The charm as a hidden ingredient
"Seaweed that is the most seaweed"
Navigator: Shui Ishizaka
Shui Ishizaka
Born and raised in Australia, Shui Ishizaka is our culinary virtuoso whose innovative approach to seaweed transforms the ocean's produce into gastronomic masterpieces. His journey to and at Sea Vegetable passes through some of the culinary world’s prestigious kitchens including Tokyo's two-Michelin-starred restaurant INUA and three-Michelin-starred noma’s popup restaurant in Kyoto.
Ishizaka’s philosophy revolves around the narrative of each dish, where the 'why' becomes as important as the 'what'. His work embodies a deep respect for the ingredients’ origins, pairing the known with the unknown. He is a chef who not only envisions a seat for seaweed at the global dining table but also crafts each dish as an invitation to explore, taste, and appreciate the unseen wonders of our oceans.
What I find interesting about ingredients is when I find a character, fragrance, and taste that is not like vegetables, for example, vegetables. I feel the most interesting because such a place is cooking.
In that regard, Havanori is very interesting.
When you try it, it tastes like land plant, not from the sea. It's like finding a plant that grows in the wild in the mountains instead of grown leafy vegetables.
Above all, it is unique, like a wild vegetable. And there is a blue scent that there is absolutely not in other seaweed. It tastes a little rose. However, the bitterness and the blueness are managed so hard, and it is not something like Acumi or Egumi that can finally be eaten, but as it is.
Havanori was the seaweed that was the most seaweed of the seaweed I used as an ingredient.
Therefore, it may be generally difficult to handle. The good thing about Havanori is that people who know and have experience can enjoy it with a strange taste.
In the world of cooking, grassy and blue is not a bad thing. It can be used as a complex taste that is not simple. In the wine industry, it will be such an expression.
What kind of grass taste is compatible with? I thought it was simply growing up where there was grass. So I first made the locusts with the locusts and the locust soy sauce. I dared to try something that I wouldn't do with ordinary seaweed because I wanted to give out the feature of Habanori, "I don't like seaweed".
The good thing about the dry habanori this time is that the raw aroma is properly maintained because it is well dried while it is fresh.
First of all, don't think about difficult things, but instead use a dish that uses grilled seaweed to make it a different taste than usual. That is the easiest to understand.
If you really like the scent of Habanori, you can sprinkle on various genres like herbs and spices.
And in fact, Havanori is compatible with butter. The good butter I think is made from the milk of the cow that eats grass properly.
Havanori said that it was grassy, but just by adjusting the dried habanori to the butter, the butter with any quality will have a good flavor. It makes butter more delicious.
The fragrance of the habanori, which flies too much when heated, is also accepted as a bowl and preserves the flavor of the habanori. The texture when the habanori is slightly softer, including oil, is quite good and can be used deliciously.
Also, there is a dish for those who like it, and why do you match that sticky.
In the same way, if you combine it with a habit, you can enjoy more individuality. Natto, salted, pakchi, and other Japanese people like habitual dishes and ingredients, so those who like it may feel so delicious that there is no more.
I think Havanori will be the most likely to enjoy the habit rather than suppress the unique scent.