Profile | Japanese chef Yoshihiro Narisawa on his new Shanghai restaurant, where Chinese culture and ingredients inspire his ‘unique dishes’
- Yoshihiro Narisawa’s eponymous Tokyo restaurant is ranked among the best in Asia, and recently he opened his first venture outside Japan, in Shanghai
- The Japanese chef talks about applying his philosophy of working with nature to Chinese ingredients to make the restaurant subtly different from the original
The year 2023 was big for chef Yoshihiro Narisawa. Not only did he celebrate the 20th anniversary of his eponymous two-Michelin-star Tokyo restaurant, but he also opened its first international outpost: Narisawa Shanghai.
Covid-19 pandemic-related delays meant it took five years to open the new restaurant, in Shanghai’s 1000 Trees complex, an avant-garde, mixed-use development, designed to look like forest-capped mountains, overlooking Suzhou Creek.
But the extra time meant more opportunity for research. Narisawa was drawn to China, and chose Shanghai as the destination for his first foreign location, after having admired Chinese food and culture for years.
“As I studied Japanese history and culture, I realised that many things were introduced from China, and I chose China because I wanted to experience and see the origins of that culture,” he says.
“Among these, the city of Shanghai, which retains its traditional culture and is constantly evolving, full of passion and vibrancy, was very appealing to me.”
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As for his restaurant’s philosophy, Narisawa pioneered an approach he calls “innovative satoyama” (sato meaning “village” and yama meaning “mountain”), which draws on the farming system of premodern Japan.
Villagers farmed the arable plains below mountain foothills and foraged, fished and hunted in forests and at higher elevations according to the seasons, taking only what they needed.
Narisawa captures the essence of working with nature in dishes such as Satoyama Scenery, an edible landscape of moss made from soybean pulp, green tea powder and branches of deep-fried burdock root, with a cup of forest water infused with cedar on the side.
Soup of the Soil is burdock pan-fried with the soil still attached to its roots, then boiled, while in Bread of the Forest 2010, diners watch as natural yeast works its magic before the dough is cooked with hot stones at the table.
A menu so focused on capturing a sense of place and so rooted in Japanese culture may seem out of place in Shanghai, but Narisawa says that the philosophy of the restaurant has universal relevance.
Within the concept of satoyama is the philosophy of jinen, which refers to the coexistence between people and nature, and the importance of living in harmony with nature.
“I don’t think this way of thinking applies only to Japan. Living areas that fit the concept of satoyama exist everywhere in the world, including in China,” Narisawa says.
“Satoyama culture is when people take advantage of the blessings of nature while carefully protecting the natural environment around them, and there’s a lot of wonderful wisdom and ingenuity that we don’t yet know about.”
There are still many places in the vast country that I have not visited
Narisawa’s approach to working with and protecting nature extends beyond the restaurant space.
In Japan, he takes his team to depopulated mountain villages every year to plant trees and clean up, as “it is the duty of a chef to not only prepare food, but to preserve the wilderness ecosystem”.
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At Narisawa Shanghai, as at the original Tokyo branch, every detail, from the food to the tableware and the interior, has been designed to immerse guests in a world that will help them “feel part of satoyama culture”.
The restaurant, which serves 26 diners in the main dining room and eight in a private dining room, features a large, open kitchen and a chef’s table counter that allows guests to watch the kitchen team at work.
The restaurant’s interior design is pared back, with natural shades that evoke wet wood, stone and snow. There are soft furnishings covered in Nishijin fabric, a traditional style of artisanal textile produced in the heart of Kyoto, Japan.
Narisawa adopts the same approach at the Shanghai restaurant as in Tokyo by preparing dishes that make the most of the finest local ingredients.
“While learning and respecting Chinese culture and the environment surrounding ingredients, I create unique dishes by adding various elements from my home country of Japan as well as the countries I have travelled to,” Narisawa says.
“Since China is so big, we receive a wide variety of ingredients from various places, and it’s difficult to choose only the most stable and seasonal ingredients,” he says. “But it’s also very rewarding because you can discover new ingredients and it inspires me to constantly expand my menu.”
Narisawa was inspired by a Shanghainese chef he met in Tokyo 20 years ago, and has visited his restaurant regularly to try Chinese dishes while “listening to stories about Shanghai”.
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Now, after repeat visits to China for the Shanghai restaurant’s opening, Narisawa is more inspired than ever.
“There are many dishes in China that have been made using traditional techniques and have been loved and passed down from generation to generation. By visiting China, experiencing a lot of authentic Chinese cuisine, and learning thoroughly, you can gain inspiration for cooking,” he says.
Some dishes on the Shanghai menu are entirely new and draw inspiration from ingredients sourced across China, while others bring a Shanghainese twist to existing signature dishes. No dishes are exactly the same as at Narisawa Tokyo.
One dish on the menu in Shanghai is inspired by the traditional Chinese broth (shang tang) but pays homage to the cultures of both China and Japan.
It combines rich crab miso made from the highest quality Shanghai crab from Yangcheng Lake, in China’s Jiangsu province, deep-fried pufferfish from Dalian, and soup made from slowly steamed Jinhua ham and chicken.
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Narisawa and his team are only at the beginning of their explorations of Chinese cuisine as seen through his satoyama filter.
“Since we decided to officially open in Shanghai five years ago, we’ve visited Shanghai many times, and even before the opening, we stayed there and tried out various ingredients,” he says.
“However, there are still many places in the vast country that I have not visited, so I would like to visit China frequently and continue building my network.”
In the meantime, his sights are set on opening a Singapore branch of Bees Bar by Narisawa later this year (the original Bees Bar by Narisawa is a few minutes’ walk from Narisawa Tokyo). The casual, izakaya-style venue would be his first venture in the Lion City.
