We cook with "five tastes, five colors, and five techniques,"
which is the basis of Shojin cuisine.
"Five tastes" refers to saltiness, bitterness, sourness, sweetness, and spiciness.
"Five techniques" refers to raw, boiled, grilled, fried and steamed.
"Five colors" refers to using blue, red, yellow, white and black
to make something visually colorful.
Shojin cuisine has Buddhist origins,
and pursues meals without killing and as a form of training.
Thus, it mainly comprises of cooking with vegetables, seaweed, and grains,
and many other ingredients are used to cook creatively with the imagination.
As for produce, I go to the market and choose fresh, seasonal ingredients
that can showcase Japanese culture.
I choose vegetables that are in season.
I use about half and half:
half Japanese ingredients, and half local.
Currently, local produce ingredients we use include those from
a contracted farmer in New Jersey who provides seasonal produce.
As this farmer in New Jersey is Korean-American,
I can comfortably communicate
desired moisture levels in the vegetables.
So, I get summer and winter vegetables exactly as I might in Japan,
except as local produce.
If there is something that is only in season in Japan that I need, then I will import it.
I had the opportunity to come dine at Kajitsu's counter three years ago.
It felt, to me, more Japanese than Japan.
This place that spreads Japanese culture,
not just in its food but its entire space,
was very appealing to me.
I felt I wanted to work here.
That was two and a half years ago.
Nama-fu is an essential ingredient in Shojin cuisine,
and it's been used since long ago.
It's a processed food made of wheat protein.
The starch in wheat is washed with water,
and the remaining gluten is mixed with mochi rice.
This is then steamed, or boiled.
Sesame tofu is a symbolic Shojin food,
so we serve this traditional dish with seasonal vegetables,
making it a modern signature at Kajitsu.
As for kudzu, the primary ingredient in making sesame tofu,
at Kajitsu we use hon-kudzu from Nara, Japan.
Using kudzu makes a smoother texture than using conventional starch.
It creates a smooth texture.
Making sesame tofu is different every day because the water temperature,
the state of the kombu seaweed broth, and of the sesame paste always changes.
So, every day...
I just work hard to make it the best I can.
There is no "perfect" tofu.
This is lightly-pickled eggplant.
As per cha-Kaiseki format, this is the rice, soup, and muko-zuke.
The muko-zuke is manganji pepper, grilled and lightly soaked.
The soup is red miso with white gourd and mustard.
The rice is cooked with tomato, dried soy sauce, and shiso leaf.
So I came to visit New York and had the opportunity to eat here,
The owner lives in Kyoto, Japan.
After dining here, I went back to Japan,
In Kyoto, there is a nama-fu factory called Fuka.
This is the Kajitsu signature.
It's kabocha Japanese squash sesame tofu in a monaka.
I went to Shuichiro Kobori, 7th generation and current owner,
of nama-fu shop Fuka in Kyoto,
and began learning and working under him,
making nama-fu at Fuka every day.
while also learning cha-Kaiseki cooking at a Japanese restaurant
and finally came to Kajitsu in NY.
Next is the seasonal assortment.
I realized how much history the food has,
and its great influence on Japanese cuisine.
I learned this, which was big.
I learned the real deal, an opportunity which had big impact on me.
This is the fried dish: young corn croquette with Shojin Worcestershire sauce.
A local cucumber from New Jersey and a Japanese cucumber, lightly pickled,
grilled Japanese turnip, tomato nama-fu,
seaweed paste with chives and micro shiso.
This is the simmered dish of spring onion.
This is the main entree, a seasonal vegetable soba.
The soba noodles are handmade and hand-cut.
The seasonal vegetable toppings are tomato, zucchini, paprika, manganji pepper,
red shiso leaf, and ginger.
This is the dessert, a mizu yokan jelly
made with azuki bean from Hokkaido.
This is nama-fu den-gaku.
The kabocha nama-fu is topped with red miso, and the mugwort nama-fu with white miso.
These candies are from Kagizen in Kyoto.
I will now prepare the matcha tea, so please enjoy these as you wait.
I feel purpose working in Japanese cuisine if it means that non-Japanese abroad
can experience the goodness and richness of this culture.