Pinoy cuisine gets Nobu-fied

In town last week was Nobu New York executive chef Ricky Estrellado, a Filipino who teamed up with Fil-Am Nobu Manila head chef Michael De Jesus for a two-night omakase (a meal where one leaves it up to the chef) gastronomic dinner. They interpreted classic Filipino dishes in the manner of their mentor, world-renowned Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa.

Chef Ricky has been with Nobu for 22 years and is the executive chef in New York, overseeing both Nobu New York in Tribeca and Nobu Next Door along Hudson Street. Chef Michael, a Fil-Am who grew up in the US, started his nine-year career with Nobu’s Los Angeles restaurant then worked in Nobu Las Vegas immediately before coming to Nobu Manila early this year.

It was an indulgent eight-course menu, to say the least, showcasing Nobu’s sleight-of-hand interpretations of Filipino classic dishes.

Not counted as a course but nevertheless whetting our appetites was a zensai (bite-size beer/sake chow,) a crispy gyoza cone filled with sisig foie gras wrapped with a shiso leaf. The mere mention of sisig and foie gras together in one dish elicited a lot of excitement within my round table of eight, but alas, the bite-size cone was a tad too tiny for it to make a statement. Perhaps that was the intention, though, to tease our appetites and pine for more. We’re in Nobu, after all, where refinement and subtlety are the name of the game.

Following immediately was the first course of Seared Tuna Kinilaw with Ceviche Gelee — red onions, kyuri (wasabi sprouts), tomatoes and chili chopped up served tartar style; and then another kinilaw of Lapu-Lapu and Green Papaya Salad wrapped in Shiso Crepe (like a fresh lumpia roll), with jalapeño and Matsuhisa dressing.

One of Nobu’s signature dishes, Yellowtail New Style, was reintroduced with a green mango salsa, while the fourth course of Spiny Lobster Tempura sitting on a daikon medallion was served tableside with piping hot Miso Sinigang Consommé.

The meat entrees were a crisp-skin and tender-soft-meat Sous Vide Crispy Pata with Amazu Ponzu and Rencon Laing (Brussels sprouts cooked the Bicolano way with coconut milk-based taro leaves), and Beef Short Ribs Kare-Kare Anticucho, a Peruvian barbecue marinade mixed with peanut butter. The must-have condiment of bagoong alamang or shrimp paste for the kare-kare came ingeniously in the guise of a small cracker of crisp dried tatami iwashi, dried baby sardines similar to our dulong (goby fish) brushed with the shrimp paste. Though both were equally good, rice was missed in both, which I personally feel was necessary to cut down the richness of the two dishes in succession.

But rice finally came in the seventh course with an array of five kinds of sushi. It’s a play of local ingredients and seasonings prepared to look like your normal Japanese sushi, but that’s where the similarity ends. The light Nobu hand with seasonings remained evident throughout — a play of Pinoy panlasa (palate) of subtle sour, sweet and salty. Served on a rectangular plate were Saba Tinapa Style (smoked local hasa-hasa or short mackerel), Tuna Toyomansi (soy sauce and calamansi extract), Whitefish Sharsado Style, Salay Salay Paksiw (yellow-striped scad simmered in vinegar), and Mixed Seafood Kilawin Taco (crisp sinangag or garlic fried rice.)

And to cap off our meal was the Nobu-Style Water halo-halo — finely shaved frozen coconut water with red adzuki beans, fresh sesame mocha and yuzu jelly. Condensed milk was poured over it. It was a light and refreshingly sweet ending to the dinner’s delightful experience.

Meet The Estrellado Family

Though chef Ricky has been living in New York for more than 20 years now, he still considers Manila home. Since 2010, after his father, the late Major General Rodolfo “Rudy” Estrellado (former PMA superintendent) died, he and his family — wife Pam and daughter Pia — have been coming home every August to be with mama Erlinda (nee Del Mar Talaid) for her birthday on Aug. 8, as well as his on Aug. 21, hence the timing of the above Nobu-fied Pinoy festival. His elder brother Randy’s birthday (COO of Maynilad) falls on Aug. 27, while only sister Roxanne (who has a master’s in special education) was born July 28. Their bunso, Rodolfo, Junior “JR” (a rehab doctor) celebrates on April 19. The accomplished, close-knit siblings celebrate “Mama’s Day” the whole month of August by being with her.

I’ve known Roxanne for the past 10 years or so, since she moved to our hometown Angeles City when she married a kabalen, Francis Limjoco, a brother-in-law of my niece, Monica Tinio. This is what Roxanne shared about kuya Ricky’s culinary path:

“We grew up in Metro Manila. Our meals were just simple home-cooked dishes. But when our parents left for Tokyo in 1986, with Papa’s assignment as military attaché there, our Mama brought with them my yaya, who cooked our daily meals. My two older brothers Randy and Ricky were left to take care of us two younger siblings with a helper who only cooked two kinds of dishes. To compensate, kuya Ricky began experimenting in the kitchen. He was in college then, taking up computer science in DLSU. I don’t think being a chef was his dream, at least initially. He started cooking for himself, then for his friends. Then he began looking for jobs in the kitchen — any kitchen. He even worked at Goodah! for P50 a day!

“I think he was working in a food company catering to some airlines when he decided this was what he really wanted to do, dropping the computer science degree altogether. He asked my parents if he could go to a culinary school in the US, since there were no culinary schools yet locally then. Papa was against it at first; not only it was expensive, but he didn’t want his son to become a ‘kusinero.’ Eventually, our Mama was able to convince Papa. Since we had an aunt living in New York, Ricky stayed with her and enrolled at the New York Restaurant School. He eventually graduated at the top of his class in 1994. We couldn’t be any prouder, especially our Papa.”

After graduation, he worked briefly at the acclaimed Montrachet restaurant in Tribeca owned by restaurateur Drew Nieporent. He was asked to join Nieporent’s new Nobu New York kitchen, where he was drawn to Nobu’s new-style Japanese cuisine that has won virtually every major culinary accolade. He soon rose up the ranks from prep cook to chef de cuisine. He likewise trained the culinary staff at Nobu Next Door in 1998 and Nobu Las Vegas in 1999. Since 2005, he has been overseeing the hot kitchens of Nobu New York and Nobu Next Door as executive chef.

Enter Chef Michael De Jesus

Having crossed the “senior” threshold officially last Aug. 7, my small family of three hied off to Nobu Manila at the City of Dreams. For months I’ve been deliberating whether to celebrate this milestone with a big bang or just a whisper, finally deciding on the latter. Falling on a Sunday, what better way to celebrate that most special day with intimate company than at Nobu’s Sunday brunch buffet, with an option to choose the unlimited Möet & Chandon Imperial Champagne brunch, at that.

With today’s cutthroat competition in the buffet category, where “volume for money” seems to be the rule rather than the exception, very few establishments in the metropolis come out of the heap with their integrity intact. Nobu sits on top of the heap. Quality is paramount, following chef Nobu’s light and refined ways of preparing food — especially seafood. Nobu is known for his fusion cuisine blending traditional Japanese dishes with Peruvian ingredients.

This is where we met chef Michael, who joined City of Dreams Manila in January of this year. With nine years’ experience at Nobu restaurants and a total of 20 years in the kitchen, his current position at Nobu Manila allows him to infuse Filipino ingredients and methods into Nobu-style dishes.

Two international Filipino chefs coming home and rediscovering their culinary roots — haven’t I been telling everyone that Filipino chefs will rule the culinary world sooner than we think?

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Nobu Manila is located in the Nobu Hotel, City of Dreams, Aseana Ave, Parañaque City. Reservations are recommended. Call 691-2882, 691-2885, or email NobuRestaurant@cod-manila.com.