Located in downtown Los Angeles' Little Tokyo, Kimiko Ikeda's restaurant, Shojin, has a simple philosophy: "to make our food simple, using the natural flavors of organic vegetables filled with the 'power of the Earth' without any artificial seasonings and dairy products." The restaurant's unique fusion cuisine includes such tantalizing offerings as Organic Tomato Tartar (tofu cheese, avocado, and tomato with kale and balsamic sauce, topped with shiso leaves), the Shojin Original Okara Cake (a deep-fried, all-natural vegan cake made with soybeans, cashew nuts, shiitake mushrooms, and garlic and served with brown rice porridge and lemony vegan mayonnaise), and Green Tea "Moss" Cake With Sweet Azuki Beans (layered green tea cake, green tea cream, dates, and sweetened azuki beans). Chef Ikeda's food is as good for the rest of your body as it is for your taste buds—the restaurant promises that after enjoying a delicious meal, "You can surely feel the energy the very next day, and your body will be delighted." Luckily, you don't have to live near Little Tokyo to experience Shojin's goodness—try one of Chef Ikeda's recipes at home tonight!

Chef Spotlight: Kimiko Ikeda

Restaurant or Company: Shojin

Do you have animal companions? If so, can you describe them?
Two cats.

How long have you been a chef?
Three years.

What type of cuisine do you focus on?
Vegan macrobiotic.

What are the most important elements in cooking great vegetarian cuisine?
Choosing fresh, local, organic, and natural ingredients; cooking with care and love.

What is the key to getting meat-eaters to enjoy vegetarian food?
To find a balance of proper seasoning, look, and texture.

What, in your opinion, does the future of plant-based cuisine hold?
It can rejuvenate one's health and create a peaceful world. Also, if more and more people eat plant-based food, it will help end world hunger [because resources that could be used to grow food for human beings are currently being used to grow crops for farmed animals instead].

Do you have a favorite cooking method?
In summer or hot weather, quick water sautéing. In winter or cold weather, nishime (long simmering).

Where did you train to become a chef?
At the Kushi Institute's Macrobiotic Career Training Program, in Becket, Massachusetts.

What are your favorite ingredients to work with?
Seasonal vegetables, tofu, and sea vegetables.

In your opinion, what vegetarian dish or type of food is most frequently poorly prepared and why?
Seitan, because it is hard to find a good texture and taste. We make our own four varieties of seitan for each different dish.

If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only eat one kind of ethnic food, what would it be?
Ethnic fruit.

Can you give us one great cooking tip for aspiring vegetarian chefs?
Listen to the ingredients and find out how they want to be cooked.

What are some ingredients that you recommend vegetarians and vegans have in their kitchens to cook with?
Whole grains, seasonal root and round vegetables, leafy greens, sea vegetables, beans, and bean products.

Are there any newer vegetarian products on the market that you are particularly fond of?
Tofu bread.

Have you had any noteworthy comments from or experiences with diners?
Customers have e-mailed me with compliments and thanks or recommended us to other people. One diner said, "The food was so good that we almost cried!"

Choose one area to give some specialty tips for: 
Your favorite way to work with a certain fruit or vegetable:
We use pink grapefruit sauce for our mozuku (sea vegetable) dish.

* * * * *

Basic Brown Rice
2 cups organic brown rice, soaked for 8 hours or overnight and drained
3 cups water
2 pinches sea salt

• Put the rice and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the sea salt, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 45 to 50 minutes.
• Turn off the heat, remove from the stove, and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Using a wet wooden spatula, gently mix the rice and serve.

Gomashio-Roasted Sesame Seeds and Sea Salt
1 Tbsp. sea salt
1 cup organic sesame seeds, washed and drained

• In a pan, roast the sea salt until slightly gray. Place in a suribachi* (Japanese ceramic bowl for grinding) and grind with a surikogi* (Japanese wooden tool used with a suribachi) to a fine powder.
• Roast the sesame seeds until they pop and become easy to break with your fingers.
• Put the sesame seeds in the suribachi with the powdered sea salt and grind until 80 percent of the seeds are broken down.

*Note: Suribachi and surikogi are usually available at Japanese markets.

Lemony Cucumber-Dill Pressed Salad
3 organic Japanese cucumbers or 1 Persian cucumber, partially peeled and cut into bite- sized pieces
5 red radishes, sliced
Green tops of red radishes, chopped
1 Tbsp. dill
Ume vinegar or sea salt
1 tsp. lemon juice

• Put the cucumbers, radishes, radish tops, and dill in a bowl. Add the ume vinegar or sea salt and the lemon juice and mix well with both hands (use just enough ume vinegar or sea salt for the vegetables to become shiny—the ume vinegar/sea salt will draw water out of the vegetables).
• Cover with a dish smaller than the bowl and place a stone or some other weight on top of the dish to press. Leave for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Squeeze the excess water from the vegetables and serve. If they are too salty, rinse with water before serving.

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