Fascination with Japanese food drives Racine native’s career
Tim Anderson’s path to restaurateur and cookbook author is anything but typical. A Racine native, he became the winner of “MasterChef UK” in 2011.
That led to his first cookbook and the opening of his 80-seat restaurant, Nanban, in London’s Brixton neighborhood.
Growing up in Racine, Anderson didn’t find much Japanese food or history. Looking back, he thinks that may have influenced his fascination with the country and its food. The Prairie School alumnus studied Japanese history and food culture at Occidental College in Los Angeles. In 2005, he moved to Japan for research that became his senior thesis. He extended his stay and in 2006 he entered a program teaching English in Japan. He chose to live in a town known for its ramen.
Nanban is known not only for ramen, but also for a menu of modern and traditional Japanese dishes. Looking to introduce new audiences to the dishes he’s come to love, Anderson simplifies and explains his approach to Japanese food with his newest cookbook, “JapanEasy: Classic and Modern Japanese Recipes to
Cook at Home” (Hardie Grant Books, $29.99). His focus is on simple recipes with ingredients you can find anywhere, with the goal of getting people to cook at home.
Anderson, 33, lives in London with his wife, Laura. He spoke with us while in Racine visiting his parents. You can watch him in action on YouTube.com (search Tim Anderson Japan Easy).
Question: How did a kid from Racine end up opening a restaurant in London and writing a cookbook about Japanese food?
Answer: I think the fact that we didn’t have any Japanese food in Racine was part of the appeal. The first time I saw it was on “Iron Chef,” which came out when I was about 14. “Iron Chef ” blew my mind, both the type of cooking and the food. When I first got into Japanese food, I liked it because it was weird and different.
When I was in high school, we’d go up to Izumi’s about once a month and do a movie at the Oriental. I’d drive to Mitsuwa, the market in Arlington Heights; they also had a Japanese CD store. I’d spend a lot of money there.
Q: How did you approach writing this cookbook?
A: Nowadays, there are a lot of Japanese dishes that are hard and you can’t do quickly on a weekday, or may require obscure ingredients. I was brainstorming recipes, mainly easy recipes, things that didn’t require special equipment.
So much Japanese cooking is simple, inherently. The example I give is sashimi. It is hardly even a dish, just great seafood, sliced, a little soy sauce, a little wasabi, incredibly simple and delicious.
I know a big hurdle a lot of people have is getting ingredients, but you can get almost all you need at a basic supermarket.
There’s also now Pacific Produce in Milwaukee. I was actually just there, and it is actually better than most of the Asian markets in London. It has an incredible selection. If they don’t have it, you are so far into Japanese food you probably have your own source.
Q: What is the appeal behind Japanese cooking?
A: Japanese cooking is very simple, short lists of ingredients. It is about taking a good piece of fish or meat and cooking it simply. They don’t have a baking or roasting or stewing tradition. Food tends to be quick-cooking. They don’t have ovens in Japan, most places, so you are not going to have dishes that take a long time to cook.
Q: You talk about making rice. Why is washing the rice an integral part of the process?
A: There is too much starch on rice before you cook it. People used to do it because rice was actually dirty, with sand and stones, but now it is to get the starch off. You don’t have to wash the rice, but you end up with better quality if you wash it.
Q: How did you end up as a chef with a restaurant in the UK?
A: I kind of fell into it. “MasterChef ” in the UK has been there for a long time, and in 2008 when I got there I started watching it. I decided to apply without really thinking about it. I just thought it would be fun.
I got on, surprise, and then I won, even bigger surprise. You don’t get cash or anything, but there’s a lot of publicity, so these opportunities started coming up. That led to the first cookbook and the restaurant, and now the second cookbook.
It was never part of a plan. I was just working in the beer business, and I’d probably be still running a pub or working at a brewery if it weren’t for “MasterChef.”
Q: What are the cookbooks you turn to for inspiration?
A: The one I think is most important is “Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art” (by Shizuo Tsuji, 2012). It is the closest thing to a Japanese cooking encyclopedia in English.
Q: What is your kitchen must-have?
A: There was a guy selling frying pans on the street in Osaka. It is called Fry Panda, a frying pan with a panda painted on the bottom. It was $12, and it is a pretty good pan.
Q: Coming back to Wisconsin, what’s a food you seek out?
A: The pizza at Wells Brothers. We don’t have pizza like that in London. Burgers are better here, too. The best is Kewpee (Sandwich Shop in Racine).
Q: Do you get any visitors from Wisconsin at the restaurant?
A: I always like it when people from Wisconsin come to visit the restaurant, and if they let me know I’ll get them a beer.