Japanese made easy
Celebrity chef ADAM LIAW shares his favourite quick-and-simple recipes
A uthor of The Zen Kitchen Adam Liaw celebrates his native cuisine and culture with his easy-toprepare Japanese dishes. Here, he talks about his food philosophy.
Who inspired your love of cooking?
When I was younger, it was my grandma and my parents who really showed me how important food is to connecting with people, and now it’s my own family – my wife and kids – who really make me want to cook better every day.
What is your home kitchen like?
It’s really big and open plan with our living area, which means our life revolves around what happens in the kitchen, from breakfast to chatting over dinner in the evening.
What would we always find in your fridge?
Homemade stock – I make chicken stock every week. No matter what cuisine you’re making, stock is fundamental and I always make it myself. It’s a lot cheaper and tastier than commercial stocks.
Most useful kitchen gadget?
My knife sharpener. Whether you’ve got cheap knives or expensive ones, you need to maintain them. A 10-second run through one of those wheel sharpeners every couple of days is all it takes.
How important is healthy eating to you?
Hugely important. Having kids, I’m always very wary that I’m not just trying to look after my own health, but every meal we have is teaching them a relationship with food that they’ll carry through their whole lives.
What do you whip up if time is tight?
The best bang for your buck is Asian greens with oyster sauce. Some boiling salted water, a dash of oil and a glug of oyster sauce and you’ve got a dish of greens in less than three minutes that costs about $2.