I love rice! Some people may get tired of eating it all the time, but, true to my Asian roots, I love it. Although the grain is a staple in my diet, which by the way does NOT help my current weight loss program, I’m constantly searching for new and interesting ways to eat it. Rice compliments Chinese food perfectly, but honestly, I can’t cook a Chinese meal like my mom! Rice I got it. The rest? not so much.
Just prior to moving to Tokyo, for what was supposed to be a one year stay, I encountered a new dish at my favorite Japanese restaurant in Downtown Vancouver. I’m a long time customer of Kamei Royal (the love affair started when I was in grade five, and my mother ate there so often that many of the servers were on a first-name basis with her.) Although the number of Japanese restaurants in Vancouver has grown exponentially, Kamei royal remains one of my favorites. Enough digressing! Kamei Royal was the first place I had “chirashizushi” (pronounced ‘chi-raa-shi-zuu-shi’).
I definitely get in the rut of ordering variations of my favourites, so when my mother pressed me to try chirashizushi, I agreed solely because I was bored of my typical bentos. As my lunch arrived, I had three thoughts floating in my mind: 1) Yum, sashimi! But why would they place it in a bowl? 2) Wow, that’s a lot of rice on the bottom, and 3) Were they just too lazy to make the sushi? To my surprise I really enjoyed chirashizushi and even ate the dish once more before leaving Vancouver.
Basically, chirashizushi is sashimi sitting on top of a bed of rice in a bowl. The dish is simple to make and time efficient, but that only serves to make me love this style of rice all the more. To flavour the sashimi and rice, I highly recommend trying to get a small dipping plate to mix the soy sauce and wasabi before pouring it into your bowl. The first time, I tried to flavour my meal by spreading wasabi directly to the sashimi, and as a result, I could really smell the fresh air post-meal!!
Chirashizushi has so many different variations, depending on so many factors. For example, what are the freshest ingredients of the day? Which fish is least costly without having the sacrifice the integrity of the dish? What does the chef want to add to it that day? I’ve eaten the most simple and the most elaborate of them, and the most common types of chirashizushi you will find is what I have described up above.
Over the years I’ve been to a few places to specifically get Chirashizushi and walked by many more restaurants serving them around town. The first time I tasted this dish in the “land of the rising sun” was in Ueno. Ueno is famous for several things: their zoo, park, and shopping area where the streets by the train tracks are crowded with many clothing stalls reminding you of shopping in Hong Kong. It is in this crowded area that you are able to get a decent bowl sized portion of chirashizushi for anywhere between 600-900yen. I forget the specific name of the restaurant, but there is an eatery with its tables and chairs out on the street and sharing long wooden tables with others. No Japanese is needed since pictures of each dish are displayed, but get there early as they sometimes tend to sell out of certain fishes.
If you are willing to shell out the cash for some very delicious and expensive sashimi, there are several locations you can choose from. The first is just outside of Tsukiji, right where all the fish selling happens. The restaurant is called Uogashi Senryo (Tsukiji 4-10-14, open from 9am to 10:30om). A bowl of chirashizushi sells for 2,500yen and up. A more expensive option is Matsuei in Ebisu (1-2-4 Ebisu-Minami, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Tel: 03-3711-4364). At lunch, you’ll be looking at spending around 1,500yen, while during dinner it can be anywhere from 10,000yen and up at this restaurant.
There are many other places which sell chirashizushi for a reasonable price (1,000-2,000yen) around town. Some places with chirashizushi advertise more than others. Personally, I would recommend the location in Ueno. If you’re in the area, are up to trying something different and don’t mind sitting outside with a stranger right next to you or in front of you, give it a go!
[Photos courtesy of baidu and wikimediacommons:]
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The picture looks like there’s noodles under the fish?? Is that another kind of chirashizushi?
Gosh do I love Chirashizushi! I haven’t had it in a long time! But it really reminds me of a lazy person’s sushi. Just cut a few slices of fish placed atop a serving of rice and you’ve got a meal! Sure beats all the rolling and cutting effort…. And as a follow up, yah, the picture looks like there’s noodles under the fish! Are there other kinds of chirashizushi?! Noodle chirashizushi?
That is not noodles. I’m sure you can create your own type of chirashisushi with cold noodles and fish…
Actually, what looks to be noodles is actually eggs cooked and sliced very thinly. That is then placed in-between the rice and the fish.