Continued, Tokyo New Wave

Shinsuke Ishii extends his arms on a table at Sincère as he sits fiddling with a shred of paper, examining it with great focus as he speaks, searching for the right words. Head tilted, he recalls his childhood, when he delighted in cooking at home with his mother. Her tenderness and supportive demeanor in the kitchen sparked his future culinary career. He recounts dining out as a subdued experience when he and his siblings were required to be quiet and reserved at all times. He vowed to change this when he had his own family one day.

Sharing food the southern European way was one of the most significant and long-lasting memories of Ishii’s time living in France. The notion that enjoying a long family meal could be gregarious and convivial for hours on end at a restaurant, and with children in tow, made an impact on Ishii, informing his cooking philosophy.

In addition to his mother, and his embrace of how meals are shared in France, Ishii discusses his profound reverence for the samurai. Samurai never gave up, and were always patient and consistent in their pursuit of a goal. Ishii simultaneously values the inner beauty and strength of the samurai, as well as the outgoing image more prevalent abroad. At his restaurant, Sincère, the forty-one-year-old combines the observant and quiet nature of many of Japan’s best chefs with the outgoing and interactive repartee he enjoyed in France.

Sincère is located in Sendagaya, in a subterranean space with doors that open onto a small inner courtyard. The centerpiece of the polished yet informal dining room is the open kitchen—every seat in the house faces the action. Ishii’s omakase-only (chef’s choice) dinner starts with his version of oysters meunière presented atop rocks, finished with crisp seaweed and chrysanthemum. Next is a superconcentrated opening bite called Taste of Tomato. Tomato water is served in the form of a savory and airy white gelato with a peppery and sweet candylike tomato tuile, rosemary powder, and touch of sea salt. It is served in a Japanese cypress (hinoki) wood bowl, handmade specially for Ishii by a carpenter in Hachioji. But the dish most emblematic of Ishii’s style is his savory tilefish taiyaki, a spin on a popular Japanese fish-shaped cake. His winsome pastry is golden and flaky and served in a swathe of cloth napkins. It is the perfect example of the playful and convivial side of Ishii, at the core of his life and cooking.

I was inspired by my mother. She’s a hair stylist and worked out of our home. She was always so busy, so I needed to help her. My mother had a lot of cookbooks. In one there was a recipe for choux cream [a Japanese-style cream puff] that I tried to make, and my mom thought it was very tasty. I was fascinated by how the choux pastry rose. Everyone liked it, and this made me happy. I liked how everyone reacted to my making this pastry.

When I was older and went to France to live and work for a while, I noticed how families and friends enjoyed their food together so much. In Japan, people are much more quiet during a meal. We are taught to be reserved and proper. I like to create the French feeling of eating at Sincère.

American hot dogs. My mom used to make a lot of little American hot dogs, the tiny ones. Hot dogs are on my menu here, but I make them with boudin noir.

The sense that I want to make my customers happy—service is so important. At the end of the day, I will be happy when they are, and if they’re not, then I feel bad. But sometimes I have no way of knowing if they are happy or not, so I will think about what I could have done to be better. That will then motivate me to think about a new idea.

I studied French food, but I definitely transmit the Japanese essence of gochisou, which basically means to serve food with great effort and lofty intention—it’s an old word. It’s a way of using seasonal food in a subtle way, preparing it with Japanese spirit, and serving it to the customer with attentive hospitality.

I love history and samurai. I wear a red apron that is inspired by the samurai Sanada Yukimura. A samurai is extremely loyal, honest, and modest, yet has strong ambition and desire to sacrifice everything to devote himself to the greater good.

I love Tokyo, where I am from, and I love Japan. When I went to live in France, I realized how reserved and shy the Japanese are and how we really don’t talk a lot. I think this is actually nice; we have inner beauty and strength. We have strong feelings inside, even if we don’t express them outwardly. Working with foreign chefs, I learned how they so freely express their feelings.

My dad likes sushi and told me to be a sushi chef, but I thought Western food would be cooler. I love Japan, but I just thought that food from overseas was cooler. I like French food. I have been cooking now for twenty years. The more I studied French food, the more profound it seemed; I liked it more and more. The small differences are interesting to me. I feel proud of myself cooking French food.

Gladiator with Russell Crowe. I like the theme of men and their strength, just as I like samurai.

Taiyaki is a sweet fish-shaped cake that’s traditionally filled with red bean paste. I wanted to use French pastry in a Japanese style in this savory version of the dish. When I used my taiyaki pan to prepare it at home with puff pastry, it turned out very crispy and tasty. I thought it would be good idea to serve it at my restaurant.

PUFF PASTRY

¾ cup water

1 teaspoon salt

¾ cup plus 1 teaspoon bread flour

¾ cup plus 1 teaspoon cake flour

10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

MOUSSE

4 ounces sea scallops

5½ ounces tilefish, diced

⅓ cup heavy cream

⅓ cup egg whites (about 2½ egg whites) plus 1 egg, lightly beaten

2 pinches of sea salt

Pinch of cayenne powder

To prepare the puff pastry, stir together the water and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, stir together the bread flour and cake flour. Pour the salted water into the flour mixture and mix with your hands until the dough becomes smooth. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and gather it into a ball. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rest overnight in the refrigerator.

The next morning, roll out the dough on a floured surface to a 6-inch square that is ⅛ inch thick. Knead the cold butter into one brick, then roll and flatten it with the rolling pin to a 5-inch square that is about ¼ inch thick. If needed, chill the butter again so it is very cold.

Place the butter on top of the dough on the diagonal, and wrap the dough over the butter, folding the corners in from each side. Next, fold the dough into thirds like a business letter. Repeat this three times. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, on a floured surface, roll out the dough to a 20 by 15-inch rectangle that is ⅛ inch thick. Cut the dough into twelve 5 by 3-inch rectangles. (Wrap and freeze the remaining dough for another use.) Place the pastry rectangles on a parchment paper–lined baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to use.

To make the mousse, place the scallops and 4 ounces of the tilefish in a food processor and process until the mixture is smooth, 20 to 30 seconds. Add the cream. Mix for 5 seconds. Add the egg whites, salt, and cayenne and mix again until incorporated, about 5 seconds more.

To assemble the taiyaki, place a pastry rectangle on a work surface. Place one piece of the remaining diced tilefish in the center. Add 2 teaspoons of mousse on top of the tilefish. Cover with another piece of pastry. With your fingers, lightly press the edges together so that the mixture does not seep through. Brush the top of the pastry with the beaten egg. Repeat to make five more taiyaki.

Place one or two taiyaki in the taiyaki pan (which does not need to be oiled) and cook until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Repeat with the remaining pastries. Serve immediately.

NOTE: A taiyaki pan is required for this recipe. It is similar to a nonstick, stove-top waffle pan but with a fish-shaped design. They are available online. You need to start the puff pastry two days in advance. Or, you can use store-bought puff pastry instead of making it yourself. You will have leftover puff pastry and you may have some extra mousse.