Complex Numbers

Sushi

"Journalistic Intentions"  [18+], #6 of 8...

Jiro Ono  

If the unthinkable happened, and I had to choose just one culture's cuisine to eat for the rest of my life, it would probably be Japanese. As much as I love Italian, Mexican, French, Thai, and even American, along with many others, I could probably limit myself to Japanese if I had to. And one of the reasons for that is sushi.

I don't remember exactly when I first tried sushi, but I do remember where: a hole in the wall in Greenwich Village, whose name I've forgotten but it doesn't matter because restaurants in the Village have a half-life of approximately five days, so it's most likely gone now. I think I was in my 20s, and sushi was practically unknown where I came from (though at this point, there are a few good sushi restaurants around here, and you can even get something approximating it at the grocery stores).

Sushi is, of course, not the only thing I like in Japanese cuisine, but I have certainly come to expect it at any place that serves anything remotely Japanese in style.

There's an artistry to it, naturally. I've tried making my own, sans the raw fish which I don't trust around here, and it's hard to get it right. (It's a common misconception among us gaijin that sushi contains raw fish -- while it can, the defining aspect that makes something sushi is the presence of sticky, vinegared rice.)

I only have one hard-and-fast rule about my sushi: I never eat octopus, cuttlefish, or squid. They're smarter than I am, and I make it a point to never eat anything smarter than me (bacon is the exception because it's just so damn tasty).

Other than that, when it comes to sushi, I'm willing to try almost anything.

I always said that if I'm ever in the cliché situation of a doctor telling me I have x months to live, I'm going to fly to Japan and eat sushi there. And also drink some really premium sake, as well as the scotch-like 25 year Yamazaki. Hell, I might have to do all that even if I don't have a deadline, but I'll at least wait until the pandemic dies down. Anyway, point is, if I only have x months to live I'd find a chef willing to prepare fugu sushi for me. Fugu, as you might already know, comes from the blowfish, whose liver is deadly to humans and so it has to be prepared just right. Not a chance I'd normally take, but what the hell, right?

Having never been to Japan, though, the best sushi I ever had was in an obscure town on the Oregon coast whose name escapes me and I can't be arsed to look it up. The second best was in Las Vegas, and in the Before Time, I'd go to that restaurant every time I visited that city.

Would I seek out the restaurant featured in the above link? You bet your ass I would. Apparently you can only get there by arranging it through the concierge of a luxury hotel.  . I'd absolutely do that, even if the place has by that time been passed down to Jiro Ono's son.

And now I'm really craving sushi. The third-best sushi I ever had was right here in my town, at a place called Ten. I think it's called that because it costs ten times as much as most other restaurants. But it's totally worth it, and I think I'm going to have to visit again soon.