Wednesday, 17 February 2016

Uyi – Giant Savoury Squid [MEDIA INVITE]

Uyi - Savoury Squid @ Bugis Junction

Uyi Savoury Squid is a home-grown brand inspired by Chef Masahiro Tanaka, a renowned food specialist overseeing many food outlets in Fukuoka City. Chef Masahiro Tanaka grew up in a tiny fishing village of Yobuko in Fukuoka city, Japan. Refining his Obasan (grandmother) recipe, he created a unique squid item popular in Fukuoka city and found its way to Singapore.

Uyi Signature Squids

Currently, Uyi permanent kiosk is located in B1 of Bugis Junction. According to the owner, Mr Ho, Uyi has been popular fixtures in Geylang Serai night market and had gather substantial followers. With such a positive response, he decided to proceed to get Uyi a permanent stall, with future expansion in the pipe line. At the end of January 2016, Uyi also received the Halal certification from MUIS.

Uyi Sides & Drink Menu


There are two signature squid dishes at Uyi. Large Crispy Squid ($6.80) and Grilled Squid ($3.80). The crispy squid is lightly coated with batter, deep fried and dusted with seasoning of your choosing. The options are original, curry, sour plum, salt & pepper, or their top picks of hot & spicy, and seaweed & pepper.

Uyi Large Crispy Squid

I choose seaweed & pepper since my spicy tolerance level is very low. The size of a large crispy squid is bigger than a slice of Extra Large Pizza, almost 30 cm in length. It is coated with light crispy batter, chewy and succulent at the same time. Imagine you are eating that extra-large Taiwanese chicken cutlet, except at Uyi, you get squid instead. The seaweed and pepper seasoning, introduce a familiar Japanese flavour to the squid and addictive at the same time. Eating this dish in its entirety can be challenging, so I suggest that after you finish taking you WOW picture, ask them to cut it in smaller pieces for you. In case you are wondering where the giant squid came from, they are imported from Japan.

The cut version

The grilled squid uses regular size type of squid. Marinated in the original Tanaka sauce before it was grilled on the hot plate, it delivered an umami finished to the dish. I choose the Obasan BBQ sauce, which has a combination of sweet and tangy with a hint of bonito flakes in the sauce. Combining the sauce with the chewy and succulent squid, it was a recipe for a great finger food. The other two sauce you can choose from is Obasan Fiery Sauce (hot or extra hot) and Zi Ran Sauce (Cumin Sauce – popular seasoning of lamb skewers in China street food).

Grilled Squid - Cooking

Grilled Squid

Beside the squid and large squid, Uyi also offer sides such as:

Grilled Prawns ($3.20) with original seasoning or hot & spicy. The prawns are pretty big in size, crunchy and briny-tasting. I choose the original seasoning, though it is not spicy, it still has the subtle kick from the paprika.

Grilled Prawns

Popcorn Squid ($3.80) with salt & pepper or hot & spicy seasoning. Think of it as Uyi answer to their neighbour KFC Pop Corn Chicken. This mini munchies has too much coating for my liking. It take some effort in chewing before you manage to get to the chewy and succulent squid.

Popcorn Squid

Golden Squid Head ($3.80) with original seasoning or hot & spicy. The squid head is lightly coated in batter and dip fried. Comparing to the squid, the chewiness of the squid head double the meat part. This remind me on a dim sum dish in Melbourne Shark Fin House.

Golden Squid Head

Japanese Style Spicy Crab ($7.80). Using the soft shell crab, it is deep fried and dusted with spicy seasoning. There is only one flavour to choose, which is SPICY!! The body of the crab is crispy and juicy, like the typical soft shell crab in a Japanese eatery. The pincers is a bit more challenging to bite through due to the exoskeleton. The seasoning was just to overpowering, the combination of spicy and salty was just too much for me. For those spicy food lovers, this is definitely for you.

Japanese Style Spicy Crab

Basically all the food and drinks sold in Uyi is in takeaway version. There is no seating area here, except for a few shared standing tables at the back, facing the cold storage. So it is grab and go folks.

Uyi entire menu

I tasted the entire menu on offer at Uyi, my recommendation are Large Crispy Squid, Grilled Squid and Grilled Prawns. For squid lovers, this is definitely a must try. Cheers!!

Thank you very much to Uyi for the tasting invitation.

Food & Drink: 7.5/10
Value: 7.5/10
Service: n/a (Tasting Invitation)
Ambiance: n/a (Take away stall)
Budget per Person: $0 - $10

Uyi
200 Victoria Street
Level B1-K5, Bugis Junction
(in front of KFC)
Singapore 188021

OH: 10.00 – 22.00 daily

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