The Sushi Experience: Thinking of Judith Jones 2

Posted on Aug 2, 2017 in Hiroko's Blog

Judith Jones was fascinated when she for the first time in her life saw the real green rhizome.

  • Grated wasabi is not for clearing your sinuses, but has antiseptic properties which are why it became associated with sushi. Chef adds a dab of wasabi between the sliced fish and sushi rice when he makes Watch the chef closely and you will see how it is done. For this reason it is not necessary to add wasabi to the dipping sauce.
  • Mackerel, horse mackerel and sardine (strongly flavored fish) are always served with grated ginger, but not
  • No matter whether you may like it or not, omakase-style sushi restaurants have become the norm in big cities such as here in New York. Here you get the menu that the chef serves with no choice. These places won’t work for those who WANT to order favorite nigirizushi piece by piece one at a time in a la carte fashion. But, Omakase places do ensure that the chefs’ chosen pieces are the best of the day.  Any high-end sushi restaurants in Tokyo do only omakase, so diners relax and enjoy the best available selections.
  • Well-trained sushi chefs do not present simply-cut, raw fish on top of sushi rice. They often cure fish in many different ways (called Edo-mae), according to the type of the fish. To acquire and polish techniques for these preparations takes years.
  • Japanese do not eat sushi and sashimi every day. Sushi and sashimi, unless eaten at conveyor belt type, chain or inexpensive sushi restaurants are expensive. Fish served at chain and inexpensive restaurants are all farmed fish and sometimes are intentionally incorrectly labeled by substituting a cheaper fish for what is advertised.
  • Department store food courts in Japan sell sashimi and sushi for shoppers to take home. The high quality of these products is not available in American take-out shops. One should be wary of take-out sushi sold in ordinary markets and convenience stores in the US.
  • Yes, bad sushi is possible in Japan. A nigirizushi at small sushi restaurant in the northern-most small town of Abashiri, along the Sea of Okhotsk, Hokkaido, was so bad that I nearly wept. Mushy, pasty, intolerable sushi rice.
  • According to a sushi chef at the highly regarded Fukusuke in Ginza, Tokyo, he finds that many of today’s diners from abroad know more about the proper way to enjoy nigirizushi than most of the Japanese population……! Congratulations to everyone!
  • A copy of my book, “The Sushi Experience” with Judith Jones: https://hirokoskitchen.com/shop/the-sushi-experience/

Hiroko Shimbo