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Why is the trend of Japanese Robatayaki 'here to stay' in India?

With the growing popularity of Japanese robatayaki in Mumbai, Pooja Bhula traces its tradition, trending offerings in the city and why chefs think it’s not ‘just another fad’

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Robatayaki Turkey Bacon Wrapped Prawns, at Umame
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"Robatayaki? That's chargrilled seafood..." is how even your Japanese friend will describe it. But do you know that the first restaurant named Robata, which opened in Japan's north-eastern city, Sendai, only served chargrilled vegetables? "Later, the restaurateur's pupil started another restaurant by the same name in Hokkaido, where it gained popularity, as it adapted chargrilling to seafood (due to Hokkaido's fishing tradition and fisheries). The trend spread throughout the country. But like most locals, even I wasn't aware that the history of robatayaki started with vegetables, till I  entered this industry," admits Tokyo-based Seijiro Hirohama, MD, Kuuraku India. Kuuraku is a Japanese yakitori restaurant chain.

By 1960s it reached its peak with about 10,000 robatayaki restaurants in Japan. Besides the food, it was the concept of robatayaki restaurants that caught on. "Ro means grill, bata (near) and yaki (cooking). So typically, robatayaki restaurants have customers surrounding the grill, watching their food being cooked. The raw ingredients are displayed between the grill and customers, who can verify their freshness. Meals are served on a shamoji (large, flat serving spoon)," Hirohama explains.


A typical robatayaki restaurant with customers surrounding the grill; the shamoji near
the
chef (Image by Boaz Rottem - boazimages.com)

Taking a trip to Japan? You'll still find several robatayaki restaurants in Tokyo and Hokkaido, but the concept is seeing a decline in its home country with newer ideas taking over. Interestingly, on the other hand robatayaki restaurants are now to be found all over the world and the robata style of grilling has silently and slowly, but steadily made inroads into Mumbai's food scene as well.

Zoom into menus of the city's South East Asian or Pan Asian restaurants and you'll discover that many, including Nom Nom boast of at least one or two robatayaki dishes. A few including Mamagoto (one of the first to introduce it here) and Asilo have about 10-15, and at present, Joss and Umame are creating a robatayaki buzz with limited-period special robata spreads. So it's really quite the rage!

But how close are we to the original? Well, traditionally robatayaki restaurants plate out sumptuous servings, whereas Mumbai's offerings are bite-sized and skewered, which is closer to how its cousin yakitori (originally grilled chicken) is served. "But that doesn't take away from the authenticity," Hirohama informs, as "Robatayaki restaurants now include other meats and serve yakitori as well." This kind of offering works especially well for a night place like Asilo, tells us its chef, Cyrus Irani. "Robatayaki has been a hit right from the beginning. The technique used allows the meat to retain its juiciness, despite the well-seared external texture, a wow experience for our customers, who always want something new to go with their drinks." In the afternoon, they serve it with champagne.  

Asilo uses lava stones for its live grill, Mamagoto uses a mixture of black charcoal and lava stones whereas Chef Farrokh Khambata of Umame prefers white oak wood for its stability–it allows the meat to grill at a very high temperature, without burning it. In Hirohama's opinion, any kind of charcoal can be used, if one has perfected the skill. As for the flavours, Khambatta has opted to "Retain the simplicity and originality of: the marinades, meat as well as the veggies, but has given it a spin by combining meats, like in the Turkey Bacon Wrapped Prawns, and serving it with theatrics of molecular gastronomy. But going forward, Chef Rahul Khanna of Mamagoto believes, "The marinades will make the difference, now that the robata grill is so easily available." Marinade is generally applied as per the recipe–just before grilling, after grilling, or sometimes even repeatedly during the process. His menu as well as Irani's, who believes the challenge also lies in the cutting technique, there are fusions of flavours belonging to India and various South East Asian countries. An exotic (and expensive) offering is the Robatayaki Miso Atlantic Black Cod at San-Qi.
 
All chefs woo their customers differently, but the consensus is that robatayaki is here to stay; and more so, in comparison to other Japanese food. Its mass appeal is due to: the room it has for all kinds of meats, seafood and vegetables; our love for tandoor; the various recipes that can be worked around it; and the clear-cut technique required.

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