27 Lake St, Northbridge
Ph: (08) 9328 2177
www.midoriteppan.com.au
Japanese Cuisine With Flair
Impressive would be the word to sum up an evening of indulgence, with a subtle hint of extreme. This is my kind of food delivery, aiming to impress a guest audience, focussing only on good fresh produce, stylishly cooked in front of you.
With a not so serious atmosphere and far beyond impressive service, Midori is the place to wow the young at heart. It’s hard not to have fun, while sharing food over a cold Asahi (Japanese beer). It really does set the mood for entertainment.
Teppanyaki is a style of Japanese Cuisine using an iron griddle on which the food is cooked. The Japanese term is derived from teppan, meaning iron plate and yaki meaning grilled, broiled or pan-fried.
The concept of teppanyaki, founded in the early to mid twentieth century to adapt to the western culture, ironically became less popular with the Japanese but increasingly popular with Australians and Europeans. Westerners enjoyed watching both the skilled maneuvers of the chefs preparing the food as well as the cuisine itself. Australians have accepted it as a great restaurant for all occasions – a fun night out sharing laughter and exciting food.
Though times may have changed, some things have remained the same such as the set menu, which will always be the signature of the restaurant. Such a menu leaves you with cravings for that barbequed, caramelized garlic and soy, time and time again.
Perhaps you may wonder if you can do it yourself at home on the BBQ in the comfort of your own home…. well yes you can but rest assured it’ll never taste the same. The grill plate must always be immaculate before any ingredient touches its surface. Chef Evan Bang says keeping it at around 150 degrees is important, “it’s the key to controlled cooking” he said. The flair of this chef in front of the Teppan, reminded me of an experienced DJ or bartender with all the tricks of the trade.
We watch Chef Evan turn up the heat and begin his set menu with a melody of julienne vegetables and bean sprouts with miso sauce. It’s so refreshing and light while full of complementary flavours, that I’m familiar with.
As I slowly take pleasure in this first dish on the Teppan, the Kimono dressed waitress places Tempura King Prawns, white miso broth, sashimi, nigiri and salad in front of me, deliciously distractacting me from Evan.
Spinning an egg on a bent spatula, he flips the egg cracking it open, leaving the shell on the spatulas edge with the egg perfectly frying on the Teppan. With sliced garlic browning and koshikari cold rice frying on the pan grill, Evan furiously slices the egg with the sharp spatula tossing it into the rice pile along with the caramelized garlic slithers. Finishing off with light soy, this is then served on a rectangular plate between you and the grill. The rice was full of flavour, not overpowering, allowing the core ingredients to follow through.
We then enjoy a selection of recipes including WA Cray fish grilled with garlic butter, chicken thighs with mirrin and soy, braised beef heated gently on the grill and teriyaki fillet steak.
I recently had the pleasure to cook similar dishes at a Teppan function I had and now I can really appreciate the skill of having everything perfectly cooked with creative flair and having all flavours matching and blending harmoniously with one another.
As a grand finale Chef Evan writes “Thank You” and “Happy Birthday” with salt on the hot plate just for us which would later be used to clean the hot plate. Departing with a bow, Chef Evan left us to enjoy the indulgence of flawlessly grilled delights, leaving us with a lasting memory that will bring us back to Midori.
By Bonny Stylesto
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