Best Chef of the Year, International Kalams Golden Awards 2019 winner, Thotchuiwon Jajo is an inspirational Chef, a go getter role model who has followed her dreams with passion and hard work. She is aptly the persona in a tribal community who broke through the glass ceiling as the first woman in the community who made it big in a male dominated competitive world of chefs and culinary art.
The Hindu, The Indian Express, News 18, Telegraph and many others have published her work going back as far as 2012. You’ll realize how big a force she is to be reckoned with.
Chef Jajo (her known name in the industry) is a business employer and has economically empowered many. Jajo is a Japanese Chef, Sous Chef (the second in command in a kitchen) who has worked with multiple establishments across India such as Grand Hyatt, ITC Royal Gardenia, Ocean Spray Hotel & resorts, Pondicherry, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts to list a few.
Chef Jajo culinary roots came from her parent’s kitchen. Her love of cooking and eating delectable food was forged in these early years, while she gained valuable experience in both the front and back of the house.
Till date Chef Jajo has launched 3 restaurants with her younger brother Sopai Jajo a.k.a David Jajo who has been with her every step of the way – V junction Hyderabad, Jajos kitchen Delhi and Asian flavours. Her compétence is in high end catering with lady chef team. Chef Jajo’s resume is a long one.
She is currently a Japanese cuisine chef and has worked and gained experience cooking at Japanese restaurants in 5 star hotels for the last 10 years. She started cooking Japanese in 2004 at The Mugen restaurant, Bangalore; she spent 2 years under the tutelage of Master Chef Yoshi. Thereafter she worked at The Zuri for 11/2 years, followed by The Royal Orchid hotels for 2 years and The ITC Royal Gardenia in Bangalore for 1 year under the tutelage of master Japanese chef Minami.
During her career, she developed her skills at various out-door caterings, wedding ceremonies and food promotions, learning various tastes and techniques through numerous exchanges of knowledge and ideas with many Japanese friends and colleagues that she met along the way.
Her job included cooking different Teppanyaki food in front of customers, preparing sushi and sashimi’s at the show kitchen and other Japanese food. Assembling the hand tools and equipment needed for cooking and serving Japanese food. Classifying sauces according to type and to recognize the distinguish characteristics, preparing stocks, soups and sauce in large quantity.
Chef Jajo learned the importance of blending unique flavors and aromas of ingredients in order to make exquisite sushi’s and dim sum’s. The freshest, the healthiest. “At times, it was incredibly challenging, but every time a creative dish that was infused with my own flavor and healthy culinary style was born, I felt a great deal of accomplishment”, Chef Jajo told Ukhrul Times reporter.
Her greatest happiness lies in seeing the joy that her dishes bring to her customers. Today, Chef Jajo is able to stand with confidence as a chef in knowing that she can share this happiness with all of her customers. Her signature dishes are Dim sums, Futomaki, Teriyaki, Yakitori, Sukiyaki, and Tempura fried ice cream etc. Chef Jajo’s motto: “you must love to eat food without any boundaries or prejudice”
She has done food promotion in 30 hotels including Grand Hyatt, Goa Westin Pune Casino hotel Kochin Raintree hotel Chennai, Grand Sarovar Premiere, Mumbai The Sonnet Hotel, Kolkata, Ocean Spray Hotel & resorts, Pondicherry, The Park Chennai, Sarovar Hotel Pondicherry many more.
Chef Jajo’s upcoming project in Gurgaon Sector 50 – ASIAN FLAVOURS is opening soon!
You can DM her on her social media handle Chef Jajo
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