Chef Manato Ueno
The savoir-faire from the inimitable Edomae nigiri omakase experience has emerged as a novel paradigm of dining with SUSHIDAN at MGM Macau’s Rossio under the leadership of Chef Manato Ueno. It is an evolution of renowned sushi restaurant Hakkoku in Tokyo by Chef Hiroyuki Sato, Chef Manato greets diners with traditions of Edomae nigiri omakase experience — a substantial aspect of quintessence Japanese dining culture — fused with playful twists of his own that captures modern-day whims and palettes.
Showcasing the art of perfecting balance among traditions, taste and visual appetite through honed craftsmanship, chef makes sure every single piece of nigiri served is precisely made with utmost attention to detail and great respect to traditions. Chef Manato prepares two different mixtures of Shari, sushi rice. They are seasoned by his own vinegar blends, which compose by several white and red vinegar, with young-aged and long-aged blends to form the mellow aftertaste. Every grain of the shari is coated with a ruby shine that balances the umami, fattiness, sourness, and saltiness.
Chef Manato joins hands with Japanese Rice Master to curate special blend for its rice grain. The blend are formulated by different types of grains sourced from various Japanese prefectures according to their species, maturity and season of harvest, to harmonise moisture, texture and chewiness for the shari.
No variety of wasabi is as revered as the reddish-purple stemmed Mazuma Wasabi, where it can only be grown in the “Grand Cru” region, Shizuoka in Japan, where extremely particular perennial temperature and water are supplied. SUSHIDAN sources the highest graded Mazuma Wasabi which offers unique fragrance, creaminess, mild spiciness, and a delicate, sweet aftertaste.
All of these works put into perfecting the Shari is to bring forth the freshness from the finest catch of each season –though Chef Manato physically locates in Macau, he still adheres his decade-old practice of contacting his Japanese fish suppliers from Tokyo’s Toyosu Fish Market every early morning to reserve the top-quality catch. One highlight would be the Tuna Tosaki, the flavourful part of meat located at tuna’s neck, and there is only one percent of neck meat from a fish of tuna. This makes the cut even more rare than the sought-after Otoro, tuna belly. With the chef’s experienced fish handling techniques, fish-aging, curing, to name a few, Chef Manato strives to impress his guests by thoughtfully eliciting the peak flavour of every kind of fish served in SUSHIDAN’s omakase dinner.
