The first ones arrived in Italy about forty years ago. Very refined, of medium-high range, they wanted to distinguish themselves from the low-priced Chinese ones and often with a low index of food hygiene and wholesomeness. Japanese cuisine had its own historical charm linked to books, American films, music and comics. Words like maki, sashimi, chirashi, sushi, teriyaki however brought back to an essentially raw foodist culinary conception very attentive to food principles based on excellent quality raw materials, cooking that respects food substances, safeguarding flavors without culinary alterations. The concept of food in Japan is enclosed in the word: Washoku which ' embodies a whole world: care, attention, presentation and culinary tradition. Principles of healthy eating which were declared intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2013. UNESCO even decided to draw up some rules in order to safeguard Washoku.
Up until about twenty years ago, Japanese restaurants maintained their elitist position on the catering market with their own population of enthusiasts.
Then what happened with Chinese restaurants happened, with studies demonstrating the damage to health from excess glutamate and with some clamorous closures of restaurants in the rising sun for hygienic reasons. And people are beginning to consider with greater interest moving from the restaurants of the land of the Mandarins to that of the Rising Sun.
Then came the Covid which led people to follow stricter and healthier rules in nutrition. And Italy was invaded by sushi restaurants (but also by pokè bowls) which spread throughout the boot with great public success.
Four young Neapolitan friends had not waited for the great pre- and post-covid healthy culinary conversion to understand where the wind was blowing for the new restaurant. Francesco Morante, Francesco De Vita, Mario and Eduardo Fernandes, four young entrepreneurs from different experiences and sectors in 2014 open in Portici J contemporary Japanese Restaurant, an upscale Asian dining offering. The idea was so appreciated and well received that soon after saw the light, this time in the city of Naples, a second room. And the first two were followed by the opening of a third in Sorrento on the seventh floor of the'Hilton Sorrento Palace. And that's not all because shortly after they set up Sushi and Co. in Naples, a leaner and more dynamic format of revisited Japanese cuisine, with the addition of a take away service which was repeated last year in Portici.
The secret of so much success? The J Contemporary aims at spread the Japanese gastronomic culture in a contemporary and original way following a philosophy that combines elegance and attention to places with a high-level gastronomic offer, declined in dishes of great character, which decode the Japanese culinary tradition, transforming it into original creations with a great visual impact. At the helm of all the restaurants of the J Co Group is Chef Giacomo Ignelzi, who left Pietrelcina, the town of Padre Pio and immediately landed at the court of Niko Romito, three Michelin stars who wanted it first at Spazio Roma, then at Spazio Milano and finally summoned it to the headquarters of Reale Casadonna. Then passed to the starred Marennà by Paolo Barale. To him the difficult task of combining the rising sun and the western sun in a synthesis of flavors in which tradition and innovation meet at a high level.
Any examples? Shrimp on vegetable charcoal wafer, crunchy orange and citrus mayonnaise, Ravioli, with white fish or Mazara red shrimp with bisque, or stuffed with suckling pig with vegetables and lemongrass sauce or tempura with chicken and Shitake mushrooms. And then Black Code fillet, marinated in miso sauce with passion fruit cream and asparagus or the special Rolls, with crunchy asparagus, or tuna belly tartare. All accompanied by a cellar of high-level national labels and some of the most famous brands of sparkling wines and champagne.
This week's proposal for Mondo Food is an original and refined Scallop Ceviche, a halfway meeting between distant gastronomic cultures which find here a very interesting synthesis and dialogue in a complex relationship of balance of flavours.
Chef Giacomo Ignelzi's recipe: scallop ceviche
tiger milk
Ingredients:
500 Gr White fish broth
150 g white fish pulp
40 gr celery
50 g spring onion
130 g limes
50 g soybean oil
Half a clove of garlic
Half a small pepper
Salt Black pepper
Procedure:
Blend everything cold in the blender and sift the mixture with a fine mesh.
miso sauce
Ingredients:
500 miso paste
200 g myrin
200 g sake
150 gr sugar
Procedure:
Dealcoholize mirin and sake over the heat, add miso paste and sprinkling sugar, then filter and leave to cool.
unagi sauce with smoked eel
Ingredients:
200 g soy sauce
50 g smoked eel
100 g sugar 160 g Sake
250 g Mirin
Procedure:
Simmer for 10 minutes after boiling. Finely chop the eel and add it while cooking. Pour the sugar into the liquid and stir until it dissolves. Cook slowly over low heat until the sauce thickens, then sieve and leave to cool.
Composition of the dish:
Scallop the scallops into 4 parts and pour the tiger milk over the base of the dish. Arrange the 4 parts of the scallop in the center of the plate, season with a few grains of Maldon salt, sishimi and grated lime peel.
Complete the dish with the miso sauce, unagi sauce and parsley sprouts.
