The 7th Annual Japanese Food Festival was held this past October 29th at the New Otani Hotel & Garden in Little Tokyo. Naturally, sushi and tempura, central to Japanese cuisine, were featured, but entertainment representative of Japanese culture was also presented, including koto performances, a maguro tuna cutting and preparation demonstration and a Ryukyu Okinawan dance show.

Among all the events like the above, the most popular was the sushi contest. This year was the second time the sushi contest was held, and at this event three sushi chefs representing three countries competed. Each chef was given 15 minutes. They vied to demonstrate how skillfully they could prepare beautiful creations while maintaining basic sushi standards, all within the given time restraint.

Judging the event was a three member panel that included Consul General Kodama of the Japanese Consulate, Laura Murphy of the California Rice Commission and Hatano Akira of the Japanese Restaurant Association.

Of course, taste was a prime factor along with elegance of presentation. Notching a brilliant win was the chef of the New Otani Hotel & Garden’s Thousand Cranes Restaurant, Jesus Alexander Delgado. This was his second time competing and his first, eagerly sought after, win. Sushi & Sake interviewed a happy and excited Alex to see what he had to say.                               

S&S: Congratulations on your win. This second time competing you managed to get the coveted win.

Alex: Thank you. Last time I was so focused on preparing the sushi that I wasn’t attentive to the presentation. This time I was able to be calm and collected.

S&S: Where did you come from?

Alex: El Salvador in Central America.

S&S: How many years have you trained in Japanese cuisine?

Alex: It’s already been seven years.

S&S: Why did you choose to concentrate on Japanese cuisine?

Alex: It’s a very healthy cuisine with wonderful tastes to enjoy. I wanted to see if I could duplicate those things. Before I came here, I prepared in-flight meals for JAL. Very close to LAX. I worked there for around three years, but I wanted to prepare genuine Japanese cuisine, and I came to the New Otani. It was the first time that I prepared things like tempura, but at one point I was given the opportunity to make sushi, and since that time I have dedicated myself to the preparation of sushi. At the same time, I still love to make tempura.

S&S: What is the hardest thing about it?

Alex: Of course, it is preparing the filet. I’m always tense when I do it.

S&S: Then, what is the most enjoyable part?

Alex: That’s standing behind the sushi counter in front of customers, talking about fish and all sorts of other things; being able to come in contact with the customers. The interaction with the customers is the most enjoyable part of the job.

S&S: At the Thousand Cranes Restaurant, the style of sushi is classical Japanese, but don’t you get requests for various other things from your guests?

Alex: Yes, I do. The customer is Number One, and our policy is to do our best to satisfy their wishes as far as possible. Of course, if we don’t have the thing ordered in stock, that’s another thing. (Laughs.) My principal goal is to please the customer.                 -PIX 3-

S&S: What kind of dishes do you like to prepare?

Alex: I like using fresh ingredients, and usually demand high quality in order to provide the best service.

S&S: Have you told your family about your win?

Alex: No, it’s not a big deal. I told Mr. Maeda. He always tells me about the fish and how to deal with the customers. I hope that now he teaches me a whole lot of other things. I want to use this win as a spur to keep me working hard at my job.

-Comments about Alex by Sushi Chef Maeda of the Thousand Cranes Restaurant-

Alex is always smiling, but he has an inner strength to his character. He never fails to be polite and gentle when he deals with customers. Therefore, one can feel confident that giving him free reign in regards to the customers’ desires will work out well. In this year’s competition, I gave him some advice about things like the presentation of the sushi. By winning, I feel as happy as if it were something that I had done myself. He will continue to devote himself wholeheartedly to his craft, and I hope that he becomes a role model for young people.

Second Place Sushi Contestant, Sivaman Udomdej

Second Place in the Sushi Contest was taken by Sivaman Udomdej. Born in Thailand, Sivamanis now employed as an Instructor at the Sushi Chef Institute. In participating in this contest for the first time, he brilliantly took Second Place.

S&S: Where did you come from?

Sivaman: Bankok, Thailand.

S&S: How did you choose sushi to concentrate on?

Sivaman: Japanese cuisine, and in particular, the beauty of sushi, has elements not found in the cooking of any other country. Thai cuisine doesn’t have this kind of beauty.

S&S: Where did you train as a sushi chef?

Sivaman: At the Sushi Chef Institute. Before I got formal training in the preparation of sushi at the Sushi Chef Institute, I had already been working as a sushi chef for about a year. The owner of the restaurant was Thai and he taught me how to make sushi. But I wanted to learn the genuine way to prepare sushi and enrolled at the Sushi Chef Institute. What I found was that what I had been making up to then, well, could you call it sushi or what could you call it? (Laughs.) After graduating from the Sushi Chef Institute, I opened restaurants in Buena Park and Red Hill. But Matsuda Sensei asked me to come back to the Sushi Chef Institute to become an instructor and that’s what I did.

S&S: In cooking, what is your specialty now?

Sivaman: Japanese cuisine. Matsuda Sensei taught me everything there is about Japanese cuisine. Not just about sushi, but all sorts of kinds of Japanese cooking. Even today I enjoy learning about those kinds of things.

S&S: What do you find is the most difficult thing?

Sivaman: That would be sushi. Especially the decoration. Just making the sushi is not that hard, but it is difficult to arrange that sushi in a setting that is beautiful. I think that you need a lot of experience to do that. I always wonder when I will be able to create the decorations that Matsuda Sensei can. (Laughs.)

S&S: After you took Second Place, who was the first person you told?

Sivaman: Maeda Sensei. Rather than telling he, he was standing there watching all along. (Laughs.) This time I took Second Place, but I learned a lot of new things, and I will try very hard to win First Place next time.

-Comments about Sivaman by Sushi Chef Institute Chief Instructor Andy Matsuda-

He has an Asian background, but he has a Japanese way of thinking. In regards to Japanese cuisine, he does not always try to be flashy, but earnestly applies himself to whatever job he is working on. When I work with him, I tell him things like, “Today this is what you are going to learn, which is different from yesterday,” and he understands, and firmly goes step by step to make it part of himself. That’s terrific. He also has an outstanding character, and puts himself out for his students. I hope that he continues in that way. He is someone that I expect a lot from in the future.

Third Place Sushi Contestant, Sinai Prado

Third Place in the Sushi Contest was taken by Sinai Prado, who was born in Mexico City. He is now working as a sushi chef at Geisha House in Hollywood.

S&S: Where did you come from?

Sinai: I was born in 1977 in Mexico City.

S&S: What made you decide to take up Japanese cuisine?

Sinai: Putting it in one word, I really love seafood. And I have been eating fish since I was a child. But it was usually fried, so in general I ate it after it was cooked in a lot of oil. In Japanese cuisine, excess oil is not used. We use hot sauce, with chili and jalapeño when we eat our fish. In Japanese cuisine, the pure flavor of the fish is savored while eating. I wanted to show people that way of eating fish.

S&S: To do that, where did you get your training?

Sinai: In 1998 I started working at Miyagi Restaurant. Even before that I worked at a sushi bar, but at that time I learned the basics at the Sushi Academy in Venice Beach, things like skinning the scales off of fish and how to prepare Japanese rice. I was taught by Andy Matsuda, who is now an Instructor at the Sushi Chef Institute. I learned all sorts of things.

S&S: This time you won Third Place, but do you plan to participate next year?

Sinai: Yes. Right after the contest was over, I told Andy Matsuda that I want to participate next year. I’m going to try very hard to win the contest next time.