Have you ever seen someone eat and thought, “That’s not how you’re supposed to do it”? Nick Kemp recalls a moment from his time as a trainee chef in Tokyo when he witnessed a chef eating in a way that seemed odd to him at first. The chef would have food in his mouth—whether it was eggplant (nasu) or chicken—and then continue adding rice to it. At first, Nick thought it was a strange and unrefined way of eating.
But then, he realized this was actually kou-nai-chou-mi, or "cooking in the mouth." In this video, Nick explores this unique food practice.
Experience ‘cooking in the mouth’
Nick: This actually reminded me of a memory I had back way back in '95. So back in 1995, I actually went to Tokyo as a trainee chef, and I worked at this chain kushikyu. And it was kushiyaki, the chain's no longer here, but they were part of shoya. So I think shoya is an izakaya chain.
I remember the chef eating on a break, and he would put in, he might be eating nasu, like egg plants, or some chicken or something. And still, while he had food in his mouth, he was adding rice. And I thought that it was actually like a bad way of eating. "Why is this guy adding food to his mouth when it's already full?" And I just had this memory when I read that and thought, wow, that's what he was doing, this kou-nai-chou-mi.
Well, I'm going to try that. So next time I'm eating Japanese, I'll try to remember to mix the rice and other other kazu, and see if I can have this cooking in the mouth as you describe it, kou-nai-chou-mi.