Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Chugoku Sanyo, San-in 中国地方山陽、山陰 - Kabakuro Kitanagase Branch かばくろ北長瀬店

Visited 16.04.2015 (Thu)


Kabayaki pork? Apart from demi glacé sauce tonkatsu don and fruit parfait, there was another food on my list of items to try when I was in Okayama. Japanese grilled eel or unagi no kabayaki (うなぎの蒲焼き) is a dish quite commonly seen on the menu of restaurants offering Japanese cuisine. What I love most about this dish is how the sweet soy sauce based sauce, which the eel is repeatedly being
dipped in, makes the eel so crispy after grilling over charcoal fire; in addition, eating my rice with this sauce never fails to whet my appetite. How about employing the same method, using the same condiment with other kinds of protein? I believe this was what struck Kabakuro to try it on pork and after numerous trail and error, fine tweaking of the recipe, they finally created their very own grilled pork using kabayaki sauce named Butakaba (ぶたかば). Its popularity among the local people eventually uplift this dish to become a B-grade gourmet food in Okayama!


Still prefers kabayaki eel. Though Kabakuro has a branch near the train station, I decided to patronise the branch in Kitanagase instead; to take this opportunity to explore another part of Okayama city as well (we only managed to find a Uniqlo Nakasendou branch along the way). From Kitanagase JR Station, it took us quite a while before we eventually arrived at this stand alone restaurant, just before the dinner hour. Diners can choose either one or two cuts of meat which is served over rice. We ordered the normal grilled pork don ぶたかば重 (690 yen) and another one accompanied with chopped green onions and soft boiled egg ネギ温玉ぶたかば重 (900 yen). The appearance of the dish was already very appealing upon served. Meat was dipped into sweet kabakayi sauce and grilled over charcoal fire. This process was repeated several times till a crisp texture is achieved while ensuring the meat is not overcooked and meat juices are retained. I concluded that the result was not unexpected as the sauce should go well with pork and rice. And if I have to choose between kabayaki pork and eel, I will still prefer the latter. In my opinion, if pork and kabayaki sauce complement one another, the combination of eel and kabayaki sauce is considered seamless. Nevertheless, do try it out for yourself!


======

Kabakuro Kitanagase Branch かばくろ北長瀬店
岡山県岡山市北区今1丁目9-27
Opening hrs: 1100 - 1500 hrs; 1700 - 2100 hrs; Last order: 2050 hrs
http://www.kabakuro.com/index.html

How to get there?

(1) By train.
From Okayama JR Station, take the local train via Sanyo main line and alight one stop later at Kitanagase JR Station (北長瀬駅). It takes about 15 - 20 minutes by foot from Kitanagase JR Station.



***

Other branches:

Kabakuro Aeon Mall Okayama Branch かばくろイオンモール岡山店
Located on the 4th floor of Aeon Mall Okayama. This shopping mall is accessible via underpasses all the way from Okayama JR Station.
Opening hrs: 1000 - 2100 hrs; Last order: 2030 hrs

No comments:

Post a Comment