When chef Jajo tasted her first sushi roll, she was nine. She wasn’t in Japan, she was in Myanmar. “My mom was from Burma, but my dad was Japanese, so he introduced me to sushi,” she recalls. In a household that was filled with traditional kowsuay and mohinga (noodle soup), raw fish wrapped in salty green seaweed was something of an exotic treat. It was love at first bite. She may not have realised it at the time, but the raw fish would go on to be her career calling. “After that, I could never really go back to cooked fish,” she says with a laugh.
The Burmese chef was in Chennai recently as part of an eight-city tour to promote Japanese food across the country. Sitting at Madera at The Raintree hotel amid her tastefully whipped up pink salmon and pickled ginger, spicy tuna sushi rolls and a delicious Gyu Tataki (seared beef slivers with ponzu sauce), it is evident that the lady chef is eager to have everyone who tastes her Japanese creations to be as enchanted with the cuisine as she is. For those who simply can’t get their head around raw fish, the Burmese chef has included cooked sushi as a last resort on her menu. “I serve everything from cooked softshell crab and tempura prawn to kebab sushi,” she lets on. Served alongside sparkling rice wine and a snack of bright green wasabi peanuts for crunch, the course is complete.
Apparently, in imparting the joys of Japanese cuisine, one sushi-convert at a time isn’t as challenging as one would assume. “I’ve been to six cities so far on this trip,” she reveals. “And people aren’t as apprehensive as they used to be anymore,” Jajo adds, “The kids especially can’t get enough!”
So, does her travelling sushi-bar insist on chopsticks to retain the authenticity of the meal? “Oh no, if you’re not used to them, you can always turn to the Indian version of chopsticks,” she jokes, gesturing to her fingers. “But a lot of customers do ask me to teach them to use chopsticks.” If the lesson takes longer than expected, Jajo skips ahead to a shortcut. “I just bind the two chopsticks together with cellotape and hand them over,” she laughs.
So are there any Indian influences in her cooking? “Recently, there was a customer who suggested I use idli rice instead of sticky rice,” Jajo states. “I doubt I’ll be trying that anytime soon,” the chef smiles, trying to hide her smirk.
Clearly, her sentiment for authenticity has been breached. A word of advice – should you ever feel the urge to request a sambar dip in place of your soya sauce – don’t ask.
