Tokyo Heart

Sushi Secrets

Last night Madame Wife & I decided to give a "new" (to us) sushi restaurant a try:  Naito Sushi, 3-33-3 Hamadayama, Suginami Ku (TEL: 03-3302-4763). The shop has been here for 9 years & owner/chef Naito-san has been in the business for about 20 years.

Are we glad we tried it? You bet! This is one of the best sushi shops we've been to. Itamae (Sushi Chef) Naito does sushi very, very well.

I commented on a recent article I had read about how the taste of sushi changes depending on how tightly packed the rice is. Naito-san said, "Not only how tightly (i.e., how many grains of rice in a nigiri - the rice "ball" in sushi), but also how much air the chef puts into it." He explained that the purpose of folding and refolding the rice into the right shape a few times is one of the secrets of good sushi. The "folding" process adds air to the rice - that is, air between the grains - which keeps the rice less tightly packed and causes the rice to "melt" in the mouth & blend well with the fish.

At most sushi shops you get a small dish to put soy sauce into (I'm sometimes appalled at how much soy sauce some people, usually non-Japanese, put on their sushi; remember folks, just lightly touch the fish - NOT the rice - to the soy sauce - after all, it's not meant to be a soy sponge). No such little dishes at Naito Sushi (except for the sashimi). The sushi is already lightly salted, or brushed with the chef's soy based sauce, so no additional sauce is needed. This was another first - and definitely a good experience. Chef Naito's method means you should eat the sushi soon after it's placed in front of you; otherwise, it may fall apart as you try to pick it up, but then again, who wants to sit & admire the sushi for a long period. After all, it's meant to be eaten!

Another of Naito-san's 'secrets' is to get up early & be at the Tsukiji Fish Market before 5:00 A.M. to pick out the fish he'll be serving that day. He likes to serve only fish that are in season on the day, which means you'll get the freshest possible fish and some interesting varieties. We had several that we've never had before - all scrumptious - even the shellfish, which are usually not my favorite. Naito Sushi's shellfish are the most tender I've ever had at a sushi shop.

Mrs. Naito does a great job of recommending the right sake to go with the sushi. We tried two of her recommendations: Kagatobi (Ishikawa Prefecture), which is smooth with a slight essence of banana. Next was Tsumoru (Nagano Prefecture). It starts out with a slight anise taste and has a bit of yellowish tint in the glass. Now, unlike wine, sake usually doesn't change flavor as it "opens" in the glass, but this one did. Later sips had very little of that first taste of anise, but there is a bit more "bite" to this one than Kagatobi. Both very good sakes. Oh, and you might want to give the beer specialty of the house a try - a blend of Bass Ale and Asahi Super Dry - yumm!

And the price?  Plan on about 10,000 yen per head; depends on what, and how much, you eat & especially on how much you drink.  You can go lower or higher. If you want to keep within a certain budget it's always a good idea to let the chef know ahead of time, but if you just like to order the things you know, or try some new dishes, or drink a few more sake brands, then plan on a higher budget.

If all you've ever had is sushi at a 100 yen kai-ten (conveyor belt) sushi shop then you are definitely in for a super treat. Eat good sushi & you'll probably wonder why in the world anyone would eat kai-ten sushi (okay, it may have it's place, but.....). 

Bubbly Hearts

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There are certain friends here in Tokyo who do love their champagne. Okay, to name names, there is Cheryl (who often calls it "Champers"), and Amanda, who has been known to down a bottle (or two), and it is possible - though not yet proven - that Monica may enjoy a glass or so of the bubbly from time to time. And, not to leave out the gentlemen, Dominic & Eric may be afficianados; Terry? Not sure.

Now, having put it into the proper perspective, let me first say that as far as I know there are no Japanese wineries producing anything in the range of good Champagne or anything else sparkling. There may be some who claim to, but I suspect that if they are found out our French friends will send a Legion of chain-smoking, shaved head frogs hopping across the Pacific to deposit little piles of merde on the roots of the offending vines.

I have had (dare I admit it...) sparkling sake and all I can say is, if you spot it turn and run - don't walk, as fast as your little legs will carry you, to get away.

So, what's the point of all this you may well ask? (Well, go ahead and ask, because I'm about to tell you)!

I read an article in the IHT today, which I shall transpose below, on the proper way to pour Champagne into your Champagne glass. And no, we do not drink Champagne from paper cups; we save those for Akadama (ugh!).

So, on to the article:

To Enjoy Champagne, Treat It Like Beer, Study Says

Champagne may be a symbol of life at the top, but it is best poured into a tilted glass just like that other sparkling beverage, the plebeian beer, according to a new study.

That’s because the bubbles — or dissolved carbon dioxide — in Champagne release its aroma and cause a tingly feeling that heightens the drinking experience. The higher the concentration of bubbles, the better.

The best way to keep the bubbles in the beverage, as any beer drinker knows, is to let the liquid tumble gently down the side of a tilted glass.

When Champagne is poured into a glass held vertically, it loses twice the amount of bubbles, said Gerard Liger-Belair, the study’s lead author and a physicist at the University of Reims, in the heart of France’s Champagne region.

“There is more turbulence and more motion in the liquid in a vertical pour,” Dr. Liger-Belair said. “When you tilt the glass the liquid invades the glass with less force.”

The scientists measured bubbles in glasses of Champagne poured in the traditional way and in the beerlike way at three different temperatures.

They found that the loss of bubbles is further minimized when Champagne is served chilled.

Science, however, may not be enough to change the way a nation pours a drink.

“It would be very provocative to pour Champagne in this way for many French,” Dr. Liger-Belair said. “Champagne is a universe which is very traditionally bent.”

The study is published in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

So there you have it my bubbly imbibing friends and to illustrate the proper technique have a peek at the pictures below.   Top row = no!  Bottom row = yes! 

Till next time, Happy Sipping!

Cow Day Hearts (eat your eel!)

Doyo-no-ushi-no-hi (the cow day during the summer Doyo period) is supposed to be the hottest day in Japan, but I do believe somebody got the calendar a bit wrong as the last few days have been hotter, and hotter, and hotter each day it seems.

The end of each season is named Doyo, according to a Chinese philosophy called gogyo, and there are four Doyo periods per year. There can be one or two cow days during a Doyo period, and Doyo-no-ushinohi in summer falls between mid July and early August each year.

This is also the day one is supposed to eat eel - at least here in Japan. Of course, it's okay to eat eel any day, but the "purpose" of eating eel when it's hot is to overcome natsubate (summer fatigue). Many people believe that eating eel helps increase stamina and beat the summer heat.

The most common unagi (eel) dish is is "unadon" (eel bowl) and sometimes it's called "unagidon." It's made with charcoal grilled eel, coated with a sweet soy-based sauce, served on top of a bowl of rice.  

 
    Unagi Donburi

Variations include unajū, a very similar dish served in a lacquered box rather than a donburi bowl, nagayaki, where the eel and rice are served separately, and hitsumabushi (

small pieces of barbecued eel on rice. In the Kanto area (where Tokyo is located) the eel is roasted first, dipped into the sweet sauce, and then grilled with more sauce brushed on as it cooks. In Kansai, where Osaka is located, the process is similar, but the sauce is only applied during the grillin

However you eat it, eel is a tasty dish, and if you haven’t tried it (you’re not squeamish now, are you?) I recommend you give it a try.

Ghostly Hearts

It's the Obon holidays in Japan. Obon is the time of year to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. It's also when many Japanese return to their home towns - their jikka - to visit & clean up their ancestors' graves and meet with family & old friends. The spirits of the ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars (butsudan) that most Japanese - at least the older generation - have in their homes.

                    A typical Butsudan

Butsudan can be very plain or quite elaborate with prices ranging from $35 to well over $18,000.

Obon has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon-Odori. Watch this video of a typical Bon-Odori.

The festival of Obon lasts for three days, but the starting date varies within different regions of Japan. When the lunar calendar was changed to the Gregorian Calendar at the beginning of the Meiji Era,  the localities in Japan reacted differently and this resulted in three different times of Obon. "Shichigatsu Bon" (Bon in July) is based on the solar calendar and is celebrated around 15 July in areas such as Tokyo, Yokohama and Tohoko (northern part of the main island of Honshu). "Hachigatsu Bon" (Bon in August) is celebrated around the 15th of August and is the most commonly celebrated time. "Kyu Bon" (Old Bon) is celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, and so differs each year. "Kyu Bon" is celebrated in areas like the northern part of the Kanto region, Chugoku, Shikoku, and the Southwestern islands.

These three days are not listed as public holidays but it is customary that people are given leave and many companies and offices may close.

Naturally, the highways are jam packed with cars especially since the government enacted reduced tolls -and even some areas of toll-free - on the expressways. It's not uncommon to sit in a 50 kilometer traffic jam if one is "foolish" enough to drive to their jikka. 

Tokyo is a quieter place during Obon and the traffic lightens up, trains are less crowded during the working day rush hours, but many more people are out & about shopping, eating, watching movies, and enjoyed the parks.

Fruity Bottom Hearts

During this trip to the states I've been eating some great yogurt and for some reason, something on one maker's package struck me as interesting. The label says "Fruit on the Bottom." So, why is that interesting? Well, when I thought about it, I figured they had taken something that some - if not many - people would complain about (the fruit sinking to the bottom of the yogurt) and tuned that into a positive selling point. I.E., a marketing point. It just got me to thinking - if you have a product, or a service, and some may think of some part of it as "negative" maybe you can find a way to turn that into a "positive" by actually accentuating it.

As we wind up this trip, we took a stroll around the neighborhood where we rented an apartment for the last few days. We are very close to the Castro area. The Castro is known as the primary gay area in San Francisco, but as we have discovered, there are many little restaurants and shops in the area that are pretty interesting. For example, Starbelly where we had lunch with friends Michael & Sonie (thanks for lunch you two!) is a great place. They have a long communal counter that is made from a salvaged bowling alley lane and their soups, sandwiches, and pizzas make a great lunch. They have a patio out back for al fresco dining if you want. And, of course, they are open for dinner too.

Walking around the neighborhood we admired the architecture of the area, which like much of San Francisco, has some very interesting places to see, such as the Clarke Mansion on the corner of Douglass and Caselli.

We'll finish the trip off tonight with another of our favorite places, Delfina, for some of their excellent pizza. I've always just got to go to Delfina when I get back to SF.