Harvest Time

Chefs mark the start of spring with creative dishes that feature the freshest bounty of the season

- Dudi Aureus

BEST BUD

Modern Japanese restaurant Fat Cow welcomes the spring season with its annual Haru Matsuri (or spring festival in Japanese) menu. For Isaac Tan, the head of culinary and product innovations at parent company Commonwealth Concepts, there is no vegetable that spells the start of spring more than the takenoko, or bamboo shoots. “They’re not only healthy and delicious on their own, but also go well with all kinds of dishes and are easy to prepare,” he shares. Diners can enjoy this seasonal vegetable as an appetiser, as part of the restaurant’s Chef’s Table omakase menus or as an à la carte order. The bamboo shoots are first boiled with dried peppers, rice and water to ensure they remain sweet and crunchy. They are then boiled again in dashi before being tossed in a mix of sansho peppers, salt and miso sauce to give them that much-desired heat and savouriness with every bite.

JAPANESE DELIGHTS