ON the TABLE CHINESE
Offering different fare for different occasions, from casual meals to anniversary celebrations
With luxurious marble counter seating and relaxing table seating (as well as private dining rooms), ON the TABLE CHINESE offers a refined “Nouvelle Chinois” cuisine,* capturing the essence of casual, classic Chinese cuisine while also elevating the dining experience for each guest, for solo diners and groups alike. The restaurant is helmed by owner-chef Daisuke Hiraga, who spent over two decades honing his culinary skills under the guidance of Chef Yuji Wakiya, a prominent figure in Chinese cuisine in Japan. With three prix-fixe courses as well as an a la carte menu, which is available from 8 pm, his restaurant caters to a variety of needs.
Some guests savor the classic Shanghai-style Shark Fin Full Course Dinner, while some solo diners prefer to sample playful a la carte dishes like Pâté de Campagne with Chinese Spices or Spanish Omelet with Japanese Pepper Mayonnaise while enjoying a glass of natural wine. The menu also includes a wide variety of rice dishes, including Jade & Ginger Congee, made with kale and ginger to warm you up at the start of the meal. Alternatively, to complete a course or as an a la carte option, they also serve Chinese fried rice or white rice topped with shark fin in starchy sauce. The restaurant has captured attention thanks to its dishes based on Shanghai-style cooking techniques that showcase the expert skills of the chef and to his desire for every single customer to go home happy.
* A new style of Chinese cuisine. In contrast to conventional Chinese cooking, in which many dishes are arranged family style on a table, Nouvelle Chinois dishes are served to each guest individually, like full-course French or Italian dining, with a special emphasis on beautiful presentation. This style is said to have originated in Hong Kong in the 1980s, and the term is a neologism from the French nouvelle, meaning “new,” and Chinois, meaning “Chinese.”
An Intriguing TV Show and a Great Master Chef
I was 19 when I decided to pursue a culinary career. I was inspired by the popular Japanese TV show “Iron Chef.” That meant giving up my dream of becoming a professional soccer player, even though I was attending high school on a soccer scholarship, but I was just blown away watching renowned chefs competing against and celebrating with each other on TV, and how it reminded me of sportsmanship. At culinary school, I started out with a concentration in French cuisine, but when Yuji Wakiya, a Chinese chef who I had seen on Iron Chef, came to our school as a lecturer, I was amazed at the way his dishes were beautifully presented and arranged like French course dining. After I graduated, I ended up joining his company.
I worked at different types of restaurants run by Chef Wakiya, including Turandot Yusenkyo (which has since closed permanently), two restaurants in Akasaka, and international locations in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Then, I spent six years at Rensoutei in Hakata Ward, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture. When I returned to Tokyo, I served as the chef at dots, a casual Chinese restaurant located where ON the TABLE CHINESE is now. After a year, I left to open my own restaurant. I still keep in touch with Chef Wakiya, who taught me everything I know — not only cooking techniques and concepts but also customer service, employee engagement, and restaurant management. I am also grateful for the friendship and support I was afforded in my time at his company. In fact, before this place was converted, it was an office used by the owner of the building where dots used to be.
Reimagining Nouvelle Chinois: Creativity Ignited by the Essence of Chinese Cuisine
Having worked under Chef Wakiya for years, the cooking style I’ve developed is based on Shanghai and Nouvelle Chinois cuisine, but I am also aware of the need to reinterpret what I’ve learned to suit different needs and the preferences of diners in different age groups. Also, now that I work independently, I cook what I’ve always wanted to: playful dishes that evoke the essence of Chinese cuisine, like focaccia made from bao dough, pâté de campagne made with Chinese spices, Spanish omelet with a touch of Japanese pepper, and Chinese-inspired appetizers that pair well with wine.
During my six years in Fukuoka, I visited many producers in the Kyushu region, and they were a great source of inspiration for me. To this day, I still source a lot of my ingredients from Kyushu. Even after returning to Tokyo, I am insistent about personally selecting the ingredients for my cooking by visiting producers in person and tasting their products for myself. When I develop menu items, I talk with the producers about what the ingredients will be used for and how they will be cooked.
I mostly use ingredients that are produced domestically and that I select personally for my restaurant. For example, our Chinese chives, which are tasty down to the stalks, come from Masuda Farm in Nishikata Town, Tochigi Prefecture, and our fresh, flavorful ginger and large Omasari peanuts are sourced from Nakagome Farm in Yachimata City, Chiba Prefecture. Though we now import some Chinese ingredients, like Shanghai crab, I am also exploring alternative recipes to replace them with local Japanese ingredients (such as Japanese mitten crab).
Differentiating Between Japanese and Chinese Rice
We use rice not only for menu items like fried rice, clay pot rice, and steamed glutinous rice dishes, but also to make rice flour. For that reason, the versatility of the rice is more important than the brand. Currently, we use two different varieties of rice in our recipes: Koshihikari rice from Masuda Farm (which I mentioned earlier as the producer of our Chinese chives) and basmati rice from China. The Koshihikari rice from Masuda Farm is distinctive for its large grains and delicate sweetness; it is obvious that it is produced naturally.
We use Koshihikari rice for our congee and for our rice with shark fin and starchy sauce, both of which are part of our prix-fixe courses. We make our congee by stir-frying raw rice with spring onion oil until the grains crack, then adding boiled water so it can absorb the flavor of the oil. We season it very simply — just salt — but it’s very tasty, with a note of sweetness from the cracked grains. It’s such a simple dish that the quality of the Japanese rice becomes very obvious. For the rice with shark fin and starchy sauce, the sticky texture of Japanese rice pairs well with the thick starchy sauce on the shark fin. Unfortunately, basmati rice does not go well with my starchy sauce, but it’s flavorful in a way that highlights the rich taste of my mapo doufu (tofu in a spicy meat gravy), which is seasoned with Chinese spices.
We have both types of rice ready so customers who order a bowl of rice can choose whichever they prefer.
Unnoticed in its Ubiquity: Appreciation for an Important Staple Food
Japanese rice is valued for its delicate sweetness and rich flavor. Newly harvested rice is particularly sweet, but I personally prefer the mature sweetness that develops two or three months after harvest. I was born and raised in Chiba, surrounded by rice paddies, and during the harvest season, the scent of rice was carried on the wind. I remember that it had so much depth that I could tell whether I was smelling table rice or sake rice. Another characteristic of Japanese rice is that it tastes good even when it’s cold.
Rice is an essential staple food for Japanese people, but it’s also so ubiquitous that we fail to properly appreciate it. I think it’s important to raise awareness of the ingredient itself and of the people who produce it. Even though it’s a staple food that we eat almost every day, we don’t know how it is produced and delivered to us. Most consumers are unaware of the challenges faced by producers who are trying to provide quality rice despite the escalating effects of climate change. I came to understand these difficulties firsthand when I went from being a wine lover to a certified sommelier. This year, Japan even faced a shortage of rice. Of course, it’s not just rice producers; all farmers are working year-round in severe conditions. Some Japanese farmers are adaptable and are determined to realize their ambitions, but unfortunately, some cannot make it no matter how hard they work. I think that we as consumers should have a strong sense of urgency to change this situation.
I’ve been wondering what I can do as a chef to ensure that all ingredients, including rice that doesn’t meet standards, are properly valued, not only for their flavors, but also for the effort it takes to produce them. I’ve been given the opportunity to experience rice cultivation, from planting to harvesting, and, while I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “dietary education,” I’m exploring how to work together with producers to raise consumer awareness from a young age.
Growing Interest in Japanese Rice
Some of our customers come from outside Japan, and they seem to eat rice as a course in the meal rather than as a staple food or the finale. In Japanese and Chinese culture, people often share food from the same plates, while in Western culture, people usually eat individual dishes. They eat mindfully and enjoy all aspects of the dining experience, including the dishware, the presentation, the textures, and the flavors. While branded rice has a hold on the Japanese, our overseas guests are more interested and inquisitive about its terroir (all aspects of the natural environment where a food is grown).
While Sichuan and other inland provinces favor a complex combination of spices, Shanghai cuisine is flavored simply, with just salt, soy sauce, and a fermented bean curd called furu. For that reason, it pairs exceptionally well with white rice. The recipe I’ve shared here pairs so well that it basically makes the rice vanish from the table. Japanese rice is also perfect for mixed rice dishes because of its high water content and water retention capacity. Just add it to a frying pan with your favorite ingredients and cook it like paella, and you’ll end up with something very tasty, even if you don’t consider yourself a white rice person. I hope this recipe will encourage you to learn more about Japanese rice.
Recommended dish
Kuroge Wagyu Beef Stir-Fried with Black Vinegar (served as a main course) 黒毛和牛の黒酢炒め（コース料理の一品として提供）
Our specialty, Kuroge Wagyu Beef Stir-fried with Black Vinegar, is served as a main course. It consists of tender beef fillet with sweetened vinegar sauce like sweet and sour pork. It’s served atop a gratin (dauphinois) of potatoes and soy milk, which has a gentle, creamy flavor that highlights the rich harmony between the beef and the sweetened vinegar. It’s also garnished with herbs and edible chrysanthemum. The entire ensemble is enhanced by a sauce made with fresh Chinese chives and Chinese pickles, thrilling the taste buds by elevating the stir-fry to more than the sum of its parts.
