Do you know your miso from your mirin and your maki from your California uramaki? With the number of restaurants serving Japanese cuisine on the rise, you can get all your terms straight while sampling one of the healthiest cuisines around town. Paprika, the all-day dining restaurant at the Courtyard by Marriott, Chennai has now added Japanese fare to its menu. All you sushi and sashimi fans can now stop by to try some.

Interesting combinations

Japan, being an island nation, is known for its culinary dependence on the fruits of the sea. Fresh fish right off the boat, or sometimes chosen while still in the water, is the primary focus of a majority of Japanese dishes. But in a city like Chennai, where many diners are vegetarian, this posed a problem. This is where Chef Pratibha Naik stepped in and worked towards introducing vegetarian Japanese dishes for her clientele at Paprika.

In doing so, she experimented with ingredients which rarely figure in Japanese cuisine, such as avocado and certain varieties of mushroom. We tried out some of the delicacies that she had integrated into a special menu at Paprika.

The vegetarian sushi she had invented - with a generous amount of sticky rice, Japanese mayonnaise, blanched aspagarus and bits of avocado – turned out to be quite delicious. The sushi, wrapped tight in nori, an edible seaweed used commonly in Japanese cuisine was served alongside pretty pink pickled ginger, a dash of wasabi and slightly sweet Japanese soy sauce mixed with rice wine vinegar.

It was a proper mouthful in size but definitely light as well, which makes one eat more than they should.

Next, we dipped some Sake Maki into the soy sauce and popped one in. The smoked salmon was paired with bits of avocado and was wrapped in nori. This sushi wasn't too dry and neither did it have the absolutely raw flavour one usually associates with sushi. The chef had used smoked salmon instead of raw salmon (which is the norm) keeping in mind the fact that most people take time to acquire a palate for Japanese food and might be put off by the rawness if they are trying it for the first time. Also, this is an alternate to fresh salmon because procuring it everyday can get tough.

Another variation for sushi-lovers could be the California Uramaki made with avocado, crab and salmon where the sticky rice is rolled on the outside of the nori sheet instead of within.

Appetisers

We were presented with some dark amber miso soup with perfectly cut cubes of silken tofu floating up to the top. Bits of Wakame, an edible seaweed, lay hidden in the bottom of the bowl and the Miso soup made for an interesting mix of textures and flavours.

A veritable treat for seafood lovers was Sake-flavoured seafood clear soup. Prepared with small bits of prawns, squid and fish with sake as the base, one would think the flavour would be too overpowering. But the soup had a smooth, smoked flavour and with the tender bits of fish, prawns and the comfortably chewy squid, the seafood clear soup was an instant hit.

Japanese food is big on raw ingredients and the most natural dish to present this with would be a salad. The chef had whipped up two types. The first was a toss of asparagus, slivered cucumber, crumbled tofu and wakame with mirin as the dressing. Mirin is a rice wine variant similar to sake with about 40-50 per cent sugar content. But surprisingly, the salad dressing was a bit salty. The pumpkin salad with boiled egg slices, cucumber and scallions came with a creamy mayonnaise dressing that remained light in taste even though the ingredients were heavy. The use of pumpkin was also a new addition to the menu.

The finalé

We had been eagerly waiting for the main course. The much-loved Gomuku chahan, sticky rice fried with an assortment of vegetables, was brought to our table with peeled-back cherry tomatoes on the side. You can also try out the prawn or chicken variations. The texture of the rice is the focus of this dish, sticking together in satisfying clumps that can be picked up by even the most inept of chopstick users. Despite being ‘sticky', this short-grained rice maintains the individual grain texture in every mouthful. Yasai chahan which is a regular fried rice with vegetables is available as well.

The Udon noodles (a thick, wheat-flour noodle) with tonkatsu sauce and prawns, which was the last dish we dug into, was the unanimous favourite. The tonkatsu sauce is both vegetable and fruit-based and this gives it a subtle sweetness which went really well with the slightly grilled prawns. You also have the option of opting for Soba noodles (made from buckwheat flour) instead of Udon.

We would have loved to end the meal with a dessert or two but since there were no Japanese options to choose from, we ordered the Tiramisu which was deliciously creamy, coffee-soaked and served in a big coffee cup!

Paprika's new Japanese menu has something for everyone and is aimed at getting vegetarian foodies to overcome their apprehension about Japanese cuisine. It has been created keeping the Indian palate in mind and the results are innovative and definitely worth trying out.

What: Japanese cuisine

Where: Paprika, Courtyard Marriott Chennai

How much: Rs 1,800 approximately for a meal for two

archana.a@thehindu.co.in

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