Hirofumi Masaki is one of the top sushi chefs in Japan, and was one of the winners at a Sushi competition held in Nagasaki. Chef Masaki began specialising in sushi at age 16. He now works at one of Japan’s famous restaurants Kagestu, which was started in 1642 in Nagasaki Prefecture and is said to have served the country’s Emperors. Chef Masaki and Chef Kawashimo Yasushi were in Bengaluru for a Japanese food festival held at Palette in Taj Yeshwantpur. With the help of interpreter Isaku Mori the two spoke of their respective specialisations.
Cuts like a knife
“It takes 10 years to become a sushi chef,” begins Chef Masaki, who has a humble demeanour and works with speed and remarkable precision while preparing sushi. “For the first year we have to clean toilets. The next year we clean the restaurant. Then an entire year is spent learning how to cut vegetables.” Until he mastered the most difficult task: slicing fugu or puffer fish which is used in sushi. It is the most poisonous fish in the world, considered to be 200 times more poisonous than cyanide. “You need a license to slice fugu because if it is cut wrong then the poison has the potential to kill a group of people in one go,” explains Chef Masaki. “We are trained for years to cut fugu. Only the sushi master chef is allowed to cut it.”
While Chef Masaki cooks only traditional Japanese food, Chef Kawashimo specialises in a fusion of Japanese and French cuisine. To the question of how he got interested in French cuisine, Kawashimo said: “The French chef at the restaurant where I work left, so I cook French cuisine.” The younger of the two, Chef Kawashimo is interested in global cuisine.
Worth the effort
The chefs say they brought 118 kg of Japanese ingredients with them. The effort was worth it as the dinner which was hosted by the Japanese consulate was outstanding. Chef Masaki sliced long sheets of green paper in the design of a lobster and a fish on which sushi was served. Chef Kawashimo added a little salt to his shallow fried tempura.
“It is not true that we eat only fish. We have a variety of vegetarian food," the chefs assert. Before they took their leave they spoke of the Indian food they have eaten.
“In Japan, Indian restaurants are mostly run by Nepalese. They prepare naan with variations such naan with cheese or chocolate inside.”