The six-hands collaboration dinner brings together popular Japanese chefs Kenjiro ‘Hatch’ Hashida, Chen Kentaro and Hiroshi Yamanobe.
Chef Kenjiro ‘Hatch’ Hashida will team up with Chen Kentaro of Shisen Hanten and Hiroshi Yamanobe of Tokyo’s Ginza Yamanobe to present uniquely Japanese renditions of Chinese dishes. (Photos: Hashida, Shisen Hanten, Ginza Yamanobe)
Every new dining habit begins with a fad. Remember when avocados were synonymous with guacamole? Cut to present day. Now, when was the last time you thought of avocado as meant for anything but toast? What’s next? Chuka dim sum if chef Kenjiro Hashida plays his cards right. But first, a six-hands collaboration to testbed the idea.
Come Sep 29, chef Kenjiro ‘Hatch’ Hashida will team up with chefs Chen Kentaro of Shisen Hanten and Hiroshi Yamanobe of Tokyo’s Ginza Yamanobe to present a 15-course Chuka Dim Sum Omakase at his eponymous restaurant along Amoy Street.
Chuka is short for chuka ryori, uniquely Japanese renditions of Chinese dishes. Chuka dim sum then is much like regular dim sum, but given elegant Japanese inflections and, where applicable, milder additions of spice.
Although the menu is still in the works, dishes that guests can expect include the likes of a cheong fan (rice roll) dumpling featuring lightly torched sashimi with a ponzu dipping sauce; dorayaki (pancakes) with a mapo eggplant filling; xiao long bao (broth-filled dumplings) with a suan la (hot and sour) Hokkaido pork filling; and wasabi-infused radish cakes.
THREE OF A FEATHER
The trio have much in common. All aged 44, they each serve unique riffs on Japanese cuisine: Kentaro offering Japanese-style Sichuan dishes, Yamanobe with this Edo-style Chinese fare served around an eight-seat counter, and Hashida’s smart, modern takes on the traditional sushi omakase experience. Each says this collaboration will be important learning experiences as they explore the possibilities of one another’s spins on their native cuisine.
“We may be doing Chinese-Japanese food, but our styles are very different,” explained Kentaro. “I’m excited to learn from each different style, especially with things like Hiroshi’s gan shao xia sushi.” The dish features Sichuan-spiced prawns set on a pressed morsel of seasoned rice.
For Yamanobe, the collaboration is an opportunity to explore Singapore’s dining scene. “This is my first time in Singapore and I’m curious to see how business is run there, and the vibes and ambience of Singapore’s restaurants. Maybe one day I might want to start something outside of Japan. I am quite envious of Hatch and Chen because they have a platform in Japan and Singapore. I would love to have a platform outside of Japan someday,” he said.
Hashida, who mooted the idea of the collaboration, said: “I really want to learn dim sum. I like to do collaborations because I can learn something from other chefs. We serve classic omakase (at Hashida) and it can become routine for the kitchen. That’s why I keep changing my menu. But what really excites my team is when I bring in other chefs, so (events like this) are important for keeping motivation up.”
The secondary hope is that the event will serve as a first step towards a new genre of cuisine that these chefs believe could be the next big thing. In fact, Hashida and Yamanobe are exploring the possibility of starting a chuka dim sum concept in Singapore or Japan. Until then, it’s a fun endeavour that the chefs are looking forward to. Yamanobe joked: “I’m sure people will be excited about this. I’m confident it’ll make more noise than Formula 1!”
The Chuka Dim Sum Omakase dinner priced at S$350 per head happens on Sep 29, 2023. On Sep 27 and Sep 28, Hashida and Yamanobe will present a four hands dinner at Hashida showcasing Edo-chuka cuisine priced at S$300 per person.
For reservations, email info [at] hashidasg.com or Whatsapp 8129 5336