You’re a Japanese chef, food writer and cookery
What is your favourite Japanese dish to cook, and
The idea of Japanese cooking can be
teacher. How did your career in food begin?
what is your favourite to eat?
daunting to some. What dish would you
My earliest memories revolve around food.
I love dishes that my family can join in making,
advise starting with for a beginner?
I grew up in the countryside with views over
such as gyozas. The little shapes are a pleasure to
Dashi, which is a Japanese stock and a
Mount Fuji and had the luxury of homegrown,
craft and it’s faster if everyone helps. To eat, I love
flavour foundation for many dishes. There
organic vegetables with local ingredients cooked
sushi and sashimi prepared by a master sushi
are a number of different dashi and they are
by my mother. When my father returned from
chef. The quality and skill are hard to match, so
incredibly simple to make, without taking
Tokyo at the weekends, I’d be treated to sushi or
it’s always a real treat.
hours to steam and simmer at the stove.
I was living in Chicago when I was 19 studying
Do you have any favourite Le Creuset pieces to
Do you have any Japanese restaurant
music that I began a more formal training with
cook with that are especially good for Japanese
recommendations?
Le Cordon Bleu. I started my career working late
cuisine?
My first recommendation would be Endo
nights in the fiery heat of downtown Chicago
The Le Creuset Cocotte Every 18cm pot is
at Rotunda, in London’s White City. We are
kitchens, honing my skills as a professional chef
wonderful for making Japanese rice, as the
lucky to have Endo Kazutoshi here in the
alongside a Mexican and American team.
heavy, thickness of the pot retains and circulates
UK, who is a third generation sushi master
the heat well, ensuring it creates a light fluffy
chef with an approach as dynamic as it is
consistency.
delicious. He is mindful of the consequences
unagi (eel) specialities. However, it wasn’t until
Can you explain what Japanese cuisine is and
of over-fishing, so he works directly with
the common ingredients used? Japanese cooking is all about straightforward
Le Creuset’s Spring/Summer 2020 theme is Zen
fishermen to ensure sustainably sourced
methods and maximum flavour. However, you do
Kitchen. How can we incorporate this idea into
produce is served in his 16-seat restaurant.
need to use fresh, quality ingredients, and follow
our cooking experiences?
My second recommendation is Kayanoya in
any simple steps in the exact order. The five
Aim to cook in a simple way with the highest
Japan’s Fukuoka. It’s famous for its dashi,
common ingredients are miso, sake, mirin, soy
quality ingredients you can find. This is my idea
and housed in a large, thatched traditional
sauce and dashi stock. We also use ingredients
of a zen approach. It’s not necessary to struggle
Japanese barn building in the beautiful
that are very common in other cuisines, such as
with overly complex methods and techniques that
countryside. The menu encapsulates an
tahini, curry sauce, mayonnaise, and mustard.
conceal ingredient flavour.
approach to natural and slow food. A multicourse meal there is a lovely way to spend
You run a cooking school in South London that’s
If any of our readers are planning to visit
designed to show how simple, nourishing, and
Japan this year, do you have any must-do
delicious Japanese food can be. How did this
recommendations?
become your passion?
Visit an Onsen! This is a hot spring bath, and you
The rise in the popularity of Japanese food over
can find them throughout Japan. They are very
recent years meant I was receiving more and
zen, and a wonderful way to remedy your jet-lag,
more requests from friends and clients asking to
relax and soak for a few hours.
be shown how to make sushi, as well as gyoza, tempura and other styles. I realised that I was enjoying teaching a lot, and eventually Yuki’s
an afternoon, as the food is gentle but full of umami flavour thanks to the stocks. What do you have coming up this year? I have a number of exciting collaborations in the pipeline that I can’t reveal just yet! Also, some new classes, focusing on vegetarian Japanese cooking, and workshops for specific ingredients, such as my miso making workshop.
Kitchen was born.
HIJIKI CHIRASHI SUSHI Hijiki is a sea vegetable like wakame and kombu. It is rich in fibre and minerals – a delicious health food with a unique flavour. Go online to www.lecreuset. com for the recipe.
ZEN Kitchen 11
