LIFESTYLE Food

A Frank Foodnotes™ Interview

Executive Chef Hiroshi Kagata of Keyaki Japanese restaurant shares insights into Japanese cuisine.

What are the key differences between Japanese and Chinese foods?
Japanese cuisine uses little or no garlic. During the Samurai period, in fact, meat and garlic were prohibited. So the meat culture in Japan is only about 100 years old. Also, Japanese cooking uses less oil and more seafood and vegetables. Chinese cooking uses more garlic and more oil.

What is the most luxurious style of Japanese cuisine?
Ultimately, classic Japanese cuisine – kaiseki – is regarded as the most luxurious culinary art form in Japan. It emphasizes working with seasonally best ingredients to create presentations that are aesthetically enjoyable and pleasing on the palate. “Kaiseki” means to transform the blessings of nature. It is traditionally prepared by master chefs who have had years of training. Contemporary Japanese cuisine is still tasty but tends to be quicker to consume, often presented in one-bowl or one-dish style.  This is due to the limited time most people have to dine.

What is bamboo salt?
Natural salt is packed into freshly cut bamboos and grilled over white-hot charcoal. This imparts a subtle sweetness and fragrance of bamboo, which goes very well with beef, and is healthier than table salt, because bamboo salt has more calcium, magnesium and potassium.

What is your favourite non-Japanese food?
Chinese food.

Executive Chef Hiroshi Kagata of Keyaki Japanese restaurant

Executive Chef Toshio Sawai of Japanese Dining Sun @ Chijmes answers questions about the influences on Japanese food and the authenticity of Japanese cuisine in Singapore.

What kind of foreign influences have affected Japanese cooking?
Over the years, Japanese cuisine has borrowed and adapted elements from other cultures and now these have become very much Japanese. The art of frying was introduced by the Portugese and has now developed into tempura, tonkatsu and so on. There is also Japanese-style Western food that is very much a part of Japanese lifestyle – including the hamburger that is served with rice and demi-glace sauce. Rural cuisine, that is, food served in the rural areas has gone through little change unlike urban foods that have absorbed more foreign influence.

How authentic is the Japanese food in Singapore?
It is hard to pinpoint authenticity.  Factors such as the method of preparation and type of ingredients certainly play an important role – it is a little difficult to recreate the taste of freshly caught fish or vegetable just cut from the fields. We cannot speak for other establishments, but we do try to import as much of the ingredients as we can, especially seafood for our sushi and sashimi, from Japan, to bring the taste of Japan here. For ingredients that cannot be imported, we have to rely on technique and our skills to achieve the Japanese taste as best as we can.

Tell us some Japanese dishes that you have not seen served in Singapore.
There are some ingredients that we are not able to import into Singapore. Horse meat sashimi, for example, is popular in some parts of Japan.

Executive Chef Toshio Sawai of Japanese Dining Sun