City buzz

DON'T BE A CHICKEN

DINING

Hanamidori Restaurant

JAPANESE restaurants in Singapore are a dime a dozen, which makes Hanamidori Restaurant, with its all-chicken menu, a welcome change.

The restaurant - renowned in Hakata, Kyushu - has 28 outlets in Japan, and two in Taipei and Dalian. Hanamidori's star dish is the Mizutaki, the chicken broth hotpot. This dish originated in Hakata during the Keio period from 1865 to 1868, and was initially served in the Ryotei, a traditional, luxuriously appointed restaurant, as a simple hotpot. In response to Goryon-san, the landladies from the merchant families wishing to provide more nourishing and tasty meals for their families, tofu and vegetables were added to make a heartier dish.

The restaurant uses fresh chickens from Malaysia. The best way to enjoy the hotpot is by ordering the Hanamidori Hana Full Course Set, S$25.90 per pax for minimum two diners.

The highlight is the Mizutaki, which comes to the table in a flavourful, milky chicken broth, with meaty chunks of chicken. You get to sample the soup on its own, before minced chicken balls are added, followed by pieces of boneless fresh chicken thigh, vegetables, tofu and chicken dumplings. Those who want more nourishment can order collagen to be added to the already rich soup.

The accompanying sauces include ponzu, yuzu kosho or yuzu pepper, and a mala sauce. But the chicken is tasty enough to eat on its own. Finish the meal with some egg and rice cooked in the soup. The course also comes with extras such as cold appetisers, grilled salmon and scallops, and a chawanmushi which tastes more of chicken than of egg.

Apart from the hotpot, there are other chicken dishes on the menu as well, including the Hana Soboro Collagen Salad (S$9.90) and the Mitzutaki Karrage (S$7.90). The former has greens together with minced chicken topped with egg yolk, and collagen cubes. The Mitzutaki Karaage are pieces of chicken marinated in Mizutaki broth, ponzu and yuzu kosho before they are deep fried. The end-result is juicy chicken but with a tangy kick.

By Tay Suan Chiang

DINING

Sichuan Food Festival

SI Chuan Duo Hua restaurants are known for Sichuan fine dining. For this month only, its Parkroyal on Beach Road outlet goes further with a Sichuan Food Festival.

Part of the restaurant has been transformed to recreate a food street in Sichuan, and there will be special dishes that are only available during this period.

The Si Chuan Ma La Fish Coldpot (right), a delicacy introduced by executive chef Zeng Feng, himself a Sichuan native, is the one dish not to miss.

The Coldpot arrives at the table with sliced soon hock pieces and bamboo shoots already cooked, and immersed in a broth of chilli oil, green peppercorn, scallions, and fresh and dried chilli.

After the fish and bamboo shoots are consumed, the heat is switched on to turn the coldpot into a hotpot, much like the mala steamboat. Ingredients such as sliced beef and pork and home-made meat balls with Chinese parsley are served. The Coldpot is only available at dinner.

Other dishes available include Minced Meat Glutinous Rice Dumplings, as well as the cute Mini Panda dumplings with red bean paste.

By Tay Suan Chiang

CINEMA

Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41

LOCAL film collective the Society for Cult and Underground Movies (SCUM Cinema) is set to takes its audience to the sleazy word of Japanese Pink films - a genre that puts an Oriental twist on exploitation skin flicks from the West - at its next screening.

Directed by Shunya Ito, Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972, above) is a cult psycho-sexual B-flick based on the manga series created by Toru Shinohara. It's the first of 10 films based on the Sasori (Japanese for "scorpion") character and stars Meiko Kaji, who played the titular role in four of them. The movie is a jailbreak thriller unlike any other, mixing the action and violence of Yakuza crime flicks with the erotic elements of Pink films, spawning a sub-genre that boomed in the Land of the Rising Sun during the seventies and influenced the works of Western directors like Russ Meyer and Quentin Tarantino.

By Dylan Tan

Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (rated R21) screens at The Arts House on June 5 at 8pm. Admission is free but you need to make reservations at http://femaleconvictscorpion.peatix.com

ART

Art After Dark at Gillman Barracks

FROM Friday to Sunday, Gillman Barracks becomes party central once again with live music, food and drinks. Headlining the event is Chicks On Speed (below), an edgy all-girl punk art group that will be performing at the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore on Friday from 7pm to 10pm. Don't miss it.

At the same time, the Singapore Open Media Art Festival is taking place at various locations within the art cluster, featuring collaborations between Singapore and Korean artists. Artists showing their works in the three-day event include Chen Sai Hua Kuan, Jeremy Sharma and Bohyun Yoon.

Apart from the newly-opened Red Baron cafe serving satay, fried chicken and craft beer, a number of pop-up eateries such as Iskina Cebu and Handlebar will also serve up great eats and drinks.

By Helmi Yusof

HEALTH

Juice Junkie

THE juice bar craze in Singapore is ramping up with more new entrants to the market. The newest one is Juice Junkie which boasts 100 per cent organic cold-pressed juices. Director and co-founder Melissa Cheong, 26, came up with the concept while at Tufts University in Boston.

She and her co-founder, Babson College graduate Roxanne Liao, were so impressed with the availability of nutritious cold-pressed juices that they were compelled to bring the concept back home with them. Ms Cheong explains: "We really used to enjoy being able to just go down to our local Whole Foods store or even order it online. It's such a healthy alternative to soft drinks and preserved juices."

Juice Junkie opened in October last year and is conveniently located on trendy Duxton Road, right next to an indoor cycling studio. Ms Cheong says: "After workouts finish, we have quite a few people stop by for our Yummy Bunny juice. I think they like that it isn't just coconut water." The Yummy Bunny (S$10) contains aloe vera, coconut water, cucumber, lemon and pineapple.

Juice Junkie's green juices are also popular. The Non-Stop Hop (S$10) contains apple, ginger, kale, lemon and romaine and caters to those who aren't as fond of vegetables but still want to be healthy, while the Doctor Rabbit (S$10) with celery, cucumber, kale, parsley, romaine, and spinach appeals to more diehard vegetable fans.

Sourcing its ingredients from local organic farms, Juice Junkie aims to ease the transition into a more healthy lifestyle by not offering two-day or three-day cleanses, choosing to instead market their juices as a way of life.

By Avanti Nim