GU Where to go to chef original post 
022-07-06
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Editor's note
As the only Michelin three-star Chinese cuisine restaurant in Tokyo, SAZENKA has attracted much attention in the food industry in recent years. Head chef Tomoya Kawata has been studying for more than ten years, studying Chinese and Japanese cuisine in depth to create a unique Chinese cuisine that reflects the Japanese spirit.
Friends who are familiar with the " Michelin Guide" and the "Fivety Restaurants in the World" list must be familiar with the name SAZENKA. In the 2018 Tokyo Michelin Restaurant list, SAZENKA has been on the list with innovative Chinese cuisine as a highlight. In just three years, it was listed on the Michelin three-star list. Such outstanding achievements are impressive.
SAZENKA, corresponding to Chinese Tea·Zen·Hua , and restaurant oriental cultural charm self-evident. Chef Tomokazu Kawada also takes "Hancai" as his cooking goal. What he wants to make is not a simple Sino-Japanese fusion cuisine, but a dish with China as the axis . During the process of learning cooking, he deeply felt that Japan and China had a deep connection in history, and a large part of the things that support modern Japanese food culture were passed down from China.
Therefore, Tomokazu Kawada also makes full use of the richness of Japanese ingredients, coupled with Japan's unique climate and terroir and the delicate sensibility of the Japanese, allows Chinese cuisine to evolve further on the land of Japan .
Zen style is the heart of people
Nana Amabu area, hidden in the elegant city in the heart of Tokyo. There are no skyscrapers that cover the sky, nor are there bustling crowds of people and cars. It is quiet, leisurely, elegant, and , with a long history and embraces modern trends. Not only is it the location of many Japanese bourgeois mansions, but embassies in more than 40 countries are also established here.
SAZENKA is located in such a quiet place. Its predecessor was also the residence of an ambassador to Japan. Under the transformation of Tomoya Kawada, it has the current Zen style . Beneath the bamboo forest, I can see the quiet reflection of the low-key lights in the restaurant. Entering the restaurant, a quiet and elegant atmosphere came to your face. The gray stone brick walls, warm walnut tables and chairs, and blue and white porcelain-like tea tableware, combines Japanese and Chinese elements just right , and everywhere reflects Tomoya Kawada's ingenuity for the restaurant. The small number of guests in the hall provides with an elegant and relaxed dining environment , striving to bring an unforgettable Chinese food experience to every diner.
inclusive of Chinese and Japanese cuisine
When Kawada Tomoya was a child, he often followed his parents to eat in restaurants. When he was having a meal in a Chinese restaurant in his hometown of Tochigi Prefecture, he was unforgettable about the taste of tofu and 5 tangtan noodles , and even wrote the ambition of in the graduation album of kindergarten. And when I was a child, I became very interested in Chinese characters when I was learning calligraphy. always believed that Eastern culture is full of charm . So, while studying at cooking school , he began to work in the famous Chinese restaurant "Amabu Changjiang" in Nishimabu. As the head chef, Matsuo Nagasaka taught him a lot of things. There he learned the basic skills of cooking and accumulated a lot of experience in Chinese cuisine. It was also since then that he came to China to taste Chinese food many times, hoping to absorb the real Chinese flavor .
During the ten years he worked in "Sabu Yangtze River", he gradually realized that there were still some problems in wanting to recreate Chinese cuisine in Japan.The dishes can show the same effect in shape, but always seems to have subtle differences in taste . Even if Chinese cooking techniques are used, the original taste cannot be accurately conveyed through Japanese ingredients. Therefore, he realized that if he wanted to use domestic ingredients to cook well in Japan, he would have to know more about Japanese ingredients and he had to ask seniors in the food industry for advice.
The ideal dish of Kawata is a dish that can directly lead to the original flavor of the ingredients like soup, and a dish that can also achieve "strong and powerful" that can directly lead to the original flavor of the ingredients like soup, and a dish that can also achieve by using spices. The manager of "Dragon Yin" Yamamoto Seiji is such a chef who can show slender and powerful Japanese cuisine. His cooking is exactly what Kawada pursues. So, Kawata chose to "Dragon Yin" to practice in a deeper level.
After five years of precipitation, Kawata got the opportunity to go to , Taiwan , as deputy chef, and more deeply absorbed the cooking skills and cultural connotations of Chinese cuisine. He also personally went to "Pinzhen Building" and "Mingdu Restaurant" in , Hong Kong, China to learn from the scriptures.
Finally, in 2017, Tomoya Kawada returned to Tokyo to open his own creative Chinese restaurant "SAZENKA".
Unique Chinese cuisine
Tomokazu Kawata also believes that Japanese cuisine focuses on the treatment of ingredients. Because the cooking method of Japanese food is often very simple, the most important thing is to to present the ingredients in the best state . For this purpose, we have specially trained skills such as meticulousness and control of temperature. And apply the skills of food to Chinese cuisine . Take fried rice for example. In China, people pay more attention to the technology of stir-frying, while Japanese people care more about the state of rice before fried rice. From the origin of rice to the grinding method, these subtle considerations are all sensual unique to Japanese cuisine. Integrate this meticulousness and sensibility into Chinese cuisine, sublimate it into a unique Chinese cuisine.
Tomokazu Kawata also advocates that Chinese and Japanese cuisine should not be simply integrated, but should be like China's "Tai Chi Diagram", each exists, merged into a circle, and achieves a harmonious state . Like art, cooking is something that can convey touching. The dishes he wants to present are dishes that can make diners feel happy physically and mentally.
roasted pigeon
SAZENKA's signature dish is coated with five-spice powder on the pigeon legs, brushed with syrup and fryed repeatedly, the skin is crispy and tender, creating the Chinese flavor of Beijing Roast Duck . The pigeon breast is decorated with a Taiwanese spice called Magua and roasted on charcoal to add aroma. It is the taste buds that combine China and Japan in one plate.
Chicken Soup Wonton
Chicken Soup is refreshing and not greasy, and you can clearly taste the deliciousness of the chicken wrapped in wonton skin, a veritable top-quality soup. Depending on the season, adding seasonal vegetables such as cabbage and corn brings different flavors.
Char Sweet
Carefully calculate the time to marinate pork tenderloin in advance based on the time when customers come to the store, so that guests can enjoy the "freshly released" flavor. It is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, accompanied by a sweet aroma.
Unique tea culture
In the evaluation criteria of Michelin Guide, wine is also an important part. Tomoya Kawata The way to use Chinese tea to match dishes is also very eye-catching. Kawata said that because he was not good at drinking, he had long thought in his mind: it would be great if there were drinks that people who could not drink could enjoy during meals.
When Kawata just entered the "Sabu Yangtze River" at the age of 18, he became interested in Chinese tea. He was an intern at the time and could not help with cooking. The head chef told him, "At least, you should make the Chinese tea you brought out in the end." Afterwards, Kawada went to visit Omotesando's "Tea Tour" activity. While tasting tea, he further learned about China's tea culture and was completely captured by Chinese tea. When I first drank Taiwanese green tea, Kawata was very excited. The scent that spreaded was really fascinating.
Chinese tea culture is very rich, divided into six major varieties: green tea, black tea, green tea, black tea, yellow tea, white tea, white tea. Kawata said that the more you understand Chinese tea, the more you feel the profoundness of tea culture. It is precisely because of this that Chinese tea is more charming. Although tea does not use any seasonings, it can produce various flavors depending on the combination. When he works, he often cooks while cooking, and tea that can be paired with this dish appears in his mind. Now Kawata's store has about 30 kinds of Chinese teas stored, and he has a lot of experience in matching dishes. For example, when paired with relatively greasy grilled pigeons, he used black tea as the base and added cinnamon , rose, clove and other spices to make the tea taste more thick and fragrant , which can dissolve the greasy feeling; and when paired with fish, he will choose Taiping Monkey Tea from Huangshan, Anhui, and fragrant and refreshing , which can better highlight the umami flavor of the dish.
Reference website:
https://hitosara.com/0006091661/recommend.html
https://hitosara.com/0006091661/?cid=mg_id752
https://foodion.ne t/interview/tomoya-kawada?lang=ja
https://magazine.hitosara.com/article/752/
https://guide.michelin.com/jp/ja/tokyo-region/tokyo/restaurant/sazenka
