Nikkei cuisine conquers the world

Nikkei cuisine is the result of a specific cultural encounter: the arrival of Japanese immigrants in Peru from 1899, and the adaptation those families made of their techniques and flavours upon encountering ingredients completely different from those of their homeland. The result was not a simple overlay but an authentic fusion in which Japanese techniques of precision, respect for the raw ingredient and the aesthetics of the cut combined with the intensity of Peruvian chillies, the acidity of lime, and the umami of miso and soy.

Salmon ceviche with ponzu sauce, tuna tiradito with aji amarillo and ginger, rice pudding with coconut milk and mochi: these dishes do not exist in either of the two original cuisines. They are creations that could only be born from that clash and assimilation, and their quality explains why chefs like Nobu Matsuhisa — with his restaurants in cities across the world — brought nikkei cuisine to the most demanding markets on the globe before it even had that name.

Lima became the most active laboratory of this current. Restaurants like Maido, by chef Mitsuharu Tsumura, consistently occupy the top positions on lists of the world's best restaurants. The success of Maido and other high-end nikkei restaurants in Lima sparked global interest that is taking the cuisine to new cities: Madrid, Tokyo, New York, São Paulo. The irony is that a fusion born from the necessity of immigration became one of the most coveted gastronomic concepts of the 21st century.