Anaori Kakugama is a new multi-purpose Japanese cooking tool that uses carbon graphite technology to grill, simmer, poach, fry, and steam food that is packed with umami flavour.
Oddly enough, the genesis of this innovative new product was inspired by a sweet potato. Specifically, the sweet potatoes Anaori's founder, Eiichi Anaori, remembered his father roasting on chunks of carbon graphite that were discarded from a local factory.
Working with legendary Japanese Chef Hirohisa Koyama, Anaori began figuring out how he could translate the unique cooking properties of carbon graphite into a tool that could be used in a modern kitchen.
The result is the Anaori Kakugama, a square block of carbon graphite within which there is a grill and imo-gata (rounded bottom) pot that is ideal for boiling water, cooking broths, or making rice. Carbon graphite has the unique ability to minimise the cellular destruction of cooked ingredients, meaning that regardless of the source of heat and the mode of cooking, the essence of each ingredient is enhanced.
The Anaori Kakugama is compact enough to sit on a countertop and can be used for grilling, simmering, poaching, frying and steaming with a hinoki cypress lid that locks in umami flavour. Think of it as a combination of a crockpot and George Foreman grill reimagined with sleek Japanese aesthetics and eco-conscious technology.
To celebrate the release of this unique product, the brand is launching the 'Naturality Tour,' which invites 24 world renowned chefs to cook with the Anaori Kakugama in their kitchen.
Guests include Toru Okuda, head chef at Tokyo's famed Ginza Kojyu restaurant, and Rafael Cagali of London restaurant, Da Terra.
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