‘We Should Learn from Japan’: Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi on His Recent Visit
Celebrity chef Harpal Singh Sokhi reflects on valuable life lessons from his recent Japan visit.
Celebrity chef Harpal Singh Sokhi recently went to Japan. He shares his experience on the country and the culture. ”My experience of Japan was overwhelming. I think it is one country from where we should learn ethics, discipline, manners, cleanliness. The way they are preserving nature, it’s amazing. Green Japan, is something to watch out for. I did not see any place that was not green. It was completely filled plants. The country go through multiple disasters every year, yet they sprint back and get up so fast that you don't come to know of the destruction that they have gone through. I think India needs to learn a lot from Japan, and especially about preserving nature, not cutting trees, planting more trees.”
Throwing more light on Japanese food he says,”As a chef, I think it's very important that I saw Japan as a specific cuisine. They have evolved with that cuisine and they're very particular about their cuisine. In India we try to please everybody. There, I found that the hotel breakfast was Japanese centric and they were not interested in doing any other cuisine for that matter. Everything had a Japanese flavor and you could see that everywhere. Now, new age people, adapting to the pizza culture and the burger culture, but still the maximum population still lives in and thrives on Japanese food for that matter.”
Chef shares a unique perspective in Japan on knives. He adds,”The knife skills of Japanese chefs is outstanding. And that's why the way they have knives, a variety of knives, and a complete market that only sells knives. It's a tourism spot, every person from across the world visits this market and, buys knives and takes them back as memories. They are a souvenir that you would love to have in your kitchen. Japanese chefs are very skilled.Their skills of understanding the meat, the way it has to be cut, and the way it has to be consumed is very, very important. The specific chefs who are just trained for handling Fugu fish, and it's a very poisonous fish and nobody can just go and handle Fugu fish. You need to be trained as a chef who handles Fugu fish for nearly three years before you can actually attempt.“
Chef’s trip was specifically to understand more about Ajinomoto, and it was a trip actually curated by the Ajinomoto company for a select few chefs and influencers from India so that they understand Ajinomoto as a healthy ingredient, not as a unhealthy ingredient which we all think about.
Chef Harpal also shares his experience of tasting Japanese cuisine.
Throwing more light on Japanese food he says,”As a chef, I think it's very important that I saw Japan as a specific cuisine. They have evolved with that cuisine and they're very particular about their cuisine. In India we try to please everybody. There, I found that the hotel breakfast was Japanese centric and they were not interested in doing any other cuisine for that matter. Everything had a Japanese flavor and you could see that everywhere. Now, new age people, adapting to the pizza culture and the burger culture, but still the maximum population still lives in and thrives on Japanese food for that matter.”
Chef shares a unique perspective in Japan on knives. He adds,”The knife skills of Japanese chefs is outstanding. And that's why the way they have knives, a variety of knives, and a complete market that only sells knives. It's a tourism spot, every person from across the world visits this market and, buys knives and takes them back as memories. They are a souvenir that you would love to have in your kitchen. Japanese chefs are very skilled.Their skills of understanding the meat, the way it has to be cut, and the way it has to be consumed is very, very important. The specific chefs who are just trained for handling Fugu fish, and it's a very poisonous fish and nobody can just go and handle Fugu fish. You need to be trained as a chef who handles Fugu fish for nearly three years before you can actually attempt.“
Chef’s trip was specifically to understand more about Ajinomoto, and it was a trip actually curated by the Ajinomoto company for a select few chefs and influencers from India so that they understand Ajinomoto as a healthy ingredient, not as a unhealthy ingredient which we all think about.
Chef Harpal also shares his experience of tasting Japanese cuisine.
“Japanese cuisine is known for simplicity, for its raw flavor, rooted, They keep a balance of ingredients in such a way that the natural taste of the ingredient is never lost and minimalistic usage of spices and salts and flavours. Indian cuisine and Japanese cuisine are different in many ways. Japanese, I don’t think, have too much variety as our country has. Our country is a large country and, as we all say, with every state the cuisine changes. With every 100 km, the produce changes, the cuisine changes. In Japan there is a particular taste, which is the umami taste, which is what they developed.”
Palak Choudhary
Journalist
