Chef Sumit
If your ambition is to live to be 100, the Okinawa
Express is now leaving from platform number three. According to the Japanese
Health Ministry, Okinawans have an average life expectancy of 81.2 years -
86 for women and 75 for men (note for the marriageable - choose an Okinawan
woman 11 years older than you are and go for a double cremation).
Chef
Teerapong
The other amazing fact was that Okinawan centenarians come in at about 34
per 100,000 of the population, almost three and a half times more than the
figures from America. The consensus is that the longevity is a reflection of
the Okinawan Japanese diet.
Of course, Japanese food has a very long and rich history, with many of
today’s dishes being direct descendants of the items prepared 1,000 years
ago. The dishes consumed then, included grilled fish and meat (yakimono),
simmered food (nimono), steamed foods (mushimono), soups made from chopped
vegetables, fish or meat (atsumono), jellied fish (nikogori) simmered with
seasonings, sliced raw fish served in a vinegar sauce (namasu), vegetables,
seaweed or fish in a strong dressing (aemono), and pickled vegetables
(tsukemono) that were cured in salt to cause lactic fermentation. Oil and
fat were avoided almost universally in cooking. Sesame oil was used, but
rarely, as it was of great expense to produce.
Nigiri sushi
During the Edo period, a third type of sushi was
introduced, haya-zushi, a fast sushi that was assembled so that both rice
and fish could be consumed at the same time, and the dish became unique to
Japanese culture. It was the first time that rice was not being used for
fermentation. Rice was now mixed with vinegar, with fish, vegetables and
dried food stuff added. This type of sushi is still very popular today. Each
region utilizes local flavors to produce a variety of sushi that has been
passed down for many generations.
When Tokyo was still known as Edo in the early 19th century, mobile food
stalls run by street vendors became popular. During this period nigiri sushi
was introduced, consisting of an oblong mound of rice with a slice of fish
draped over it. After the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923, nigiri sushi chefs
were displaced from Edo to throughout Japan, popularizing the dish
throughout the country.
Peking duck
Today the sushi dish internationally known as “sushi”
(nigiri zushi; Kantô variety) is a fast food invented by Hanaya Yohei
(1799-1858) in today’s Tokyo (Edo). People in Tokyo were living in haste
even a hundred years ago. The nigiri zushi invented by Hanaya was not
fermented and could be eaten using the fingers or chopsticks. It was an
early form of fast food that could be eaten in public or in the theater, and
very different from the soft drink and pop-corn on offer at our local
cinemas.
Salmon sashimi
So where did we go to sample genuine Japanese cuisine?
The answer was in the Mantra restaurant, which has its own separate live
Japanese food station. Whilst Mantra has other national cuisine stations, we
decided we would spend the evening as Japanese and being kind to our bodies
with a longevity factor a decided plus.
The Mantra restaurant is one of our favorite venues, and we began the
evening in the cocktail area for a quick aperitif before moving into Japan
(on the right as you enter the restaurant).
The first item for us to understand was the difference between sushi (raw
fish on rice) and sashimi (raw fish). The presentation of the food is just
sensational, and I was reluctant to break down the sculptures made from the
Japanese ingredients.
Seaweed crab salad
It really was a splendid evening, with Japanese chefs
Sumit and Teerapong displaying the art in Japanese cooking and also showing
us that there are right and left handed knives. My favorite was the snowfish
nigiri sushi while Madame went for the King crab tempura, but the range of
dishes is amazing with 36 dedicated items, and even a Peking duck nigiri. Do
go, you will not be disappointed.
Mantra Restaurant and Bar, Beach Road (just down from the Dolphin Circle),
telephone 038 429 591, fax 038 428 165, [email protected]. Open seven
days, Bar from 5 p.m., restaurant from 6 p.m. Valet parking available in
secure car park.
