When award-winning, cookbook author, our very own Enakker, Kyoko Rabbetts offered to host an Enak event to showcase her inimitable style of Japanese fusion cooking, our convenors were very excited and went about thinking how they could make this happen without any impact on the scope of the Enak! objectives. After much thought and conversation, and with a new name suggested, they brought this proposal to the MCG Committee in May this year…

“The Enak Xtra event which may happen once or twice a year is for members who want to contribute by hosting an event in their homes or other venues. These may be from a wider regional area than the scope of Enak objectives, enabling members to share and experience cuisine from other areas beyond Malaysia. NOTE…This is an extra event and NOT the monthly Enaks which follow the Enak guidelines of promoting the appreciation of Malaysian food, which is interwoven with the diverse cultures of Malaysia /or may have a historical significance”

The proposal was well received and approved. Thus, the concept of Enak Xtra was born.

Kyoko limited her event understandably to 15 Enakkers so Rosemary sent out the invites to Enakkers, with priority given to all Hosts of 2017 as an appreciation for their hard work in hosting and organizing Enak events. Ultimately Kyoko had to extend the list to include 17 of us.  The event was at her elegant residence in the KLCC area and she had meticulously prepped for the occasion. Her dining table sported autumnal hues in a nod to the fast-approaching Halloween festival, and she had set out colorful, handcrafted aprons and napkins for each Enakker along with a regularly refilled jar of lemon flavored water in anticipation of the parched hordes who were braving KL’s oppressive heat wave to attend.

As the first few Enakkers trooped in, Kyoko got them involved from the start.  While Bindhya P. handled the registration, Joanne M. took on the role of the official greeter at the door, and Geraldine S., Lay Chin and Maria were put to work to shell Edamame, wash veggies, julienne cucumbers.

Rather than a run of the mill cooking demonstration, Kyoko had planned a fun, interactive cooking session for us. Once everyone had arrived, we put on her colorful aprons and split up into two groups. Soon after we were invited to try fashioning fresh Vietnamese spring rolls a la Kyoko and assembling small portions of fusion Edamame and quinoa salad. Kyoko led us through the paces as we completed the tasks with a lot of laughter and bonhomie. Both these delectable dishes feature in her award-winning book, New Japanese Kitchen.

Our preparations formed a part of Kyoko’s lavish lunch spread, which included various other dishes. On offer were plates such as Chicken Karaage, Chirashizushi (sushi rice salad) with salmon flakes, green salad with a citrusy yuzou-koshou dressing, a chicken pâté, salami, grilled asparagus, and a marinated lotus root dish which was anointed with delicate flowers carved out of red chilies. All that cooking had made us ravenous, and we got eating with great gusto.

Many of us couldn't help but admire the floral creations made from red chilies, so Kyoko proceeded to give us a demonstration of the art of making these flowers, a skill she had acquired in Thailand. To round off the meal, Kyoko offered brownie bites and individual pots of custard for dessert along with chilled green tea and hot fruit flavored teas.

We thoroughly enjoyed Kyoko’s yummy Japanese fare, and several Enakkers were wanting to purchase her book, an effort through which she attempts to illustrate that Japanese food is not complicated, nor expensive to prepare and can be made with locally sourced produce and can be halal too.
                                                       
 

Review by Anjeeta Nayar
Photos by Rosemary Chin/Kyoko Rabbetts