Teppanyaki theatricals

Japanese cuisine has finally entered big time in Mumbai’s food scenario. Over the last one year we have seen a lot of authentic Japanese restaurants opening doors and doing well. ITC Maratha, Pan Asian had hosted a Teppanyaki theatrical with Chef Jerry Bernasol, who was there to teach this art to the in-house chefs.

Japanese cuisine is not all about just sushi and sashmi.

Teppanyaki also forms a major part of the menu. Getting down to what exactly is Teppanyaki; Teppanyaki,  as  an  art  form that involves  showcasing chef’s skills  and mesmerising  the  guests  with his charm and tricks. It enables one-on-one interactions with the diners.

The word teppanyaki is derived from teppan, which means iron plate, and yaki, which means grilled, broiled or pan-fried. In Japan, Teppanyaki refers to dishes cooked using an iron plate, including steak, shrimp, okonomiyaki, yakisoba and monjayaki. Modern teppanyaki grills are typically propane-heated flat surface grills, and are widely used to cook food in front of guests at restaurants.

The Teppanyaki is more suitable for smaller ingredients such as rice, egg and finely chopped vegetables.

Jerry likes the fact that he gets to interact with guests for whom he is preparing a meal, understands their likes and dislikes and improvises accordingly. Chef Jerry started the gig with a flaming onion volcano, where the chef sliced an onion and separate the rings and stacked it up to make it look like a cone. After placing this cone on the grill he sprinkled oil and water on it and fired it, making it look like a perfectly conical volcano.

This was followed by various preparations like fried rice along with Teppanyaki style prawns and chicken and beef tenderloin. The Chef also asked around and created dishes that the guests wanted to try. 

Characterised by an intricate combination of presentation and knife skills, Teppanyaki cooking has developed into a highly refined and beautiful form of expression. All through the lunch Jerry kept us entertained by juggling his spatulas, flipping the egg yolks, tossing eggs into chef’s toque and the amazing flambé delights while working at the grill!

Jerry’s favourite trick is tossing of eggs as it involves a lot of drama and precision. The element of surprise and the excitement keeps the diners hooked on their seats.

While we are often advised not to play with food, it is very different if you are playing with food on grill to make it look so smashing. The experience is worth it and we can always skip the popular advise of not playing with the food especially when experimenting with a Teppanyaki fare.

Chef Jerry enjoys preparing Japanese cuisine as it involves a lot of precision and technique on the part of the chefs. Right from acquiring the freshest of ingredients to presenting a perfectly laid out dish, Japanese cuisine requires a lot of focus and practice. But for us, we simply love the blast of flavours that blows our mind off!