Pop Japan

Sushi is one of the most versatile Japanese food that made the country land in the ranks of the best countries for gastronomy. Sushi is a cultural icon in Japan just like pizza in Italy or croissant in France. 

My sushi experience

What makes sushi appetizing and inviting is that it looks appealing in the first place. It’s presented neatly either in bento boxes or the freshly prepared by chefs. I once went to a sushi bar and convenience stores and found sushi in bento boxes. They remind of pastries and mini chocolates from France that I refuse to eat or set aside for special occasions simply because they are like gourmet items - too cute to eat.

 I took one salmon sushi bite-size in a sushi bar in Sushitama Kanazawa station. The rice tastes a mildly sweet, sour and starchy. On top of the rice, is the salmon meat piece that gives off a fishiness taste but with a hint of cream. Scallop sushi is creamy but almost no flavour. Dipping in the oyster sauce can make the sushi more savoury as it adds a flavour of umami or chicken and salt like flavour. I also relished in the extra wasabi that brought pungency akin to mixed mustard powder and horseradish. I also noticed that some rice in sushi constitutes various types. The nori wrapper, although with a mild to subtle taste like MSG or monosodium glutamate, keeps the rice and fillings in place and adds extra flavouring.

What I like most about the sushi bar is that they are served fresh right before your eyes. The sushi chef’s skilled hands guide the razor-sharp knives through the pinkish tuna flesh. The knives cut like a laser in those rolls of rice and their fillings. 

Sushis are like a complete snack, they include rice and the protein filling (salmon, surimi or crab imitation), sesame seed, squid and shrimp. It's like making an all in one food rather than separating the rice from viand (almost meat-based food).

Eating Sushis are like taking assorted doughnuts

Sushis are assorted doughnuts, they are available in different flavours and garnishing presentations. According to my Japanese friend Ms.Eriko, sushi varies based on Japanese regions - Narezushi from Shiga, Oshi sushi, Futomaki (Kansi region), Mehari-zushi (Wakayama Prefecture).

Sushi urchin (Uni)

This one taste like eating caviar or fish roe with a hint of creaminess and sweetness. Some say that it’s the sea foie grass. The best-tasting sea urchin is from the freshest catch and you can find them in Hokkaido’s restaurants and sushi bars.

Sashimi
 

Although, technically not sushi, sashimi is often categorized in the sushi group. Sashimis are thinly sliced pieces or cutlets of meat that are either from salmon, sea urchin, beef, beef liver, shark meat, yellowfin tuna, mackerel, goat meat, horse meat and chicken. Then, there’s a side dish composed of daikon radish, bamboo shoots, yuba or tofu skin - all add a vegetative and complementary flavouring to any of the meat cutlets.  I love the blend of wasabi and avocado sushi (this one salmon paired with avocado slices) although I’m careful not put too much wasabi as it can flame up my tongue. For tourists, looking for exotic and a bit pricey sushi in Yamaguchi prefecture, look for fugu sushi that was reported as tasting like a cross between chicken and whitefish and texture of squid (somewhat rubbery). 

Sawachi Ryori

This one is among my favourite when I went to Kochi in Kouchi prefecture when I had a drinking party with my colleagues there. Sawachi Ryori takes all some of the Japanese delicacies. Placed in one big plate, is a pile of freshness and cutlets, heaped up with varieties of seafood, yellowfin tuna, prawns, sushi rolls, salmon, crab meat,  Tai (sea bream), and shellfish.

Trout Sushi

If Italy has a pizza, Japan has its own version of sushi pizza aka Trout Sushi in Toyoma prefecture. It’s a big round of pressed and vinegared rice topped with slices of salted trout meat. Apart from its salt flavour, trout is milder as it’s a freshwater fish.

Kitkat sushi 

Kitkat sushi is one of my first taste when I landed in Tokyo via Haneda International airport. There’s a shop in Ikebubukuro Tokyo that serves kit kat sushi - puffed rice topped with varieties of sushi bars such as red chocolate, matcha, chocolate and white chocolate sushis. 

Sea squirt sushi

I got a curiosity of how do echinoderms or plant-like animals taste like. Among them is the sea squirt or sea pineapple as it looks like a palm-sized pineapple. The skin is whitish to deep orange and bumpy and the inside is caviar-like and tangy.

Sushi is an iconic part of Japan’s cuisine and you'll find them across convenience stores, izakaya (Japanese pub) and sushi bars in Tokyo (Sushi dai, Mantenzushi, Sushi train, Sushi Saito, Haneda Ichiba Ginza 7). Prices range from 90-100 yen from a conveyor belt and 3000-30,000 yen for expensive sushi from high-end restaurants.