New Kits On The Block
Lockdown has changed the way many of us eat. Currently you can’t go to your favourite restaurant or visit that bistro you’ve heard a lot of good things about. On a positive note it has inspired a lot of people to dust off that celebrity chef cookbook they got for Christmas and start cooking at home.
As we know, due to social distancing requirements restaurants, pubs and cafes have had to close. Some pubs who have been able to do so, have been offering a take away service, whether that be popping out to collect a few pints of your favourite ale or a couple of steak and ale pies.
For restaurants it is not quite as simple as that. A lot of dishes are prepared à la minute and need serving immediately and the set up of some restaurant kitchens and reduced staff numbers do not allow for a takeaway service. However, Kyoto Kitchen in Winchester have come up with a way of enabling customers to have the authentic Japanese experience at home with a meal kit, that eliminates the additional preparation required and do all the hard work for you.
Head Chef Shunji Irokawa qualified as a chef in Tokyo in 1972, coming to the UK 17 years ago to use fresh local English produce in his repertoire of traditional Japanese regional recipes. For the meal kits Chef Shunji has personally selected and prepared the vegetables, fish, meat, sauces, marinades and garnishes, leaving you to just do the final cook and plating.
Kyoto Kitchen’s Traditional Meal Kit
Chicken Gyoza
Four pieces of chicken gyoza and gyoza sauce and bamboo leaves for presentation are included in the kit. Very straight forward to prepare, as you just need to heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan, gently cooking for approx 5 minutes, turning occasionally.
Prawn Tempura
Four prepped prawns, flour for dressing and the batter, dipping sauce and paper for service is included in the kit. In a pan heat enough oil that will cover the prawns when you fry them. Mix the batter flour with 100ml of ice water and coat the prawns in flour before dipping into the batter so it sticks to the prawns. The best way to tell if the oil is hot enough, place a few drops of the batter in the oil, which will bubble vigorously when ready. Carefully place prawns in the pan and fry for a couple of minutes so they do not over cook, as they will still keep cooking in the residual heat when you take them out.
Beef Tataki
Presliced beef, spicy radish dressing, chilli and spring onion garnish are included in the kit. Another simple dish to prepare, quickly sear one side of the beef in a very hot pan or with a professional cooks blow torch, plate and pour on sauce and garnish.
Salmon & Tuna Sashimi
Sushi grade salmon and tuna, daikon and carrot garnish and shiso leaf for presentation included in the kit. The simplest dish to prepare, slice each fish into four equal portions and plate.
Salmon & Cucumber Roll
Prepared salmon and cucumber, sushi rice, nori sheet, soy sauce, grated ginger and wasabi are included in the kit. This will test your sushi rolling skills and went to prove that I do not have any. Visually my end result did not look good, but at least I could disguise it with an extra sprinkle of sesame seeds! Thankfully it was all in the taste. Place the nori sheet on a bamboo rolling mat and spread rice evenly across. Place ingredients across the middle of the rice and roll. Cut into 6 pieces and serve.
Sea Bass No Shogayaki
Two sea bass fillets, cornflour, no shogayaki dressing and steamed rice are included in the kit. Another simple dish to execute. Coat the fish in the cornflour, shaking off any excess. Heat a pan with oil and shallow fry until skin becomes golden and crisp. Reheat the rice still in the bag in a pot of hot water and serve together.
All the dishes were delicious and it gave a wonderful memory of the meals had at Kyoto Kitchen. You do have to be reasonably confident in the kitchen to get the best out of the kit. However, instructions are included. There is a lot of packaging, but Kyoto Kitchen have not compromised on quality or the environment. They have sourced a majority of the packaging from biodegradable and marine safe plastic alternatives.
You can order and schedule a collection time directly on the Kyoto Kitchen website and choose from three different meal kits, Vegan, Traditional or Gourmet and each kit serves two people. Prices start at £39.00 and considering what you would pay for a meal out, I believe represent excellent value for what is a very different home dining experience.
Kyoto Kitchen
70 Parchment Street
Winchester
Hampshire SO23 8AT
www.kyotokitchen.co.uk
I was provided with a Traditional Meal Kit by Kyoto Kitchen. Photograph of Chef Shunji-San and featured image copyright owned by Kyoto Kitchen.
