Welcome to “Kitchen Essentials,” a new series from Chowhound where chefs and bartenders from around the country invite viewers into their kitchens and bars, unveiling the five tools that are simply essential to their work.
At Sen Sakana, it’s quite likely you’ll be introduced to Nikkei cuisine for the first time. The New York City restaurant highlights the blending of Peruvian and Japanese flavors and techniques—a type of cooking not often found outside of Peru. The restaurant is helmed by executive chef Mina Newman, a born-and-bred New Yorker who was raised by a Peruvian mother and has long been influenced by the amalgamation of Latin and Asian flavors.
“My inspiration for this restaurant was that heritage and ingredients that weren’t necessarily Peruvian, but more Asian,” she says. “Nikkei cuisine is that of the Japanese people who came over via immigration a hundred years ago to Peru and started their lives.”
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Nikkei is a hybrid cuisine, produced by Japanese cooks living in Peru who merged Peruvian ingredients with Japanese cooking techniques. This happened in the 19th century when a handful of Japanese immigrants traveled to Peru with the promise of jobs. Upon their arrival, they assimilated into Peruvian culture, not only adopting the country’s practices, but also integrating Japanese flavors and ingredients into Peruvian dishes. And thus Nikkei cuisine in Peru was born.
Sen Sakana is an homage to that history. Here, the menu brims with the likes of half-moon empanadas jammed with Japanese chicken curry, torched salmon ceviche crowned with shiso and yuzu, and hamachi nigiri swiped with a bright green Peruvian sauce.
Like many chefs, Mina is incredibly reliant on a number of tools in the kitchen. Without many of her favorite tools, she’d be unable to sufficiently succeed at blending Peruvian and Japanese ingredients.
Ibuki Moribashi Chopsticks, $93.80 on Amazon
Amazon
Mina loves to use chopsticks. Not only for eating (although that’s incredibly important, too), but also for plating and stirring. Mina compares chopsticks to the dexterity of tongs or tweezers, but she’s found over the years that she’s very comfortable with her chopsticks. Mina’s boasts stainless steel and sharp tips, a winning combination that guarantees food won’t slip out. Buy Now
Misono Knife, $308.29 on Amazon
Amazon
Mina employs her knife every day, from cutting fish into rectangular sheaths to dicing vegetables and herbs. Hers is a Western-style Japanese knife, with a stainless steel blade (Japanese versions are generally high carbon), but Mina insists it’s a workhorse: It easily cuts through even the toughest of ingredients. Buy Now
Vitamix, $378.80 on Amazon
Amazon
The chefs at Sen Sakana can likely be found around the Vitamix, making leche de tigre (a sauce made from the leftover ceviche marinade). Because the sauce depends on hunks of fish being emulsified into the sauce, it requires a high volume of air to be integrated into it. Thus, the power of the Vitamix steps in. Not only is it efficient, but you can also control the speed, which can help obliterate a sauce into something smooth and pure or thick and chunky. Buy Now
Tasting Chef Spoon, $18.95 on Amazon
Amazon
Mina admits she has three favorite spoons—a dainty spoon for caviar, a wide-brimmed spoon, and a large spoon—but her favorite is the wide-brimmed one with a curved center. She uses it to mix, plate, to sauce plates, and spoon small amounts of broth. Buy Now
Bonito-Shaving Machine, $78.90 on Amazon
Amazon
The enormous bonito shaving machine found in the kitchen is a custom-made Japanese machine, built with three separate blades that can shave even the hardest of bonito (medium-sized fish related to tuna). The resulting shavings are paper-thin and conserve the wonderful color and flavor of bonito. Buy Now
For more about Mina, Sen Sakana, and Nikkei, watch the fifth episode of “Kitchen Essentials.”
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