From avocados to peppers, this chef is finding his artistic expression on food through the ancient Thai carving art of Mukimono.
With an extremely large following on Instagram, Kishimoto keeps his fans entertained with photographs and videos of his intricate patterns on food.
Japanese chef Takehiro Kishimoto carves everything from melons to potatoes. He usually creates elegant flowers,geometric patterns, or even popular anime characters.
From the city of Kobe in southern Japan, Kishimoto started carving about three years ago after he learnt the art of Mukimono, and began posting his work on Instagram in mid-2016. At first he only carved simple shapes, but later began doing more intricate designs.
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Kishimoto calls what he does “Thai” carving, because he believes the masters of fruit carving were from Thailand — Thai chefs who used the designs to decorate the tables of the royal Thai family in the 14th century. This food carving can also be traced to a ancient Japanese tradition called Mukimono. The Japanese chef uses a sharp, thin knife to combine historical patterns and mukimono on fruits and veggies.
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The time Kishimoto uses to complete a piece ranges from an hour to carve broccoli to three hours to carve an apple — and when he's done, he simply eats the produce.
See some of his designs.