Finnish chef Jaakko Sorsa, Executive Chef at Nordic FINDS restaurant & bar in Hong Kong, has cooked in South Lebanon, Fiji and Bermuda and catered a dinner for Princess Takamado of Japan.
My name is Jaakko Sorsa. I’m a typical Finn who cheerfully goes to work in Hong Kong every morning. I’m also the Executive Chef at Nordic FINDS restaurant & bar, but there are much more interesting things to learn about me.
My homeland is Finland. I spent my childhood in the area called “Finnish Lakeland”, and the name alone evokes a range of associations and fantasies about nature. It was in Kuopio that I felt real life: I felt nature and food, and I will never forget those feelings. Fishing, foraging, getting wild game from hunters: Nordic life as it is. All these images are firmly imprinted on my memory.
I’m 42, and I’ve been working as a chef for 20 years already. A nice anniversary, isn’t it? People usually celebrate 20 years of marriage or something like that. So why not celebrate the day you found your life’s work, which you fall in love with every day and only rarely hate? It’s the same when you’re in love with someone, isn’t it?
Speaking of love... Recently I was invited to Tokyo to cater a Finnish dinner for Princess Takamado of Japan, and I created the best dishes of Finnish cuisine for her. What does that have to do with love, you might ask? I simply love treating members of royal families! I have been involved in private dinners for the Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark, the Princess of Sweden and the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia.
Over the past 20 years, I’ve worked in different kitchens. I was a chef in South Lebanon, the Fiji Islands and Bermuda, and I moved to Hong Kong 10 years ago, in 2014.
But let’s go back to the past. I became interested in cooking as a child. I closely watched my grandmother Ida creating magic in her kitchen, and I wondered why her food tasted better than anyone else’s. I began to learn the small details of technique and the ways to use fine natural ingredients.
When it comes to food, there are 3 things I love: seafood, anything pickled, and lightly smoked food. Meat, butter, caviar, sea urchin, vegetables: lots of things can be smoked, and I love that.
In Hong Kong, I live on an island with my beautiful wife, away from the busy areas. In the morning I can hear birds singing, and in the evening I can feel mosquitoes biting. Listening to the birds, I like to walk to a deserted pier, sit there, wake up slowly and enjoy nature.
Then it’s time for a Finnish sauna. After that, I have coffee and head off to my favorite work.
To everyone who reads this: let’s share! Let’s share new ingredients and new discoveries in cooking. I’m open to conversation and will gladly share my recipes with you!
The dish I would like to share now is Salmon Four Ways. It’s a select dish for real gourmands. It will never overload your stomach, but you can enjoy the combination of tastes while your taste buds get a little shocked. Pleasantly, of course.
