Lakhan Jethani and Nikhil Menon (Mizu Izakaya)

Food From Here and There

In this episode of Food From Here and There, host Elisha Parikh interviews Lakhan Jethani and Nikhil Menon, the culinary minds behind Mumbai's Mizu

Key takeaways

• Mizu Izakaya uses 'Gondaraj' (Indian lime) as a fragrant substitute for Yuzu when sourcing becomes difficult.
• The chefs utilize small Rajma beans to recreate the texture of traditional Japanese Anko paste in their Kakigori dessert.

Main topics

• Izakaya dining culture
• Japanese-Indian fusion techniques

Notable quotes

Mizu is basically water so the whole ideology of mizu is flow like water or attain any shape or adapt to whatever is around you.

Conclusion

The episode highlights how culinary innovation can thrive by embracing

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:01) Hi everyone, I'm transporting myself from my kitchen to a world of delectable food cultures and this is one incredible journey you want to accompany me on. I'm Alicia, I love baking and I knew food was going to be a huge part of my life since I was seven. A lot of you may have seen what I'm up to in my kitchen but I want to give you a glimpse into my love for exploring the world of pastry through new cultures. So on my podcast, I want to sit down with chefs, restauranteurs, entrepreneurs and food lovers who took up the challenge of bringing the world's cuisine to India. Join me as I learn more about Food From Here and There. On this episode of Food From Here and There, we're being transported to Japan with Lakhon J. Thani and Nikhil Menon of Mizu Izakaya. A childhood fascination with all things Japan inspired Lakhon J. Thani to learn about Japanese cuisine and go on to open Mumbai's first Izakaya. Mizu's head pastry chef Nikhil combines classic pastry techniques with Japanese flavors to create an incredible dessert menu. They both talk about taking Japanese food beyond sushi and sashimi, fusion flavors and techniques, and what an izakaya actually is. Speaker 1 (1:18) Hi guys, welcome to another episode and our last episode in this season of Food From Here and There. So today I'm joined with not one, but two very special guests from the one and only Mizu Restaurant here in Mumbai and Khar. And I'm joined with Lakan Jaitani and Nikhil Mannan over here, head chef and pastry chef from Mizu. And I'm so excited to talk to both of you about how you brought authentic Japanese cuisine here to Mumbai and here to India. So thank you so, so much for joining me here today. For Speaker 2 (1:55) sure. We're glad to be here. Thanks a lot. Of course, Speaker 1 (1:58) I think the best way to do this would just be to dive right into the first question that I have. Just giving our listeners a brief sort of overall view of what Mizzou is. So with Mizzou, you've... introduced India to a very different kind of Japanese food and more of an experience rather. And it sets you apart from restaurants that serve typically, you know, sushi and sashimi. So could you guys tell us more about what an izakaya is and if I'm even pronouncing it correctly and why you chose to create this experience more than just a commonly found one? Speaker 2 (2:33) Yes, so the entire idea for Mizu actually constructed around one small objective, which was to make Japanese food more fun and more accessible in the city. You know, I went and I trained in Japan and the perception of Japanese food, which was over here previously and what we wanted to bring on the table was very different. The market here always thought it was only about sashimi, sushi, but there is a lot more. The entire Culture is, in fact, based on a lot more things, just like Indian cuisine, where we as Indians have always been mistook of having only butter chicken and mutton on our menu. It is the same way for the Japanese, right? So the idea was to get a more relaxed approach to the city, a more fun approach, a more accessible approach. Izakaya typically means... dining and a drinking space. It is a space where people would generally go after work to catch up on conversations, to just have some sake, to wind down. This is exactly what we want Mizu to be. We want Mizu to be approachable. And I think that is why people like us because we're not uptight and we are yet very conscious, just like the Japanese, about what we serve, how we serve, what our food is about. really matters to us food is the number one priority but you should feel welcome you should feel at home that was the whole idea so Speaker 3 (4:10) mizu is basically water so the whole ideology of mizu is flow like water or attain any shape or adapt to whatever is around you of course so that is what he said that we made things fun and more accessible so we try to incorporate that adaptability with the local ingredients and incorporating Japanese techniques. So that is what Mizzou is all about and it has been like that from the very beginning. Speaker 1 (4:36) Oh, I love that. Wow. Thank you guys so much. And one thing that I love about mezu is that it highlights the local Indian ingredients that complement Japanese ingredients and Japanese style dishes that you have on the menu. For example, your hamachi served with garam masala, smoked ponzu sauce, and the pork gyozas with naga chili, and you know, the fermented cabbage as well. So how do you as you know, head chef and head pastry chef determine which native Indian ingredients go best with Japanese cuisine and Japanese authenticity. The Speaker 2 (5:11) philosophy is to work with what is around us. I'll tell you how this came about to be. There's a dish on our menu, which was initially called the salmon yuzu truffle. Speaker 3 (5:24) Yuzu Speaker 2 (5:24) is a lime. It's similar to a lime or a lemon. it has a very distinct flavor and a very distinct taste, Speaker 3 (5:31) also Speaker 2 (5:32) very distinct smell to it, you know? Yeah. Now, at some point, we couldn't kind of source this ingredient, you know, because it was not available and COVID had made things really difficult. So, came about to be like, okay, so why can't we use a fruit from an Indian lime family or an Indian lemon family, which was as fragrant and as... different in its flavor profile than the yuzu. So we decided to use Gondaraj, which is the king of limes from our country. So the idea is to select things that is in our season, process them the way the Japanese could actually process them and kind of showcase it on our menu. It is not to bastardize two cuisines. It is not to do a butter chicken with a Japanese stock. But it is very carefully selected ingredients. So another example of this would be, I would pass this thing on to Chef Nikhil as well, is our mango kaki gori. Speaker 3 (6:37) So basically mango kaki gori is like a dessert which is had in the summer. Basically, it's a shaved ice, which is flavored with a lot of seasonal fruits or toppings which they make. So essentially, it's basically the Japanese version of the Indian gula. But in a very accentuated way where the ice which is made for the shaved ice is taken care of, the ingredients which are used are in season. So one of the ingredients in that kakigori itself is something called as anko, Speaker 1 (7:09) which Speaker 3 (7:10) is like a very traditional Japanese filling which is made with azuki beans. So here the two things which play a point is observation and accessibility. So the observation was they were using some kind of legume. So we tried using our accessible legume which was the rajma but small rajmas. So basically