When I first started working in finance over 10 years ago, it didn't take me long to realise that my heart wasn't really in it. I was crazy about food even then, but only now have I had the confidence and means to leave my job in investment banking to pursue my true passion in life - cooking.
It was a long thought out decision, requiring years of planning and saving to finance a year at the full-time Cordon Bleu Grand Diplome course which I start in January 2012. During this period, writing The London Foodie has kept me more or less sane, by putting me in contact with others who shared the same feelings as I did, and motivating me to keep going.
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| Happo En Park in Meguro |
Having a two month break between leaving the bank and starting Le Cordon Bleu, I decided to come to Japan to research and learn more about the food of my ancestors. For those who read this site, it is no secret that Japanese food is one of my great passions, and having started a series of Japanese supper clubs at my home, I felt it was time to gain a greater depth of understanding of this cuisine.
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| Shinjuku's Kabukicho District |
Where to Stay in Tokyo
I came to Japan at the end of October, and rented a flat in the lovely Tokyo neighbourhood of Meguro. Renting in Tokyo is not easy. In the UK, I searched for flats using two of the main accommodation websites for foreigners in Tokyo - Sakura House and Tokyo Apartments.
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| Top of Mitshukoshi Building in Ginza |
At the lower end of the market, Sakura House offers cheaper accommodation that ranges from guest houses to self-catering apartments. The catch here is that the flats are in distant suburbs, and are very small and unattractive. Tokyo Apartments offers serviced flats mostly for a minimum 90 day stay. Flats here are geared towards the ex-pat community in Tokyo and therefore are much more expensive, but also of far better quality. While searching on the Tokyo Apartments site, I noticed a price discrepancy between similar apartments depending on whether it was let to locals or foreigners. It would help if you had a native speaker who could help you search the Japanese accommodation sites as well as the ones in English.
My flat is spacious, with a large fitted kitchen (very unusual for Tokyo), and perfect for my purposes - cooking.
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| My Tokyo Flat's Kitchen - where I spend most of my days! |
What to Do in Tokyo
Japanese Cookery Classes in Tokyo (in English)
The flat is owned, and is adjacent to the home of Kazuko-san, one of Japan's most renowned food stylists, who is also giving me a series of 1:1 cookery lessons throughout my stay here.
Classes take place in her beautiful American-style home (her husband is from the USA). Before each class, we go shopping for ingredients together at the local market, a valuable experience considering that labelling is all in Japanese. Kazuko-San explains the ingredients as we buy them, and when and how they should be used.
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| Cookery Class at Kazuko-San's |
For my first class, we cooked an entire meal together over 2-3 hours. Of the five dishes we cooked, one of my favourites was the pan-fried tofu and chicken steaks served with two different sauces- oroshi ponzu (grated daikon radish in yuzu ponzu dressing) and teriyaki with strands of white spring onion. This would be easy to replicate in the UK, and looks and tastes fantastic.
Another lovely dish was a simple miso soup with aubergines and sesame dressing. We used a strong brown miso which was a good partner to the meaty aubergines. The aubergines were fried in pure sesame oil, which imparted a lovely nutty flavour to the soup. It was also interesting to learn her gomadare sauce (toasted sesame dressing), as her recipe differed from the one I usually use.
Work Experience at a Japanese Restaurant
I have also been fortunate enough to arrange work experience at an izakaya (Japanese small eats restaurant) in Naka Meguro. The izakaya is owned by 'Big Mama', a lady in her sixties who works single-handed six evenings a week cooking, and serving her customers. The place specialises in Yaki Niku (grilled meats) but the menu changes daily according to what she finds in the market and feels like cooking. There is a tiny printed menu, but her customers (mostly regulars) do not look at, ordering instead 'Omakase' (chef's choice).
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| Tiny Counter at Big Mama's Izakaya in Naka Meguro |
The quality of the barbecued meats is outstanding, my favourites being thin slivers of fatty beef diaphragm which she seasons simply with a mixture of rock salt and kombu crystals (from seaweed) and marbled wagyu beef which she briefly dunks into a mixture of soy sauce, mirin and sugar before grilling.
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| Big Mama at Action! |
After the shabu shabu ingredients are nearly all eaten, to use up the tasty broth, noodles or white rice are added together with a raw egg or two and heated through. It's a fantastic hearty dish, perfect for autumn and winter, and I will be serving it at my Japanese supperclubs.
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| Big Mama Cooking Shabu Shabu |
Where to Eat in Tokyo
Tonkatsu (breaded, deep-fried pork cutlets) has never been high up on my list of Japanese culinary experiences, but an invitation from an old friend Atsushi (whom I met in London 20 years ago) proved me completely wrong. Atsushi promised me that Maisen Restaurant served the best Tonkatsu in the whole of Tokyo, so I didn't need much persuasion to give it a go.
Maisen is situated in the district of Harajuko, a young, hip shopping area equivalent to Camden Town in London. Tonkatsu dishes are normally served with thinly shredded cabbage and white rice and Tonkatsu sauce- a sweet brown condiment the colour and texture of HP, but sweeter and less vinegary.
But what makes this restaurant a real standout is that it occupies a former pre-World War II public bathhouse. The main dining hall was once the changing room and sports a high ceiling and original architectural details. There's an English-language menu, but lunch specials (available until 4pm) are listed in Japanese only, though there are photos.
But what makes this restaurant a real standout is that it occupies a former pre-World War II public bathhouse. The main dining hall was once the changing room and sports a high ceiling and original architectural details. There's an English-language menu, but lunch specials (available until 4pm) are listed in Japanese only, though there are photos.
Tonkatsu dishes are sold at around ¥800 (around £6.50 at ¥120/ £) in most restaurants. At Maisen, they retail at around ¥2,500 (around £21 - price depending on the cut of pork chosen). As I savoured my first bite of meat, I understood why they could charge three times the going rate and still be so popular. The meat was delicious - soft and tender, with a crisp, ultra-light and virtually oil-free coating of panko breadcrumbs. Even the humble cabbage was crisp, green and flavoursome. I always thought this a very uninspiring accompaniment but could appreciate then why it goes so perfectly with the rich pork.
Since the introduction of deep frying to Japan by the Portuguese in the 16th century, the Japanese have taken a great fondness for the method, elevating it to a high art, as illustrated by the dish of tempura. Like sushi chefs, tempura cooks serve an apprenticeship of around 15 years until they have fully mastered the technique.
As is common in Japanese restaurants, Maisen specialises in just one savoury dish - in this case tonkatsu. For many years Maisen has been using the same local black pigs as the source of their pork, and the resulting tonkatsu is indeed the best I have ever eaten.
If you go, I suggest either an early or late visit, because as Atsushi and I left at midday, there was a massive queue of customers waiting to be seated. Highly recommended.
Travel Essentials
For accommodation in Tokyo, the two websites I recommend are Sakura House (budget, ranging from hotels, guesthouses to self-catering flats) and Tokyo Apartments (dearer, serviced apartments, higher quality).
For Japanese cookery classes, Kazuko-san speaks English and may able to offer cookery classes with or without accommodation to foreigners in Tokyo. By recommendation only. Contact me for more details.
For izakaya dining, if you would like to visit Big Mama's, the izakaya is at Naka Meguro. As you leave the tube station, turn left on Yamanate Dori, walk 50 metres along this road. Turn left again past Book Off (bookshop), the izakaya is a few metres along this narrow street on the right-hand side.
For the best Tonkatsu in Tokyo, visit Maisen Restaurant on 4-8-5 Jingumae, Harajuku, Tokyo. Phone: 03/3470-0071. Directions: from Omotesando Station (4 min.) - take the A2 exit and turn right on the side street between Ito Hospital and McDonald's (the one with HARAJUKU above it); take the 1st left and then an immediate right. It will be in the next block on the left.
