Bridging the Gap Between East and West

The Japanese Food Festival

bringing the East and the West together

for one day of food, fun, and cultural performances

Chef Andy Matsuda

and his Sushi Chef Institute students

demonstrated their sushi skills

The Sushi Bar was a popular booth at the festival
run by the students of the Sushi Chef Institute

We're glad to see Chef Andy Matsuda and his students participating in this annual event, bridging the gap between the East and the West.

Thank You Chef Andy and Bridge USA!

Continue to follow UMI for information on fish and continue to eat sushi, One Fish at a time...

Sushi Chef Institute

222 South Hewitt Street

Los Angeles, CA 90012

(213) 617-6825

www.sushischool.net

Jay Terauchi and Jeff Nitta

Toro Truffle Angeleno Sushi

All This in One Bite!

Toro Truffle Angeleno

This piece of sushi includes:

1. Marinated Toro

2. Miso Hollandaise Sauce

3. Caviar

4. Pink Peppercorns

5. Gold Leaf

6. Black Truffle

7. Micro Wasabi Leaf

8. Served with a Beet Sauce

UMI was able to taste this incredible culinary experience all in one bite at K-ZO in Culver City. Creative sushi doesn't have to only be a sushi roll. Tell us what your favorite creative sushi/roll is and who makes it.

Continue to follow UMI as we explore One Fish at a time...

Happy Holidays!

K-ZO

9240 Culver Blvd.

Culver City, CA 90232

(310) 202-8890

Sushi Used to Calm Diplomatic Tensions

From China Real Time:

Sushi was used in Norway to calm tensions between China and Japan. Who would have thought that SUSHI was used between two world powers? It's just food... 8,734 pieces of sushi was used to create this sushi mosaic and thus a Guinness Book World Record.

Pass the soy sauce...

Norwegian Seafood Export Council

For more information: http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2010/10/20/fishy-china-accepts-norway-sushi-prize/

Jay Terauchi/Jeff Nitta

Locals Only

A common question that comes up at the fish market and sushi bars is what's a good "local" fish?
Here's one that's not only local, but tasty too...

Local Sardine

Kazunori Nozawa of Sushi Nozawa says "local sardines are great" and Chef Tommy Kosaka of Sushi Dragon agrees.

Growing up in Tokyo, Chef Tommy learned that traditional sushi is using small fish from Tokyo Bay and sardines are what he grew up with. Besides it being traditional and sustainable, Chef Tommy also serves it because it's a healthy choice for his customers. Two of his regulars told him that their blood pressure had gone down because of eating more sardines.

Chef Nozawa only serves the very best and if you use locally grown or caught ingredients, it's even better. "It's costly but you have to do it the right way", says Nozawa-san.

Sardine Sashimi

Anytime you have a good product, you don't have to do much with it. My favorite way to really enjoy good sardines at the sushi bar is with ponzu (citrus soy sauce) and grated ginger. At home, I love them marinated in olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a squeeze of lemon.

Fried Sardine Bones

In the Asian culture, nothing gets thrown away, even the bones are fried and make a nice crunchy finish to a great fish dish.

"Sardines provide your body with proteins essential for building and maintaining muscle mass. Researchers also are investigating how fish oils may speed recovery from certain sports injuries", says The Sardine Diet. Studies indicate that Omega-3s may improve the healing of ligament injuries by accelerating collagen synthesis.

Regardless if you eat sardines for its health benefits or because they're sustainable, it's a great tasting fish.

Please continue to follow UMI as we bring you more information on great seafood and sushi, One Fish at a time... Please tell us what you think.

Chef Kazunori Nozawa
Sushi Nozawa

11288 Ventura Blvd. #C

Studio City, CA 91604

(818) 508-7017

Chef Tommy Kosaka

Sushi Dragon

8069 Vineland Ave

Sun Valley, CA 91352

(818) 768-4507

Article and photographs by Jeffrey Nitta and Jay Terauchi

Did You Know It's RAW?

Yes, that's how I ordered it. Sashimi translates to "fresh slice" and usually means raw seafood. If you walk into a sushi bar and it smells like fish, you should probably ask for the kitchen menu. Fresh seafood should smell like the ocean and doesn't have a fishy smell.

In a traditional Kaiseki multi-course meal, the sashimi course is served at the beginning. Heavier foods and dishes are served latter in the meal.

A Sashimi Course

At the sushi bar, the chef will always serve sashimi in odd numbered pieces, such as 3, 5, or 7. If you're served an even number, I would say they weren't trained in the traditional way or just have no idea.

Thinly Sliced White Fish

White fish is usually served with ponzu (citrus soy sauce), green onions, and grated daikon (giant white radish) with chili pepper.

Besides fish, sashimi also includes various types of seafood, including sea urchin (uni), spot prawns (amaebi), giant clam (mirugai), octupus (tako), etc.

Besides fresh fish, the thing about good sashimi si the freshly grated wasabi to go with it. Fresh wasabi isn't the hot, sinus blowing heat that we all know it to be. It's actually really flavorful and on the sweet side. But, we'll talk about fresh wasabi another time.

Freshly Grated Wasabi on a Sharkskin Grater

One of the best sashimi dishes that I've had was a plate of sliced albacore with fried garlic chips and dressed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a squeeze of lemon, it was unbelievable.

Anytime you have a great fresh fish, you should have it in its purist form. UMI will continue to bring you information about fish and sushi, let's continue to eat and enjoy sushi.

Please share your sashimi experiences with us.

Domo Arigato

Article by Jeffrey Nitta and Jay Terauchi

Eating Local Amaebi

Not many people know that California is known for its spot prawns. The spot prawn, also known as "amaebi" in sushi bars, is actually a shrimp. Shrimp have small side flaps that overlap on the first through third abdominal segments and prawns have first and second anterior segments that are closely the same size. Its OK if you didn't notice that either...

Santa Barbara Spot Prawn

People who live on the West Coast are fortunate to be able to get live spot prawns, as they live up and down the coast. A lot of these prawns are caught in the Santa Barbara Channel and San Diego area. They're kept alive in cooled oxygenated tanks. Most of the spot prawns are sold alive, while the others are shipped frozen. Besides restaurants and speciality seafood markets, chances are that you won't find many live spot prawn tanks. Once they die, an enzyme spreads through the body and the meat becomes mushy.

Spot prawns have a very sweet flavor and in Japanese, "amaebi" means sweet shrimp. Most Japanese restaurants serve amaebi raw at the sushi bar.

I was visiting Sushi Dragon in Sun Valley this week. As one of my sushi bar favorites, I ordered "amaebi" sushi. I was lucky enough to get a spot prawn that was a female, so I was also served the "amaebi roe" with a quail egg. There isn't anything better than roe prepared properly with one of the freshest quail eggs I've ever had, they get them from local farmer.

Amaebi Roe (with Quail Egg) and Spot Prawn Sushi

Chef Tommy Kosaka at Sushi Dragon is an experienced chef who has the "head to tail" mind set and uses the entire fish or prawn in this case. For his customers, they're able to try a part of the fish that most have never had before. Chef Tommy spends a lot of his free time in and around the ocean, some mornings you can find him at a local beach surfing.

Deep Fried Amaebi Heads

And YES, the amaebi heads were served just after being served sushi. I realize that not many chefs have the background or training to serve most parts of fish in a delicious manner, meaning we don't want to have "Fear Factor" when dining out. I have some stories, but will have to be for another time... With the problem of overfishing, we must conserve our food supply for generations to come. You might even find out that you like a certain fish part that is usually discarded.

Stay tuned to UMI for more sushi tips and let's continue to eat sushi one fish at a time. If you visit Sushi Dragon, tell Chef Tommy to Hang Ten!

Chef Tommy Kosaka

Sushi Dragon

8069 Vineland Avenue

Sun Valley, CA 91352

Article and photographs by Jay Terauchi

Out of the Sea - Ocean Fresh Fish

Out of the Sea…

Over the past few months, we’ve met many chefs who have talked about the lesser known varieties of great tasting fish. We came across a few on a recent trip to Ocean Fresh Fish & Seafood Marketing Inc in Los Angeles. We saw a lot of different types of fish and here’s a few that caught our eye:

Striped Jack or Shima Aji

Have I got a recipe to introduce you to…

My All-Time Favorite – Spanish Mackerel

Unusual findings too…

So many chefs are talking about local sardines

UMI thanks Mr. Young Kim and Ocean Fresh Fish & Seafood Marketing Co., Inc for the visit, we’ll be back when we can spend more time.

We’re now off to try some different types of sushi and hope you do too, One Fish at a time…

Ocean Fresh Fish & Seafood Marketing Co., Inc.

1100 South Santa Fe Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90021

(213) 622-3677

Article and Photos by Jay Terauchi and Jeffrey Nitta