Kitchen Stories: The wild and wacky story of Hashida’s rock star Japanese chef 'Hatch' after 10 years in Singapore

There is always something inscrutable about sushi chefs. They maintain an aloof distance behind the counter, carefully taking their seafoody bounty out from treasure boxes to inspect and putting them back again; brandishing their knives in ponderous silence; communing with vinegared rice in a secret language of the hands and eyes. As a diner, you sit in hushed reverence, keenly aware of the privilege of partaking of a sushi master’s skill and trying not to knock your tea over.  

But at Hashida, where chef Kenjiro Hashida is celebrating his 10th anniversary in Singapore this year, there is little best-behaviour ceremony. No matter how genteel the restaurant’s interiors may be, the 44-year-old’s laid-back nature, funny little fortune-cookie-style messages on the chopstick wrappers, and occasional dad joke delivered in a booming voice all put guests at home.

At dinner one evening, a waitress politely pointed out to my co-diner that the spoon she was using for her soup was in fact meant for another dish, and that spoons are not used for soup in traditional Japanese dining. Hashida, overhearing from behind the counter, immediately grabbed a second spoon and pushed it into her hand, insisting she should do as she felt comfortable.

This may be one of the reasons why, as he observed with some amusement, people don’t seem hesitant in wanting to take pictures with him. That, and the fact that his penchant for statement fashion – some of which he designs himself, like the suit he wore to our photo shoot – and association with luxury brands makes him a bit of a rock star chef.

At the same time, one of the endearing things about him is that he’s eager to share his latest obsessions, which, at the moment, happens to be making bracelets out of colourful plastic beads and elastic string. He’s made one with heart-shaped alphabet beads that spell out, “Haters gonna hate”. Is his spirit animal a pre-teen girl? Perhaps, in that once he gets an idea into his head, he runs with it.

One of his new projects, which launched this week, is a restaurant-within-a-restaurant concept called Abura Kappo. In one of Hashida Singapore’s three dining rooms, guests get a multi-course meal that revolves around cooked food instead of sushi, whether it’s tempura or shrimp toast.

Ten years in Singapore have also earned Hashida – or “Hatch”, as he’s known to friends – plenty of local pals and some local tastebuds. He readily rattles off the names of food stalls he loves visiting – Mr and Mrs Mohgan’s Super Crispy Roti Prata; Da Dong Prawn Noodles; Ah Hua Teochew Fishball Noodles. “I also like bak kut teh – the herbal one.” And, in true Singaporean fashion, he also has a few pet peeves, such as the use of “not bad” to describe something good.

PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN

One might say his destiny was carved out for him even before he was born, as the only son of one of Tokyo’s most well-respected sushi chefs and a descendant in a line of fishermen. He was first given a knife at the age of three, when he told his mother he wanted to recreate his favourite teacher’s favourite dish of cucumber slices dipped in miso paste.

Although he says his father never pressured him into becoming his successor, Hashida Senior did train his son in the way of fish from a young age. When young Hatch returned from school, for instance, there’d be a portion of sun-dried, grilled kamasu waiting for him, and a challenge to pick the bones clean in the shortest time possible. Or, he’d be made to stand behind a Tsukiji fishmonger for five days straight in order to learn how to prepare bonito in the most masterful way.  He was also trotted out to meet his father’s friends at the restaurant.  

But, as a child growing up in Tsukiji market, where his grandmother ran a gourmet provisions shop, young Hatch was always breaking out of the mould.

After his mother declined to buy him the air gun that all his friends had, he had a lightbulb moment when one of the little turret trucks that constantly zoomed around the market knocked him over. Lying on the ground next to a vending machine, his line of vision revealed a wealth of lost coins under the machine. He then drew a map of all the vending machines in the area and formed a consortium of school friends to harvest the bounty. His mother wondered where the brand new air gun she saw him brandishing had come from.

As a youth, sushi was the last thing on his mind. Instead, he’d wanted to be an artist. He was called into the school office when, instead of faithfully reproducing the likeness of a live model during art class, he painted a green sun instead. He thought he’d be getting in trouble, but unexpectedly, he was proclaimed talented. Sadly, the art teacher at his next school didn’t agree; and he also flunked the entrance examination for an art college because he didn’t follow the standard conventions of faithfully reproducing an apple.

Meanwhile, his father had him doing chores in the restaurant after school, like cleaning and washing dishes. He had an agreement with his father that if he didn’t go to art college, he’d start earning a salary. But first, he took a detour by way of one year of culinary school and a period of attempting to sell his art on the streets.

After he eventually started working at the restaurant, he then took another year to study English in the US so that he could cope with the sudden influx of foreign guests.

Hashida in Tokyo was even popular with celebrities like Cameron Diaz, Will Smith, Penelope Cruz and Sarah Jessica Parker. “My father asked me to tell Sarah specifically that he watched Sex And The City every day at midnight,” he chuckled. “One person dropped out of her party, so I offered to eat with them and show them how to dine the Japanese way. I would eat one course, then run back to the kitchen to help prepare the next course.”

But the one actor whose movies Hatch loved best was Johnny Depp. During his year studying English in Los Angeles, he’d sit by the window in the Starbucks on Hollywood Boulevard, overlooking red carpet events.

By a wondrous twist of fate, he actually got his chance to meet Depp when a friend of a friend who worked at Time Magazine offered him a reporter’s pass to the premiere of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. The two didn’t speak, but Hatch did motion to Depp to adjust his collar for the photos, and Depp nodded back in thanks. It was a “wow” moment, he recounted.

Listening to Hatch’s stories, I had the idea that I could be here all day, all month, and there would still be no end to his tales.

MUSTAFA AND MONAKAS

After returning to Tokyo, Hatch found that because of the 2011 earthquake in Japan, few people were dining out. He started to think about moving to another country. “I also felt it was pointless to take my father’s customers.”

After a brief stint at a Japanese restaurant in Shanghai, he was approached by Singapore investors to take the Hashida brand outside of Japan for the first time, and, in 2013, he opened Hashida at Mandarin Gallery. Hashida later moved to Mohamed Sultan Road before settling in at its current location at Amoy Street under the auspices of the OUE restaurant group.

In his 10th year, Hatch continues to walk the path between upholding his late father’s legacy and translating his own experiences and inspirations into art on a plate.

For instance, diners have the experience of watching a huge slab of tuna brought out, and Hatch carving slices out of it for sushi – a signature style of his father’s. The palate-cleansing pickled ginger slices are also his father’s recipe.

Instead of serving seasonal fruits for dessert, though, he started getting into pastry (he once ate nearly 300 macarons in a week in a quest to make them) and his current menu features a hojicha black pepper macaron as well as a lemon nasu tiramisu comprising eggplant layered with honey lemon jelly, lemon vanilla oil, and house-made vanilla ice cream.

Speaking of pastries, he once created a Merlion-shaped kaya, miso, white bean paste and white chocolate monaka as a gift for his mother, using a Merlion figurine he bought at Mustafa Centre to shape the mould.

To keep things interesting for himself, he also frequently essays collaborations with non-Japanese chefs, like a “chuka” Japanese-Chinese themed dinner with Shisen Hanten’s Chen Kentaro and Hitoshi Yamanobe of Tokyo’s Ginza Yamanobe Edo Chuka, taco parties with Canchita’s chefs Daniel and Tamara Chavez and events with Korean chef Sun Kim of Meta.

One of the things he likes best about Singapore is that “it’s cosmopolitan; like the New York of Asia”. “Cultures are mixed and there is appreciation of religions and food cultures,” he said. “For example, in my team, if this guy doesn't eat pork or that guy doesn't eat beef, it's not a big deal at all”, in contrast to the uniformity of Japanese culture. The one thing he misses about living in Japan is “the weather”, he quipped.

Guess that means we can hope for another 10 more years with Hashida – chef, explorer, artist, student of the world and crafter of DIY bead bracelets.

Hashida is at 77 Amoy Street.