My friend is really a legend. Most brilliant and passionate chef i know in person. And amidst the pandemic, let’s all support the shops we love to get through.

Remember i ordered some dim sum? They arrived 2 days ago. I was soooooo excited. Many restaurants are affected by Covid-19 and so does my friend’s. I used to work with Chef Kuromori in a restaurant in Tokyo when going through college. His food always amazed me, and his wide knowledge of authentic Cantonese cuisine is impressive. I learned a lot during my time there about cooking, hospitality and business strategies from him, and those lessons still vivid to me until this day.

He left Tokyo not long after the earthquake in 2011 and went to Sendai, the city heavily hit by the disaster. Now he has his own restaurant there. His cooking promotes seasonal and local material, with all base sauce, fragrant oil and broth made from scratch allow people to indulge the rare taste of natural that is no longer common in the industrialized world. His technics of creating texture and complex yet delicate layer of tastes is pure impressive.

This Shumai i ordered, it is the first time ever in my life to encounter a Shumai not greasy and overflew with freshness. The texture of the fillings was soft with subtle crunchiness, looks like it will fall apart easily yet hold together well. Common shumai tend to be oily with texture similar to fish ball, with flour added to hold the minced meat together. As i was musing about the texture Umami exploded in my mouth, then with a slight delay came a wave of smooth sweetness. Bloody impressive.

When this pandemic is over. I need to visit him. So do any foodie out there. GO.