By Acen Yang
Residing in the City of Water, Wealth, Contentment and Health, stands Modesto Sukiyaki. Throughout three decades in operation, the eatery has established itself as a mainstay in the Modesto community.
Diners can expect Modesto Sukiyaki to have a distinctive environment which blends traditional Japanese design and contemporary conveniences.
Coming into the new decade of 2020 for the restaurant, it inherits a new team under new management that continues lighting the fire of passion of the original establishment.
Chef Hiroyuki “Hiro” Yokosuka and his wife Shigeko Yokosuka were the original owners. The couple began operating MS in 1986 and have put traditional Japanese cuisine mainly into their menu ever since their opening date.
The restaurant was run by the couple and their two daughters until 2020, at which point it was sold to two friends whom Hiroyuki had put his faith in. Those two being Nickholas “Nick” Vang and Cheng Her, who are currently in charge of MS.
Finely shredded meat, tofu, veggies, as well as noodles are usually boiled in a flavorful soup consisting of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin for the traditional Japanese cuisine known as sukiyaki.
“Sukiyaki from Modesto Sukiyaki is one of the customer favorites due to being prepared using premium ingredients and cooked to 100 percent satisfaction,” said Ua Her.
This establishment has built up a reputation as among the greatest Japanese eateries within the city thanks to its dedication to utilizing only the freshest and most genuine products.
Some of the restaurant’s grandest of dishes consists of the sushi, sashimi, teriyaki, ramen and of course sukiyaki is just a few of the numerous Japanese delicacies that are available on the list at the establishment.
Due to the fact that the present owners are of Hmong origin, the restaurant has become considerably more well-known among the Hmong community since it changed hands.
Together with his uncles Cheng Her, Ua Her and Nickhom Her, Nick gained with this move. Nickholas comes from a sushi chef background and is experienced in the art of sushi.
He’s the heart of the restaurant and among his three uncles makes the restaurant whole. Though the new ownership brought new success to the restaurant, it also brought challenges from older patrons who were unhappy with the change.
“The old patrons of Hiro weren’t too fond of us because we weren’t Japanese, that was a motivation for us to come together and combine our ideas,” said Ua. “Taking over a Japanese restaurant as a Hmong American, it’s a lot to take in and we decided we can bring in what skills we already have to improve the restaurant further.”
Ua, who comes from a ramen restaurant, added miso and tonkatsu ramen to give the restaurant a more diverse and modern feel.
Nic and his uncles brought many more options to the table such as adding their now-famous ramen and numerous custom baked rolls.
One custom roll that this newly built team brought in was the “Nick’s Mango Infernal Roll,” named after the current sushi chef, Nickholas Vang.
A mild shrimp tempura roll that contains spicy tuna, cucumber and avocados. Topped with mango, chili flakes, onions, tomatoes and crazy sauce.
Through MS’s three years of new management, lots of the Her family has worked at the restaurant to assist the family business. Evan Vang, the younger brother of Nickholas, has also worked at the restaurant as an assistant chef.
“Rolling and cutting the roll is the hardest part, but Nick makes it look easy,” says Evan.
The Her Family, with sheer effort and passion, proved themselves to the community of Modesto as a strong and established eatery and are continuously proving themselves every day to work harder and be better than they were yesterday.