What’s new with Chef Hiroshi Fukui
Friday - September 19, 2008
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When you visit restaurants for a living and eat four times as often as most people do, there are a couple of things you learn along the way. The first is to take really small bites, and the second is to listen to what chefs are saying.
In the 15 years or so that I’ve been writing about food, I’ve come to know many chefs well, and it’s fairly easy for me to spot when they’re off on a new track with their food or consumed by a new passion.
In the day-to-day reporting on restaurant news, special menus or whatever needs to be done, it’s refreshing to chat with chefs who are constantly inspired by their environment.
So when I went to visit Hiroshi Fukui, executive chef at Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas, the other day, I noticed immediately a sparkle in his eyes and an energized enthusiasm for the food he was preparing.
What’s up at Hiroshi’s? Well, for one thing, he’s in the middle of returning to his traditional Japanese roots (just for an evening) and to the traditional kaiseki cooking that’s obviously close to his heart.
I sat down with him over a few beautifully crafted dishes and talked about the new fall menu at Hiroshi’s and the upcoming kaiseki dinner.
Jo McGarry:
So I wanted to chat with you about the kaiseki dinner, but these dishes are absolutely gorgeous. Can you tell me what’s going on with this shrimp? It looks like a painting.
Hiroshi Fukui:
Thank you.
This is a sous vide of Kauai shrimp. It’s cooked in a bag at 140 degrees for about 4 minutes and then seared. It’s served with squid ink pasta, Big Island hearts of palm and Whole Farms long beans with kim chee lemon grass sauce.
JM: It’s beautiful. And I love the Brussels sprouts tossed on the plate - a great garnish. There’s a beautiful kampachi dish here - with foam?
HF: Yes, that’s the Kona kampachi seared so it’s almost medium rare and served over wilted Nalo tatsoi in a curried lemon grass broth with a pineapple air and orange aioli.
JM: You love using foam!
HF: I do. It’s reduced and intensified pineapple juice and you use a hand blender to create the foam part. It’s a really simple technique but it gives a subtle essence of the flavor and it adds to the dish without being heavy or too intense.
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JM: I love this beef sushi, and the seared fish ...
HF: Actually, it’s torched. The fish is cold-smoked hamachi, and people love this because its really fatty. We serve it with wasabi aioli and wrap it with nori. At Hiroshi, all our sushi portions come in four pieces, so you can share them or you can have them as an entrée.
The beef is from Maui Cattle Company. Whenever we can get beef from them we use it, especially the filet mignon. Right now we’re using the filet in this fire-roasted filet mignon sushi with cumin seed and garlic and scal-lion ragout on top and a chili pepper water jelly.
JM: You’re really well known and respected for your ability to create contemporary dishes for kaiseki dinners that are 10 courses long, and you also create different dishes for numerous wine dinners you host with Chuck Furuya. But you’re doing a traditional kaiseki this month.
HF: Yes, I’ve been doing the contemporary kaiseki for several years now, and in between we do wine dinners and special menus, but I wanted to go back to my roots. We’re calling it “almost kaiseki” because we don’t really have all the original plates you need for traditional. But the dishes will be not at all contemporary.
JM: Once, when we spoke about three years ago, you told me it was so nice to be free from the confines of traditional Japanese cooking and the intensity of kaiseki. Did you start to miss the history and your culinary heritage?
HF: Yes, absolutely! Twenty-five years ago when I worked at Furusato in Waikiki, that’s all I used to do every day. And since then I haven’t done any of it. I do miss it. I wanted to return to my roots.
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JM: Do you already have the menu planned?
HF: Somewhat. I’m doing unagi tofu as the kobachi (amuse bouche) and then I’m doing this dish with kurobuta pork belly marinated in water and ginger and sugar for four hours, and then topped with a potato sauce - you add the ginger and the pork broth to the potato until they are thin like sauce.
JM: You seem so energized and happy talking about this menu.
HF: (Laughs) yes, I am. It’s what I grew up with. It’s obviously something that I miss! There was a strictness to my training that’s different today. In those days the chefs were so strict that they would hit your head if you did something wrong. I’m not saying I miss that, but it’s nice to be going back to what I learned all those years ago.
Hiroshi’s “Almost” Traditional Kaiseki
Sept. 26
Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas
Restaurant Row
533-HIRO
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