster |
Wagyu name is taken from Japanese. Wa means Japan and Gyu means Beef. So the overall meaning is Japanese Beef. Wagyu parts are consisted of :
1. Rib
2. Chuck ( side part of wagyu )
3. Short Loin ( fillet part )
4, Sirloin ( back fillet part )
5. Round ( back thigh part )
6. Flank Steak ( tummy part / samcan )
7. Short Plate ( chest part / ram )
8. Brisket
As a said before, Wagyu is originally from Japan and also farmed in Japan. But now on, wagyu is not just farmed in Japan, but also in Australia, New Zealand, and USA. Wagyu has a fat with marble motif spreading in all of the part of it. So then, those fat is called as MARBLING. Because of marbling, wagyu is becoming a soft, chewy, savory, and tender. USDA divided wagyu into a prime quality beef with grade 1 -12. Higher grade of wagyu means less cholesterol that they contain. A research from Pennsylvania State University showed that wagyu is good for our health because it can decrease cholesterol which is caused by unsaturated fat. Besides that, wagyu is containing a lot of Omega 3 and also Omega 6.
Chef Irwan said the best cooking way of wagyu is by grilled it then marinated them with a little bit salt and pepper. You better to choose the medium or medium well cooked, because wagyu is so smooth and soft so it doesn't need longer time cooked. You can also use wagyu for making soup or stew. Take the oyster blade and shink shank side or the oxtail one.
You can use many sauce for wagyu dipping. But in Toranomon Restaurant ( Katsusei Restaurant's brother ), they use several sauces, such as :
1. Shoyu Dare ( sweet taste sauce )
2. Shio Dare ( savory taste sauce )
3. Subo-zake ( hot and sweet taste sauce )
4. Miso Dare ( savory taste sauce, suitable for the inside organ of beef )
5. Shio Koso and Goma Oil ( special for sirloin, tenderloin, and gyu tan ( beef tongue ) )
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| Chef Irwan and Assistant Prepared For Slicing The Wagyu |
Know what, in fact, cow has a big big tongue. I never expect that this tongue is from cow. Ah now I just think about measuring cow's tongue >.< kidding!
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| Gyu Tan - Cow Tongue |
And this is wagyu tenderloin. In Japanese, it's called as GYU HIRE. Yumm ! :9
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| Gyu Hire - Tenderloin |
Then Chef Irwan cut them into thin slices. Wow how professional he is! One day, I can cut meat into thin slices like here below :
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| Sliced Gyu Tan |
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| Sliced Gyu Hire |
After seeing around those meat and Q n A section, the talkshow from Chef Irwan is done. Those meat, both sliced and whole parts, were brought back into the kitchen. We just look at them with starving eyes and swallow our saliva. Bye Bye, tender and juicy meat! *wave goodbye*
Yeaaaa, now we would be on our appetizer time ! But but but, let we see our menu list for Buka Bareng Blogger this session!
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| Buka Bareng Blogger Menu List |
After edamame was out before, now we would enjoy Chawan Mushi. I have never tried it before and I didn't know what the ingredients are. But I was so curious and excited to try that.
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| Chawan Mushi |
I am excited to see my chawan mushi and can't be patient to eat, so I ate it a spoon and forgot to take a picture of it. Sorry for the cracked chawan mushi ;)
Okay, chawan mushi is made from an egg custard. In Katsusei, they gave a shrimp, crab meat, and shitake mushroom as the filling. The taste is so smooth, delicious, and it just melted in my mouth when I ate it. Totally yummy! The egg tasted not fishy. The shrimp and crab meat were also lovely. It's tender, sweet, and juicy. And also I love the shitake mushroom. But unfortunately they just put 1 shitake mushroom inside. Ouch, I craved for more shitake on it ! >.<
I also found a yellow nut. I didn't know what it is. But it was looked like melinjo nut, but exactly not it is. The spice of chawan mushi is excellent. They mixed the spice with the proper way. I am falling in love with Katsusei chawan mushi!
For our next appetizer, we would have a Agedashi Tofu ! Yeay I love tofu so much! And this is my Agedashi Tofu !
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| Agedashi Tofu |
Agedashi tofu is a dish from fried tofu which is coated with a slight flour dough then it is given a soyu. After that, it is sprinkled with katsuobushi ( dried fish - usually used for okonomiyaki ).
As I said, I am tofu fans so I really loves it. It was although salty because of the soyu. But the tofu was PERFECT. The slight flour dough was not dominated so the tofu was so tasteful. To make it more tasteful, I mixed the katsuobushi, which was sprinkled at the top of the tofu, with the soyu. Taste awesome!
Done with all of the appetizers, now we were turned on our main courses! Before the katsu, we were given an Original Udon as the first main course.
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| Original Udon |
Udon is different with regular noodle. Its shape is big, thick, and chewy. Original udon in Katsusei were served just by giving a half-cut egg, slices of nori ( dried seaweed ) and green Chinese cabbage, and also imitated meatball. I think the soup was from chicken broth and then mixed by soyu. Simple soup! I tasted it good. But it's not special if there is no "hot" taste. So I added a chili powder in my udon. Taste better and delicious!
The udon was perfectly cooked and the green Chinese cabbage was well-cooked and still fresh. So did the half-cut egg and imitation meat ball.
While we ate our udon, we got a surprise! Yeah, wagyu that had been sliced before was grilled and they served them for us. Uwaaaa, we were so excited ! And exactly those were so tender and juicy ! awww !
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| Grilled Wagyu |
Done the udon and grilled slice wagyu, now we waited for our maestro dish! KATSUUUUUUU ! Eh, but Katsusei just gave us a bowl with gold sesame inside along with a small muller. What should we did ??
Then Mr. Priyo from Katsusei said that we had to squeeze the gold sesame into a powder and using the muller to squeeze them up. Anyway, gold sesame here is called as Goma. It's a premium sesame from Japan, live imported!
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| Goma - Gold Sesame |
I squeezed them up until my hand was stiff! But I was happy to do that. In fact, this goma will be mixed with special katsu sauce from Katsusei, so it will make the taste fabulous. Several minutes later, katsu sauce and salad dressing were out and were put in our tables.
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| Katsu Sauce and Salad Dressing |
Yummy ! I really can’t wait for my katsu platter ! And finally what I waited for came ! My Katsu Platter ! Wow I was amazed with the katsu platter.
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| Katsu Platter |
Katsu Platter consisted of Shrimp Katsu, Beef Katsu, Chicken Katsu, Scallop Katsu, and Shredded red and white cabbage salad. Those katsu were placed in the oil filter, so it would be free from much oil. Can you see the shrimp ? It was so big and I think they used The Queen of Shrimp to make their katsu hahaha.
And Katsusei also used wagyu for their beef katsu. Same like with the grilled one, the beef katsu was still so tender, although it was already fried. But I have taste a sinews on it and I didn't really like it. The chicken katsu was so special too. I thought that the chicken wasn't easy to chew, but it was also tender and juicy. The spice of it was adorable.
Last but not least, Scallop Katsu. I never tasted scallop before. I think scallop is like a clam. Because both of them are from the same species. But from those shape itself, it is totally different. I ate my scallop katsu slowly and I got its sensation! Juicy, sweet, and fresh ! It's not like clam which is chewy, but scallop can just melt in your mouth. In Katsusei, they used scallop that is imported live from Hokkaido. So it is totally premium! Although the scallop was juicy, but it didn't make the bread crumbs to be watery and flabby. >.<
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| Katsu Platter with Sauce |
While we ate our katsu, Mr. Adhi from Grand Indonesia, introduced us to Mr. Iriel from Multiply. He was so late because of the evil traffic jam in Jakarta. Mr. Iriel promoted Multiply and also commented about this event. He is such a nice and funny guy. Nice to meet you, Mr, Iriel!
After ate Katsu Platter, Katsusei staff gave us a houji-cha. They said that houji-cha can make your throat free from much oil that was contained on the katsu. It seemed like oolong tea. But it could relieve my throat. Even I asked for more houji-cha. You should try this tea.
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| Houji-cha |
Main courses were done ! I want something to neutralize my tongue ! Oh here they are our dessert! Those were Mango Pudding with Milk Sauce and Macha Ice Cream. Let's discuss one by one.
Actually I don't like mango and when I saw the menu list, I was a bit disappointed. But yeah, I couldn't choose my own dessert. I tried to eat my mango pudding at least a spoon ! I tasted it finally !
The pudding totally contained real mango. Katsusei didn't use mango syrup or mango extract for their pudding. I can say like this because I still tasted the fiber of mango in the pudding. But it was too sweet. Maybe don't add some sugar in the pudding because the mango itself was already sweet.
This sweet pudding was poured with milk sauce. I was surprised with the taste of the milk sauce. It's perfect. It was not too sweet and it blended with the sweet pudding. If they added some sugar again to this milk sauce, maybe everybody who eat this dessert will feel nauseated. But I love this combination! :D
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| Mango Pudding With Milk Sauce |
Next is Macha Ice Cream! I was bit confused with the taste of this ice cream before I tried it. I have heard about macha ice cream, but can't imagine the taste is. But when I ate this ice cream, voila! This ice cream refreshed my throat. I couldn't take my spoon off from the glass. I just want more, more, and more. The ice cream is like gelato, which have a solid mixture. Even my friend, Utie, who didn't like any tea or tea processed stuff, she felt in love with this ice cream. Ah, this dessert was truly the winner. It was the best dessert I have ever had. Thumbs up for Katsusei !
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| Macha Ice Cream |
Wah, finally all of the courses had been out and we felt so full ( even bloated >.< ) . Buka Bareng Blogger ended at 21:30 PM. But before we went home, Grand Indonesia, Katsusei, and Moments To Go still gave us a goodie bag !
It was totally awesome experience. Thank you for Grand Indonesia Shopping Town, Katsusei, Multiply, Moments To Go and Fimela.com that gave me a chance to join this big event. I hope we can attend another similar event next year.
Thank you for everything!
Photo Source : Aka's Personal Photos
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