JAPANESE cuisine was on full display on Monday at Aqua Resort Club Saipan as the Japanese Society of the Northern Marianas hosted its first ever “Taste of Japan.”
Participating restaurants unearthed delectable Japanese recipes, showcasing an array of traditional Japanese favorites, including original sauces.
Miyako at Hyatt Regency Saipan chef Zenn Tomokane highlighted professional fish cutting techniques during a live preparation of an “onaga,” otherwise known as a ruby snapper or scarlet snapper, skillfully cut into pieces, from head to tail, with a professional kitchen knife.
The onaga can be prepared and served in various forms, including as soup or sushi.
“Generally, Japanese foods include ‘washoku,’ a traditional Japanese food which was registered as an intangible cultural heritage in 2013, and also includes foreign foods that are prepared for the tastes of Japanese people, such as Western foods and Chinese foods that came into Japan from overseas,” said Japanese Society of the Northern Marianas vice president and Taste of Japan master of ceremony Hiroko Tajima.
Twelve dishes were served from the participating restaurants, beginning with the cold ramen from Aiko’s Deli, a dish typically served during the summer and made of homemade noodles.
“Homemade noodles are our specialty,” said Tajima.
The next dish to be served was the matcha panna cotta from Aqua Resort Club Saipan.
The pannacotta, Tajima said, has a smooth texture and green tea flavor topped with sweet red beans, bite-sized sponge cake, and whipped cream.
The resort club plans to incorporate this dish at Costa or Aqua Café soon, noting that the popular Costa weekend buffet is now paired with a daily lunch buffet with a special lunch promotion in which one person eats free for every six people dining during the lunch hour.
Casa Urashima, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, prepared the third dish that was served, the Shiratama mochi zenzazi, which, like the matcha panna cotta, is a dessert.
The Shiratama mochi zenzazi is made from the Shiratama flower which is carefully rolled by hand one by one.
The restaurant said that the dessert is one of their longest selling desserts for its guests.
Furusato served its rendition of the shrimp tempura, a classic Japanese dish.
Gentle Brook Café prepared beef tataki sushi, a dish made by a Japanese cooking method in which the meat is seasoned, seared, immediately chilled, topped with sliced sirloin, or tataki, green onion, and garlic, and served with an original sauce.
Grotto Restaurant presented its beef curry, which was made of Angus beef that was stewed to softness.
Himawari, one of the most frequented Japanese establishments on-island, presented its most popular dish, the seared salmon roll, arranged to suit the taste of its local guests.
The eighth dish was a beef bowl presented by Kinpachi Restaurant, personally recommended by its head chef.
“Bowl dishes are popular casual ‘washoku,’ such as tempura bowl, pork cutlet bowl, beef bowl, and poke bowl,” said Tajima.
Shabushabu pork salad by Kuriya was also featured, a healthy dish served with vegetables, non-oil Ponzu dressing, and pork shabushabu with sesame seed dressing.
Oleai Beach Bar & Grill was another participating restaurant. It presented its version of the traditional “karaage,” or Japanese fried chicken.
Salty’s Grill & Café served their menchi katsu, or juicy minced Angus beef cutlets.
Lastly, Uriya presented octopus balls, or “takoyaki,” a signature dish of Osaka, Japan, pan-fried and made of batter filled with seasoned octopus.
Tajima said from children to elders, “takoyaki” is everyone’s favorite dish in Japan.
The Japanese Society of the Northern Marianas likewise provided a questionnaire at the conclusion of the tasting, asking participants to select which of the dishes was their personal favorite.
Among the event attendees were Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, Tan Holdings president and chief executive officer Jerry Tan, CNMI Covid-19 Task Force Chairman Warren Villagomez, governor’s authorized representative for the Covid-19 disaster Patrick Guerrero, Special Assistant to the Saipan Mayor Henry Hofschneider, Saipan Mayor’s Office director of field operations Joann Aquino, Marianas Visitors Authority Managing Director Priscilla Iakopo, Attorney Vincent Torres, attorney Jack Torres, GOP candidate for the upcoming Precinct 3 special election, Grace Sablan, the wife of the late Rep. Ivan Blanco, Carmen Sablan, and several other island residents, including members of the Japanese community.
Governor Torres thanked the government of Japan, Japanese Consul Kazuhiko Ono, and the Japanese Society of the Northern Marianas for their respective roles in the event.
“It’s nice to see different Japanese restaurants come together and provide a dish or two to showcase their restaurants and to have an opportunity for us locals here to, again, just try the importance of having our Japanese market here,” he said.
“The food here is excellent. We all grow up here and a lot of our dishes [are] also basically from Japan, whether it’s sashimi or even our crackers [and] cookies. These are from Japan. It’s really good.”
MVA Managing Director Iakopo, for her part, said, “The Taste of Japan was a beautiful experience, not to mention delicious as well, but I really think that this is really a great opportunity for all of our Japanese businesses to showcase their delicacies, whether that will be from tradition or modern cuisines. Without having to have direct flights from Japan, this really brings a taste home, being able to remember how important our Japan market is to us.”
Japanese Consul Ono, who first arrived in the CNMI two years ago, said, “This event is organized by the Japanese of the Northern Marianas, but is also sponsored by the Japanese government. The Japanese government has decided to support Japanese people living in the Northern Mariana Islands.”
He added, “Speaking of Japanese food, there are many Japanese foods, Japanese tastes. Today, we could have only 12 different Japanese tastes, but in Japan, if you have opportunity to visit Japan, you can have a lot of Japanese dishes that are not familiar here with the local people.”
Japanese Society of the Northern Marianas vice president Hiroko Tajima describes the various dishes served at the first ever “Taste of Japan” event on Monday at Aqua Resort Club Saipan.
