Kaitenzushi

G. Detou (which is a play on words meaning "I have got everything") is correct if you are after La Belle Iloise hand-canned sardines from Brittany, which I do recommend: http://lesbidulesdisa.canalblog.com/archives/2006/11/26/3272245.html

If you look in the Japanese forum, you will find that Japanese rice does NOT improve with age. Actually I would be surprised if any rice improves with age.

There is one excellent fish and chips shop somewhere in greater Sydney metropolitan area. I have been there several times, most recently three weeks ago, and it is consistently excellent. Fish is fresh, juicy and not overcooked, chips are handcut, large Idaho, double fried and not at all soggy. They do not serve chiko rolls, chicken salt or any other similar garbage. I am certainly not going to tell anyone where this place is, unless you guess it correctly maybe.

Any update on this ? I have never seen toro anywhere in Australia, not even in the retail part of the Sydney fish markets. Maybe dockside in South Australia is the only way.

Thanks Hiroyuki-san, it is all clear to me now. Your comments and the film clip were very informative. (And I see the 一個 sign now). O sewa ni narimashita. I guess 9,000 yen was reasonable for that quality on a special occasion, but it may become a problem if you want it often. Here in Australia, we do not have that top quality. We do have the fish supply, but not the preparation skills. On the other hand, I think that some of our up-market kaitenzushi restaurants are at least as good as the corresponding ones in Japan.

Thank you Hiroyuki-san for the kuitan episode, I did not know about "kan". So "gunkan" means a ship "kan". It seems that the number in a "kan" can be confusing for Japanese people also. I hope that 10 cent sushi will return again some day. So the prices on the wall in your photos are for two pieces. My original question was actually only about sushi served at sushi bar or sushi counter in Japan; I know that kaitenzushi is almost always in pairs in all countries. (Exception: the Viking (all you can eat) place in Shinsaibashi arcade in Namba, Osaka about 100 metres north of Ebisu-bashi - only one piece per dish. That place is very inexpensive, only 980 yen at lunchtime for all you can eat, but customer pig-like behaviour is disgusting and food is only just edible, so I cannot recommend it for any reason other than price).

I am confused about whether the advertised prices in a sushi shop in Japan mean two pieces or one piece per serving. e.g. Hiroyuki-san's photos of 8 Nov show only one piece of each type, is this normal?. Kaitenzushi plates are almost always two pieces. Is the custom different for "stationary" sushi? (The reason I do not know is because normally I eat only kaitenzushi, depachika-zushi, and konbini-zushi) I have been once to "stationary" sushi shop in USA (two pieces) and once in Australia (one piece, quality was fine, quantity was very disappointing), but never in Japan.

Even though this excellent thread by Torakris is no longer active, I think that it maybe deserves to be pinned ? I had forgotten the thread name and it did not come up when I searched the Japan forum on "vocabulary". But maybe it will now. Vocabulary, Vocabulary, Vocabulary. Test search: Yes it does !!!

Thanks, this is the donburi bowl discussion I was trying to elicit. It sounds as if these hesitant females may spoil their marriage prospects if they were seen inside or near a Yoshinoya. Maybe Yoshinoya should offer a lid for Y100 extra as an upmarket option. Then the hesitant females could come in. Being a hen-na gaijin, I will now remember to say "o-donburi" just to emphasize how strange we really are.

Thanks, that's exactly what I was asking. Until now I did not even know that Google Images existed. Now I am looking at images of everything, even non-food-related things, e.g. places.

Dear Hirayuki Actually I was replying (rather late) to this post by Torakris from June 2005. So it looks like if the rice is seasoned sushi rice, it automatically becomes chirashi zushi. Therefore I think that ALL donburi use unseasoned rice. Also, because donburi means "bowl", let's discuss the actual bowls at least a bit.

I am a little disappointed with this thread. The bowl and the rice are the foundations of donburi. But almost all the discussion has been about the toppings. I would like to hear more about the bowl and the rice. When we serve donburi at home we use Chinese bowls, simply because we do not own any Japanese bowls. It probably does spoil the appearance though. It has been stated that sushi flavouring is normally not used. I would have thought that it was never used? Otherwise you merely get sushi in a bowl? And how about Yoshinoya's rice? I guess it is not a high grade? They must use several tons per day in each store.

Speaking as someone who once glimpsed a MOS sign from a JR train and then on an impulse jumped off (at the next station) to get an urgent raisubaagaa fix, the world as we know it is now coming to an end.

Guruguruzushi is the same as kurukuruzushi, but with extra beer. Please believe us.

Of course, be my guest.

On New Zealand television you can see the following ad for Vogel bread (a very common brand in New Zealand): After a NZ-USA flight, the bread is confiscated at US customs. Kiwi male traveller: "What are you going to do with my Vogel bread? It's for my girlfriend. She can't live without it." US Customs officer: "Sorry, but we are going to have to incinerate it." (Picture shows Customs back room, with a toaster on the table). "Very slowly". Kiwi traveller arrives empty-handed and speechless at Kiwi girlfriend's NY condo. She takes one look, understands, bursts into tears and pushes him away.

Well actually I have not read them all just yet, mainly because I have only just discovered eGullet, but I do hope to do so before too long. Because I had never heard of "rice sommelier", I Googled that phrase and your "rice sommelier" thread came up on top. I do hope that your quite understandable depression is now fully cured.

Some more examples: mawari zushi kaiten zushi

If the Mexican government gets the same idea, about 99% of Mexican restaurants outside Mexico will fail to be certified. The same for Italian restaurants outside Italy. What does it matter anyway? Food quality has nothing to do with national "purity" of the cuisine. Using the fresh local ingredients in Japanese style is surely more desirable than using stale imported "genuine" ingredients. It does sound solely like a roundabout attempt to promote Japanese food exports. The nationality of the owner or staff should also be irrelevant to the quality of the food. Nobody has a monopoly on any cuisine, not even their "own". I think this idea may "backfire", i.e. generate negative publicity.

Dear Sanrensho-san Thank you very much, that answers my Q2 perfectly, i.e. the test did use the same variety and grade. So, on average, normal Japanese consumers cannot tell the difference. I accept that experts may be able to tell the difference. So the only remaining question is "who are the experts?". The "rice sommelier" two-day course with lunch sounds like a joke. But true experts may exist, e.g. Niigata middle-aged housewives. Someone who can tell the difference between domestic Japanese rice of the same variety from different areas can probably do it. O-sewa ni narimashita.

How has this thread managed not to mention the Cabramatta area in South-West Sydney? Although Cabramatta is mainly a Vietnamese area, there are many ethnic Chinese among the Vietnamese, and that is reflected in the Cabramatta restaurants also. I think the choice is almost as great as in Sydney Chinatown, much less expensive and more authentic. Problems: * it is a bit of an excursion, about 1 hour by train * beware of the drug dealers, but it is safe otherwise, unless you are a local shopkeeper and therefore need Mafia "protection". In conclusion, go during the daytime and you will be fine. It buzzes especially on Sundays, when other surrounding places are closed. I won't recommend any particular restaurants. Just look where there are many Chinese customers.

Dear Hiroyuki-san Thank you for your thoughtful and speedy reply. Yes, I had seen Fat Guy's post (but his link is no longer active). I am wondering if the same variety of rice was used from each country in that test. Anyway, the 40% success rate is not good. Given what you explain about "rice sommeliers" elsewhere, i.e. that it is a two-day qualification which is bought for a fee including lunch (and I guess that no candidate fails the course), I am a little surprised that you should now defer to their abilities. Surely the "Niigata middle-aged local women" who you mention as being the true sommeliers are more skilled, and are the ones who could do this if anyone can, i.e. differentiate between Japanese koshihikari and foreign koshihikari. I am also a little surprised that you, an obviously well-educated person with a great interest in rice, have never tasted Californian koshihikari, or indeed any foreign rice at all. Even if you never travel there, cannot somebody bring you some or send you some? I agree that there is little point in trying inferior products, but that begs the question as to whether foreign premium rice is inferior or not. By the way, Australia has also produced koshihikari (in the Riverina region, Sunrice brand) since 1998. It is now widely available in supermarkets in Australia and New Zealand. http://www.sunrice.com.au/rice/industry-timeline.asp Maybe on the same general topic, I have seen eucalyptus trees in Spain, France and California, and they usually look much healthier than in Australia. Probably the terroir. The same goes for French acacia ("wattle" tree).

Hajimemashite. "Kaitenzushi" to mooshimasuga. Q1. Are there any persons who are reliably able to tell the difference between koshihikari grown in Japan and koshihikari grown in California in blind taste tests (shinmai in both cases)? Q2. Can the average Japanese person do this? Doozo yorishiku.

When calamares en su tinta are served with white rice, the dish sounds very similar to the Italian dish risotto nero, although I think that risotto nero is normally made with cuttlefish (and their ink) rather than squid.