Catch of the Season

CEBU, Philippines - SumoSam excites the palate this season with its Lenten repertoire of seafood specials.

A satisfying hot bowl of the best selling Seafood Ramen brings pure comfort to a starved belly, especially on a cold weather. Ramen noodles, vegetables and assorted seafood are bathed in a broth of your choice, either shoyu (Japanese soy sauce) or miso (Japanese seaweed) as its base, topped with Japanese marinated soft boiled eggs, ajitsuke tamago, cut in half.

The katsuobushi (dried smoked skipjack tuna shavings) that moves about on top of a hot serving of Seafood Yakisoba — stir fried noodles with a medley of seafood and vegetables — makes this dish surprisingly unique.

Akin to a Chinese classic fare chopseuy, the ingredients of Salmon Antake such as assorted veggies (enoki mushroom, shiitake mushroom, Chinese cabbage, bok choy, carrots, green bell peppers) swim in a cloudy, thick special sauce with mirin (sweet cooking rice wine); that rather highlights deep fried, crispy salmon head instead of adding the usual pork/chicken meat. For a spicy kick, slices of red chilies are incorporated into the dish.

The European classic grab-to-go Fish & Fries combo takes a different twist in Oyster & Fries – battered oysters (two pieces of oysters in one elongated piece) deep-fried till golden yellow with potato fries dusted with aonori (dried green seaweed) powdered Japanese spice. This goes well with the Korean dipping sauce of chopped radish with lime.

Seafood Teppan (yaki) Platter makes another sumptuous meal this Lenten Season of iron-grilled dory, ebi (shrimp), scallops, salmon and oysters. Low fat but high on nutrition and flavor that there’s no need to order a steaming hot bowl of rice but one wouldn’t go wrong if an Assorted Sushi, the classic one-bite Japanese favorite, is added to the tab. The platter includes eight pieces of nigiri-zushi – oblong-shaped rice topped with seafood, tamago (Japanese omelet) and kani (crabstick).

SumoSam, the only Japanese restaurant that delivers, is located at the ground floor of The Terraces, Ayala Center Cebu and is open daily from 11am to 11pm. Just dial 401-0643 for reservations and orders. Photos by Reynan Villena