Accompanied by the sea breeze in Tokyo Bay, Jiang Hui and his entourage, accompanied by Kimura, came to a traditional kaiseki restaurant.

The seven side dishes that were served first were personally brought to the box where Jiang Hui was located, and the chef Hiroyuki Ito personally brought them.

"This small dish looks inconspicuous, but I didn't expect it to taste very good. Jiang Hui unceremoniously picked up the chopsticks and ate them first.

"Mr. E, Kaiseki cuisine is limited to seasonal ingredients throughout the year, and the color, aroma, and flavor of the ingredients are maximized while emphasizing the sense of the seasons. Even a cut piece is never wasted.

Blanch or cool the container properly, so that guests can eat hot food while it is hot and cold dishes can be eaten while it is cold. We value this kind of thoughtful and caring service, and we also value the time before the food is served to the customer.

When making the menu, we pay attention to the arrangement of mountain delicacies and seafood as much as possible, and we are very careful when it comes to fish with many bones. Consider the convenience of the meal and the matching of utensils used at the same time, and change the ingredients appropriately.

So, each dish has its own specialty. ”

Seeing that Jiang Hui liked the dish he recommended, Kimura was also very happy to explain.

"In the Celestial Empire, when you go to eat sashimi, you usually think of island cuisine, and I don't know much about the various subdivisions of the dishes, but I think the name of this restaurant is kaiseki, and it seems to be quite interesting. ”

"Kaiseki comes from the Zen Tao and in order to resist hunger during long-term listening to Zen, a bouldering stone in the stomach is called 'kaiseki', and later there are refreshments for the monks who listen to it, and then there is the most famous kaiseki cuisine. ”

"It's interesting to think about it, but kaiseki cuisine is in the beginning, and it turns out that it has something to do with fighting hunger. ”

"Kaiseki cuisine, on the other hand, begins with the provision of Tingzen refreshments, and gives full play to the expertise of island cuisine, which is based on the best of the world's cuisine, and at the same time enjoys the food of the world.

Raw food should naturally be fresh, and the time and preservation of the ingredients, the parts and methods of the materials will be very hard, and the raw food itself has become a strict standard for freshness. The ancestors said that food, and it is also the word Xian represents the highest state, which is very reasonable.

Of course, unlike the sashimi that you might think of as an island food, cooked food also accounts for a large proportion.

Among the cooking tools, the selection of various stones is the most interesting, and there are some iron plates, but the iron plates are generally padded with plant leaves to avoid direct contact with the iron plates.

All kinds of loading tools are also pottery handicrafts, very simple and simple, generally clumsy but gentle arcs, in the hands have a heavy and solid feeling.

The environment is really like listening to Zen, with a dark and simple decoration like tableware, without any flashiness, and the lighting is also low-key to the right level.

However, the dishes do not hide their brilliance in the slightest, from the color matching of the salad to the cutting and placement of the lobster, each of the eight dishes in sequence will be colorful and dazzling, and it is a rare visual treat. With the light and suitable fragrance of cooked food, it really achieves good color and flavor. ”

Watching Chef Ito constantly serve new dishes, Kimura is also introducing Kaiseki cuisine to Jiang Hui.

"It's also amazing to be able to make a simple meal and make so many tricks. ”

When it comes to food, the cuisine of the Celestial Empire is certainly the most complex in the world.

Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Suzhou cuisine, Fujian cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine, Hunan cuisine, Hui cuisine constitute the eight major cuisines, in addition to the eight major cuisines, there are some more influential subdivision cuisines in the Celestial Empire, Chaozhou cuisine, Northeast cuisine, Benbang cuisine, Gan cuisine, Hubei cuisine, Beijing cuisine, Tianjin cuisine, Hebei cuisine, Henan cuisine, Hakka cuisine and other cuisines.

But among so many cuisines, there is really no one that can take the style as high as kaiseki cuisine.

In this regard, the people of the island country are obviously doing better than the people of the Celestial Empire, and the level of storytelling is full. Turned a relatively ordinary sashimi into a tall thing.

"Mr. Jiang, the kaiseki cuisine we eat now is a three-Michelin star, and I also found a relationship to be able to get to the box three days in advance, if it is normal, it is generally necessary to make an appointment a month in advance. ”

In 1900, Michelin Tyre launched a simple and convenient manual, the Michelin Red Book. Originally, it mainly provided motorists with useful information, such as advice on vehicle maintenance, driving directions, and the addresses of hotels and restaurants. Later, the red-covered booklet began to star restaurants in France, gaining the trust of readers for its rigorous judging system, and became famous for it.

Three Michelin stars is the highest rating of its restaurant ratings, and due to its extreme stringence, there are only 68 Michelin three-star restaurants in the world.

Michelin stars, ranging from one star to the highest three, are mainly aimed at the level of culinary excellence.

One star is a restaurant that is "worth visiting" and is the best restaurant in its class, two stars is a restaurant that is "worth a long detour" for its excellent cooking skills, and three stars is a restaurant that is "worth a special trip" to visit, and it is said that it is worth a "fly" trip to dine. Counting the Michelin stars is a very high level of enjoyment in Europe.

"Three Michelin stars is so popular. ”

"Yes, it's not an exaggeration to make a reservation a month in advance, and in Kyoto, there are some three-star Michelin restaurants with a relatively small footprint, and it is said that reservations must be made several months in advance. ”

"I didn't expect a tire company to have such a huge influence in the catering industry. ”

"Yes, a Michelin star is a limitless thing for a restaurant or a chef. It's okay if it's like many restaurants, but if it is rated and then demoted, it's really a very bad thing.

In 1966 and 2006, two Michelin-starred chefs were said to have committed suicide because of the stardom. It can be seen how stressful the work of the Michelin-starred restaurants and chefs is. Restaurants and chefs who have the heart to earn or maintain a Michelin star will be very serious about opening their doors every day, and will not dare to slack off at all, for fear of inadvertent negligence and leaving a bad impression on a certain agent. ”

"Yo, I didn't expect the Michelin-starred restaurant chef to be a high-risk position. Jiang Hui said a little teasingly.

"There are no shortcuts to becoming a Michelin-starred chef, you have to use the best and freshest ingredients, cook with seasonal vegetables, and try not to use frozen or canned ingredients. The chef himself must have superb cooking skills, rich cooking experience, high-quality cooking tools, and an innovative spirit. Also, be sure to maintain the restaurant's service standards. Therefore, it is not wrong to say that this position is a high-risk position. ”

(End of chapter)