In the Kitchen with Hiroko Shimbo (2/4)

Q: How do you combine eastern and western concepts to provide Japanese cuisine in a nutritional, delicious and easy to prepare manner? Japanese and other Asian cuisine or Western cuisine have, in most cases, very different characteristics. Think about the spices in Thai and Middle Eastern food – almost none are used in Japanese cooking; think about the oil-based cooking of India, China, Italy, Spain and France – it is used but is not fundamental to Japanese cooking. So, combining these alien elements is not welcomed by me. One can adopt the Japanese simple way of presentation or use Japanese techniques that, for example, use less oil, but, when I eat my favorite French coq au vin, I want to have it prepared and presented in the traditional French way, not in a confused, fusion or in a Japanese-like presentation. Q: As a consultant to restaurants and the food industry, what are some common mistakes restaurants make in menu planning? Understanding who the target customers are, what are their experiences and expectations and developing the menu to meet those needs is the primary consideration for success. Failure to do this is probably the largest single cause of restaurant failure. I believe that most customers entering an “ethnic” restaurant have an expectation that they will find dishes that offer a new experience, but the menu must be designed so that this experience is within the tastes and sensibilities of the customers. I like to strive for authenticity, but I always need to keep the customers in mind. Striking the balance between new experience and acceptable taste is difficult. For Japanese cuisine, much groundwork has been done by the popularity and universal availability of sushi. Now is time to introduce other aspects of our wonderful cuisine. Of course, the other aspects of menu problems have to do with production and serving. Can a non-ethnic restaurant staff in an ethnic restaurant be trained to explain, produce and serve the dishes? Can the dish be repeatedly produced and served at the same level of high quality? Are there reliable, high quality suppliers who can provision with stable price and quality? Q: What are some trends you see in Japanese cuisine? Are these trends similar overseas? In the Japan, the US and elsewhere, large food and restaurant chain companies are seizing the mass market by utilizing their large purchasing power to offer less expensive dining to the customers. In Japan, for example a many course meal based on fugu, the famous blow fish, used to cost $100 or much more at a specialty restaurant. Now a national chain that uses farmed fish can provide a complete meal for $50, and though the quality is clearly less than at the traditional restaurants, one can not really fault the food because of the very low prices and the good, if artificial, traditional ambiance of the dining room. As in the US top quality smaller establishments survive and even thrive in Japan, but the mass market is more and more belonging to chains. The physical modernization of traditional Japanese restaurants both large and small is seen everywhere today in Japan. Some of these new establishments, in my view as a cooking professional overemphasize interior design, ambiance, serving style (Japanese foods served with western style plates and presentations) and the actual food served is lower in quality. More and more new concept Japanese dining and cooking techniques are coming to USA. In New York we have very high end restaurants that attempt to duplicate the dining experience of Kyoto or Tokyo, and some restaurants now copy modern Japanese eateries, sushi bars, charcoal grilling restaurants and other styles. Many have beautiful modern facilities designed by well known Japanese restaurant designers. But food in many is secondary to the restaurant experience. Q: What is some of your preferred kitchen equipment for the Japanese Kitchen?