My trysts with Japanese food

My first encounter with Japanese cuisine was not through Sushi. It was when TK's Oriental Grill opened at Hyatt Delhi in the late nineties.
Image used for representational purpose.(Photo | Pexels)
Image used for representational purpose.(Photo | Pexels)

When Harry Truman, President of the United States of America, called Winston Churchill to inform him about America's plan of dropping the atom bomb on Japan, apparently Churchill had cautioned -- make sure it explodes, otherwise, the Japanese will dismantle it, copy the design, and throw one back at you that will work. Looking at the history of modern Japanese cuisine one sees many instances of dishes borrowed from other countries that were elevated to an art form in Japan.

Take for instance the humble noodles converted to divine Ramen and Dimsums to Gyoza. Or for that matter Kobe steaks -- for which Wagyu beef is bred with tender loving care, including fables about mythical massage to the steers after giving them sips of beers, for developing its signature marbled texture. Even the Katsu curry is believed to be an adaptation of the Indian curry. It seems officers of Japan's imperial maritime forces had picked up curry recipes from their British counterparts in the late nineteenth century. But the credit for popularising the curry in Japan goes to the Indian revolutionary Rashbehari Bose, who preceded Subhas Chandra Bose in Japan by many years.

Bose married a Japanese lady whose family owned a restaurant Nakamuraya. Bose succeeded in introducing Raisu Curry (Curry and Rice) into their menu, which was an instant hit and was priced eight times higher than that of other restaurants. Later Nakamuraya expanded rapidly and was one of the first food companies to be enlisted on the Japanese stock exchange. But like the Rosogolla, chauvinists from Odisha claim that the recipe for Bose's curry was not Bengali. Bose had picked it up from Odia cooks at his home. I can believe that. 

However, the Japanese tradition of "stealing with pride" and then improving upon it does not end with food, cars and technology. It extends to other fine things in life such as Single Malt Whisky. As we know, Japanese Whiskies are a rage and people are willing to pay an arm and leg for high-end Japanese brands like Nika, Hibiki andYamazaki.  And, talking of arms and legs, Suntory is using local models and has signed on smoking hot Ileana D’cruz as brand ambassador for South India. After whisky, Japanese Gins are taking the market by storm. Roku is widely available in India and more craft Gins like Ki No Tea from Kyoto are slowly making their way to high-end bars. But then, I digress. 

My first encounter with Japanese cuisine was not through Sushi. It was when TK's Oriental Grill opened at Hyatt Delhi in the late nineties.  TK's stands for Teppanyaki -- where chefs cook all kinds of meats, seafood and vegetables on open grills with a lot of showmanship and noise like samurai warriors. Though popular with tourists, it is not classic Japanese. TK's mixes other oriental cuisines like Mongolian and Korean in its fare. I believe now they have a more traditional Japanese section at the back.

But my real introduction to Japanese food happened in Kathmandu thanks to my culinary guru Mahendra Shrestha. Mahendra's family owns one of the oldest Japanese restaurants in India -- Tamura. Originally located inside Nehru Park in Delhi, it started by supplying Bento boxes to Japanese companies in the capital. Now, it has spread all across the National Capital Region (NCR) with the main Branch in Green Park. Arguably, it is still the most authentic and moderately priced Japanese restaurant in Delhi patronised largely by the local expatriate Japanese community and Japanese tourists. 

Tamura has a branch In Kathmandu as well. But our "go-to" Japanese Restaurant in the Nepalese capital was Koto on Durbar Marg, where we discovered Japanese food was much more than Sushi. It is not commonly known that Japan, being a Buddhist country, has a long tradition of vegetarian food.

Gomae -- a cold spinach salad with sesame and sake dressing -- was one of our favourites. Agedashi Tofu -- lightly fried silken Tofu coated with potato starch -- doused in dashi sauce and garnished with radish, spring onion, ginger and bonito flakes (if you omit the bonito flakes and use vegetarian dashi, the sauce can be a Vegan's delight) is subtlety defined. A cold chicken salad, in which sliced marinated chicken breasts are 'velveted' with corn starch, rice wine and egg and topped with a light dressing of miso and mirin is another soul food. Coming back to Tamura what I enjoy most are their pork cutlets and baby spare ribs -- the most tender I have had anywhere. 

In my subsequent trips to Japan, I learnt the key elements of Japanese food are the freshness of ingredients and attention to detail. The bidding for fish in the iconic Tsukiji Market in Tokyo, now closed, demonstrated the kind of premium the Japanese were willing to put on quality. Forget Sushi, even the humble omelette is taken to a different level by a process of layering. No wonder some say Japanese cooking is a form of mindfulness meditation. 

One of the best things to have happened to the food scene in India post-pandemic is the explosion in the home-delivery and cloud kitchens. Among them, Delhi has a few outstanding Japanese options. Sushiya and Enoki are two of my favourites. Their food packaging is outstanding. Enoki in fact delivers Sushi in summer months in dry ice-wrapped boxes. But, then I saw a YouTube video of an Instagrammer warning the Japanese about the risk of introducing Sushi to the Punjabis -- as they will soon start demanding Chicken Tikka Sushis.

Recently my daughter, Joya Ghose, a professional street photographer, returned from a shoot in Varanasi. She photographed small Dhabas selling Sushi. I can't vouch for the quality of the Sushi, which even she was wary of trying.  But I think if the Japanese could adopt the curry and invent the California Sushi Roll, why not Paneer Butter Masala Sushi instead of Salmon and Mayonnaise?  After all, food is all about imagination and innovation.

Sandip Ghose
Author and Current Affairs Commentator 
Twitter- @SandipGhose

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