Nic Watt: Five of the best Japanese ingredients

Masu's award-winning executive chef Nic Watt dispels the myth that Japanese cooking is complex. Photo / Michael Bradley

Japanese cuisine doesn’t have to be complicated; in fact simplicity is what makes the island nation’s food so satisfying. Award-winning Masu restaurant executive chef Nic Watt profiles five key ingredients to kick-start your Japanese pantry.

I have a passion for flavour and a dedication to detail. Perhaps that's why I fell in love with Japanese cuisine and its clean, subtle tastes, colours and textures, refined cooking techniques and beautiful presentation.

Japanese food is popular the world over. However, while almost everyone agrees the food is healthy, fresh and delicious, there's a common misconception it's also complex and requires an array of advanced cooking skills.

True, like all cuisines, when you're producing dishes at the highest levels as we do at Masu, it's never going to be easy. Nonetheless a lot of mouth-watering Japanese fare is incredibly simple to make.

What's more, each recipe has been specially selected using the five building blocks of a Japanese pantry - soy sauce, white miso paste, sushi vinegar, mirin and matcha green tea powder - all readily available in Asian supermarkets.

Shoyu or soy sauce was introduced to Japanese cuisine 2000 years ago and is used liberally on the table and the kitchen. It combines four of the five tastes - salt, sweet, sour, and the Japanese-coined umami, meaning rich and savoury.

Generally made from the pressed liquid of fermented boiled soybeans, umami is used as a way of adding salt to a dish and laying complex flavours to marinades and dressings. It's in all my savoury recipes.

When thinking of miso pastes, consider colour as an indication of flavour. White miso paste - also known as "sweet" or "mellow" miso - has a milder flavour than red miso and is more adaptable, making it a must-have ingredient, in my mind.

White miso has the versatility of butter and mustard combined and I use it to help emulsify other ingredients, add delicious umami flavours to endless marinades and, of course, it's the hero ingredient in the world-renowned miso soup.

Ever wondered what that subtle sweet-sour flavour is in your sushi? It's sushi-zu - or sushi vinegar. Don't just limit it to making sushi; combine it with lemon juice, olive oil and fresh herbs and you'll have a balanced, quick and delicious dressing. It provides an additional depth of flavour in my Roast Kingfish Belly recipe. Buy sushi vinegar for a perfectly balanced salt and sweet combination.

Mirin is a sweet rice wine. It's low in alcohol and high in sugar, often the ingredient that gives Japanese dishes their subtle sweetness. Used sparingly because of its strong flavour, it's a vital ingredient for teriyaki sauce and is delicious combined with grilled foods. Mirin is perfect for helping to caramelise dishes on Masu's Robata - our traditional Japanese charcoal grill - or your barbecue or grill and can be used on everything from vegetables and meat to tofu and fish.

Finally, vitamin and mineral-packed matcha green tea powder is created with finely ground, shade-grown green tea leaves. The bright green, slightly bitter powder adds the unmistakable flavour and colour of green tea to everything it graces. It adds a sophisticated and complex flavour to savoury and sweet dishes and I particularly like using it to dust over desserts such as the Molten Dark Chocolate Pudding or adding to custards.

Recipes

• White Miso Soup
• Smoked Chili Roasted Kingfish with Cucumber and Ruby Grapefruit Salad
• Lamb Cutlets Roasted With Asian Hot Pepper Spices and Sesame Spinach
• Molten Dark Chocolate Pudding with Matcha Green Tea Powder