FOOD & BEVERAGE | Aji first to showcase Nikkei cuisine

Chef Mitsuharu Tsumura

Combining traditional Peruvian cuisine with Japanese techniques, Aji at MGM Cotai is the first local restaurant to showcase the unique Nikkei cuisine.

Peru’s star Chef Mitsuharu Tsumura uses delicacy and refinement of different techniques and ingredients at MGM’s restaurant.

Aji, overlooking MGM Cotai’s Spectacle, offers a variety in the menu that focuses on both Peru’s and Japan’s best ingredients, namely ceviche dishes.

As a starter, the restaurant offers “Cebiche Conchas Negras,” which features akagai clam, chullpi com, chalaca and black tiger milk served on a cold plate.

One of the restaurant’s highlights includes its “Octopus Anticucho,” a grilled octopus skewer served over causa potato and olive emulsion.

According to the chef, the restaurant’s delicacies reflect the fusion of culture that has made Peru a global food capital.

“We have done many things. We have brought many signature dishes from Maido. At the same time we have created recipes and plates which are much more Peruvian,” the chef explained during a media meet and greet.

“Since we are in Asia, people know a lot about Japan but not about Peru. So building a cuisine with more Peruvian flavors is a way for people to understand Peru,” Chef Tsumura added.

Octopus Anticucho

Short Rib 50 hours

Tofu Cheesecake

Aji’s “Short Rib 50 Hours” is one highlight, featuring a 50-hour sous vide Kagoshima beef short rib, nitsuke sauce, creamy native potato with rice naan, egg yolk and a gel named Aji.

“That is the name of our restaurant Aji – which means ‘taste’ in Japanese and chili pepper’ in Peruvian. We blend our spice and spiciness with local ingredients,” he added.

According to the chef, a number of Peruvian dishes are also significantly influenced by Chinese flavors.

“There are also Chinese flavors so I think it’s a marriage between Peru, Japan and China,” he said.

Explaining the source of chili peppers, Chef Tsumura explained, “There is a story that the original point of entry of chili peppers to Asia was in fact Macau – by the Portuguese.”

Meanwhile, the unique Tofu Cheesecake served with ice cream, sweet potato, breadcrumb sand, apple with wakame, mango, burgundy grape tapioca and soymilk should not be missed.

Chef Tsumura owns ‘Maido’ in Lima, a Nikkei concept that ranked 8th in the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2017.

The restaurant’s dining room features organic shapes and textures, and the ceviche and sushi counter allows guests to be up close with chefs preparing seafood.

Aji’s pisco and sake bar also mixes some of the best Peruvian-inspired cocktails outside Lima.

Prices range from MOP200 to MOP650.