Convenience stores in Tokyo are magical
ELLA WALKER CHATS TO RESTAURATEUR TIM ANDERSON ABOUT HIS NEW COOKBOOK, TOKYO STORIES, A CULINARY LOVE LETTER TO THE BUZZING JAPANESE CITY’S CUISINE
THE thing about Tokyo, explains chef Tim Anderson, is that it’s so vertical. “It’s not just that it’s busy on one level, it’s busy in three dimensions – it’s a bonkers city.”
And that applies to the food as much as the architecture, hence why it’s the subject of the London-based, Wisconsin-born restaurateur’s latest cookbook, Tokyo Stories.
There are physical and geographical layers to Tokyo’s food, starting with the eclectic, hi-tech vending machines on the subway; the conbini convenience stores where you can order yakisoba pan (fried noodles in a bun) or rice balls; then the street food, like yakitori (chicken skewers), tempura and ramen.
Plus there’s Japanese home cooking (“Kitchens in Tokyo are very small. You might just have a microwave and a two-ring electric burner,” says Tim), followed by really fine Japanese dining, high-end stuff like kaiseki (multi-course dinners) and sushi, as well as regional foods.
“I wanted to get the whole range,” says Tim, who won MasterChef 2011, and who first visited Japan in 2002 after his parents bought him a package tour as a high school graduation present. “I was barely 18, and I remember Tokyo being so crowded and bright and crazy and just with so much going on that I was actually really intimidated by it.”
Now 34, he’s got a handle on Tokyo’s madcap culinary landscape, and uses his visits to explore “unusual parts of Tokyo to find different kinds of food”.
Tim, who runs Japanese soul food restaurant Nanban in South London, has been trying to track down specialities particular to the city – which was tough, because it turns out capitals don’t really have them.
“That’s partly because food is connected to agriculture, and there’s not really any agriculture in the city.” But outside of Tokyo’s most “bonkers” districts, he did unearth dishes specific to the fishing communities of Tokyo Bay, and also found that, actually, “it’s not crazy in some parts of town. Some parts of Tokyo are really serene and you can breathe, and there are parks, and school children and sky and old ladies.”
His main aim with Tokyo Stories is to convey the diversity of the food. “You can go to Tokyo, but also go to France,” he says. “There’s fantastic French food and Parisian bakeries.”
In fact, “there’s a lot of everything,” he says.
Most intriguing of all, perhaps, are the convenience stores, which Tim says are “very special”. “Sometimes I think they’re my favourite thing about Japan generally,” he adds.
Each branch receives multiple deliveries a day, so fresh produce is never on the shelf for long.
“And then they’re cooking in there too,” Tim buzzes. “You can get fried chicken in the convenience store! They take it out of hot cupboards, but they’re cooking throughout the day.”
Then there’s steamed buns and vats of dashi bobbing with vegetables, and bottled ice teas in every flavour.
“They’re magical places,” Tim declares.
He makes it sound like you’d struggle to find fault with any of the city’s food. “I’ve been to my fair share of bad ramen shops, it’s not like it’s a paradise of perfect food everywhere,” he concedes, “but it’s pretty close.”