Far from the East

Modern Japanese food consists of dishes that didn't originate in Japan. Here are its greatest hits, they're all delicious, anyway

- VIR SANGHVI

Japanese food is one of the world's most complex cuisines. The level of skill it takes to cook in a top Japanese restaurant is far greater than the expertise demanded of chefs at three-Michelin-star restaurants in France.

None of this need bother you and me unduly. We won't go to Japan's great restaurants. It is very hard to get in even if you have the money. There's one level of Japanese dining that we are likely to experience: At the kind of restaurant that serves modern Japanese food. These restaurants can be expensive (Wasabi in Mumbai, Megu in Delhi etc). And though the food can be delicious, it is not authentically Japanese. But it is what has become accepted as Japanese food all over the world, first through the efforts of chef Nobu Matsuhisa, who invented the cuisine, and then by Zuma, the most popular restaurant chain in the Middle-East, set up originally in London with Sindhi-German ownership.

Here is a list of the greatest hits of the cuisine.

Black Cod in Miso. This dish became a global favourite when Nobu opened in New York. According to Masaharu Morimoto, who was executive chef of the restaurant, Nobu, and he created it together by taking a traditional Japanese dish of fish marinated in sake lees and making it with white miso.