The Book of Sushi

125 Pages·2021·33.16 MB·English

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Kinjiro Omae

Yuzuru Tachibana

Foreword by Jean-Pierre Rampal

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ISBN 4 70 3p
Contents

Foreword

. The Sushi Shop

. Topping and Core

. Sushi Making

. The Fish Market

. The Chef's Training
. Sushi Design

. Nutrition

. History

Cont anaurRwona

. Regional Variations
Sushi Shops Around the World
Index
Foreword

Because of my concert career, I trevel a
great deal and have the opport:mity to
observe and experience a great variety
of cultures all over the work. And I
love to ear.

‘When Larrive in a foreign country
and am taken to dinner, frequently my
host invites me to a French restaurant
sa I will feel at home. OF course I am
quite fone of French cooking, but 1 do
not like to be chanvinistic abont it. 1
try to establish very quick-y that P'm a
real traveler, that [enjoy discovering
things new to me and always prefer to
eat and drink the native food of the
country P'm visiting. Fach county's
tracitions and dishes offer someting,
special to me. I like to explore, After
all, [can always get fine Frerch fod at
home, but I cannot always eat fried
chicken as they make it in the Amerivan
South, or drink calpisinha from Brazil or
east on shabu-shabu or unagi prepared
in the Japanese way.

Thave licen very lucky, not only to
have seen so many 0° the world’s
natural wonders, but also 10 be able co
irllge inthe cinary wonders o

different lands, One major
exception, however, to my native-
cuisine rule occurs when Thave the
opportunity to experience a sushi meal
at one of the many marvelous Japanese
restaurants on cither coast of tae
United States.

6

Thave no memory for dates, but the
first time T visited Jepan must have been
over filteen years ago, [fell in love with
Japan at once, Both the country and her
food stimulate my imagination, To mei
is the most colorful nation, probably
because Japan seems to have more living
traditions than the other countries Pve
visited. Out of my milicu there, I feel
like Lam ina dream, Sometimes it’s
just like being in a fairy tale, ane this I
find refreshing,

Acthe time of my first visit, my
record manager was a man from
Holland who had lived in Japan for five
or six years. He took me very early one
moming to the Tokyo fish market at
‘sukiji. Shafts of morning sunlight
brightly illuminated the open-sided,
high-roofed warckouses. Boxes piled
high with shellfish clams, oysters,
spikey wreath shells—vied lar space
with bins of silvery mackerel, plump
sardines and palm-sized white-sided
sole, In a neat row at one end were
large, whole tuna, shipped by sea or
air Irom oceans the world over. The
wholesaler was auctioning them off ac
asstaccato rate, Some ofthese 6 to
8 foot heauties had already been
carted by middlemen to stalls not far
aay, where they were being cleaned
and varved, revealing the succulent
red, tender flesh,

Every aisle was punctnated with
baskets of shrimp—and what a varie-y!
Smal. curled shrimp locked like a vache
of aoarded coins, and the large ones.
Leated, practically the size of a fist,
are called kurama-ebs, or “wheel
shrimp.”

With water splashing everywhei
the aisles were like rivers, ane this,
together with Cae clean briny sinell int
the cool morning air, made me chink
cf these marine Cornucopias as still
being alive in their natural habitat
Among the many people scurrying
about in black rubber boots were
vendors eager to dispose of heir
goods as early as possible, At the same
time they kept an eye out for their
regular buyers, who come daily from
Tokyo's restaurants and sushi shops to
obtain the freshest fish to please their
ciser'minating clientele, All this made
me cager to sample the native euisine
based on these. wonderfully Iresh riches
of the sea

My friend and manager introduced
me to sushi, I don’t recall exactly when
and where, bat probably in a small

place in the Tsukiji dist-ict, which is
famous For restaurants serving fish, I
though: sushi was fabulous, absolutely
fabulous, from my very first bite. ‘The
completely naturel taste of fresh fish
and the delicately vinegared rice on
which it is served make a perfect
ruarriage, The size is just right too—a
perfect mouthful.

"This was not the first time [had
eaten raw fish, In Marseille on the
Mediterranean, where I grew up, we
regularly cat raw sea urchin, Now T

have « house in Corsica and have
become an avid uni ‘sherman. When T

am there on vacation, we fish almost
every day and Frequently pry as many
as 160 of these spiny delicacies from.
the rocks where they live, The sea
urchin near Corsica is usually a Tittle
smaller than tie Japanese variety, and
we prepare thera dillerently, We cut
away a piece of the shell and rinse it in
fresltsall water and eat all the insides,
sometimes with a piece of bread, as an
appetizer belore going home to dinner
Pethaps because of this, one of my
favorite sushi is uni, although as Mater
discovered, in sushi only the creamy

goldea ror is eaten
I think it is important not to go only
to the fanciest or most expensive
restaurants when in a foreign country
T myself love to eat in rather common
paces. There is a marvelous area near
the Ginza in Tokyo, which is very
colorful and popular. Here a myriad of
small shops selling grilled Foods like
yakitori {skewered grilled chicken) and
okanonsiyaki (savory parcakes) has grown
up arrong the steel and conczete
supporting the elevated railway tracks.

SitUng wich other customers out in
the open on stools and watching the
crowds thread their way through this
maze of steel and smoke, 1 was
somehow transported to the past

get the same
impression from the sight and smells of
the oden-stew vencors who appear on
the street at dusk, wheeling wooden,
carts, their mobile kitchens. The places

century, [sometimes

1 go to for sushi ave often similar—
sinall and unassunsing, absolctely
authentic and access ble to one and all,
although I have been to very exclusive
and private dining rooms tao,
“Fingers” of sushi make a perfect
lunch, simply because fish is Fresher
earlier in the day, but Totes go eat to
cat and relax alter a concert, end then
Isometimes find myself going down
twvisting by anes with others in the
group. Eventually, ducking under an

-dyed quarter-length curtair and
slieing open the small door, we are
welcomed by a battery of chefs into a
bright and sparkling clean sushi
establishment.

Whether for lunch, supper or alter
concert meal, in. Japan [always try to sit
at the counte

This means Tean choose
exactly the seafoods T particularly like
trom the delectable array. ere Iean see
the consummate skill that goes into the
making of each order, ane I can try to
establish rapport with the sushi chef
‘The sushi chef is truly sn artist. He
takes pride not only in iaste, but also
in his cotting skil’ ané the visual
appearance af what he serves. [have my
Hrvorite sushi combinations, of course,
hut I love to ask the master to come up
with his own, personal creations.
Usually the master falls in with my
request with smiling enthusiasm, As a
consequence I've enjayed some
interesting combinations in sushi shops
around the world; smoked salmon and
exotic roes in New Yors, avocado and
crab in Los Angeles, and tiny whitebait
in Japan, That (hese are individeal,
donce-in-eliletime ereations, 1 serioesly
doubt, but by asking the chef to
innovate with the materials he has
before him, I know I have an excellent
taste experience, one that isn’t “on the
ove all sushi and | am particularly

Fond of étoro, the fettiest cut of tuna:
nagure, the deep red meat of the tuna;
andl anage, boiled and served
with a special sauce, It seems that I can
never get enough. When | have a morsel

hat is particularly delicious, 1 often
ask the chef to follow it up with one.
more of the sume. [have my own
idiosyneracies about sushi, T realize that
the vinegared ginger, or gar, 1s to
sleanse the palate becween servings,
hot [prefer to do without it, And Tam
not overly fond of the sweetened.
folded omelet which mary people cat
at the erd of the meal as a sort of
dessert. When prudence dictates that
a meal is near its end, usually close
with an uncut roll of rekka-meki—a

my American friends call it.

ce orem cone,” «a some of

In Japan or out, sushi is sometimes an
acquired taste, have visited Japan with
my father and with my sen. Both of
thera immediate y loved sushi, so their
introduction to this food was easy. My
wite Francoise, however, at first did not
Tike rave fish

‘The secondl cime I was in Japan with
Frangoise marked her raw fist
“haplisin,” Wanting to show her
Kyoto, I scheduled « couple of free
days with na concerts, Today Lean,

almost get by traveling with my limited
Japanese vocabulary, but at that time
Ineeded an escort, My record

manager at Nippon Columbia graciously
offered to help, but when he called me,
he said that there: wuld be an
international convention of eye
surgeons meeting in Kyoro daring the
ime we planed to be there and that
all the hotels wers booked solid. He
suggested, instead, staying in a Japanese
ome. Asit mmed out, this wa: an
elegant old residence in the tvaditional
style in downtown Kyoto, near a big
temple, and was the home of retired
hha end he: even older housekeeper
They had rooms for us, sid it was
arninged that we would be served a
dinner and breakfast,

Frangaise and I were excited about
hheing in a Japanese Ione, aud
everything went perfectly until our
first breakiast, The: howsckeeper
appeared with a traditional and
beautifolly arranged breakfast —
inclusling bot) raw ‘ish andl vaw eggs!
Luck ly Francoise was not quite awake
When she askee what was for breakfist,

cajolingly T told her it was eut Lruit
She ate the fish and smiled to be polite,
though I'm nor sure Tfooled her
Today, however, she is used to both
susiii ard sastumi (slived raw fish),

With Francoise Tako learned a good
Jescon about the Japanese language and
its inlleetions. [took her to-4 Japanese
resiaurant, and wanting to impress her
vwith all the vocabulary I knew, 1
confidently said, “hu-li,” giving the Inst

rllable a rising inflection, The wa'ter
bowed and left the table only to return
with a persimmon. This did impress
my wife, but nat.‘ the way Thad
intended, She knew I wanted to order
oysters! I was sure [had the right word,
so lrepeated myself “kaki” “and the
polite waiter, without any change of
facial expression, brought us another
red persimmon, My exasperation was
not helpeil by my wife's amused
Jughte>. Finally, in desperation 1

again asked for “Roki.”
disappointment and embarsassieut
influenced my inflection on the last
syllable, making it droop dawn sadly
Voi Oysters!

And so earned that even though
words might he spelled the same way
in romanized Japanese, they are not
necessarily pronounced the same way
Oysters areinet nally a sushi
ingredient; they are ton soft and runny
But my experierce with kaki has made
me keep niy sense of hurner whea
ordering sushi a ta carts at the counter

This time, my

Tiny (y exercise my Japanese vocabulary,
and though I'm not always sure Pll get
what Think Tardered, F know Fl enjoy

the experience

Tae key to sushi is Freshness, bit how
fresh is fresh?

In Nagoya I have been to a restaurant
which hasa tank with live fish, You can
choose your own lobster, The chefs take
ic from the tank, remove the insides and
lean it, Then they reconstruct the
prepared lobster, They do the same
with crayfish, Like the sea urehin
wwhuse spines still move even alter there
is nothing left inside if, some parts of
the lobster or crayfish still move: while
you're eating them,

And in Sapporo on the island of
Hokkaido, I've been served fish alive,
The fish is l'ce a small tuna with firm
flesh, After cutting thin fllet off the
fish, the che’ puts it back iw the tank,
Tewas alittle difficule for me to eat
while the fist was stering back at me
from the tank, It didn’: die, Perhaps
this would be soo disconverting a
sensitive person, But thinking about it,
I came to feel that for a pesson who
really loves fresh fish, the assurance of
such absolute freshness strikes a sensible
note and adds a certzin pleasure to
dining,

The popularity of sushi and sastimi is
spreading, An old Friend and former
student of mine from Japan married a
Swiss fellow, and it is he who has
leamed to prepare sashimi. Whe they
visit us in Corsica, he goes to the
market early in the morning, He
carefully explains to the fidimonger
that he is going to prepace the fish raw
then selec's fresh tuna, sea bass, daurade
(<ea bream) and snappers. Home again
he makes a beautiful platter of sashimi
decorated with fresh Flowers. It is
wonderful to realize that sashi and

10

sashimi can be prepared anywhers
where fresh fish are available,

My own preference is for sushi, The
wedded taste of vice and fresh fish is
more satisfying to me, Increasingly, one
can find restaurants featuring sushi

ropping up not only in major cities
outside Japan, like Baris, New York
and Los Angeles, but even in smaller
towns, For example, [have eaten in a
marvelvus Japanese restautant, where
the sushi is prepared with great skill, in
Red Bank, New Jers

Bat nu matter where Lfind a true
sushi master, at shat moment my heart
is transported to Japan, and I know I
am going to indulge ina truly perfect
meal—sushi, a ritual symphony of
visual and savery textures

Jean-Preree Raawac
1. The Sushi Shop
Edomae-zushi

As we approach the sushi shop, it is a
good tire to think briefly about this
representztive Japanese food, for isn't it
true that the better we underscand the
things we cat and the ways trey are
prepacedy she more we appre
A charming legen has it that long
ago an old man and his wife charitably

ate

Teli some vice in die nes! al any osprey
living near their honse, Later they found
fish in the nest. They took the fish
home, ate it aud wee delighted by the
intriguing flavor the'r leitover rice had
imparted to the fish as it underwent
natural fermentation, This may be only
a story, but agrees with the storcal
accomt of how in ancient tines
vinegared rice was used to preserve
fish, The fish was later eaten, the rice
discarded, As time passed and the
Japanese Geveloped their cuisine and
enriched it with importations from
abroad, they began to eat both fish and
rice, and something approaching
made-n sushi was created.

There are many ways tw prepare
sushi and it ean be made at home
Three widely known types are 0
(pressed sushi, birashierushi (scattered
sushi) and moki-zushi (rolled sushi). The
first is made by pressing rice and other
ingredients ina mold, In the Osaka
Kyute area where it originated and is,
still very popular, it features more

12

cooked than raw sealvods, In. making
cbirashicrashi, oivces of cooked or
uncooked seafood and vegetables are
arranged on loosely packed sushi rice.
‘This kind is served in bowls, In the
Osaka version the ingredients are
couse, (hen chopped or sliced. Maki
Zishi is mau by rulling riee and ather
ingredients (seafoods or vegetables} in

Un sheets uf nari seawerd,
We will devote most of onr attention

to the soversiyn 0” the sushi world —

sigisi-aushé, oF Edun

because it was first made and was once

found only in Edo, as Tokyo was known,

Today it is ezten all over

we-ausid 4s iL is Calledd

before 1808,
Japan and in many ether countries ws
well. This made af vinegared rice and
raw, marinated or cooked fish, shellfish
or other toppings,

In the following pages, we present
the fundamentals of sushi making, from
the difficult task of selecting the right
fish to the final step of forming
attractive and appetizing food, afte
first having a look at the sushi shop
itself,

Inside the Sushi Shop

“ras shat, teas
The voices that convey this vigorous
and clear greeting the minute you walk.

into the suski shop are those of the man