Tony Law - Balance between tradition and innovation

Having over 10 years' experience in practising Japanese culinary arts, Tony always serves his customers with traditionally prepared Japanese dishes, which takes them on a virtual culinary tour across Japan.


Tony said, “While Japanese chefs seek to preserve traditional culinary culture, they are also very innovative; you may even be surprised of their ideas about blending different ingredients. Romaine lettuce, for instance, is used in place of seaweed in sushi, and toro may sometimes be used to top sea urchin sushi.” Take the example of the “Apple, Cucumber and Udon Noodle Salad” introduced here: we use shredded apple to replace crab roe. And for the “Roasted Salmon Reverse Sushi Rolls”, we use low-fat salad dressing, a healthier choice, to replace the traditional salad dressing.

“The essence of Japanese cuisine lies in its simplicity and quality. Japanese chefs work with top-quality ingredients and keep seasonings to a minimum. I hope more customers can appreciate the traditional Japanese culinary art, and then quality-oriented eateries can remain in business.”


Extract from CookSmart, Issue 19