Travel News
A raw deal
Once you get beyond the second bite, you are likely to fall hook, line and sinker for salmon sashimi.
The dishes invariably look good when they are served, and the flavors are delicate and subtle.
Sushi, one of the most popular and well known Japanese dishes prepared with simple ingredients and presenting an attractive combination of colors when served, has also won the hearts of Vietnamese customers.
Now there is a new dish that is becoming the rage among Japanese food lovers in the country – salmon sashimi, a dish served with fresh raw salmon slices.
It can be said that Vietnamese are not particularly fond of raw meat as Vietnamese dishes are cooked or well done.
But it is not difficult to decide to try the dish because it is very attractive to look at.
After the first bite, it is unlikely the subtleties can be discerned. The tongue is more likely to feel the pungency of the wasabi (Japanese horseradish paste) and the coolness of fresh raw salmon slices.
But every extra bite reveals the sweetness and other flavors of the fresh raw fish, and the gourmet in you is awakened. The salmon sashimi then becomes a fresh breeze blowing through Vietnamese culinary culture.
It is not surprising that more and more dishes like salmon sashimi dishes are available and popular at many restaurants in Vietnam’s major cities, particularly Ho Chi Minh City.
Once you are a sashimi aficionado, you look forward to enjoying it on important holidays like Christmas Eve or New Year.
The Tokyo Deli Restaurant understands this and has chosen the holiday season to hold its Salmon Festival for customers to enjoy ten special dishes made from the fish. The festival will run until January 15.
Diners can enjoy Japanese dishes at prices ranging from VND30,000-120,000 (US$1.6-6.5). But if they opt for sashimi during the festival, they will pay lower prices.
Dishes like salmon sashimi don, salmon toro sashimi, lightly roasted salmon and ikura nigiri (salmon roe sushi) will be served at a 25 percent discount.
The dishes are prepared skillfully and carefully by Japanese expert Hirokuni Nanao who makes the slices so thin and beautiful that customers cannot resist ordering the dishes right away.
Ideal complements to the sashimi are a miso soup, soy sauce and wasabi paste.
The Tokyo Deli serves sashimi made from other fish like fresh, red tuna, white octopus and tiger prawn, and adds to the ocean flavor with black seaweed wrappers, white and soft tofu.
If you are not keen on tasting sashimi with fresh raw salmon, there is still a wide selection to choose from – more than 300, so one does not have to be wary of tiring any particular dish or dishes.
Reported by Nguyet Anh
