From food to fashion to film and the most fabulous of architecture, we’re massive fans of all things Japan here at Verve (but mostly the food!) and two of our favourite things right now are the Netflix show, Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories, and the good ol’ hibachi grill.
Smoking!
Nothing makes seafood, meats and many vegetables so lip-smakingly satisfying as being cooked over smoky charcoal, and few things do it as efficiently, subtly, or deliciously as the hibachi grill. The grill, which takes its name from an eighth-century Japanese cooking, or ‘fire’, bowl also fuelled by charcoal, is as famed for its functionality as for the flavour that it imparts. The relatively tiny device is easily portable, making it a firm favourite for beach barbecues and park picnics, as well as in kitchens and gardens at home. The grill is traditionally powered by the Japanese binchotan, a pure, premium charcoal made from oak that is odourless and noted for not interfering with the food’s natural flavours. But the fuel is expensive and sometimes hard to source, so the Thai charcoal of thaan, made from fruit wood, is a fine and popular substitute.
Following the hibachi grill’s multiple appearances on MasterChef Australia in 2020, sales skyrocketed by an astonishing 1,600 percent, but its most amusing media appearance came the year earlier courtesy of Ariana Grande. In celebration of her single ‘7 Rings’ the popstar opted to get the song title tattooed in Japanese characters upon the palm of her hand then showcased it on social media only to be told that her 七輪 inking didn’t signify ‘seven rings’, but rather translated as the fabled barbecue grill.
Feast for the Senses
For anyone that’s already been, Netflix drama Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories (pictured) will instantly transport you back to the atmospheric streets and alleyways of the Japanese capital, and for those who have yet to have had the pleasure, it’s pretty much the next best thing–just the tonic during these troubled times of border closures and crises. Near-half-hour snapshots of beguiling conversations and life stories take place in an intimate restaurant setting, where close-ups of lovingly crafted dishes are captured with such consideration that you can almost taste the food as the steam seemingly permeates through your television screen.
The eatery opens only between midnight and 7am; “when people head home, that’s when my day begins” so comments the proprietor who we know only as ‘The Master’ and who, aside from his scarred face, gives little about himself away. His menu is just as vague and mysterious, but if he has the ingredients—or you can provide them—then he’ll cook whatever you desire. Episodes take place around specific dishes that mean something to that episode’s particular characters, whether they be a TV actor-turned cab driver, a porn star, or a scientist. In the security of the cozy environment, and protected by the darkness of the night, fears and secrets are spilled as easily as the warm sake and noodle soups. A hidden gem of a restaurant, within a hidden gem of a show, like a priest or a therapist The Master listens, as he sates his customers’ appetites, and lightens their souls.
