Ikuei Arakane or Kinsan as he is affectionately known is a hard-working and passionate chef who has built a reputation for his commitment and energy. Long an advocate and event organiser for Iron Chf in Australia, Kinsan has been head chef in renowned Melbourne and Hobart restaurants and continues to lend his expertise to projects such as Omi in Chadstone. Amidst the mayhem of Chadstone on the Thursday before Christmas when there was a lockdown because a car had exploded into flame in the car park, my chat to Kinsan was gold.
T?ell me about Omi.
I came on board about six months ago. The group had already opened a shop in the Doncaster shopping centre and one in Glen Waverly. Then they wanted to open in Chadstone. This time they asked me to contribute some ideas to the dishes. They already had recipes and menu and the Omi name. Omi beef means wagyu beef. They asked me to make some noodle dishes, so I chose Japanese udon noodle for a soup dish and also a satay fried noodle, like a laksa. Laksa is normally a soup but this restaurant wanted an udon noodle with satay fried noodle. I’ve also prepared a Szechuan dish, Mapo Tofu, which we are making with pork meat and chilli sauce with satay fried udon. That’s how I am making it.
They have also asked me to come up with a new sauce, a lighter one because customers prefer a lighter taste.
This concept is interesting and they are using very good meat. They use Blackmore, which is most famous for wagyu beef in Australia. Blackmore has a marble score of 9, which is the top one. It is normally used in fine dining. They use sous-vide first, very slowly over a low temperature, then it is sliced and used in the dishes, served with rice and sauce as a main dish.
I have more I want to do, but I am waiting. The restaurant only just opened, so I am waiting to see what we can change and what works well.
It’s interesting this idea of getting in highly qualified and world-class chefs into what is ostensibly a food court in a shopping mall. Omi has brought you in and youhave so much experience in restaurants.
I am happy to help with anything; fine dining or a takeaway shop. Last year I finished working at The Glass House in Tasmania after three years there and went to Kuranda Hotel, a heritage hotel in Queensland, and did their menu. I also went to Nanjing in China to help with two restaurants. Nanjing is very difficult, so it was hard work, but it was good. Then I also have a place in Prahran, Wasshoi, which is my style of restaurant. I have a sauce. My style of sauce is quite different and that is why Omi asked me to help me with their flavours and dishes.
This kind of shop employs students or beginner chefs, so we have to make recipes and manuals for them. In my shop I make everything myself, including the sauce. I use apple and pear and ginger and garlic, it depends on the season. But in this shop, it is more difficult. We have to teach them how to do things because they have no experience. That’s why I’m thinking now about the kind of sauce I want to make. We already have two or three types and when I ca see that they can do those, then we will start teaching them the special sauce.
It's good for them to be taught by you. How long have you been a chef?
Thirty-seven years. I started in Japan when I was 14 years old. I started in a vegetable shop then the next year I went to the fish market and I learned how to fillet and cut fish. I was there until I was 17 and then when I was 18 I wanted to learn how to be a pastry chef. I worked for a hotel in Japan, which was the third biggest hotel in Japan. I worked in a French restaurant in the pastry section. After three years, the company moved me to another section to Japanese teppanyaki. Then after three years, I moved to Australia.
At that time I Australia, no one was doing Japanese. It was 1987. There were maybe ten Japanese restaurants. I was doing Japanese teppanyaki then afterwards at Crown, I taught people how to do teppanyaki and sushi. The I opened three of my own restaurants, one was teppanyaki-style restaurant, one was a café and one was a French Japanese restaurant. At that time, no one was doing fusion in Melbourne around 1997.
You were the first?
Something like that. It was called Manju, in Canterbury. I took a three year rent because I wasn’t sure if it would be popular or not. Everyone who came was always surprised. I always offered a complimentary amuse. An amuse is very important for a restaurant but nobody did it as a complimentary thing. We changed the amuse every day. It was a very quiet area. One of the regular customers asked me why I was doing a restaurant like that in Canterbury. And why was I mixing together French and Japanese? It was easy to explain. I learned French cuisine and I also learned Japanese cuisine.
What sort of dishes were you doing?
Lots of interesting ones. For example, a fish with green tea noodles underneath and the sauce was a very popular French sauce called beurre blanc but not with lemon, with ponzu. Also I used duck jus with miso and blueberries to make a sauce. I would put matcha in chocolate fondant, things like that. I was very good friends with Philippe Mouchel and he taught me some things. The restaurant got better and the customers were happy.
I was doing an eight-course degustation and I changed the menu every time for every customer. I never ever did the same one twice. It was a 20-seater and that was enough for me, to do a different menu for every customer. I was happy. It was my own place. Then one of the customers came in and asked me why I was doing the restaurant there. He told me I should close and go with him. I still had another year of rental there and I wasn’t sure what to do, but this other restaurant was Taxi Dining. He asked me to be the Head Chef because he wanted food like mine that was a combination of different things. He already had a chef there, Michael Lambie. It was very lucky because Michael is very clever and also very good with business. We worked well together.
How long were you there?
Two and a half years. I was very happy working for them. Then I started thinking about how many Asian people were coming to Melbourne and I thought it was time for a next step in Asian food, so I tried Pan-Asian food. I didn’t have much knowledge so I wanted to go and work in an Asian restaurant. But I was already a head chef so people thought it was strange for me to go back down the ranks. But it was ok for me to be an apprentice to get more knowledge. Lots of Taxi Dining chefs came and asked why I was doing that. But I said, no problem, I am learning. So after some time, I understood what to do and how I wanted to combine Indonesian, Malaysian, Chinese and of course Japanese. So I opened a place in Prahran Market in Chapel Street. I think it is importnat to concentrate on one flavour. In Prahran I do
I also have a catering business. Two days ago it was the 40thanniversary of being a sister city to Osaka, so I was cooking in the Town Hall. I do lots of events. I was already very involved with Iron Chef in Melbourne. Yesterday one of the chefs was here, the Iron Chef Chinese, Kenichi Chen, is a Michelin starred chef and had opened a restaurant in Korea.
I’m so happy. Food makes people happy and that is very important.
Are you still involved with Iron Chef?
Iron Chef is a very funny story. About 13 years ago was the first time Iron Chef came to Sydney in Sydney. There was a place called the Observatory Hotel in Sydney. One of the chefs there was called Haru Inukai. He’s quite a famous chef and has been involved with MasterChef and Iron Chef. This time was the first time the French Iron Chef Sakai had come and they cooked for 150 people. The next year, the Chinese Iron Chef came, also with Sakai. After the Observatory Hotel closed down, and the next year I wanted it to be in Melbourne. We organised it and 400 people came. Everyone was so happy and they liked Melbourne. Last year, I wanted to bring one of Japan’s very famous Iron chefs, Rokusaburu, he is 87 years old, but he is still a chef. But he never comes to events in other countries. This was the first time. I called him and he said ok, but he wanted to be in the Opera House. The Opera House never does food events and I was thinking, how can I do this? I didn’t know who to contact? But I’m lucky because every month I was invited to a Mitsubishi dinner and this month he invited the CEO of Qantas. So I talked to him and told him about the event and asked him to contact the Opera House CEO. He said, what?! But I told him I really wanted to do it and he said he would work it out. But it was for only 150 people. So it was really expensive. I asked a tv company from Japan to film it and I got other sponsors. I brought Japanese iron Chef, Rokusaburu, and Chinese Iron Chef, Chen Kenichi, and the French Iron Chef, Sakei, Masahiko Hobe from the original show and Janice Wong who is the number one chef in Singapore and two Michelin staro, Kentaro Chen. They each did a course and it was so good and a big success. So now every time there is an Iron Chef event, I organise it.
There is so much going on for you.
I’m so happy. Food makes people happy and that is very important.