Kurobuta

I am infatuated - with a little black pig.

Yup, you read correctly. I am head over heels over a little black pig – commonly referred to as Kurobuta (in Japan) or the Black Bershire Pig (in the US/UK). I guess it all started when the British government gave the Berkshire pigs to the Japanese as a diplomatic gift (wow..... you hardly see this happening these days...... imagine Malaysia giving 'black chicken' to Singapore as part of diplomatic relations.... hahaha). I understand that Kurobuta pork is fancied and prized by the Japanese (as much as the Kobe and Wagyu beef) for the superior taste, texture and marbling. To those who are curious - “Marbled meat” actually refers to the flecks or thin streaks of fat that run throughout a piece of meat, enhancing its flavour, tenderness and juiciness. The process of “marbling” is the desirable intermixing of fat and muscle fibers in good meat produced by feeding a high energy diet when the animal is still young (definition courtesy of Wikipedia).

Ok. Enough about pigs. This blog is meant to be about Chloe and I seem to forget that whenever I start ranting about food.... haha... Anyways, my parents and Aunt Rebecca were in town so I recommended that we have dinner at this eatery called Tom Ton @ The Central to celebrate Father's Day. It specializes in all things ‘kurobuta’ – salads, sukiyaki, tonkatsu, ramen with kurobuta, shabu shabu, pork ribs…..you name it, they have it (then again…..maybe that’s stretching it a little too much – I don’t recall them having kurobuta ice-cream on the menu!!! haha…). Naturally, we ordered the Kurobuta Shabu Shabu and the pork ribs......the slices of pork that came with the shabu shabu (i.e. steamboat) were really tender and yummy. On top of that we ordered 'otoro sashimi' (tuna belly) as well - it was really expensive at $55 per serving of only about 5 slices, but since it melts in your mouth I suppose it’s worth every dollar?? Haha……and the best of part of our dining experience came when Aunt Rebecca generously offered to pay for dinner!!! (thank you Ah Yee…)

Tom Ton @ The Central, Clarke Quay


Kurobuta shabu shabu


Kurobuta pork ribs


Otoro sashimi


Chloe with her grand-parents and 'grand-aunt' Rebecca

Before dinner started though, Chloe was starting to get restless so we had to quickly resort to giving her some plain white rice to snack on (or play with – depending on how much of it actually gets into her mouth, because most of the rice grains either end up on the floor or on her clothes….) – this seemed to be the "current” most effective trick to keep her occupied & to prevent her from roaming around the restaurant aimlessly…. Strangely, Chloe seemed to have enjoyed her plain white rice as much we were enjoying the kurobuta dishes!! Seeing her ‘savour’ her white rice was heart-tickling – occasionally I would lean towards her, and out of goodwill (& pure love for her dad) she would very gently place two tiny grains of rice on my lips. In all honesty and with my hand on my heart – the rice actually tasted sweeter than the kurobuta pork…..…it was definitely a wonderful Father’s Day gift.

The Father's Day celebration continued at home where Chloe displayed her musical abilities on her small little drum…... but you really have to be extra careful when watching her perform…..if you’re not alert enough, the drum sticks will end up on your head rather than on the drum !!!