Eating in Japan
Contributed by Jens Hoffmann
Of course you will find Sushi on every corner in Japan and the japanese its often different tings and not sushi.
But we like it.
A couple of good restaurants you will find in the Hiroo embassy district in Tokyo.
The basis of an excellent sushi is not the fish, but the rice, the “shari”.
This wise words are from the master Chef de Cuisine Takahiro Okada’s “Sushi Zai”.
Its his restaurant and believe me it is great.
It starts with the right amount of water, the exact cooking time and temperature.
The vinegar must be mixed in when the rice is still very hot, without much pressure, but with quick cutting movements.
This is the only way it will spread without sticking to the rice. Finally, add the fish and a brush of soy sauce.
Timing and precision. “You have to master the entire process, from the preparation of the ingredients to the final piece of sushi that the guest pays for at the end,” says Okada.
He has been practicing this art for 30 years.
The result is nothing less than a revelation.
Only eight guests enjoy the omakase menu every evening, where the chef decides about everything.
There is no map, the price is nowhere to be found.
You sit at a simple wooden counter and watch the food being prepared and the guest enjoy.
The artful miniatures Okada presents take you into a world of flavours you have never experienced before: steamed eel with cherry blossoms; fresh sea urchin; monkfish liver pâté with wasabi and seaweed tempura; abalone risotto; deep-fried sea bream with scales.
Then come the nigiri, which you take in your fingers and eat whole: squid, buttery tuna, Pacific herring (kohada), sardine, sea bass, shrimp, conger eel. It all tastes so exciting and harmonious at the same time that you go out into the night completely euphoric. This could also be due to the wine and sake that accompanies the menu on request, which is rather atypical for high-end sushi in Tokyo.
In any case, anyone who imagines Okada as a strict authority who ungraciously defends the old traditions will be surprised.
The chef, who cooked in a Michelin-starred restaurant before opening “Sushi Zai”, enjoys chatting with his guests and laughing a lot. He takes his craft seriously, but the experience in his restaurant should be casual.
“The sushi world is much more open today than it used to be,” he says. And it is just one of many worlds that open up in this legendary city.
I am sure a star will follow very, very soon.
