Comments on: When sushi is more than sushi

By: jetc

jetc — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:35:05 +0000

Born and raised in Japan, I expect to see the same Nigiri items at any sushi restaurants in Japan. From Maguro, Ika, Ikura to Uni, just about every sushi restaurant serves the same items and people are content with the same old tradition or at least they don’t ask for anything other than what they are used to see. What you enjoy is a subtlety your pallet distinguishes after all. A skillful chef at a established sushi restaurant can provide that.

Having lived in Portland, Oregon for over years, I saw how people embrased sushi and raised its status from “raw fish” to “delicacy” over time.
What I find most amusing is the American ingenuity. My favorite sushi restaurant in Portland serves Nigiri with seared salmon, octopus salad, deep fried sushi, or even a thin slice of roast beef to name a few. I quickly became a big fan of this new invention.
When I was visiting Tokyo last year, I found myself missing these American sushi.
People back in Japan don’t know what they are missing.

By: jinsei

jinsei — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:33:55 +0000

Thank you for replying. I understand your position and actually I agree that so many types of sushi that American places serve are not very good, nor traditional in any sense. Even in Tokyo, When I once ordered aburi salmon, it came with mayo on top, which I found disgusting and couldn’t understand why they would do that other than for Japanese people’s obsession with mayo as of late. Although, outside of Tokyo they never put mayo on any sushi.

Just curious though; do you live in Japan? If so, have you eaten in Otaru, Hokkaido?

By: war3rd

war3rd — Sat, 31 May 2008 14:09:39 +0000

Hi Jinsei, what I mean when I’m talking about “traditional” sushi is exactly that. Most sushi-ya these days anywhere are not “traditional” in the sense that they keep to the rigid sushi traditions of old. In fact, those types of restaurants seem to be few and far between. One can absolutely find all the foods you mention in many sushi-ya and the western world has done a very good job of exporting techniques such as adding mayonnaise to various dishes, which is about as far from traditional Japanese cuisine as you can get.

I don’t mean to disparage any restaurants, I enjoy most of the dishes I find in any sushi-ya, and other types of meat are becoming more and more common. Change is the nature of things, and I only sought to differentiate between what is ‘traditional’ and what is not, not imply that any one is better than the other.

I hope that cleared up my position.

Meshi agare.
Warren
Sushi Otaku

By: jinsei

jinsei — Mon, 12 May 2008 06:57:13 +0000

Hi,

I was wondering if you’ve ever lived in Japan? I just wanted to comment on something you wrote about a while go regarding venison sushi. You seem to think this is not “traditional sushi” when in reality restaurants in Japan serve all kinds of “sashimi” that are not fishmeat. For example, one of the most popular nonfish sashimi is horse meat, and less popular (because it’s so rare) is raw chicken sashimi which I had in a Sapporo izakaya. Furthermore, whale is also the underground favorite and if one didn’t know better it looks like raw steak (but tastes like fish). Also, sushi styles widely vary in Japan depending on the region. I used to live in Hokkaido, a place I which I personally think has the best sushi in the world. In Tokyo I think the sushi is disgusting and overpriced-even in Tsukiji. Also, there are many kinds of sushi you cannot get in Tokyo that is served in Sapporo like mame fugu (baby fugu) and chan-chan yaki (salmon with a sweet miso paste). Furthermore, places in Tokyo have this annoying habit of putting mayonnaise on aburi-salmon.