Masu : fresh, contemporary, accessible Japanese for the home cook

426 Pages·2016·27.89 MB·English

by  Watt

For Jas —
for all things
connected to the sea.
CONTENTS
Cover
Title
Foreword
Introduction
Japanese Pantry
Japanese Tools
Japanese Eating Etiquette
Menus
SEARED, CURED AND RAW
LET’S GET ROLLING
SALADS AND SHARING
SOUP, RICE AND NOODLES
FROM THE FRYER
COOKING WITH CHARCOAL
FAMILY MEALS
ALL THINGS SWEET
BASE RECIPES
COCKTAILS AND SHOCHU
Acknowledgements
Index
Copyright

FOREWORD I FIRST MET NIC
WATT OVER A DELICIOUS TUNA
AND CAVIAR TARTARE AND
SOME AMAZING LAMB CHOPS
WITH A KOREAN SAUCE IN 2004
WHEN HE OPENED AND CO-
FOUNDED ROKA RESTAURANT
ON LONDON’S CHARLOTTE
STREET. I’D BEEN AWARE OF NIC
PREVIOUSLY, FROM WHEN HE
WAS WORKING AT NOBU IN
LONDON BEFORE HEADING
BACK TO NEW ZEALAND TO
BECOME EXECUTIVE CHEF AT
HUKA LODGE. I’D FOLLOWED HIS
CAREER WHEN I COULD,
ADMIRING THIS FELLOW NEW
ZEALANDER’S DETERMINATION,
ENVIABLE TALENT AND HARD
WORK. HE HAS HAD, AND
CONTINUES TO HAVE, A
FANTASTIC CAREER IN THE
KITCHEN, BUT HE’S ALSO A
SMART BUSINESSMAN AND
OPERATOR.
In 2012 I was holding my second Dining for a Difference
dinner at SKYCITY, a thirteen-chef dinner charity event
raising money for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand.
Every dinner I get to choose and invite chefs from around New
Zealand and Australia, along with one international name. On
the night, chefs draw the names of the table hosts out of a hat.
I’d felt SKYCITY should have a contemporary Japanese
restaurant in their stable, and in my mind Nic was the perfect
chef to do that, so I’d asked him to come and be part of this
fabulous evening. Nic flew out to cook at the dinner, wooed the
guests, and fortuitously got to cook for Nigel Morrison’s table
on the night. The rest, as they say, is history. Nigel and Nic hit
it off and Nigel could see the talent in front of him. And several
years later, with Nic and his family relocating from Wimbledon
to Auckland, Masu is now firmly on New Zealand’s culinary
radar, having won Metro Supreme Restaurant of the Year and
gaining two chefs hats in the Cuisine awards, amongst other
things. Masu – it may be the name of the simple wooden box
sake is served in, but it is so much more than that. And it’s