the upper cut
Sporting a rather rock ’n’ roll denim apron and pristine white zōri, Chef Hirohashi Nobuaki proved to be every inch the perfectionist when he arrived in Malaysia ahead of his guest stint at The Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur. The Japanese chef’s first port of call in the city turned out to be a butchery, in order to inspect the A5 BMS (Beef Marble Score) 12 wagyu beef destined for his kaiseki showcase at The Library.
Painstakingly sourced from Nishinoharu Farm in the Miyazaki prefecture, this particular wagyu was produced by the Nakanishi family, who are highly regarded among Japan’s beef industry as being one of its leading breeders and producers. No stranger to handling prime cuts of meat either, Chef Hirohashiwas keen to give Malaysian diners a taste of the fine dining wagyu kaiseki that he serves in Ushidoki in Singapore as the restaurant’s Executive Chef.
The four-course dinner was a demonstration of Chef Hirohashi’s sheer enthusiasm for wagyu beef. A degustation menu filled with an assortment of flavours, textures, and colours – all centred around the various techniques used to cook wagyu – explored the full spectrum of the Osaka-born chef’s skills, honed over three decades.
After a customary kanpai toast with a glass of aromatic KID Junmai Daiginjyo sake in honour of The Library’s Dinner Series’ first Japanese guest chef, slivers of roasted wagyu top rump were served with asparagus. A miso vinaigrette and a touch of yuzu stood up well to the robust yet elegant notes of the KID Tokubetsu Junmaishu Karakuchi, which held its own against the bold flavours of the meat.
A floral and slightly dry KID Junmaishu accompanied the second dish: a portion of shoulder and chuck roll, grilled sparingly so that its magenta-coloured flesh remained plump and juicy, and presented with all the precision of a Japanese rock garden. Perched atop soya sauce soil, the wagyu beef came with a potato croquette coated with dried seaweed, fritters of edamame and sweetcorn, and several Japanese maple leaves.
A rich, unctuous bowl of braised wagyu, sweet sukiyaki sauce, black truffles, piquant mitsuba, steamed white rice, and a half-boiled egg demanded to be stirred into a sticky mess and drunk with a chilled glass of fruity KID Daiginjyo. Rounding off his tribute to Japanese produce, Chef Hirohashi presented an intriguing dessert of olive oil ice cream with curds made from wagyu cattle milk, salt flakes, and delicate slices of summer truffles, complemented by a refreshing Tsuruume Kanjukuume plum wine.
