This is a special entry in the Japanease blog, perhaps you even could call it a specialist entry. If you are English or any other nationality than Japanese and you do not know or understand the delights of Japanese cuisine then this will be a bit of a novelty for you. If you already know Japanese cuisine and are a fan then you will, no doubt, enjoy this blog entry. However there is another category of reader, a special category to whom this entry is dedicated. These are the Japanese people we know in London; the baby smuggler, John Gay, eyeconic to name just a few, you know who you are!
Saba sashumi: sweet slices of Mackerel
For our Japanese friends, stranded in the U.K. where pie and mash, fish and chips and other such inedible glories of our culinary skills are on offer, it is like being in a dry, dry desert. They yearn for mother's chow han, they dream of a really good bowl of noodles and they would cut off their own toes for some really, truly, fresh, fresh fish. This page is for them nothing less than an inconsiderate cruelty.
Our restaurant of choice is Kai Sushi in Todoroki, a real palace to the aesthetic of this Japanese culinary art. The idea of eating raw fish is not one that immediately endears itself to most people from the U.K.. But that idea, raw fish, is a very clumsy interpretation of what sushi represents; certainly it is not about hooking a fish out, bashing it over the head and then slicing off hunks of fish meat to chew on.I will talk you through our visit to Kai yesterday and you will then begin to see why I consider this one of the finest eating experiences in the known multi-verse. During my long months of exile from manners and sanity, I dream of Tokyo and visiting Kai Sushi. After returning to London and the delights of living near the Holloway Road at the beginning of February this year, my wife and I had a monumental load of work to do before we could embark on our summer trip. As a consequence we had to wait seven grim long months before we boarded the plane again.
The Holloway Road, where police cars scream past every twenty minutes. The Holloway Road, the first forty yards of which has been reported as one of the most dangerous places in London. The Holloway Road, where people wade through the litter and refuse they discard uncaringly onto the pavement. The Holloway Road, the Aludel of evolutionary regression.In our darkest moments we would huddle together and promise each other that if we made it through we would one day be sitting at Kai Sushi filling ourselves with saba and toro. Yesterday that day came.
We adventured out with HMiL, taking the bus to Todoroki. Everyone on the bus sat patiently, well mannered, as polite travel is considered the basic standard of behaviour in Japan. No-one has their feet on the seats, no-one is shouting down their mobile phone about their problems with genital herpes (using a mobile on public transport is something you just don't do in consideration for other travellers) and no-one is licking the tomato sauce off their fingers after having chucked the greasy Mac-box with the last few fries in onto the seat opposite them. On the bus to Todoroki we sat safely in anticipation of what was to come.
London Local Cuisine: Pie and MashSheep's gizzards minced into tough crust pie, covered with the congealed fatty residue left over after stewing eels, coloured luminous green for the aesthetic by adding sheaves of parsley to cover the smell (known somewhat quaintly as "liquor"). And just to turn the dish into an absolute picture of the art of cockney cuisine, a large slag of lumpy mashed potato is literally scrapped down the side of the plate. Ahh, now that's a genuine taste of London for the media middle class who pollute the back roads of the Holloway Road.
The restaurant itself is so discretely placed that the wandering foreigner would be hard pressed to recognise its existence even if he was standing outside its front door. On entering you find a cool modern interior with a smart wooden counter before which is a row of stools. Behind the counter two sushi artists resplendent in crisp whites stand and hand craft the food for the willing customers. Between you and these masters of their craft runs a glass covered chiller cabinet within which lie the raw materials of your forthcoming dinning experience.
Before you is the table area of the counter,then there is a short raised platform just in front of the chilled cabinet.
The cabinet is at eye level so your sight constantly sweeps along the potential offerings
awaiting only a simple request for them to be transformed into an elegant mouthful.
A loud shout of welcome from the masters as you enter is taken up in joyous repetition by those off to the right, behind the curtain, in the kitchen area. You take your stool alongside those already gathered, sneak a glance at what they are eating, order a beer, green teas for the ladies and lick your lips. This is going to be special.
My first call yesterday was for the smoked salmon. As the moment of first taste was the epiphany I had been waiting months for the camera was left in its bag. So I will have to describe the smoked salmon to you. First a broad green banana leaf is placed on the ledge before the cabinet. The master who serves you then reaches over the counter and places a small pink pile of pickled ginger on the leaf. This is a mouth refresher to clean the palate between fish. You call up your order and the style in which you wish it presented and the deft hands of the maestro go to work.
Our magician yesterday at Kai
In a matter of moments two rich fat slices of smoked salmon appeared on the green surface of the leaf. For our UK readers, as the Japanese will already know this, we are not talking that hopeless orange gunk you have to scrape away from cellophane sheets before laying its transparent hopelessness on a recycled Ryvita cardboard cracker.
No, we are talking smoked salmon here, the delicately smoked flesh of a wild Alaskan King Salmon. Flesh of a deep red, a cherry red that glistens with an all but invisible glaze of soya. The sushi artist took the side of salmon out of the chiller, expertly cut off two almost identically sized chunks. Then he took a pug of rice in his hands and moulded it into shape whilst moistening his palms with a sweet vinegar.
He next determined what he deemed to be the perfect amount of wasabi and wiped a lump of that green paste on the top of the shaped rice onto which he then stuck the salmon flesh. Once each of the two were moulded and shaped he placed extremely finely chopped ginger, just enough for a subtle flavouring, onto the crest of the fish and then passed these two sculpted delights over the cabinet and down onto the green leaf before me. We are talking exquisite, mouth watering heaven sent blessings which in their own form present an art work to the eye. As far as taste went; rich, soft, scented, with a frothy creaminess that melted away the flesh with every slow appreciative chew.
The magic hands creating au toro nigiri, the richest, fattiest part of the Tuna
My first call yesterday was for the smoked salmon. As the moment of first taste was the epiphany I had been waiting months for the camera was left in its bag. So I will have to describe the smoked salmon to you. First a broad green banana leaf is placed on the ledge before the cabinet. The master who serves you then reaches over the counter and places a small pink pile of pickled ginger on the leaf. This is a mouth refresher to clean the palate between fish. You call up your order and the style in which you wish it presented and the deft hands of the maestro go to work.
Our magician yesterday at KaiIn a matter of moments two rich fat slices of smoked salmon appeared on the green surface of the leaf. For our UK readers, as the Japanese will already know this, we are not talking that hopeless orange gunk you have to scrape away from cellophane sheets before laying its transparent hopelessness on a recycled Ryvita cardboard cracker.
No, we are talking smoked salmon here, the delicately smoked flesh of a wild Alaskan King Salmon. Flesh of a deep red, a cherry red that glistens with an all but invisible glaze of soya. The sushi artist took the side of salmon out of the chiller, expertly cut off two almost identically sized chunks. Then he took a pug of rice in his hands and moulded it into shape whilst moistening his palms with a sweet vinegar.
He next determined what he deemed to be the perfect amount of wasabi and wiped a lump of that green paste on the top of the shaped rice onto which he then stuck the salmon flesh. Once each of the two were moulded and shaped he placed extremely finely chopped ginger, just enough for a subtle flavouring, onto the crest of the fish and then passed these two sculpted delights over the cabinet and down onto the green leaf before me. We are talking exquisite, mouth watering heaven sent blessings which in their own form present an art work to the eye. As far as taste went; rich, soft, scented, with a frothy creaminess that melted away the flesh with every slow appreciative chew.
The magic hands creating au toro nigiri, the richest, fattiest part of the TunaOnce the first mouthful was safely tucked away the three of us issued forth a stream of orders. Rather than write too much more I will leave the pictures to speak mostly for themselves.
Mackerel, saba sashumi: This was absolutely fantastic. A superb quality super fresh mackerel (they shop every morning in the Tokyo fish market for the very best fish) that was sweet and extremely oshi.
Red Mullet, tai nigiri. Without a doubt the top star of the show yesterday. This was the definition of sushi heaven and I was so stunned by the quality I had to have another portion.
Tuna, au toro nigiri. Not just Tuna but the very finest cut of the fattiest part of the tuna. This is why the meat appears such a fine and subtle pink, it is laced with fat. The obvious reaction to this would be one of distaste as far as the traditional English palate would go. However, the fat just melts in the warmness of your mouth and you do not chew this fish so much as allow it to dissolve in a creamy froth which combines with the nuttiness of the rice and the sharp cleansing of the wasabi. An absolute delight.
Sardine, iwashi nigiri. Compare this image of food presentation to the picture above of pie and mash. Even the most barbarian brain buds can see where the artistry lies.
Crab, canni. Absolutely superb, two portions again!
Prawns, ebi. These were cooked but that is an option not a compulsion. They were a solid prawn, rich in flavour with a strong firm meat set off with a splash of fresh lime juice.
This was a shellfish which we were unable to identify. Our maestro did tell Akane but she has forgotten what it was. The shell fish is lain on the wooden block, swiftly sliced into strips and given a firm slap with the flat of the knife. The nervous system in the shellfish responds by curling up and this pulling together of the muscle intensifies the flavour in the chew.
Pilchard, sanma sashumi. Many of you will remember Pilchards from school dinners. Many will know "Glenryk Pilchards" tinned in tomato sauce. This is a whole world away from that desperate food preparation. Stunningly good.
Mackerel, saba sashumi: This was absolutely fantastic. A superb quality super fresh mackerel (they shop every morning in the Tokyo fish market for the very best fish) that was sweet and extremely oshi.
Red Mullet, tai nigiri. Without a doubt the top star of the show yesterday. This was the definition of sushi heaven and I was so stunned by the quality I had to have another portion.
Tuna, au toro nigiri. Not just Tuna but the very finest cut of the fattiest part of the tuna. This is why the meat appears such a fine and subtle pink, it is laced with fat. The obvious reaction to this would be one of distaste as far as the traditional English palate would go. However, the fat just melts in the warmness of your mouth and you do not chew this fish so much as allow it to dissolve in a creamy froth which combines with the nuttiness of the rice and the sharp cleansing of the wasabi. An absolute delight.
Sardine, iwashi nigiri. Compare this image of food presentation to the picture above of pie and mash. Even the most barbarian brain buds can see where the artistry lies.
Crab, canni. Absolutely superb, two portions again!
Prawns, ebi. These were cooked but that is an option not a compulsion. They were a solid prawn, rich in flavour with a strong firm meat set off with a splash of fresh lime juice.
This was a shellfish which we were unable to identify. Our maestro did tell Akane but she has forgotten what it was. The shell fish is lain on the wooden block, swiftly sliced into strips and given a firm slap with the flat of the knife. The nervous system in the shellfish responds by curling up and this pulling together of the muscle intensifies the flavour in the chew.
Pilchard, sanma sashumi. Many of you will remember Pilchards from school dinners. Many will know "Glenryk Pilchards" tinned in tomato sauce. This is a whole world away from that desperate food preparation. Stunningly good.
Simply brilliant commentary and photos here Mr Adams
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