The "Art" of Sushi

[jogoode]

I was told by a sushi chef at the now-gone Sushisay in NYC (now Sushi Ann, still very good) that the mark of a good sushi restaurant were the tamago and the kohada (a mackarel / sardine like fish that I think is cured to some extent

I've heard this about kohada too. You have to cure this fish (I'd imagine using vinegar) to make edible the tiny bones distributed throughout it, and each shop will do this differently. That's why eel and tamago also make good markers, because the better places prepare these themselves, whereas crappy places buy their tamago from a distributor and their eel comes precooked and they warm it in a toaster oven...But even fish that are simply stored, cut and served will suggest the overall quality of the restaurant/chef.

[Sinbad]

My Japanese friends in New York call the style of sushi that involves different liquid applications and different condiments, as well as the occasional blow-torching, "New York style sushi". This style may be experienced at a high level of quality at Jewel Bako, for example.

The use of different sauces, condiments and blowtorching is actually not that unusual in Japan either. My last meal in Tokyo for example I had Chu-Toro with some mayonaisse-based condiment that was cooked with a blow torch.

Although the use is more common in NY, it is definitely not unique to the city.

[Robert Schonfeld]

My Japanese friends in New York call the style of sushi that involves different liquid applications and different condiments, as well as the occasional blow-torching, "New York style sushi". This style may be experienced at a high level of quality at Jewel Bako, for example.

The use of different sauces, condiments and blowtorching is actually not that unusual in Japan either. My last meal in Tokyo for example I had Chu-Toro with some mayonaisse-based condiment that was cooked with a blow torch.

Although the use is more common in NY, it is definitely not unique to the city.

It was not my intent to encourage an inference concerning the uniqueness of this style to New York, but rather to report that it is referred to that way by at least some Japanese both in New York and in Japan.