Chad Clift - Why Freshness Matters

Chad Clift owns a Japanese restaurant in Seattle’s International District called Futoji Aji. As any Japanese restaurant would, he has an extensive sushi menu there, full of traditional Japanese favorites, a mix of sushi popular in the United States, such as the good old California Roll, and a few of his own inventions that he continues to create with his sushi chefs in his kitchen to keep his menu fresh. According to most sushi experts, the number one way to ruin sushi is to settle for fish that is not fresh. Since sushi relies on raw fish as its primary ingredient, this is not appealing and could even be dangerous. Before Clift opened his sushi menu at his restaurant, he made sure he could always get his fresh from his suppliers fresh and ready to be turned into the most delicious sushi dishes he could possibly make.

 To people like Chad Clift and anyone who enjoys food, fresh ingredients is a no-brainer. But many customers would be surprised by how many restaurants settle for less than fresh food. Most wouldn’t serve you spoiled meat or fish, of course, but there are ways that restaurants can save on operating costs by buying refrigerated fish that has been sitting around for a time after it was caught. Japanese restaurant owners like Clift must take care to get their fish from the source just as soon after it has been caught out of the ocean as possible. This preserves the natural flavor of the fish and allows it to be fully appreciated by customers expecting fresh sushi.

Fresh fish isn’t always easy to come by. Sometimes local suppliers, even in Seattle, a place known for its fresh fish market, can be it with shortages at times. Chad Clift keeps his suppliers local and also has several options for his restaurant to buy from. He maintains these supply lines with relationships that he has formed over his many years in the industry. Clift learned during his days at the Oregon Culinary Institute and by working as an apprentice for a Thai restaurant chef in San Francisco that getting the freshest ingredients is all about maintaining trusting relationships with all of his suppliers, something that he takes very seriously.

Chad Clift encourages everyone interested in Japanese cooking to try it at home. But, he warns that the results won’t be you expect if you don’t’ commit to supporting local markets that always have the freshest ingredients. For all chefs in the Japanese tradition, fresh ingredients are what make their dishes what they are. Don’t try it without getting the freshest ingredients for yourself first. Clift is currently enjoying running his own business while teaching his daughter the ropes of Japanese cooking as well.
​

Chad Clift - Three Essential Ingredients for Home Japanese Cooking

Chad Clift is the founder and head chef of a Japanese restaurant in Seattle called Futoji Aji. He is constantly looking for new ways to wow his customers with his spin on new and traditional Japanese dishes. Clift first drew and interest in Japanese cooking when his father, who is from Japan, taught him how to cook at home using traditional Japanese ingredients and methods. Over time, he discovered a talent for Japanese cooking that his mother, a local small business owner, helped him refine into a business model. He gathered experience at the Oregon Culinary Institute and later at a Thai restaurant in San Francisco, where he worked as an apprentice. He returned to Seattle to open his own Japanese restaurant and serve his dishes to his community.

Chad Clift encourages everyone to cook at home, at least when they’re not dining at his restaurant, that is. He learned how to be an excellent chef and how to start a career in cooking at home and he encourages anyone else to do the same if they are passionate about cooking. He especially encourages people to try Japanese dishes in their homes to create new experiences and tastes for themselves. In order cook Japanese food at home the right way, you have to find the right ingredients. Here are three essential ingredients to excellent Japanese food in your own kitchen:

• Mirin. This is an essential condiment used in many Japanese dishes for any reasons. Chad Clift learned early in his life cooking with his dad that Mirin can be used to sweeten dishes, cut down the smell of fish dishes and to give some vegetables their signature shiny appearance. Mirin is a kind of rice wine similar to sake, but with much less alcohol content. It’s about 50% sugar.
• Fish stock powder. Hon Dashi, or fish stock powder is used in almost every Japanese meal much in the same way that chicken stock is used in many Western dishes. It adds a subtle flavor to many dishes. Think of miso soup. That dish is made with Hon Dashi, water, and fish stock alone. Almost all Japanese dishes call for Hon Dashi in one quantity or form or another. Make sure you stock up on this if you’re planning on cooking many Japanese meals.
• Japanese mayonnaise. Chad Clift says that you should be very careful about using mayonnaise in any Japanese dish, and to never think that Western mayonnaise is the same as Japanese mayonnaise. Japanese mayonnaise is nothing like Western mayonnaise made with eggs and has a spicy kick to it that makes it perfect for use in curries and the popular Japanese dish, Ebi mayo.

Chad Clift hopes you can try your own Japanese dishes at home with these ingredients.
​

Chad Clift - Three Essential Ingredients of Japanese Cooking

Chad Clift was raised practicing the basics of traditional Japanese cooking while growing up in Seattle, Washington. His father, who was born and raised in Japan, taught him everything he knows about traditional Japanese cuisine. As such, Clift became familiar with the basic ingredients of most Japanese dishes. He later learned in culinary school at the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland how to challenge these traditions in a creative and productive way and bring in new ingredients to create bold, new tastes. Clift now works with complex and advanced dishes in his kitchen at his restaurant, Futoji Aji, in Seattle’s International District, but he learned the basics using the same ingredients that many people have in their home and use frequently.
Chad Clift wants to continue the traditional of Japanese cuisine. In addition to teaching his daughter Sadako how to cook in the traditional Japanese fashion, he also encourages everyone curious about Japanese cuisine to try it for themselves at home. In order to cook traditional Japanese meals with an authentic taste and texture, you have to first collect these three essential ingredients for Japanese cooking:
                                      

• Japanese Rice. Believe it or not, rice from different places in the world has different qualities. Japanese rice doesn’t have a particular smell as Thai or Jasmine rice does, and it’s sticky enough to be used in dishes such as sushi. Chad Clift says the first key ingredient to any kind of cuisine is to get the most authentic staple ingredient first and go from there. True Japanese rice is the first staple for Japanese cuisine.
• Japanese soy sauce. Again, Japanese soy sauce is different than soy sauce that is produced in other parts of the world. You will usually want soy sauce that has a deep black color. Some chefs also use Usukuchi soy sauce, which is lighter in color and saltier than others. Chad Clift grew up learning to distinguish between these different kinds of soy sauce and learning which flavors it can bring out in different dishes. 
• Sake. A traditional Japanese rice wine, Sake is a delicacy to drink in Japanese restaurants. It is also used in Japanese cooking much in the same way that white wine is used in many European cuisines. If you’re preparing Japanese meals at home, you’ll find that sake is called for in many recipes as you find more advanced dishes. 

Chad Clift has built his restaurant’s menu on his devotion to the Japanese cooking tradition that he learned from his father and on his willingness to experiment with new dishes and tastes to create a unique experience at Futoji Aji, his restaurant in Seattle. He hopes that more people try Japanese cooking in their homes and bring their newfound tastes to his restaurant.

Chad Clift - Three Tips to Top Your All-Time Bowling Score

​Chad Clift is the head chef, owner, and founder of Swanky’s in Mossy Rock, Washington. As someone in the food business, his job is very stressful most of the time. Clift takes his stress out on the bowling pins at the local bowling alley. Over time, Clift has become famous to the locals at the alley and its proprietorship. Clift has risen from a newbie bowler to one of the best in the local amateur bowling leagues in Mossy Rock. Here are his three top tips to beating your bowling score:

• Find your mark on the lane and concentrate on it. You need to put your bowling ball in the “pocket,” the place in the lane just behind the first pin and in front of the second pin. Chad Clift is right-handed, so he aims for the arrow on the lane just to the right of the center arrow. Almost all balls hook at least a little bit, whether you’re putting spin on the ball or not. If you try to put the ball right down the middle, you’ll find yourself facing split after split. 

• Tweak your approach so that your opposite foot lands in front of the lane. A good way to test a bowler’s skill is to watch her follow-through. For years, Chad Clift came off balance during his follow-through, and it cost him.

• Speed makes it easier to pick up stragglers. To pick off those pins that refuse to go down, it’s usually easier to toss the ball with some pace. Think about the velocity of the ball as it’s leaving your hand and try to throw harder.

Chad Clift lives and works at Swanky’s in Mossy Rock.

Chad Clift - On Creativity in the Kitchen

Most chefs will tell you that creativity in the kitchen is how they stay in business. Chad Clift certainly uses his creativity, developed over years of preparing his own Japanese dishes as a child with his father and as the head chef and founder of Futoji Aji, a restaurant in Seattle. From a business standpoint, the way you have to keep customers coming to your doors to eat is to freshen up the menu and offer them new tastes and textures often. Trying new ways of pushing the boundaries of a particular cuisine can be a great way to draw more guests and to keep a chef’s artwork flowing. Art is nothing without creativity and experimentation. Food preparation is no different.

Chad Clift

 However, there is a fine line between using one’s creativity in the kitchen to create new and exciting dishes within a traditional cuisine, as Chad Clift knows. Pushing too hard on what traditional Japanese food is, for example, won’t always create the most edible dishes. Customers will pay to try new things, but not if they’re inedible. Clift, therefore has to carefully choose which experiments are worth pursuing and which simply won’t work. Combining random ingredients in a bowl isn’t a good way to experiment with people’s taste buds.

Where does this quandary leave chefs like Chad Clift? They have businesses to run and they have to give their clienteles what they want, yet they also have to find new ways to refresh the menu and use their true skills to create bolder, better tastes. One way chefs balance these dueling needs is by employing a team of specialized, skilled assistants and associate chefs at their restaurants to help them make decisions and test out their ideas before they reach customers’ plates. More than simply having brains and sets of taste buds analyzing the same experimental dishes, this makes the entire process of building a menu and creating new dishes a team activity, employing the specific skills of several professionals all working on the same problem. The head chef isn’t alone in his or her work and critical decision-making processes.

Chad Clift and his team work hard at Futoji Aji to create the best, boldest Japanese dishes for their customers in Seattle’s International District, where many Asian food options abound. This fierce competition makes it necessary to constantly evolve the menu and bring in new tastes and ideas to the traditional Japanese cuisine that Clift learned from his father growing up in Seattle. Clift learned to challenge the standards of Japanese cooking at culinary school and during his time working as an apprentice in a San Francisco Thai restaurant. Clift hopes that his process will continue to bring in more diners and express his creativity.