Exquisite offerings from the east

A new Japanese executive chef introduces creative modern dishes, served traditionally.

Hilton Kuala Lumpur recently welcomed Masami Okamoto as its new Japanese executive chef for its award-winning Japanese restaurant, Iketeru. With an admirable passion for the art of Japanese cusine, Masami presented new signature dishes to members of the media.

Born in Japan, Masami began his career in Hokkaido and continued his journey in countries such as Singapore, Germany, Indonesia and Britain. Now in Malaysia, Masami brings to Hilton Kuala Lumpur 25 years of experience in the hospitality and culinary industry specialising in traditional and contemporary Japanese style cuisine.

Iketeru chef Masami

Despite the wide exposure from his work and travels, Chef Masami stays true to authentic Japanese fare and insists on preparing dishes with the best ingredients directly air-flown from various prefectures in Japan. Creative modern Japanese dishes served traditionally can be expected in the refreshed menu at Iketeru.

For our food tasting, Chef Masami and his team showed off an exclusive  8-course set menu. The specially curated menu featured an appetiser, sashimi platter followed by three types of main courses prepared in different styles, a plate of sushi, miso soup and a classic Japanese dessert.

Our meal began with a sakidzuke dish, a classic Japanese appetizer. Chef Masami chose chilled Kyoto tofu garnished with tsubugai (whelk), seaweed and warishoyu (enhanced shoyu sauce) to prepare the palate before the sashimi course. The sashimi course consisted of three types of fish namely salmon, tuna and shima aji (Japanese striped mackerel), meticulously sliced into thin pieces.

The main course was introduced through three separate dishes, each prepared in a unique style. The first dish – a torizakana (a course traditionally served with sake) – consisted of a Wakasa grilled red snapper, bamboo shoots, Japanese spikenard, Kinome herbs with miso, fava beans, shrimps, shishito, takowasabi (octopus flavoured wasabi), fried corn and fried fishcake.

The second dish featured melt-inmouth Wagyu beef served with daikon (Japanese white radish), mizuna (spider mustard) and thinly sliced Japanese green onions whilst the third dish was an oyster tempura with a serving of lemon sauce. We were then treated to an assortment of raw fish sushi which Chef Masami termed as nokke sushi before a serving of miso soup with Asari red clams. The course was made complete with a toothsome portion of warabimochi, a chilled jelly-like mochi covered with a coat of sweet and nutty soybean powder drizzled with black honey.

Chef Masami’s individualistic and unique style of preparing dishes can easily be seen through the showcase with his extensive use of scarce, eccentric ingredients which have to be specifically imported from Japan. The chef also cleverly infuses creative modern twists to traditional Japanese dishes.

With an imaginative mind, deft hands, and unparalleled resourcefulness, Chef Masami is bound to astound patrons who dine at Iketeru with an exceptional dining experience. One can anticipate seasonal menus from Iketeru within the upcoming months.

For reservations, call +603 22642264 or visit life.hiltonkl.com.

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