Do you like sushi? Ok. Do you love sushi? If the answer is yes, you must see the documentary film Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Jiro Ono is an 85 year old man who many consider to be the best living sushi chef in the world. Although his restaurant has only 10 seats and is located in a Tokyo subway station, the Japanese government has seen fit to declare him a National Treasure and Michelin has awarded him 3 stars. Here is the official trailer for the film.
I must state upfront that I am no expert on Japanese traditional cuisine, or washoku in Japanese and that Josée and I have never been to Japan. Furthermore, Japanese cookery is far too complex and varied to do it justice here. Notwithstanding this, I have to say that I have the very highest respect for Japanese cuisine and I can think of very few other cuisines that have been elevated to such a high art form. Maybe, the fact that I am a surgeon and place very high importance on precision and obcessive planning and order makes the Japanese way of doing things so appealing to me.
Steamed white rice is served with nearly every meal and is the food staple of the Japanese. The rice is sticky so it can be easily handled with chopsticks. Other common ingredients in a Japanese meal include seaweed, vegetables, noodles (soba or udon) and soybeans. Typical dishes include miso soup, sushi, sashimi, tempura, gyoza (dumplings).
With no further ado and a humble "Itadakimasu", I present you Josée's Japanese offering. (Note that today was a holiday in Bermuda and so no fresh fish was available which expains the absence of sashimi on the menu.
Salmon Miso Soup
Sushi
Tempura
The miso soup was prepared with ginger, green onions, miso (fermented soybeans) dashi (a class of soup and cooking stock, considered fundamental to Japanese cooking, made from kelp and fermented bonito), tofu and salmon.
Sushi: rice, toasted seaweed sheets, cucumber, peppers, asparagus and avocado. Some had crab in them as well. Note that the rice needs to be cooked and handled well. When rice starts to cool sushi vinegar (rice wine vinegar with sugar and salt ) is added to it.
Tempura: shrimps, shiitake and peppers dipped in a batter made of flour, cornstarch, baking powder and sesame oil and then deep fried.
The meal was accompanied by a chilled bottle of Pure Night, Shimizu-No-Mai/Junmai Daiginjo Sake-Premium 2009, Japan. This sake was outstanding. The alcohol content is 16.5% and the taste is velvety smooth in the mouth.
Stay tuned for Norway next.
Joseph Froncioni
Once again this meal looks outstanding! The miso soup, in particular, jumps off the screen and must have been incredible tasting.
Posted by: Liz | November 12, 2012 at 09:06 PM