Mr. Kenichi Chen, the leading chef of Sichuan cuisine, including mapo tofu, who gained popularity on TV cooking programs, died of interstitial pneumonia at a hospital in Tokyo on March 11. .
he was 67 years old.
Chen Kenichi was born as the eldest son of Chen Kenmin, who is said to have introduced Sichuan cuisine to Japan for the first time, and trained at his father's Chinese restaurant.
Through trial and error, he devised ways to use spices to make Sichuan cuisine, which is characterized by a strong spiciness, easier for Japanese people to accept, and established a unique cuisine that is a bit different from mainland China.
Among them, he is known as a leading person in the preparation of mapo tofu, and in addition to being selected as a "contemporary master craftsman", he has also received the Medal with Yellow Ribbon.
In addition, he has gained popularity for his high cooking skills and loving personality on a commercial cooking variety program, and has played a major role in popularizing Sichuan cuisine by introducing recipes arranged for Japanese homes on NHK's "Today's Cooking" program. fulfilled.
According to the management company of the restaurant where Mr. Chen is the owner and chef, Mr. Chen was diagnosed with cancer several years ago and received treatment. On March 11th, he passed away at a hospital in Tokyo due to interstitial pneumonia.
he was 67 years old.