Daniel Shimidzu was three years old when he arrived in Peru from Japan. Like many other dekasegi, his family had decided to travel to the country of their ancestors to work, and it was in those lands where the fourth generation Nikkei was born, grew up and had his first encounters with Japanese food.
In his most pleasant memories, flavors appear such as the onigiri that his grandfather prepared before going out for a walk, or the stew similar to Mabodofu that his mother made with ground pork and chopped tofu. “Watching my ojiichan cook was always fun, I liked being with him and helping him,” he says.
When he thinks about his childhood, the hot summer days come to mind when the two of them would parboil sōmen and place it on ice, then soak it in shōyu and enjoy it. “We used to finish packets of packets of that,” he recalls.
Leaving Japan did not mean abandoning its food. His family kept Japanese traditions and culture alive in the kitchen, where traditional dishes such as yasai-itame or misoshiru were prepared a couple of times a week.
And in special situations, which even seemed like strokes of luck, his obaachan tempered the cold nights with a warm tonjiru or a Yamanashi-style udon soup. “It's very different from anyone you can find here,” he says with certainty.
Food appears vividly in Daniel's memories, so it's no surprise that at age 14 he decided that, at some point in his life, he would own a restaurant; or that to this day he replicates the tonjiru recipe that was passed down from generation to generation in his family.
Thus, his mother and grandparents always leaned toward traditional Japanese food. “If we are going to eat sushi, we choose futomaki,” he says. Daniel, for his part, grew up between tradition and fusion. After studying Administration, at 21 years old he was enjoying success in his career as an insurance broker and working in the company of his dreams, but office life bored him.
It was then that he resigned and decided to start selling gyoza and then obento, always with particular components, some of them the result of his creation. To act as a cook, his empirical knowledge was enough. Like what he learned at age 18, when a friend of his cousin arrived in Peru from Japan, where he was a chef. With it he practiced the technique to cut the cabbage as thin as possible until he was tired.
Little by little, the yonsei took the first steps towards his teenage dream, and in 2018 Toge Nikkei Food was born, initially only via delivery. And although tradition ruled in his grandparents' kitchen, his brand carried 'Nikkeidad' even in the name. “I wanted to involve my proposal in typical dishes, go out of the ordinary and give it a personal touch,” he says. This is how Daniel opened the first Toge Nikkei Food location in Pueblo Libre.
Famous for its roast pork yakimeshi or its toge wings, the restaurant seeks to distance itself from the commercially Nikkei. The wings, Daniel's creation, are a favorite of Toge's loyal diners, who enjoy their slightly spicy flavor. “That's what I want to achieve with dishes: unique fusions.”
The beginning of the health emergency especially affected the gastronomic sector. During the first months, Daniel decided to close the doors of Toge and look forward to the quarantine ending soon, but that did not happen. The dynamics of the business then returned to its origins: home deliveries, but only on weekends, since he still used his parents' kitchen. “I moved to my own house to be able to deliver every day, so that the brand does not disappear,” he says.
After almost two years that seemed eternal, at the beginning of 2022 the restaurant reopened its doors in its usual location. Daniel was thus able to rediscover the joy of seeing families gathered around the table enjoying what he prepared. For him, whose love of food was born in his home, those images are especially important. “In my house, family reunion means gohan. Sitting down to eat is always a special moment.”
Life pleasantly surprised him. Although his plans changed, as he hoped to create a culinary brand after meeting goals related to his career, he discovered that from now on he wants to dedicate himself only to cooking. What he knew since he was little he confirmed with Toge: “The passion that we Nikkei people have for gastronomy is very strong.”
At 29 years old, Daniel plans to soon open a new establishment in Bellavista and aims to move to a new space in Pueblo Libre to provide greater comfort to both the cooks and the diners. All of this, without losing sight of the fact that its proposal is a true reflection of its identity. “I want to escape from the traditional and give them something more fun. It's more of a street food proposition than anything else. A 100% my interpretation of the food,” he concludes.
© 2022 Mya Sánchez Penedo
