Japanese treat

KOCHI:Exploring new things is what gets you going. Be it visiting places, learning new things or trying out a new dish. And for an ardent lover of food the ongoing Japanese Fest at the Tharavadu restaurant in Hotel Casino will be a treat both for the heart and appetite. The fest which offers a wide range of authentic Japanese delicacies has the touch of a young Japanese chef who is currently on an Indian tour to familiarise Indian palettes with Japanese cuisine. Chef Jajo explains the difference between Indian and Japanese cuisine. “Indian cooking uses lot of spices but Japanese food is mild. We use only one spice called Tongarashi, which is a mix of seven spice powders,” says Chef JajoAs is the tradition, Japanese food is best enjoyed when eaten with chopsticks but if one does not know how to eat with it, then chef Jajo has found a technique to hold the sticks together using a rubber band. Beginners can very well enjoy eating in Japanese style. With more than 13 years of experience in cooking, her signature dish comes in the form of Yaki Tori. “Yaki Tori means anything grilled. As Japanese love pork, beef and fishes more, Yaki Tori is made using that,” she says.Sushi is another integral part of Japanese cuisine. When asked what is sushi, Jajo says, “Sushi is our most popular food. It is made using seaweed called nori that holds vinegared sticky rice. A variety of filling from raw fish to vegetables and sauces are also tucked in. It is served with pickled ginger,” says this 27 year old. The fest also offers its customers a variety of live sushi sessions. There is oramaki, maki, nigiri, sashimi and futomaki sushis available to munch on in the fest.Instead of spices, Japanese use lot of sauce varieties like Teriyaki, which is a non-vegetarian sauce and Yakitori, a vegetarian sauce. “To give all the natural flavours, I make all the sauces in my kitchen. The tempura dip is made from grated radish or taikon,” she says. One interesting thing to notice is that Japanese do not use salt at all. “In our food we do not use salt. And to compensate that we use soya sauce which has both salt and sugar,” adds Jajo. All the vegetables and non- veg items have been imported from Japan. Why take that much pain, we ask and she explains, “Take the case of salmons. The Indian salmon is white in colour but we use pink coloured salmons. Both these taste different.” For Jajo her passion for cooking came from helping her parents, as a young girl, in their Japanese restaurant. And to expand her culinary expertise, she went to Tokyo and perfected in the art. “In India also people now look forward to Japanese food for its mildness and usage of less spices,” says the chef who has been working in Bangalore for the past seven years. There is also a line up of desserts in the fest. Fried ice-cream is an oriental dish and the Japanese version is the tempura fried ice-cream being the chef’s favourite. “Tempura fried ice-cream are cake sponge wrapped in ice cream and fried in tempura batter. They are hot from the outside and melting cold from inside,” says Jajo. She is now looking at opening her own restaurant in India serving exclusive Japanese food. “I love India and in near future I would love to open a restaurant.”The fest will go on till June 3 and will serve from 7:30 pm till 11 pm.