Pan Asian, ITC Maratha (Mumbai)

Does you palate get seduced when you are watching a dish being cooked live? Is it not pure pleasure when you sit in front of a kitchen platform, a bubbling pot or sizzling pan of your meal is slowly being transformed into a treat, the scents of the ingredients subtly envelope your senses and your brain registers and fine tunes your appetite to crave for that very dish…

This is exactly how you will feel when you visit Pan Asian, ITC Maratha’s Asian cuisine restaurant considered a true haven for the ultimate Asian experience. Helmed by the humble, passionate and uber talented Executive Chef – Chef Liang and flanked by two of the best picks who put up a show like true magicians behind the many islands of kitchen at this restaurant. Chef Wang hypnotizes you with his fresh hand pulled noodle making skills and Chef Kazuhiro Koizumi the Japanese wizard behind the Sushi counter.

I had an afternoon to myself with all the three masters and we did a bit of island hopping from their teppanyaki counter to the sushi mats to the noodle bar all in all an exhaustive experience into the fine cuisine of Asia. ITC holds this brand very close to its heart, due to the mastery wielded by the people who are behind the kitchens, the flavors, ingredients, skills, techniques are all picked from the source and thus gives you the complete experience.

India has come to terms with Asian food over many years, but the transition from what suited our palate to authentic food has quickly churned up a delightful array of restaurants one can pick and choose from in metro cities. The only advantage Pan Asian has over other standalone or 5 star inhabited restaurants is that its built around three interactive kitchens and dishes out delectable fare from China, Thailand, Mongolia, Korea and Japan an all in all trip around the Asian world of food.

From the Teppanyaki and Yakitori styles of preparations to the Korean Bar-be-cues and Hot Pots or the Chinese and Thai Stir and Wok Fry to the Mongolian Brazier, Pan Asian is a one-stop destination for Asian food lovers, in Mumbai.

The vast expanse of this brightly lit restaurant instantly gives you the feel of sitting in a luxury East-inspired kitchen. The fragrance of fine South-East Asian cuisine wafts intermittently through the restaurant and the Chinese paper lamps, urns, bamboo shoots and other artifacts and motifs complete the feel.

Chef Wang, a native ofXi’an, the capital of theShaanxi province in centralChina initiated into art of noodle making at the age of 18 years is currently the noodle and dim sum chef. His quiet demeanor transforms into a magician as his hand vigorously starts pulling and stretching the dough. The rhythmic movement with a hint of twirling fastens as a piece of dough is repeatedly stretched and folded onto itself in order to align the glutens and warm up the dough for stretching. All this, while the diners are mesmerized by the show… He pulls the dough to about an arm span’s length then makes a loop with the dough, joining the two ends into one clump of dough, and inserts his fingers into the loop to keep the strand from sticking to itself. At the same time ensuring that the repetition is fractioning the thickness until he has achieved the desired strands. He explains that the end pieces of the starting dough are never used because the glutens are not as aligned as the middle pieces Sometimes he rubs the strands into flour between stretching to keep them separated or sometimes he flattens the dough on the counter, depending on the type of noodles. He specializes in making three types of noodles: super fine, medium and flat noodles. This had to be captured in video as you have to view and not visualize to truly imagine the skill Chef puts into making one noodle dish – of your preference.

Nonchalant Gourmand presents ITC Pan Asian from Nikita Modi on Vimeo.

Chef Kazuhiro Koizumi, the Japanese matt wielder is as deft as he is gentle with the fine raw seafood he handles. He says “When I was a kid, I had three options for what I would become when I grew up; a professor, a police man, or a cook. I chose to be a cook” and a wise decision indeed, even wiser that he is now stationed at Pan Asian.

A Japanese national from the city of Niigata, a port town of flowers and delicious cuisine, Chef Koizumi, derived his inspiration for cooking from his mother. He recounts how often he would watch his mother cook in the kitchen, and by the age of 12 he took matters to his hand, with the santoku (a kind of knife, a my personal favourite weapon in the kitchen too) and the agemono nabe. A jovial chef, he is also fascinating at the Teppan Yaki counter where he whips up some finger-licking delicious Japanese offerings. Koizumi, jokingly remarks sometimes that he has been inIndiafor a decade now, and he must probably be the only Japanese to do so.

His concentration behind his glass walled space (he is quite shy when it comes to taking photo’s but I guess we charmed him into a) entering his domain i.e. behind the glass walls and invading his space b) taking quick photos of him before he turns salmon red) resulted in a delectable array of the finest sushi and sashimi platter, with just the right dot of Wasabi and pickled ginger, he ensured we washed it down with excellent chilled sake from his very own hometown.

Chef is nice enough to show me the right way to roll a perfect Sushi Roll !

Moving on from here to the Teppanyaki counter, it was thrilling to see a normal piece of meat (chicken) turn into a finely chopped dish sizzled with a delightful sauce and served up right into your plate with a side of caramelized onions – hot and happening.

I focus my attention back to Chef Liang who is busy issuing instructions all around the restaurant with much gusto and chat with him a little bit about his journey (incidentally, he makes a special ‘beggars chicken’ a traditional dish which involves cooking a whole stuffed chicken in an oven wrapped well in layers of lotus stem leaves and finally covered with dough. This results in a full blown juicy, well spiced chicken which you extract from the dough (which is now turned into bread due to the baking) and can be eaten, carved well, its drippings mopped up with the bread it was covered in. A recipe which is not on the menu but can definitely be cooked up with advance notice and on special occasions. Well back to him going behind the counter himself while he whips up some specials keeping the flavours relatable to Indians in mind.

A bowl (huge) full of red chillies are placed on the table. The Basa filets are placed amidst the chilies and meanwhile Chef Liang heats up a vat full of light oil till boiling point. With a ladle, he quickly adds a ladleful of boiling hot oil onto the dried red chilies and instantly they double up like fry-ums and you have the rich, smoky flavor of spicy red chilies instantly infusing the basa with its delicious flavors and aroma, at the same time cooking the fish just right.

He cooks up (another favourite of mine) a smoky, crackling with spice Basa Peppercorn, a unique dish which involves a very interesting technique – read on:

Served up in individual portions with a few red chillies this dish is indulgent enough with its chewy chilies, fresh fish cooked right and smoky flavors.

He also introduces us to his Crackling Rice, a dish made up of fried rice (literally fried rice puffs) and topped with a sweet and sour chicken concoction, reminiscent of American Chopsuey we are used to but a realistic recipe made often in his home.

Fish and Chicken being some staples (apart from pork), he brings out another master dish. The Flambéed Crispy Sea Bass, a flower shaped sea bass (cut in the right places) is fried till crisp and added atop with a sweetish tomato flavored sauce, and flambéed with cognac. This gives out a unique flavor and plays hooky with your tongue with its sharp and sweet flavors.

Last but not the least (considering the extensive menu they have), the Toffee Apple is a must try and a clear winner. We are usually subjected to date puddings and honey noodles with ice-cream dishes. This dish takes the cake with its interesting batter fired apples, dipped in thick sugar syrup and pulled, poked, prodded into a glass with thin fine strings of sugar which entwine the fried dessert in its sweet web, an interesting variation to a quintessential eastern dessert.

Pan Asian is a true delight for Asian food lovers and the team cracks up an appetite you will be longing to sate with their innumerable selection of dishes and hospitality. Feel free to give your suggestions, preferences to the chefs when you meet them, they will ensure you the right dishes to indulge in.

Nonchalant Gourmand was accompanied by team mate – ace photographer Nikita Modi. Nikita is a freelance photographer who has her interest in food photography grounded for such exciting opportunities but also dabbles in exclusive Advertising and Fine Art Photography. She has completed her Masters in photography from Speos,Paris,France. You can see her works at:

Website – www.nikitamodi.com

Blog – http://blog.nikitamodi.com

All copyrights of the photographs are exclusive Nikita Modi Photography©

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