Our restaurant is buzzing with everything from the season! From seasonal fish filled with umami, to new sushi platters, and new seasonal drinks. We continue to offer takeout in addition to dine-in reservations, and offer a few insights below about sushi dining, and how to fill your time this fall.
Autumn Platter
This year, autumnal equinox has provided clear change from summer to autumn, and many fish are getting into the new season. We follow this shift as well by switching our sushi platter to our new Autumn Platter. Autumn fish are fattier and rich in umami! Enjoy Shiro’s Autumn Platter for family, celebrations, and social gatherings.
Nigiri Eating Tips
Roll sushi first became popular in American, however, when people say “sushi” in Japan, they usually mean nigiri sushi. Until the 1970’s, nigiri sushi was considered a very expensive food, reserved only for special occasions, and usually with large sushi platters delivered. Progressively, the popularity of sushi has risen in Japan, as well as America. With prices becoming a bit more pedestrian, the availability of sushi has also caused the increase of consumption, including the invention of Kaiten sushi (conveyer belt sushi), and the increasing availability of lunch or dinner box sushi in supermarkets.
As nigiri sushi becomes more popular in the US, we thought it would be helpful to share some tips for eating nigiri sushi. First, it is absolutely acceptable to eat nigiri sushi with your hands! In fact, some expect it and encourage it. We, of course, do recommend sanitizing your hands before you do so. Please ask your server for sanitizing wipes, likewise, we welcome you to eat nigiri with chopsticks, too.
The second tip comes when dipping nigiri in soy sauce. There is a tiny matter that soy sauce should be applied only to fish and not to soak the sushi rice. To achieve this, rather than twist your arm 180 degrees while holding your nigiri sushi, we recommend rolling the sushi on its side, then placing your chopsticks or fingers on the top and bottom of the nigiri. This will make it easier to dip the fish rather than soaking the sushi rice, which avoids making a mess in the soy sauce dish with soaked rice grains, and properly seasoning just the fish, as the chef intends.
Drinks in October
Limited time Sake: Kagatobi Ai Shiboritate Junmai Daiginjo, Nama, undiluted
Fukumitsuya Corporation, Ishikawa, Japan
New Soft Drink: Ginger Ale
Kagatobi Ai (pronounced like “eye”) is now on our Sake menu for a limited time. Ai(藍) means “indigo blue.” They use “Yamada Nishiki,” which is known as one of the most suitable rice for sake brewing, and this Yamada Nishiki comes from farms which have a specially cultivated contract with Fukumitsuya, the brewer of Kagatobi. While having the sweetness of rice, the taste is refreshing with moderate aroma. During the pressing process, the middle part is called “Nakagumi (中汲み), meaning “scooping in the middle,” which produces the most smooth, yet rich in taste sake. Its refreshingly dry taste is well complemented with sushi.
In pairing with sushi, autumn salmon and its egg (Ikura) is a delightful accent. Our autumn salmon is not only served as nigiri, but we also serve it as an appetizer at our sushi bar. The limited sake also pairs very well with our seasonal Matsutake Tempura, which features locally foraged Matsutake from Oregon, now in season with the best taste and fragrance among all mushrooms, we believe.
In addition to the new sake, we are thrilled to add the long-awaited ginger ale to our soft drink list. While common, ginger ale is refreshing and dry, but not sour, and brings out the delicacy of the taste that sushi often presents. We recommend ginger ale as a wonderful non-alcoholic, soft drink pairing for sushi, just as it is often enjoyed with sushi in Japan.
What’s happening in Seattle in October
Autumn is a time of excitement surrounding sports! The football season just began last month, the ice hockey season is underway, and the wild card series of MLB begins this month.
Seattle is home to many major sports teams, such as Seahawks (NFL), Mariners (MLB), Kraken (NHL), Storm (WNBA), Sounders (MLS) and OL Reign (NWSL). And Shiro’s Sushi is in a good place to easily access every sports venue, just 15 minutes on foot to Climate Pledge Arena and a 10-minute bus ride to T-Mobile Park and Lumen field!
Climate Pledge Arena (formerly Key Arena) reopened in 2021 after a $1.5 billion renovation. It is home to the Seattle Kraken and Seattle Storm. Founded by Amazon and Global Optimism, this arena is the first net zero carbon certified arena in the world.
