japanese cuisine and culture

Went to a Japanese cuisine and culture festival this afternoon. It was sponsored by the Japanese Restaurant Association and the California rice commission. Lots of food - noodles (somen, udon), nigiri, sashimi, sukiyaki, tempura, crepes, yakitori, even beer and sake tastings. It was kinda cool since I'd been wanting to eat sashimi the past couple of days.

One of the demonstrations was a bigeye tuna - it was 150lbs and it was cut up and served as sashimi. The guy was quick! It probably took him 15 minutes or less. Then he had his helpers cut it down into serving sizes.

I also saw sushi machines. You put the rice in the machine and one makes rolls and the other makes nigiri - and even puts it in plastic. I figure maybe for airplane food?







150# bigeye tuna

huge bowl of ikura (salmon roe) plated in rice bowls with shredded nori - like in scattered sushi.

sushi roll machine



















nigiri machine













nigiri finished product - packaged in plastic from the machine