Nikkei Cuisine

Nikkei
ORIGIN | Japanese 日系

The word Nikkei refers to the
Japanese diaspora.

People of Japanese ancestry who live outside of Japan.

In the early days of the twentieth century, the Japanese heard of a country in South America, across the Pacific Ocean. Peru.

In the days of the conquistadors, Peru was thought to be full of gold and rolling with opportunity. This land is also blessed by rich soil and a warm climate, the seeds for a fascinating food culture. The call of the unknown and the yearning for a new life in the New World enticed thousands of Japanese people to cross the seas and head for the coastal plantations of this fascinating foreign land.

Peru welcomed them. The rich soil offered abundance and sustenance and some familiar food ingredients that closely resembled those back home in Japan.

So began the relationship that ultimately created Nikkei cuisine.

Aji peppers and Andean potato met miso, soy and wasabi. Fresh fish bathed in citrus. Cultures asserted themselves while their food painted a new canvas. Today, Peru is home to one of the largest Nikkei communities in the world.

And Nikkei has taken on a new meaning.

It not only refers to Japanese-Peruvians, people of Japanese ancestry who call Peru home, but to the cuisine that emerged from the blend of these distinct cultures, developed over years of experimentation, collaboration and expression. This is the delicious cuisine offered to you at CLAY Bahrain.