Mt. Fuji

Mt. Fuji
Absolutely Fantastic !!! Mt. Fuji, best viewed in winter, stands in blue sky without any clouds

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Secrests in making sushi --- The President of USA, Obama, enjoyed it.

President Obama enjoyed sushi with Japanese Prime Ministar Abe at a famous sushi bar when he visited Japan in April. He reportedly said that he had the most delicious sushi in his life, which pleased Mr. Abe very much.
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What do you think  is the difference between  the restaurant at Ginza and a conveyer velt-served sushi shop for common people?
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I would suggest difference in skills of sushi chefs who prepare, make, and serve sushi.

What makes a good taste of sushi?
Biting into the rice and its seafood topping, the flavours and textures blend and melt together to produce a delicious depth of flavour.
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We know many factors which influence the flavours and textures.
Followings are some of important ones.
  (1) tenderness and freshness of steamed rice grain
  (2) stickness and temperature of a bite-sized serving of rice grains
  (3) thickness, size, and temperature of toppings
Good sushi chefs know how to control these conditions totally.

★Preparation process of steamed rice
They say this is the most important among them, as well as the choice of rice species.
The chefs blend vinegar into steaming-hot, freshly cooked rice, using a paddle.  It takes skill to mix the vinegar into the rice evenly without crushing the individual  grains. Next, the rice must be fanned to blow away the excess moisture as it cools down.  The sugars in the vinegar form a coating around each grain of rice.  This stops them from becoming too sticky and seals in the flavour.  The vinegar solution with sugar must be secret. Too much vinegar causes a strong smell, and much sugar loses the plain taste of rice.
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★Interesting experiment of measuring the stickness of a serving
Putting a serving on the plate, they measured the speed of wind which blows off each grain of the serving.
As the results, the serving made by a sushi master was blown off at the speed of 25 m/s (meter per second), which is equal to that of typhoons, while the one by a novice was scattered off at about half of the speed, 12 m/s.
That means that better servings can keep its good texture in our mouth.

Why don't you try "genuine sushi " while you are in Tokyo.
You can enjoy a delectable depth of its flavour and texture. 
Some sushi bars in Ginza serve lunch at reasonble price (about ¥3,000-5,000 per person) on weekdays.  
  

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