Is Hong Kong’s Japanese seafood ban hurting restaurants? While many sushi, teppanyaki and omakase chefs have been quick to shift suppliers, diners have reservations, too …
- Hongkongers are notoriously loyal fans of Japanese cuisine, but a blanket ban on all seafood imports from 10 prefectures has shaken diners’ confidence – and it’s the city’s restaurants that are suffering
- Sushi Saito at the Four Seasons and new omakase joint Kanesaka Hong Kong both relied on abalone from Chiba, while Teppanyaki Mihara Goten mainly sources produce from the safe zone of Hokkaido
The recent ban on certain seafood from Japan has understandably knocked diners’ confidence, and he rush on ingredients from areas not even affected by the restrictions is likely to push prices and make finding in-demand produce even more challenging.
“It’s a dynamic landscape, and while it’s hard to predict with certainty, we do anticipate that sourcing Japanese ingredients, especially from sought-after regions like Hokkaido, might become more challenging,” says Terufumi Mihara of Kappo-style Japanese restaurant Teppanyaki Mihara Goten. “This could lead to potential cost increases.”
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The Japanese ingredients used at Mihara’s restaurant – which moved from Tseung Kwan O to Cubus in Causeway Bay in July – are mainly from Hokkaido, a region unaffected by the new restrictions, but the chef admits the ban has affected Hongkongers’ views on Japanese ingredients as a whole. “There’s no denying that there’s been a shift in public perception regarding Japanese ingredients, particularly seafood,” he adds.
Hong Kong’s Japanese seafood ban explained
Hong Kong’s ban on Japanese seafood imports covers live, chilled, dried and preserved goods, seaweed products and sea salt from 10 prefectures that the government states may be affected by Japan’s controversial plan to discharge treated waste water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant: Tokyo, Fukushima, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama.
Some restaurants affected by the ban have begun to source fish and seafood from other parts of Japan, while others have opted for alternative sources, such as oysters from France or fish from Singapore and Hong Kong.
But the ban may prove problematic for the Edomae-style sushi experts Sushi Saito, located in the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong: its signature abalone dish has traditionally made use of abalone from Chiba.
“Chiba has the best quality abalone and Sushi Saito has used it for a long, long time,” says chef Masashi Kubota. “So we started sourcing more varieties of seafood from Kyushu and Hokkaido, and we began to stock up on abalone. We now have six months’ stock of abalone from Chiba that we can use, and we continue to source from other parts of Japan. If we can’t find another source that offers the same quality, we might have to take the abalone, one of our signatures, off the menu.”
Kubota reports no other disturbance to supplies, adding that all produce sourced from Japan is hand-picked by chef Takashi Saito every morning at Tokyo’s Toyosu Market and transported to Hong Kong on the same day. “Mr Saito is our gate keeper,” he adds.
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Kanesaka Hong Kong, the omakase restaurant opened this month by renowned Japanese chef Shinji Kanesaka, in partnership with Lai Sun Dining, is another affected by abalone supplies. They too were also sourcing abalone from Chiba but have found another supply from Hokkaido.
The restaurant’s chef Seiji Taniguchi says that initially there was a “slight impact” in terms of customer attitudes. “After we explained that all our ingredients are sourced from unaffected areas and took quick action to list the origins of all the ingredients to reassure our guests, they have remained loyal,” he adds. “Hongkongers are discerning customers who are knowledgeable about their food choices. They always seek seasonal and fresh ingredients, so we don’t believe their perception has changed significantly due to the ban.”
Mihara agrees that openness with diners is crucial. “Transparency and trust are key, and we make it a point to be open about our sourcing practices,” he says. “We explain how we proactively communicate with our suppliers to ensure we continue to receive the highest-quality ingredients from regions that are unaffected by the ban. This intimate connection with our sources has always been a cornerstone of our approach.”
While Taniguchi says that they are currently maintaining a steady flow of reservations, the fate of all Japanese restaurants in Hong Kong is far from guaranteed. “In the long run, we anticipate that the industry will weed out lower-end Japanese establishments,” he adds, “while those who can maintain high standards will thrive.”
