DUBAI: Chef Yu Hasegawa culinary education began at home in Japan, where he cooked beside his mother from the age of 10, learning by watching her hands, her timing, and her quiet confidence.
Learning through presence rather than instruction still defines how Hasegawa cooks and how he leads. His cooking is guided by instinct and the belief that focus matters more than volume.
Hasegawa now leads the kitchen at Dubai’s Japanese restaurant Bocasu, where the menu is shaped by both his Japanese training and regional flavors. One of the dishes that reflects this is the “jawarma,” which takes cues from Japanese technique and Middle Eastern flavors without overcomplicating either.
Chef Yu Hasegawa culinary education began at home in Japan. (Supplied)
“Before Bocasu, I had worked in culinary capitals like Hong Kong and New York City, but the Middle East was still new to me,” Hasegawa tells Arab News. “When I came to Dubai and tried shawarma for the first time, I loved how simple yet flavorful it was. From there, I created the jawarma, combining a cuisine close to my heart with one of the region’s most loved dishes.”
When you started out, what was the most common mistake you made?
My mother told me at a young age that, in cooking, there are no mistakes, only creating. It is a lesson that has stayed with me ever since. So I don’t think of mistakes as mistakes. I learned to cook by instinct, watching her closely, and over time learned to trust flavor and my own judgement.
What’s your top tip for amateur chefs?
The best advice I can give is to spend time around people who truly love cooking. In Japan, we don’t believe in being taught through instruction, you watch, you observe, and you do. Being in that kind of environment teaches you more than any instructions ever could.
Jawarma. (Supplied)
What is one ingredient can instantly improve any dish?
Love. Cooking with care and intention changes the frequency of a dish. From how you move, to how you season, and how you apply heat, that energy carries through to the final flavor. When you cook with love, people can truly taste it. In Japanese we say, “Please become delicious.”
When you go out to eat, do you find yourself critiquing the food?
I focus on the menu and how people work together. If the kitchen is open, I always watch how service flows. Most of the time, my wife gets upset because I don’t focus on anything else, I’m too busy watching how people move.
What’s your favorite cuisine or dish to order?
I order the signature dish of whichever restaurant I’m in. It explains their culture and tells you what they stand for.
What’s your go-to dish if you have to cook something quickly at home?
Japanese shabu shabu with ramen noodles. It’s easy, quick, warm, and nourishing.
What customer behavior frustrates you the most?
There isn’t anything that particularly frustrates me, but it does make me sad when guests share allergy information at the last minute. When a booking includes a confirmed set menu, I’m excited for guests to experience what I’ve prepared. Finding out on the spot that they can’t eat a dish means they miss out, and I don’t have the opportunity to prepare something tailored to them with the same level of care.
What’s your favorite dish to cook, and why?
Ramen. I could eat it three times a day, every day. It’s the first dish I learned to cook with my mother when I was 10. That’s why I created the cappuccino ramen at Bocasu. Every time I make it, I think of her.
What’s the most difficult dish for you to get right?
Also ramen. The broth alone is an art. It takes time, patience, and layers of flavor. And it took years to perfect.
As a head chef, what are you like in the kitchen?
The kitchen has to run in harmony. I believe in precision and patience, allowing my team to watch, learn, and grow. I mentor them the same way I was mentored when I was younger, through observation, trust and time.
Chef Yu’s baby spinach salad dressing
Chef Yu’s baby spinach salad dressing. (Supplied)
Step 1: Prepare the dashi soy sauce
Soy sauce: 15g
Kombu: 1g
Dried shiitake mushroom: 1g
Combine all ingredients and marinate for at least six hours.
Once ready, remove the kombu and shiitake from the soy sauce.
Step 2: Blend the dressing
Tahini: 15g
Rice vinegar: 30g
Brown sugar: 15g, melted
Sesame oil: 12g
Mirin: 3g
Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
Serving note:
This dressing yields enough for four servings of baby spinach salad.
