“When I think about the menu, I always think about what ingredients are in season. It’s not easy to see in Singapore but, for me, it’s quite natural to see the different seasons in a year. Since it’s spring, in my imagination, that means fresh greens and a spring garden. So, I wanted to prepare something with bright colours and is light-tasting. This dish is a representation of what’s in season right now.
It’s a new addition to the menu and is simply called Ara with green peas and olives. The names are usually just descriptions of the main ingredients. I really wanted to use green peas, so I thought about what would make a good combination. Then I decided on the rest of the greens, which include salad pea, asparagus, baby radish, petit kale, sweet peas and urui, a Japanese mountain vegetable. Even the Ara, a type of Japanese sea bass, is in season. I aged it for 12 days, which softens the flesh and also gives it a lot of umami. The sauce is a reduction of chicken broth, the red drops are a combination of tomato and beet, and I added a sprinkling of dehydrated black olives as a final touch.
Ninety per cent of the ingredients I use come from France and Japan, and although my food is often described as Japanese-French, please don’t misunderstand—it’s not fusion. It’s very popular now to combine French cuisine with Japanese ingredients, but I don’t want to create fusion food. My cuisine is very much based on French cooking, and I always follow French techniques. My cutlery and plates are from Japan, because I want to support the artisans who create these beautiful things.”
(TEXT Siti Rohani Photography Raymond Toh/Vineyard Productions)