Keep traditons alive

A Chinese chef is demonstrating what traditional Osaka-style cooking should be in Jinan, where his restaurant is gathering popularity with the city's business community. Pauline D. Loh reports.

They say it takes three generations of good living to develop taste. Similarly, cuisine develops along with history.

Miyabi's sashimi offerings include salmon, lipstick clam and snapper. Its grilled oysters, covered with light miso, are also highly recommended. Photos by Ju Chuanjiang / China Daily

Many connoisseurs of Japanese cuisine prefer the softer, more elegant presentation of the old Osaka-Kyoto school to the edgier, sometimes brasher Tokyo style. Chef Edmund Liang certainly thinks so.

Schooled in the traditional Western style of Japanese cuisine, Liang believes good cooking speaks for itself, as does the freshest ingredients. That was why he took the bold step of serving oysters in summer at the Miyabi at the Sheraton Jinan Hotel.

But these are no ordinary oysters.

They are farmed mollusks from Hiroshima raised according to the strictest environmental standards, and flash frozen at their peak. The technology allows them to be captured at their best flavor, which the chef carefully enhances in a variety of ways.

There is a classic gratin, with a delicate root vegetable gremolata added for a contrast of textures. The oyster still shines through, though, and there is no mistaking the sweet salty tang of a good one on the half shell.

Liang also serves the oysters grilled with a coating of soy sauce, breaded and deep-fried, as sashimi and covered with a delicious light miso which adds a depth that neuters the slightly metallic tang of saltwater.

The oysters were obviously the main attraction of our meal, but looking at the rest of Liang's menu, it is easy to understand why this quiet little Japanese restaurant in the capital of Shandong province has drawn a following of chic gourmets locally, as well as many from the Sheraton's mainly business clientele.

With his sashimi offerings, the chef's emphasis is on quality over quantity. He served just three types, but each was memorable. We had slices of tight-fleshed salmon belly, lipstick clam that was sugar sweet and finally, snapper that could just about bite back.

As a food critic, we are often asked how you can tell fresh sashimi. There are some things you cannot fake, and that is how long the fish has been out of water.