It seemed to be Chef Colin’s destiny to discover contemporary ways to create Japanese dishes with Zuma – here he shares one of his mouth-watering recipes.

Chef Colin says: ‘This dish is simple, Japanese and tasty! We chose it because it is most representative of the Zuma concept, in terms of modern Japanese cuisine.’

The recipe

Ingredients
(Serves four)
• 2 corn-fed chickens, approx 800g each
• 2 cedar wood sheets (you can get these form Deans Fujiya Supermarket, near Lamcy Plaza, 04 337 0401; alternatively you can use a barbecue with wood chips instead of charcoal)
• 60ml vegetable oil
• 1½ finely chopped garlic cloves
• 30ml ginger juice (squeeze out from grated ginger)
• 2g shichimi pepper
• 80ml barley miso
• 20ml soy sauce
• 30ml sake (can be non-alcoholic if necessary)
• 30g mirin (can be non-alcoholic if necessary)
• 40g finely chopped shallots

The method
1 Heat the mirin and sake to form the marinade. Allow to cool.
2 Mix the remaining ingredients together and add to the cooled sake and mirin mix.
3 Reserve one quarter of the mix and use the rest to marinate the baby chickens for 24 hours.
4 After the 24 hours, remove the chicken from the marinade and roast in the oven on cedar wood sheets (or on a wood-chip barbecue) until golden.
5 Top with the reserved marinade (not too thick), and put it back in the oven (or on the barbecue) for about 10 more minutes until cooked.
6 Cut the chicken at the table to help bring home the Zuma experience.

The chef

Name: Colin Clague
Nationality: Manx (Isle of Man)

Chef Colin worked in London during the ’80s where he cooked alongside culinary legends including Anton Mossiman, Peter Langan, Gary Hollihead and Sir Terence Conran. He also spent time travelling and, while working at the Park Hyatt in Sydney, Australia, he met Zuma co-founder Rainer Becker. In 2002 he joined Becker and was the head chef as Zuma launched in London. He moved to Zuma Dubai when it opened in 2008 and is the executive chef and creative force behind Zuma’s award-winning menu.