Food Review: Lunchtime With Takashi Yagihashi (And Cider Pairings)

Greetings readers! Summer is winding down here in Chicago, which means trying to find more indoor activities. This week, we were invited back to Macy's on State Street to review a lunch that chef Takashi created. We were so happy with the first round of lunch that we attended, we couldn't say no. For some basic info on Chef Takashi, his restaurants, and an earlier interview with him, please refer to this post: An Interview With Takashi Yagihashi All of the following recipes are in the cookbook titled "Takashi's Noodles."

For our appetizer, Chef Takashi created his version of shrimp shumai. This dish is normally enjoyed in Japanese culture as a snack or side dish. He also informed us that you can prepare shumai ahead of time and freeze them prior to cooking for a party or family gathering. They should hold up in the freezer for about a month. There are several ways to cook shumai: by frying, steaming, or baking them. These shumai were amazing! Usually when you find shumai on the menu, they come as a "envelope" with the filling concealed inside a wonton wrapper. Takashi's version is an open packet with the filling visible, which was a nice surprise. His shumai are packed with flavors of soy, ginger, and mustard. The flavors were all distinguishable and blended very well together. These shumai were cooked using a stove-top steamer set on top of a pan with boiling water and cooked very quickly. He served them with steamed bok choy.

Next up was the Chicken Yakitori. This is a very popular Japanese comfort food. These skewers are meant to be cooked very slowly to allow the meat and the sauce coating it to caramelize. Chef Takashi recommends making this dish for parties, picnics, or for watching football. They cook well on a stove-top grill or on an outdoor grill. You can even please the vegetarians by substituting tofu for the meat.  There are few words to describe how tender this chicken was. It literally fell off the skewer as Bailey was trying to eat it. The lemon and ginger juices that go into this sauce create a perfect flavor combination for comfort food, and the shiitake mushrooms add a very good savory contrast to the sweet sauce. This is a great Asian version of the good old meat and veggie skewer.  

Chef Takashi saved his best for last, Chicken Tatsuta-Age. This is his version of fried chicken, and we had heard stories about how tasty it was the last time we attended his cooking demonstration. This fried chicken is first marinated with traditional Japanese flavors and served with a savory asian slaw. Because the meat is marinated, it keeps very well as leftovers. You can also cut up the leftovers and turn it into a sandwich, this dish is very versatile! The asian slaw was very crisp and refreshing and added a nice crunchy side for the chicken. This dish is definitely not your grandma's fried chicken. It's bursting with bright flavors and the potato starch coating offers a really light alternative to the traditional American heavy batters. This also means that the coating for the chicken is gluten free. 

Throughout the demonstration, Chef Takashi was very personable and informative. He took the time to pass around some of the ingredients being used in the dishes, so that the crowd could touch, smell, and sample them. He also made sure that in between each dish anyone who had a question could ask it. If you are ever in the Chicago area, I highly recommend going to Macy's on State Street if there is a cooking demo happening. The chefs on their culinary council are amazing and it is a great opportunity to get some great tips and tricks from the professionals. 

Whew! Ok, so Hawke and I wanted to make some suggestions for cider that would go with these lovely dishes. The shrimp shumai has great flavor that would demand a light and crisp cider. You wouldn't want anything to overpower this dish. We think that Citizen Cider's Unified Press would be a good choice. You could also go with Uncle John's Draught Cider for this one. Both of these ciders are very crisp and clean without bold flavors that would clash.

For the Chicken Yakitori, you will want a cider that complements the bold flavor of the ginger and lemon. We would suggest Tieton Cider Works: Yakima Valley Dry Hopped Cider. This cider has an earthy taste that would offer a good contrast. The fact that it is a dryer cider could help contrast the acidity. If you wanted to add to the bold flavors, you could go with Woodchuck Private Reserve Belgian White. This cider has some hoppy-ness to it with a great burst of orange flavor. This cider is also only available in summer when all those great outdoor cookouts are happening.

Finally, for the Chicken Tatsuta-Age, you could go with a great ginger cider to really complement the great Asian flavors. We suggest Angry Orchard's Apple Ginger or Fox Barrel's Ginger and Black Currant Pear Cider.


Disclosure: I am a member of Everywhere Society and Everywhere provided me with the compensation for this post about Macy's Culinary Council. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed herein are my own.

Time out for some food! An interview with Takashi Yagihashi

Good day Cider Press readers! This week we are going to do a post that is a little different from the norm. We were fortunate enough to be invited to a special cooking demonstration and interview with renowned chef Takashi Yagihashi! Hawke and I thought, what pairs better with hard cider than food? So we jumped at the chance.

First off, here's a little info about Mr. Yagihashi for anyone who isn't familiar with him:

- He was born in Mito, Japan and has moved back and fourth between Chicago and Detroit, MI.
- He started cooking as a teenager at a local restaurant, and would try recipes out for his family.
- He opened his first restaurant in Detroit, MI and it was rated a 4-star establishment.
- He now has 2 restaurants in the Chicago area: Takashi and The Slurping Turtle. His culinary style is        Japanese with some French influences.
- He has been featured on Iron Chef America and is a member of the Macy's Culinary Council.

We sat down with Chef Takashi and asked him a few questions about his love for cooking:

Hawke asked where the inspiration for most of his dishes came from. Chef Takashi fondly remembered his days in Japan as a young boy. He told us about how his mother and father worked most of the time and usually would get take out from lots of different places for the family dinner. He was exposed to a lot of different dishes this way. He told us that he never lets himself be afraid to try any combination of ingredients until something great comes of it.

Bailey asked about how and when he decided to pursue professional chef as a career. He smiled as he told me that when he started cooking in Japan, chefs were considered a "lower class of people" back then. After high school he was accepted to an Interior Design school which he attended for awhile, but then decided it wasn't for him and dropped out. After that he returned to working in restaurants and realized that cooking was his passion.

Hawke then remarked that Chef Takashi liked to use Ramen noodles in some of his dishes and asked how he felt about the stigma around them in the U.S as food for poor people and college students. He got a good laugh out of this question and said that was a good point. He told us that it is frustrating sometimes when people come into his restaurant and see Ramen on the menu and think: well that's easy to make. Although dried Ramen noodles have been Americanized, they are an authentic Japanese food. Chef Takashi then told us that he takes great pride in making all his noodles from scratch, sometimes taking 12-16 hours in total preparation time from mixing to drying and cutting.

Bailey wanted to ask a question to tie all of this into the blog's main focus, so she asked him if he was familiar with any hard cider or if it was a popular item in Japan. Unfortunately he was not very familiar with any hard cider and told us that it was not a largely sold item in Japan. Although, he did promise to try some and even add it as an ingredient to some of his dishes!

Overall, Chef Takashi was a wonderful man that clearly puts a lot of pride and passion into his work. We were very lucky to get samples of his dishes during the cooking demonstration and let me tell you....It Was Delicious! I highly suggest that if you find yourself in the Chicago area, do yourself a favor and visit one of his restaurants. Also, you can pick up a copy of his cookbook: Takashi's Noodles which will allow you to make some of his favorites at home.