Seasonal Sake – Dassai
August’s seasonal sake, Dassai, is a truly unique sake from one of Japan’s top breweries, Asahi Shuzo. This exceptional sake is smooth, refreshing and pure. The nose is filled with rosewater, cream, apple and melon aromas. The texture is soft and airy. It swooshes through the palate like a gentle mountain stream! As you sip,…
Japanese Culture – Choyo-no-Sekku and Tsukimi
In Japan, there are five days called Sekku: 1/7, 3/3, 5/5, 7/7 and 9/9. When expressed numerically, all dates are odd numbers, which have been considered lucky since ancient times in Japan. Of these, September 9 is called Choyo-no-Sekku, which is the “Kiku (Chrysanthemum)-no-Sekku”. Compared to the other four festivals, the Choyo-no-Sekku is generally unfamiliar…
Japanese Culture – Summer Break in Japan
In the U.S., summer break lasts for more than two months, but in Japan, schools start their summer break in the middle of July and go back to school near the end of August or early September. The difference is not only in the length of summer break though! Most schools give their students a…
Japanese Culture – Maguro (Tuna)
In Japanese, tuna is called “Maguro” which is derived from the word “Meguro” meaning black eyes. The most popular tuna is Pacific bluefin tuna, the largest of the tuna species! It can grow up to 9-feet and weigh up to 1,300 lbs.! In the first fish auction of 2019, the winning bid for a Pacific…
Fish In Season – Ama-ebi (Sweet Shrimp)
While enjoyed worldwide, Ama-ebi lives in the Northern Pacific at a depth of 650 to 1950 feet and can only be caught off the coast of Japan, Alaska and Canada. The northern prawn (Hon-Hokkoku Aka-ebi) is only caught in the North Atlantic, but is also distributed as sweet shrimp. The harvest season for these 10…
Chirashi Sushi Bowl To-Go
Edomae chirashi generally consists of sashimi slices decorated on top of vinegared rice. Although Shiro’s was the first restaurant in Seattle to introduce Edomae-style (the ancient tradition of preserving fish for sushi), Chef Kinomoto recently adopted the popular Bara Chirashi (a mixture of raw and cooked ingredients) to make a delicious bowl of fresh seafood…