Chef Yoshida’s summer kaiseki blends seasonality of Korean ingredients

“Kaiseki” dinner, referring to a style of traditional Japanese cuisine that comes with a series of intricate, small dishes, is a perfect way to get immersed in the savory and exquisite flavors of Japanese dishes.

Chef Nobuhiro Yoshida, a veteran chef or a chef de cuisine at Japanese restaurant Kozue located on the 40th floor of Park Hyatt Tokyo, is in Seoul this week for a Park Hyatt Seoul’s guest chef promotion event – Tokyo Night in Seoul.

Yoshida, with 30 years of experience at Hyatt’s top-tier restaurant, not only brought the epicurean experience of Japanese fine dining but also blended the seasonality of Korean ingredients with his mastery of cooking.

“I’m delighted and surprised that the Korean ingredients are of such good quality,” Yoshida told The Korea Herald.

“While it was fortunate for me to participate in this guest chef promotion of Tokyo Night in Seoul for two years in a row, I also appreciate all Korean customers who had a deep knowledge of Japanese kaiseki cuisine,” he added.

The sumptuous kaiseki dinner of Tokyo Night in Seoul starts with an appetizer using tenderly grilled salmon, scallops and fresh sea urchin – “uni” in Japanese – all artistically arranged on a small plate covered with a leaf. A leaf is a common decoration for summer kaiseki dishes as it offers an ambiance of coolness.

A warm appetizer follows: Two pieces of grilled freshwater eel with fried eggplant and thinly sliced and salted cucumber. Sprinkled with Japanese prickly ash berry powder, the refreshing spiciness of the powder elevates the eel’s softness and crunchiness with moist eggplant and cucumber.

Chef Yoshida meant to put these ingredients together in harmony as eels are known to offer heat and energy to the body whereas eggplant and cucumber cool the body down.

After a diverse plate of articulately cut, bite-sized fresh tuna and other fish, which offers a summery taste of firm and chewy seasonal fish, as well as deep-fried crispy hairtail fish and a simmered Korean hanwoo beef in Nabe – a hot pot stew –, clean, cold soba noodles is the perfect way to cleanse the palate.

The eight-course kaiseki dinner ends with a dessert of soup made with Korean melon, or “chamwoe,” milk tofu and green tea ice cream.

The meal is priced at 200,000 won. Reservations for Tokyo Night in Seoul can be made through its official website. The promotion runs until July 20 with limited seating.