The Quiet Force Behind Ezo Seafoods – Keiko Takaoka

※日本語訳は英語本文の下にあります。 

In this blog I wanted to share some of my admiration for Keiko, the quiet force behind everything at Ezo Seafoods, which has operated in Niseko since 2009, and in Japan's Izu Peninsula since 2015. 

In particular, I wanted to focus on Keiko's role as head chef over the years, and some of the surprising qualities that make her such an impressive presence in the kitchen:

1. Keiko never spends money on high-end knives or other kitchen equipment. Keiko has a collection of generic Western and Japanese kitchen knives which she has used forever. Her main vegetable knife was actually promotional giveaway! I have encouraged her to upgrade to professional-grade knives, but she shows no interest. The same goes for her pots and pans — she has a comprehensive collection, but there is nothing expensive or brand-name about it. She says the expensive ones are too heavy. When something needs replacing, she simply buys it from the local home center. Similarly, she has no interest in the latest gadgets, or any sentimentality about her tools; kitchen utensils exist only on the periphery of her cooking world.
   

2. Keiko doesn't waste a thing in the kitchen. Whether it's the hardened wick of a cabbage or the frilly collar of a scallop, almost nothing edible gets thrown away in Keiko's kitchen.* Similarly, the hot water that vegetables is boiled in is never thrown down the drain -- the flavored water might be useful in a soup; otherwise it remains on standby for another round of boiling. It is frugal mindset, but more than that, she has a knowledge of and respect for produce — a result of growing up on the family farm and helping out in the kitchen from a very young age. Much of what she knows was simply passed down from her mother. Her no-waste approach embodies the Japanese concept of mottainai, or 'too good to waste.'
   

3. Keiko is a culinary engineer. What does that mean, you ask? I can best describe it by what happens when Keiko sits down for a meal in a restaurant. Whatever dishes are presented, Keiko will inevitably get to work quietly  reengineering it to suit her tastes. She daintily combines whatever is available -- sauces, condiments or ingredients -- creating something new, or just a bit better (at least in her view). This approach of synthesizing ingredients and culinary influences is at the core of Keiko's cooking world.
   

4. Keiko’s kitchen is a flavour garden. I could call it a flavour lab, but that conjures up test tubes and lab coats. I think of Keiko’s kitchen as more like a garden, with any number of flavour projects being seeded, nurtured or maturing. Herbs such as rosemary and basil are continually being infused into oils to have on hand for dressings; shio koji — a mixture of rice, salt and water — is continually fermenting, ready to add an extra layer of flavour to whatever she is cooking; the ripened konbu seaweed used to age sashimi fillets will later be julienned and find its way into a salad rather than being thrown away; and if there is any ‘collateral flavour’ — such as the milky-white liquid released by scallops, or the flavourful oil left behind after cooking Japanese-style omelettes — that too will find its way into something else to add umami yuminess. 
   

Beyond the cooking, Keiko's leadership skills & personality also deserve attention.

5. She remains calm no matter what the crisis. Keiko can fix almost any ‘fail' in the kitchen. If something is too sweet, sour or salty, she calmly gets to work, finding a way to bring it back into balance. Similarly, when the kitchen is being swamped by new orders and some problem emerges out of left field threatening to sink the ship, Keiko shifts up a couple of gears, leaving the rest of us to follow her lead, with awe and total respect.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      In 18 years of working together, the only time I have seen her get visibly upset was when one staff member treated another unkindly. (Well, there was that oyster-throwing incident back in 2010, but the less said about that the better.)

6. Keiko loves cleaning. Keiko performs a quick but thorough clean up of any rubbish in the vicinity of the shop every day before starting work at 5pm. And at 9pm, after performing literally hundreds of tasks, I am amazed to see her with her head down mopping the kitchen floors. She delegates for sure, and has a 20-point list for staff to follow, but she sets the standards personally to ensure that Ezo is always spic and span.

7. Keiko never, ever seeks the limelight. Customers rave about her dishes, and she is certainly happy that her efforts are appreciated, but Keiko is far too pragmatic to spend a second soaking up praise (this is something I have a skill for). 

Since we shifted to a sushi and seafood takeout shop in Niseko several years ago, Keiko comes in later than in the old days. Sushi preparation is left to our junior partners, Yui Koshiba and Keita Egami (pictured below), both Edomae-trained sushi chefs who, between them, have worked under Keiko for more than 10 years. But Keiko is still a daily presence in the shop, preparing new sauces and sushi toppings, helping out at the shop counter, and guiding and passing on her wisdom to the staff. She still has the final word on anything to do with flavour and presentation. 

These days, Keiko is Ezo’s nonna — the heart and soul of the kitchen.

*(FYI, the cabbage core is finely sliced and mixed with onions and stir fried into a pasta topping).