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Other Sushi Randomness

An Interview With the Men of I Love Blue Sea


I Love Blue Sea

A couple of weeks ago, Son and I went up to San Francisco for BlogHer Food. Or rather, I went for the conference, and he just tagged along.

Since we had a wedding to go to for a dear friend of mine from high school the next weekend, we decided to make a road trip out of it, and stay up in San Francisco the week between the conference and the wedding. (If you care to see what else we did on our trip, all our (mostly food) photos can be found on my flickr.)

So what to do during that week in San Francisco?

Well, if you’re me, the answer is obvious. There are two things in San Francisco that I’ve been dying to do for months now – eat at Casson Trenor‘s sustainable sushi restaurant, Tataki, (review coming soon!), and meet the guys from I Love Blue Sea (who I would have gotten to meet earlier, at an awesome sushi party that Rachael invited me to, except I just happened to be out of town that weekend.)

So I tweeted Martin, the owner of I Love Blue Sea, and asked if he and the guys would be available to meet with me that week and do an interview. Happily, they were! So here, for your reading pleasure, are the photos that Son took that day, and the interview with the men from I Love Blue Sea.


Martin, Matt, and Andrew of I Love Blue Sea

Allison: Why sustainability? So many people are happy with the status quo of just… eating seafood, no problem, whatever… So what made you guys decide to get into the business of sustainable seafood?

Martin: I think the status quo is what sort of got us into the problem that we’re in. And if nobody does anything, if sustainable seafood doesn’t become the norm then there’s not going to be any seafood anyways, and the status quo won’t exist. Unsustainable seafood, by definition, can’t continue indefinitely. Which would be such a bad thing, because sushi- well, I don’t have to sell you on how wonderful it is. So, I mean… the oceans are such an… such an amazing thing, that’s it’s sad that over the past 50 years, they’ve been kind of decimated by commercial fishing. So there’s so many reasons why sustainable seafood is important. A billion people rely on seafood as their main source of protein. So for the developed nations to fish out all the protein that people rely on… that’s one aspect.


The I Love Blue Sea warehouse

Allison: What personally made you want to get into it?

Martin: I love the oceans. I grew up here in the Bay Area, surfing, so I just love going down to the beach, I love fishing… everything about the oceans. And I would, you know… I’d like to be able to take my kids or grandkids fishing one day and be able to catch something. So I think that we’re at sort of this precipice right now, where there’s been a lot of damage done, but it’s not too late, there’s still a lot of hope for the oceans. And people have been really been kind of rallying behind the sustainable seafood movement. It’s gaining momentum, and it’s really encouraging to see. I don’t think it’s too late, I think that we can kind of return the oceans to a pristine state. That’s my hope, anyways.

Matt: For me it was, the personal reasons are along the same lines… I started surfing two years ago when I first moved to San Francisco, two and a half years now, and just completely fell in love with the oceans. Just being out with the animals, seeing, you know, a mama whale teach a baby whale how to slap its fins, swim with the dolphins and sea lions, it’s kind of really magical, so to think that that couldn’t exist for future generations and share that with my kids or grandkids really lit a fire in me, and I wanted to learn more and be part of a really serious solution to… well I guess not serious… a fun solution to a serious problem.

Martin: That is a magical image you painted there… frolicking with the dolphins! [laughs]

Matt: [laughs] No, it’s true… I saw a grey whale – a mama grey whale teach a baby whale how to slap its side fin, it was like one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced. It hits home.

Martin: Tugging on the heart strings there… gonna make me cry!


The view of the bay from behind the I Love Blue Sea headquarters

Allison: [laughs] So how did you guys meet? How did you get into this business together?

Martin: Matt found us… online?

Matt: Should I field that one? Just kind of along the lines of falling in love with the ocean, realizing that was something I wanted to get into… I started doing a lot of research on my own, in terms of what was truly sustainable, what organizations were doing really good things, what businesses were out there, and slowly just through networking and working my way through everything, I found my way to Martin and Andrew, and now just kind of… here we are. So I called these guys one weekend… one Monday when I felt like maybe it was the right time, and Andrew picked up, and he said hey, come down to the warehouse and we were actually right here at the water chatting and he was just telling me all about what they were doing, and then he was like, “You have to meet Martin, he’ll be here next weekend,” and I met Martin, and… there it was. It was pretty cool how it all happened.

Martin: It was magical. [laughs] So much magic in the air!


Matt

Allison: So what about you two, [gestures to Martin and Andrew, who just joined the conversation], how did you two start working together?

Martin: Andrew and I have been working together since college. We went to the entrepreneurship program at University of Arizona together, worked on a project there. And then after we graduated, we started a business consulting firm where we would write business plans for green startups. We did that for a couple of years, and then I was like, man… I just started getting really passionate about the whole seafood thing, and I was like, “I want to start this company, Andrew, you wanna help out?” And he was like, “Yeah, I’m on board.” So it was kind of a natural progression. So we’ve worked together for, what, five years now?

Andrew: Five-plus years, I’d say.


Martin

Allison: Awesome… that’s really cool. So I didn’t get your answer to this, Andrew… why sustainability, and what made you want to get into the business of sustainable seafood?

Andrew: Sustainability, maybe because it’s easy to do, and not a lot of people are doing it. So it’s not only a no-brainer, but there’s a huge market opportunity there… so why not? And sustainable seafood… kind of from the fruition of Martin’s idea, it’s something, you know, I really liked the idea, started learning about it more, getting into it… I grew up on the east coast near the ocean, so I do have like kind of a natural inclination towards the ocean, so it was great to get back out of Arizona… I love it there, it’s beautiful, but it’s nice to be back by the water again.


Andrew

Allison: So was it difficult to start a sustainable seafood business?

Martin: Yeah! It’s been a lot of work…

Allison: What sort of challenges did you meet, trying to start this?

Martin: The logistics of everything… getting fresh seafood from San Francisco to anywhere around the country, fresh and cold, there’s a lot of… a lot of planning that goes into that. We try to use all eco-friendly materials, so we’re kind of… well, I don’t know if we’re pioneering that, but I couldn’t find anyone else that was doing it. So… there’s a couple of people that ship seafood, and they all use styrofoam, and we categorically wanted to avoid styrofoam because there’s some crazy statistic about how most styrofoam ends up in the ocean anyways. So to ship sustainable seafood in styrofoam that was going to go into the ocean just seemed kind of… not what we were going for. So there’s the logistics aspect, the aspect of getting the whole… I’m not an engineer, so that was sort of a challenge, getting the website up and functional. Getting the word out has been not too difficult, actually. You know, people have really been sort of rallying behind the sustainable seafood movement, which is really encouraging to see. It gives us a lot of hope to see that people are sort of embracing this. Hopeful.

Allison: It’s looking good. It’s looking really good.

Martin: Yeah, yeah… it’s fun. We all really enjoy this.

Matt: We have a good time, that’s for sure. All the chefs and the foodies… everyone really gets it, you know? They’re all looking for someone to step up and give them a simple solution, and everyone I’ve spoken with is really happy to see the list that we’re providing to them that is completely sustainable. It takes the thought out of it for them and allows them to participate, and then pass that value on to their customers. It’s really important.

Martin: So that was the impetus for starting out, which is that one of the things about sustainable seafood is that there’s so many different factors that play into the equation of sustainability. The species – how abundant and well-managed it is; where it’s caught, how it’s caught; where it’s farmed, how it’s farmed… that it’s kind of difficult for the average consumer to go into a market or a busy restaurant on a Saturday night and ask your server, “Oh, well what’s the scientific name of this species? Are you sure it’s actually that? How was it caught? Where was it caught?” So we just try and take this on ourselves, and make it easy for the consumers to buy anything, knowing that it’s been vetted against third-party science. These aren’t our recommendations, we follow Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch – we don’t sell any of their red-listed items. We also use some of the recommendations set forth by Greenpeace USA. So we’re just trying to make it easier for consumers, and now we’re going up to restaurants and caterers, to follow those recommendations… as easy as possible.


Martin

Allison: That’s really great. So obviously you use Monterey Bay Aquarium and Greenpeace to tell which are sustainable and which you don’t want to sell. Do you look at these lists very often? Do you go over your list every now and then and say, “Okay, these are not necessarily sustainable anymore, or this supplier isn’t good anymore?” How often do you do that?

Martin: Yeah, we actually… consumers can be a big help to that too. Just the other week, we had someone write us and be like, “Hey, steelhead – wild steelhead is actually not that sustainable, I wonder why you guys are selling it?” And we were like, “Well, you know, it’s caught by these native tribes in Washington and Canada, and from our impression the stocks are pretty healthy, there’s not an advisory out by either Monterey Bay or Greenpeace…” But we looked into it a little bit further and it looked like the research was still kind of out. So we took it off our website, while we were looking into it more. So that was one example of where people can come to us and be like, “Hey, are you sure this is sustainable? Can you look into it more?”

Monterey Bay Aquarium updates their list either quarterly or bianually, so every time that comes out we look at it. A big one just came out a couple months ago and the big thing was that California and Oregon salmon – wild salmon – are no longer sustainable. So we source all of our salmon from Alaska. And Casson helps out with that as well, you know Casson is always up for helping people be more sustainable, as you know.

[here we took a quick oyster break]


Oyster

Allison: How do you feel about farmed seafood? Some people are like, “That’s great, farmed seafood is wonderful.” Other people are like, “That’s not sustainable at all, we don’t want to do that.”

Martin: Sure… well, it definitely depends on the species that’s being farmed, and the method in which it’s being farmed. So some things, like these oysters [that we just ate] were farmed, but they’re filter feeders – they actually clean nutrients out of the water, and leave it cleaner. So shellfish are one of the best things you can eat – one of the most sustainable options, because they’re actually good for the ocean. There are some other things, like farmed salmon, that aren’t so good, and some of the reasons why are: they escape and they’ll breed with the wild populations; the ratio isn’t that great – they actually catch wild fish and feed them, and the ratio’s actually unfavorable so it’ll take a couple of pounds of wild fish to a couple of pounds of protein out, so it’s a net loss of protein; oftentimes they use a lot of chemicals and antibiotics, which pollutes the water. So it definitely depends on what and how. But there are some wonderful alternatives for farmed seafood. And I think last year was the first time in the history of the world where more seafood was farmed than caught wild. So I think that because the population is growing and we eat more seafood, I think that’s sort of where the industry is going, and I think it has to go that way, but as long as we’re smart about it, I’m all for it.

Allison: I know Casson was talking about some salmon that was farmed inland… he was talking about this last year, at the dinner at Mashiko. I was wondering if you guys know anything about that… if you use it?

Matt: I actually just got off the phone, I was just speaking with FishChoice, and he was talking about that salmon that you just mentioned. And it’s the closed containment raising of the fish… so they have the tanks, it’s inland. When the waste is sent out, which is a huge concern when they’re upstream of ecosystems, they have a drum filter, and then it feeds into a wetland, and all the waste and excrement is completely strained out by the time it gets to wherever it is the water goes. So that’s something we’re going to look into. To be continued on that one, but Rich definitely talked about that specific farm, and now farmed salmon in the US is now a green item, as long as it’s closed containment on Monterey Bay Seafood Watch Guidelines.


Matt showing how to shuck an oyster

Allison: Okay, so I have some not so serious questions for you…

Martin: Whew!

Allison: [laughs] Pressure’s off! So for each of you, of the products that you sell, what are your favorites?

Matt: [whispers] Don’t make me go first…

Andrew: I like the oysters. But of the fillets, I like the king salmon a lot. It’s good stuff… I like its texture.

Martin: I’m going with uni… I love uni. And… the belly of albacore. Just sashimi style, is my favorite.

Matt: Hm… so I really like our… I’m a big scallops fan. We have two delicious Hokkaido scallops from Japan. Sashimi-style, those are fantastic, or just however you like to prepare them. And I’ve been recently been eating more yellowtail… really delicious yellowtail, I think. Yeah, I think those are my two go-tos right now.


Me shucking my first oyster

Allison: Any recipes you’d like to share?

Martin: Sure, we’ve got some recipes on our website…

Allison: Oh, well that’s cheating.

[everyone laughs]

Andrew: We’ve got a secret recipe that we can share with you..

Martin: The black cod? Yeah, go for it!

Andrew: One of our suppliers… he’s Asian, and his mother used to make a recipe with black cod. She would first salt the cod and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours. Then she would kind of splash it or kind of douse it with sake. Then top it with diced fresh ginger, diced spring onions, and wrap it in foil and steam it for 15 minutes. It comes out delicious.

Martin: It’s really good.

Andrew: The aroma… and the texture of the black cod is really nice. It’s a really good recipe.

Allison: That sounds delicious.

Son: We should try that.

Allison: [laughs] He loves black cod.

Martin: Nice!

Matt: Well there you go!


Matt was awesome enough to teach me how to shuck an oyster, since I'd never done it before

Allison: What are your favorite sushi restaurants… anywhere?

Martin: I gotta give a shout out to Tataki, obviously. It’s really good.

Andrew: Have you gotten a chance to eat there?

Allison: Not yet. Been meaning to, but haven’t gone yet.

Martin: Cool. And now there’s two, so…

Matt: Yeah, I think just along the lines of what we’re doing, and what we’re trying to do for everyone, I don’t like to go… I like my dining experience to be as easy as possible. To eat, like, amazing seafood, but have the thought taken out of it so I don’t have to ask the chef and go over things. So Tataki is the only place I eat sushi.

Martin: You were even going to Takaki back before you met us.

Matt: Yeah, definitely. You know I’ve… sustainable sushi restaurant in the city, guides are all on the tables, I can ask the server and they’ll tell me exactly where it comes from. I just love that peace of mind and just enjoying the experience. That’s the only place I eat sushi.

Martin: It’s so refreshing to go there because they don’t serve, like farmed salmon and unagi. They get creative with the menu – it’s not like every other sushi restaurant you go to where it’s like the same five items and there’s a group of people next to you doing all-you-can-eat, trying to do as much farmed salmon as you can. So it’s a whole different atmosphere, and they get really creative with the menu. I love that place.

Andrew: And they have like an unagi substitute… do you know what fish that is?

Martin: I want to say… it’s like seared black cod?

Allison: I’m pretty sure it’s black cod.

Andrew: And then they do the eel sauce for it… it’s really good. It’s a simpler flavor. It’s different. Equally enjoyable.


I failed.  Miserably.  Don't ever ask me to shuck an oyster, because I just plain can't do it.  ;)

Allison: Somebody wanted to know… and I don’t know if you guys are going to know the answer to this… when is International Sushi Day? Do any of you know?

[everyone laughs]

Andrew: Every day is International Sushi Day!

Allison: Yes! [laughs] It was a Sushi Day reader who wanted to know, so I thought I’d throw that out there.

Martin: That’s a great question… yeah, I have no idea.

Allison: I don’t even know.

Matt: You can probably figure that out pretty easily… Google…

Allison: There are several dates that are supposedly the International- believe me, I’ve looked into it. There’s one in June, and one in November… and nobody really knows… I think it was just like somebody said, “Okay, today’s going to be International Sushi Day!” And… yeah.

Martin: Well, November’s coming up, let’s go with that. It’s November!

Allison: I like that one, because November first is the day I started Sushi Day.

Martin: November first is International Sushi Day!

Matt: We’ll endorse that, sure.

Allison: Awesome!

[everyone laughs]


A shucked oyster

Allison: Is there anything else that you’d like to share with the readers of Sushi Day?

Matt: Um… I guess just… just a thank you. They love sushi, and to be a part of the sustainable seafood movement is really important. To take something that you love, and realize that the way it’s been done in the past up to this point is very destructive and not positive, maybe takes away from the beauty of it. So to go in a direction where it can sustain to future generations and the art form can be preserved is very important. Education is everything. You know, I think the books that are being written by Casson and David Helvarg… End of the Line the movie’s out there… just getting all the info in the right hands of the consumers, having them make educated decisions.

Andrew: I think all the little things that are being done will eventually snowball to mainstream media. And that’s where it’s really important. Because it’s kind of that effect… not a lot of people see what we are doing, not a lot of people read Casson’s book. But eventually the culmination of all those things could then be a real movement in mainstream media, who knows… I mean, that’s what… god knows how many Americans sit and watch TV every night, they watch mainstream media. They’re not all going to blogs and all that… a lot of people just listen to what they see on TV. So if this whole thing ever goes into mainstream media… it has to start somewhere, and then it’s going to have a serious effects. People are really going to get pissed off, Japan’s going to be forced to stop doing some of the things they’re doing, America will maybe regulate things a little better, that’s where it’s eventually going to come to a movement. That’s what we’d like to see.

Martin: I think a lot of the people that are in the know about the state of the oceans, they know that a lot of fish are overfished… oftentimes they’ll just sort of shy away from eating seafood. They’ll just think, “Oh, well, it’s just not good for the oceans, I’m just not going to eat seafood.” Which I think is the wrong thing to do… I think it’s better to support the fisheries that are making responsible decisions, and show with your purchasing power that you are going to support people that are doing the right thing. And eventually, people are going to see that unless they start to make the ethical decisions, they’re not going to have consumer support, and they’re going to find themselves sort of irrelevant in the market. So use your dollars to show that you support people doing the right thing, and then eventually everybody will do the right thing.


Andrew

Categories
2010 Japan Trip Japan Other Sushi Randomness

Tokyo, Japan: Our last two days, and a visit to Bassanova!

If you’re looking for the Tour de France post, check it out on my other food blog, Fridgg! ๐Ÿ˜€

Robot statue

On our second to last day in Japan, we visited the Ghibli Museum. You know the Japanese animated films like Totoro, Castle in the Sky, Kiki’s Delivery Service…? Well, Ghibli is the man who did all the art for those movies, and this museum is dedicated to him and his art.

You’re not allowed to take photos inside of the museum, but we did manage to sneak one picture of the robot statue on the roof…


Bus schedule

That day was a rainy day, and a day mostly filled with shopping for souvenirs, gifts, and other goodies to bring home.


Busy crosswalk

However, we still had one major thing left that we just had to do before we left Japan. So we trekked through the freezing, pouring rain, to go to…


Basa Nova

Bassanova!!!


Bassanova

For those of you who don’t know, Bassanova is the ramen restaurant where Keizo of Go Ramen fame works.


Bassanova kitchen with Keizo

Obviously, we had to try his ramen.


Other diners

Lucky for us, Keizo was more than happy to help us order the ramen… since the ticket machine didn’t have any pictures. ๐Ÿ˜ฎ


Keizo in Bassanova kitchen

There are two kinds of ramen Bassanova is known for.


Keizo making our ramen

Their official special is the tonkotsu ramen.


Keizo making our ramen

But the one Keizo has made famous is their green curry ramen.


Keizo making our ramen

Of course, we had to try a bowl of each. ๐Ÿ˜€


Green curry ramen

The green curry ramen… AMAZING.

Oh, and the tonkotsu was pretty good too. ๐Ÿ˜€


Tonkotsu ramen

But back to that green curry ramen… creamy, spicy… almost too spicy, but even as my entire mouth was burning I couldn’t stop eating because it was so freaking good… (okay, so I don’t have a high spice tolerance. Shush.)


Holding up thick noodles in green curry ramen

My only regret was that we didn’t visit Bassanova earlier in the trip, so we could come back and eat that green curry ramen again!


Green curry ramen with a bite or two taken out

One of these days I may have to kidnap Keizo and make him teach me how to make it. It’s that good. ๐Ÿ˜‰

I swear, I’ve been craving another bowl of that ramen ever since we left Bassanova… thanks a lot, Keizo. ๐Ÿ˜€


Train


Rainy Tokyo streets


Rainy Tokyo streets


Rainy Tokyo streets

The next morning was our last day in Japan! So sad. We wanted to stay longer.


CoCo Ichiban Curryhouse

Since it was our last morning, we wanted to revisit a restaurant we loved.

Unfortunately, Bassanova doesn’t open until late – after we had to be at the airport – so we couldn’t go back there.

Instead, CoCo Curry again!


Our curry

Perfect. ๐Ÿ˜€


Brian's curry?


Dave and Francis at CoCo Curry

After our breakfast of curry, we noticed we were pretty close to the Tokyo Tower. So we headed off in that direction for some last-minute sightseeing.


Gate in the middle of the street, leading to the temple

But instead of at the Tokyo Tower, we found ourself in the middle of the gorgeous Zojoji Buddhist Temple!


Front of the temple

We weren’t complaining. ๐Ÿ˜€


Zojoji Temple

Photo courtesy of Francis Castillo

Black placard with white Japanese writing at the temple


Dressed up children's statues


Dressed up children's statues with pinwheel


Wood wall with wood wish cards

Close to the Tokyo Tower… but not quite there. ๐Ÿ˜‰


Temple with Tokyo Tower behind it


View from front of temple


Praying statue


Side building at temple

It was there that we realized… during the entire Japan trip, we hadn’t gotten a single picture of our entire group!


Setting up the group photo

Of course, we had to fix that.


Francis with his camera, setting up the group photo


More black placards with white writing


On the street leading away from the temple

After that, it was off to the airport.

Goodbye, Japan! Hope we can come back soon! ๐Ÿ˜€


A gate

This is the last post in the Japan series… and the last post you can comment on to enter to win a bamboo rolling mat and a package of nori from Japan! The contest closes 11:59PM PST Wednesday – any comments on any Japan post after that will not be counted. Winners will be contacted by email, and announced on Friday soon! ๐Ÿ˜€

P.S. Did you know you can also hang out with me on the Sushi Day page on Facebook?

P.P.S. Speaking of hanging out, you’re following me on Twitter, right? Feel free to say hi, ask questions, poke fun at me… I always love getting to know my readers better. ๐Ÿ˜€

Categories
2010 Japan Trip Japan Other Sushi Randomness

Nagano, Japan: Snow Monkeys!!!


Grilled mochi with red beans

Our sixth day in Japan started early, so we ate breakfast on the train… grilled mochi filled with adzuki beans that we had purchased the night before. Yum.


Nagano houses

So where were we off to so early?


Nagano houses

It was a two hour train ride, but this time we weren’t going to Kyoto…


Arriving in Nagano

We went to Nagano!


In Nagano, coming out of the train station

Yep, site of the 1998 Winter Olympics. ๐Ÿ˜€


In Nagano, looking away from the train station

We didn’t stay long though. We had just a few moments to step outside the Nagano train station and look outside, before we were back on a train again.


Local Nagano Train

This time a much, much smaller express local train.


Back view from the train up the mountain

Which had an awesome view out the back.


Back view from the train up the mountain

So where we going?


View from the train, cars stopped at the tracks

Past small village streets, where the clanging of the train crossing bell could be heard before we got to every road.


View of a bridge from the train

Over a bridge…


Curve view from the train

… around a few curves…


Past a stopped train

… to grandmother’s house we go?


Pause at a train station

No, wait, that’s not right… both my grandmothers live in the US.


Last stop!

And I’m pretty sure (though not 100% certain) that the Japanese side of my family isn’t from Nagano.


Bus!

Here we are! But where is here?


Bus with Ninja Allison

Look! A ninja! I knew we’d see one in Japan!

Oh wait.

That’s me.

Did I mention it’s really freaking cold where we were going? REALLY. FREAKING. COLD!


Little town view from the bus

In fact, it was snowing. Can you see it? ๐Ÿ™‚


Crossing the river in the bus

Yeah, so… we’re still not there. We’re on a bus!


Off the bus

Now we’re there!

Well, almost.

We’re off the bus, anyways… and it’s snowing harder.


Building on the way up...

Now we walk. Uphill. In the gentle snowfall.


Son at the bottom of the mountain

The snow might not seem all that significant, especially to those of you who live in or frequent snowy areas… but Son had never, ever been in snow before.

I had always promised him that someday, I would take him to see snow. And finally, he got to. ๐Ÿ˜€


Entrance to the snow monkey park

Here’s where we were headed!

At least, this is the entrance.

More hiking before we’re actually there though…

Can you tell where we were going yet?


Leaves with snow

The higher up the mountain we got, the more the snow stuck.


Me on the path

It was a beautiful hike, but that’s not why we were there…


Me

(And the point also wasn’t to get a bunch of silly pictures of me freezing my tush off… *stern look at Son*)


Me on platform

Only halfway there… but a nice little refuge if it’s snowing or raining too hard!


Me, warmer

Almost there…


Monkey!

LOOK! A MONKEY!


Yudanaka Onsen

We’re here! For real! Finally!


Side monkey, eating

I’m sure you’re wondering by now… where exactly is “here”?


Monkey looking to the side, making face

This is the Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park in Nagano, Japan.


Snow monkey walking towards us on the bridge

A large family of snow monkeys comes down from the surrounding mountains to hang out here during the day, and then go back up to their home in the mountains at night.

Although us visitors are not allowed to feed the monkeys, workers here will give the monkeys a few apples as treats every day. They don’t mean to provide the monkeys with their full diet, but instead give them incentive to keep coming down to the snow monkey park in the valley every day.


Two snow monkeys in the river

The monkeys enjoy frequenting the hot springs – not surprising, because it gets really cold there! (And we were there in spring… imagine how cold it would be in the dead of winter!)


Stretching monkey on the bridge

There are no cages, nor even any barriers separating you from the monkeys… as you can see, you could reach out and touch one as they run right past one! (Not that I recommend that. The monkeys tend to not care one bit about the humans taking pictures of them, but the Snow Monkey Park says not to touch or feed the monkeys, and with good reason! You wouldn’t want a monkey to turn on you, or not return to the park because humans spooked/drove them off.)


Me next to a monkey

You could spend hours watching the monkeys play and eat and all that monkeys do.


Monkey in a hot spring

We did.


Wet monkey in a hot spring

You can too! There’s supposedly a live webcam that lets you watch the monkeys all the time. (I say supposedly, because I see it frozen on a picture from earlier today, but haven’t seen any updates to it since then.)


Monkeys play fighting


Lonely monkey in the pool


Lonely monkey grooming its arm in the pool


Half-wet monkey on rock in the middle of pool

We probably would have stayed out there longer, if we hadn’t needed to catch the bus back to the train station.


Momma monkey

If we did this again, we probably would make it a two-day trip, and stay at one of the little hotels on the mountain, so we could spend more time with the monkeys.


Momma monkey with baby on back, climbing up the wall

And definitely would go in either winter or summer, when the colors are more vibrant and everything’s not just brown.


Back of monkey with swing

After a while of watching them, you started to learn each monkey’s distinct personality.


Monkey on swing


Surfing monkey on swing


3 monkeys on box


Ninja monkeys on box


Momma monkey next to box


Son taking a picture of the little monkey looking at Son

The above picture is one I took on Son’s iPhone, of him taking the below picture. See how close they could get? One even ran up and grabbed onto Son’s leg as it was playing with another monkey!


Little monkey looking at Son

We were up there for two hours (not including the half-hour walk up to the monkey park) before I got too cold… I went and hung out in the little hut that doubles as a souvenir shop, that has a tiny heater so I could thaw out my fingers and legs.


Hugging monkeys

While I warmed up, Son went back out again, for another hour!


Momma monkey with little baby

He loved taking pictures of all the different monkeys…


Baby monkey yawn!

… can you blame him?


Another ninja monkey!


Monkeys in hot spring


Monkeys hugging


Wet monkey


Wet cold hugging monkeys


Wet cold hugging monkeys looking at each other


Monkey grooming another's head

Back down the mountain we went…


Mossy log


Snow-covered log

… and caught the little local train back to Nagano


Empty train going back to Nagano


Train tracks


Train stop/go light


Yudanaka train station


Yudanaka train station


Waiting to leave at the Yudanaka train station


Inside of the train


Train filled with school children

Looks like we were just in time to share the train with masses of uniformed local school children, who all took the train home after they were finished with their school day.


Children taking the train home from school


Nagano manhole cover

By the time we got back to Nagano, we were starving. So of course, we went in search of good food.


Tokyu Food Show

Every department store in Japan has a big food area in the basement. They’re worth checking out!


Food stall


Chinese food stall with pork buns

We stopped by a food stall that had steamed pork belly buns… ohmygod SO good.


Pork bun

Then we got an egg tart…


Egg tart


Ice cream waffles

… and a banana-chocolate ice cream-filled waffle.


Ice cream waffles

After taking an elevator up to the top floor to see if there was any other good food up there (there were restaurants, but nothing that really appealed to us.) we decided to walk to the Zenkouji Temple.


View from top floor


Mos Burger

On our way there, we passed a Mos Burger. We had been wanting to try this Japanese burger chain, so we stopped in and shared a burger. Very good… much lighter and tastier than most burgers you can find here in the US!


Mos Burger counter

Then we kept walking.


Me and the taxi

Until we found a little shop with free wifi… and discovered that the Temple had already closed a couple of hours ago.


Walking back to the train station

Oops. Good thing we checked!


Guy practicing diablo in front of Nagano 1998 sign in the station

Back to the train station we went, to go reserve our ticket (free with the JR pass) to take the Shinkensen back to Tokyo.


Back outside of the station

We had some time before the train left, so we went off to find some more food.


Water jugs in soba shop

Because Son really wanted to try some soba while we were in Nagano (it’s the specialty there).


Soba and tempura dinner

What? We’re food bloggers. We never really stop eating. ๐Ÿ˜‰


Soba

Son loved the soba…


Tempura

I loved the tempura…


Pickles and scallions


Son eating soba

… and we had just enough time after our meal to stop and watch this man paint huge pictures with water, before we had to dart to the platform to catch our train.


Water painting

What a long day! Such a tiring day, in fact, that Son and I fell asleep on the way back to Tokyo, my head on his shoulder, his head resting on mine.

It’s a good thing Tokyo was the last stop… the conductors had to come wake us up after all the other passengers had left!

***

Don’t forget, just a couple of Japan posts left! Leave a comment on any of my posts about Japan, and you’ll be entered to win one of two bamboo rolling mats and packages of nori from the Tsukiji Fish Market. One comment per post, please!

Categories
2010 Japan Trip Japan Other Sushi Randomness

Tokyo, Japan: Tsukiji Fish Market and the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum


Me in the hotel hall before Tsukiji Fish Market

Our fifth day in Japan was one of the longest, and also by far one of my absolute favorite days there. You’ll see why in a moment… ๐Ÿ˜€

We got up early, and headed out to the Tsukiji Fish Market.


Stalls at Tsukiji

Um.


Scooter just inside Tsukiji

Sorta…


Crabs

Wait a minute…


Lots of Sashimi for sale

So we, being the silly confused tourists that we were… got lost. Well, not entirely. We were in the right general area, but we ended up going to the “Shops and Restaurants” section of the market… not to the actual fish market itself.

I actually think we were there too late to see anything very interesting at the fish market, and the tuna auctions were closed to the public anyways. *sigh* Next time, maybe?


Me at Tsukiji Fish Market shops and restaurants area

So instead, we went to get sushi for lunch.


Sushi menu outside the restaurant


Sushizanmai Restaurant


Sushi bar


Rolling a hand roll

I was a very, very bad girl.


Lots of tuna

Very.


Preparing sushi

Very.


Grilled tuna

Bad.


Nigiri and crab paste gunkan


Catching a fish


Middle-fatty tuna

But… to be fair, I almost never, ever eat tuna. Ever. And I figure this is the kind of thing that I should try once, since I was at the fish market in Japan!, but obviously won’t be doing on a regular basis. Even if I go back to Japan.


Three different tuna nigiri

You forgive me, right?


Preparing boat of sushi


Tsukiji

After lunch, we explored the shops a little more.


Tsukiji


Wares at Tsukiji

We bought lots of nori and a few rolling mats (that I’m giving away to you!), some itsy bitsy fried crab cracker things, and…


Wares at Tsukiji


Stalls at Tsukiji

… apple buns. Yum. This, more than anything, shows the value of giving out free samples. We wouldn’t have bought any, if not for the samples the vendor gave us. ๐Ÿ˜‰


Apple An-Pan


Side alley at Tsukiji


Crab/oyster restaurant at Tsukiji


Motorcycle at Tsukiji


Brian's self-portrait in the motorcycle mirror


Fugu Sashimi at Tsukiji


Hanging fugu


Fugu fins


Live fugu


Fugu sashimi


Train back to Hamamatsuchu Station

After the fish market, the guys insisted on going to the Pokemon Center, which they had seen a poster for at the train station. It turned out to be just a store, I think, but… boys will be boys, right? ๐Ÿ˜‰


Pokemon Center


Monorail

We still had a bit of time to burn, and Son wanted to see the ocean, so we walked over to the nearby Hamarikyu Gardens.


Tall buildings


The guys on the way to the garden


Me on the way to the garden


Crossing the street to the garden


Crossing the street to the garden


Traffic signal


View from Hamarikyu Gardens


Tea house inside Hamarikyu Gardens


Tea house inside Hamarikyu Gardens


Hamarikyu Gardens

And promptly lost the rest of our group. Again.


Mt. Fujimi


View from Mt. Fujimi


Ocean view from gardens


Water gate


Building in Hamarikyu Gardens


Wedding photos?


Me!


Hamarikyu Gardens


Me under a tree


Cherry blossoms in the garden, with buildings

Failing to locate anyone else we had arrived with, Son and I went to the nearest train station (which ended up being a different one than the one we had arrived at), and headed back to the hotel.


Dentsu HQ


Buildings in Tokyo


Water spouts?


Mall


Building


Fancy elevator


Buildings


Train station


Train tracks


Yamamote Line


Me, waiting for the train

Back at the hotel, our group reunited, and then… we got to meet up with Keizo!

Who is Keizo, you ask? Only the ramen man… he started writing about ramen on his blog, Go Ramen, when he lived here in Los Angeles, and then last year, he uprooted his entire life to go live in Japan and work at a ramen shop. The man took the leap and is living his dream… which I think is beyond awesome.

Plus, he’s just as cool in person (if not cooler!) as he is online (I first met him on twitter, when he started following me. ๐Ÿ˜€ )


Keizo in front of Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum

Of course, if you’re meeting the ramen man, obviously you have to go eat ramen, right? Luckily for us, Keizo knows all about the ramen scene in Tokyo (and most of Japan!), so he took us somewhere we would have never discovered on our own – the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum!


Inside of ramen museum


Inside of ramen museum


Inside of ramen museum

A ramen museum? Well, what’s so special about that? If you’re not much of a museum person, like me, it doesn’t sound all that exciting.

But this isn’t your average museum.


Exploring the second story of the shop area of the museum














Francis and Dave discussing where to eat

Nope… they have ramen you can eat. And not just one place… there are 8? 10? different mini ramen shops inside of the museum! Excited yet? You bet I was.

Of course, first we had to decide which ones we wanted to try…


Vending machine at the ramen museum

Even better, each little ramen place has mini bowls of ramen – so you can try several different bowls in one visit.

It just gets better and better.


Shoyu Ramen - the new place

First one we tried was a shoyu ramen. The restaurants switch out from time to time, and since this shoyu ramen place was fairly new to the museum, Keizo wanted to check it out. So Son and I decided to tag along… yum!


The tonkotsu shop


Dave and Francis in the tonkotsu shop

We met back up with the rest of our little group, and went to a tonkotsu ramen shop in the back right corner of the bottom floor (the restaurant section of the ramen museum is two stories high in the basement of the building, and then on the main floor there is an actual museum and a gift shop).


Francis and Brian in the tonkotsu shop


Son, Keizo, and I in the tonkotsu shop

*waves* Hi, Keizo! ^_^


Seasonings


Son's tonkotsu ramen

There were two main types of tonkotsu ramen, so Son and I got a bowl of each type.


My tonkotsu ramen with a photobomb by Brian


Spicy ramen shop kitchen

The last shop we went to was a spicy miso ramen. Too spicy for me, but that’s okay – by then I was stuffed, and only had a bite of Son’s ramen. This was Keizo’s favorite – he was telling us how he finds himself craving this ramen.


Keizo in spicy ramen shop


Spicy ramen


Leaving the museum


Old man preparing green tea in mall

Afterwards, Keizo took us to a nearby mall, where we hung out for a little while in the basement – where all the food shops are! And of course, we did a little shopping… yes, we took full advantage of the fact that Keizo can read and speak Japanese fluently. ๐Ÿ˜‰ Remember what I said about him being awesome? Yep! He was SO helpful, and more than happy to help us all out. Domo arigato gozaimasu, Keizo! ๐Ÿ™‚


Old man serving us green tea in mall

Don’t forget… just a few more Japan posts left! If you leave a comment on any of my posts about my Japan trip, you’ll be automatically entered to win a rolling mat and nori from Japan! Hey, I might even thrown in a Sushi Day shirt, just for the fun of it! ๐Ÿ˜€

Categories
2010 Japan Trip Japan Other Sushi Randomness

Tokyo, Japan: Yoshinoya, Ginza, Tokyo Imperial Palace, and CoCo Curry


Brian, Francis, and Dave in Yoshinoya

On our fourth day in Japan, we started the day by walking to the other side of Shinagawa station to try Yoshinoya for breakfast.


Ginger container in Yoshinoya

The beef bowl itself was exactly the same as what you’d get at any Yoshinoya here in the USA.


Beef at Yoshinoya

But the service… very different. Very Japanese. ๐Ÿ˜€


Son's meal (rice, beef, pickles, fish, miso soup) in Yoshinoya

Then we went on our way, back through Shinagawa station to catch the train to our first destination of the day…


Shinagawa station against the flow of morning rush

… and nearly got trampled in the process. Holy cow. The morning rush hour stampede is ridiculous… and almost dangerous!


Ginza station? Stained glass


Son and I outside the small market

The guys decided they wanted to go to Ginza… because they wanted to visit an Apple store. *sigh* A waste of time, if you ask me… it wasn’t much different than any Apple store you’d find here.


Apple Store in Ginza


Horse procession

So those of us who weren’t shopping decided to leave, and see what there was to see in the area. We were supposed to go to the Tokyo Imperial Palace later that day, so we found a nearby park to hang out at for a little while.


Foreign dignitary

On the way there, suddenly traffic was stopped, there were cops all over the place… and a fancy horse-drawn procession came down the boulevard. It seemed to be some sort of foreign dignitary, perhaps?


Procession leaving


Procession leaving


Government building?


Crosswalk


Dave outside the park


Me outside the park

We found the park, which had a beautiful (manmade?) cliff overlooking a little lake, complete with cranes, turtles, and several cats who appeared to live there (not strays, though… they appeared to be well-fed, happy, taken-care-of cats, that belonged to the park.)


Lake in the park


Crane eating a fish


Stone path marker?


Flowers

We had a couple of meat buns for lunch in the park, then, thanks to some misunderstandings and confusion, ended up sprinting the mile or so to the Tokyo Imperial Palace.


Moat view from Tokyo Imperial Palace


City view from Tokyo Imperial Palace


Corner building at Tokyo Imperial Palace


Closer view of corner building at Tokyo Imperial Palace


Leaving Tokyo Imperial Palace

Which was… meh… a waste of time, especially if you’re like me and really not much of a history buff. Not much to see there, and it was a very short tour.


Crossing the street to our hotel

After the tour, we headed back to our hotel… where I crashed. Meanwhile, the guys went out to get some dinner at CoCo Curry… and my wonderful boyfriend brought back a plate for me.


CoCo Curry!

Wait… CoCo Curry… does that sound familiar?

It should. ๐Ÿ˜€

And yes, it was just as good (better, even?) than the first time we had it. Why is there not one of these in Los Angeles? I could eat it every day! ๐Ÿ˜‰


CoCo Curry!

Don’t forget, just a few more posts to enter the contest to win a package of nori and a sushi rolling mat from Japan! Just leave a comment on any of my posts about my Japan trip (I’ll count one comment per person per post), and I’ll pick two winners at the end.

Categories
2010 Japan Trip Japan Other Sushi Randomness

Tokyo, Japan: Ueno Park, Akihabara… oh, and a giveaway!


Cherry blossoms
Photo courtesy of David Calhoun

I’ve never been much of a traveler. (Though you wouldn’t know it from my itinerary for this year.) Up until a couple of years ago, I had only been to a few states aside from California, and never been off the mainland. And certainly never to another country.

However, I’ve always wanted to go to Japan. I just never thought I’d get the opportunity to – certainly not for a while, at least. But earlier this year the opportunity presented itself: some of Son’s friends decided they wanted to go on a photo tour of Japan. I didn’t think they were serious, but it wasn’t long before we had the trip booked for just a couple of months in the future.

Excited? You bet I was!

The next two months couldn’t pass quickly enough… the ten hour flight… yeah, I could have done without that. And then trying to figure out our JR Passes (a must-have if you’re visiting Japan – buy them outside of the country, because they can’t be bought in Japan), then the hour-long train ride to get to our hotel… we crashed that first night. But I was excited… so excited about the food! Of course. I’m food blogger, what else would you expect? So you must be wondering, what was our first meal?

McDonalds. *facepalm* Yeah… it wasn’t my idea.


McDonald's

After a quick breakfast, we caught a train to our first destination: Ueno Park.


Catching the train

Finally, some Japanese food! There was a takoyaki (octopus balls! no, not those kinds of balls… they’re little fried balls made of octopus bits) stand right at the entrance of the park… so of course we had to get some.


Takoyaki on a stick

That’s some good stuff right there.


Takoyaki in a box

Street food? Oh yes. That’s where it’s at, people.


Takoyaki nom!

Then we finally got into the park, and were surrounded by cherry blossoms galore! ‘Twas glorious.


Cherry blossoms!

Inside Ueno park, there’s a little temple (and a zoo we didn’t go to, and a museum that we’ll talk about later).


Temple pillar


Son, taking the previous photo


Temple with cherry blossoms


Sweeping up all the cherry blossoms


Wishes
Photo courtesy of David Calhoun


Proof that yes, we were actually there in Japan!
Photo courtesy of David Calhoun

After our little stroll through the temple, off to Tokyo National Museum (which was just across the plaza in the middle of the park) we went!


Scroll


Red statue


Gourd

Lots of cool stuff there.


Sword

Especially the swords.


Sword

Ooooh, the swords.


Sword


Fugu!


Kimonos

Behind the museum was a pretty little garden, complete with a few gorgeous tea houses and a little lake (filled with gigantic crows!)


Cobblestone path


Son peeking around the tea house
Photo courtesy of David Calhoun

And in the vending machines at the museum, we found my new favorite drink – Nectar. Like a peach in liquid form… so good. So refreshing.

Anyone know if Nectar is available in the US? I haven’t looked yet, but I’m hoping they’ll have it at some of our local Japanese supermarkets…

(And yes, if you’ve ever heard that vending machines are everywhere in Japan, it’s true!)


Nectar!

After the museum, we headed to Akihabara…


Akihabara

… land of electronics and cosplayers.


Cosplayer

For lunch we went to a food truck (thought I was back in LA for a moment there) that was serving pita-type sandwiches filled with cabbage and a meat that was sliced off a big rotating spit. Delicious, but *sigh* not Japanese! And not my idea. *grumble*


Kebab
Photo courtesy of Francis Castillo

A little while later we went to a multi-story restaurant that was serving curry and some other dishes… it was just alright. But it was our first encounter with using vending machines to order our food (you pay at the vending machine, then give the ticket you receive to the people inside the restaurant).

Heh, talk about confused American tourists. ๐Ÿ˜‰


Akihabara

We stopped by a several-story arcade where there were all sorts of old-school arcade games…


Arcade

… and took a break for a quick game of air hockey. ๐Ÿ˜€


Air hockey

And then… Mister Donut!!! I first heard of it on Todd and Diane’s blog, so we had to stop by and try it. We tried the chocolate-coated custard-filled donut, and the adzuki bean-filled donut rolled in sugar… both very, very good. There’s something about donuts (and pastries in general) in Japan… although they appear to be fried just like those here in the US, they are SO much lighter. Dangerous, really, because it tricks you into thinking you can eat that much more. ๐Ÿ˜‰


Mister Donut

On our way out of Akihabara, we saw a little shop that was serving onigiri, so we had to stop there. Son and I shared a chicken-filled one (which somehow we entirely failed to get any pictures of)… oh man, after a day of very little Japanese food, that really hit the spot.


Ramen kitchen

What a day! After months of mostly sitting around (I’m a programmer, so almost all of my time is spent in front of the computer), a day full of walking was exhausting. We went back to the hotel and crashed for a couple of hours… then ventured out in search of dinner. We wanted something Japanese… which was harder to find than you’d have thought! We found McDonald’s, French places, Italian restaurants, even an Irish pub… after walking around for an hour, we finally found a little ramen shop just around the corner from our hotel.


Ramen

Son and I shared a bowl of ramen and an order of gyoza.


Gyoza

It was perfect. Just perfect.


Ramen

Okay, so I know you’re all wondering… what was all this I said about a contest? Well, as you’ll see in a future post, we stopped by the fish market on one of our days there, and found a cute little store selling cooking-ware, and a shop that was all about seaweed. So, this being a sushi blog, I decided to get a package of nori and a rolling mat – from Japan – to give away to you. (I got two of each, so there will be two winners).

So how do you enter? Just leave a comment on any of my daily posts about my Japan trip before Wednesday, May 12. Only one comment per person per post will be counted, so you can get up to 8 entries. I’ll announce the winners by the end of that week!

Categories
Other Sushi Randomness

Menu For Hope 6



Every year, food bloggers around the world donate bid items in an effort to raise money to benefit the UN World Food Programme. (You can read more about it here.) For every $10 you donate, you get to bid on one of many fantastic items. This year, I’ve decided to donate a bid item as well.



As many of you know, I cannot rave enough about Hajime Sato’s Mashiko Sushi Restaurant in Seattle, WA, nor can I stop talking about Casson Trenor and his book, Sustainable Sushi: A Guide to Saving the Oceans One Bite at a Time.

Casson has been amazing enough to donate a signed copy of his book, and in addition to that, Hajime has donated a $50 gift certificate to Mashiko.



To Donate and Enter the Menu for Hope Raffle

Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Choose a bid item or bid items of your choice from our Menu for Hope main bid item list. If you want a chance at Casson’s book and a $50 Mashiko gift certificate, our bid item code is UW42.
  2. Go to the donation site at Firstgiving and make a donation.
  3. Please specify which bid item you’d like in the ‘Personal Message’ section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per bid item, and please use the bid item code.
    Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a bid item of your choice. For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 tickets for EU02 – 2xEU01, 3xEU02.
  4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.
  5. Please check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we can contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

Check back at Chez Pim on Monday, January 18 for the results of the raffle.

Thanks for your participation, and good luck in the raffle!

Categories
Other Sushi Randomness

Sushi, Sushi, Sushi


South Wedge Roll
South Wedge Roll – smoked salmon, cucumber, bacon, wasabi mayonnaise

Uninspired. That’s how I’ve felt lately, when it comes to sushi. Or, more specifically, when it comes to writing about sushi. My love of sushi is no less, nor has my desire to share this love with all of you diminished any. But it’s been months since I’ve brought you a recipe here on Sushi Day, and even then posting has been sporadic for nearly a year now.


Spicy Tuna Roll
Spicy Tuna Roll – mayonnaise, hot chile paste, hot chile oil, toasted sesame oil, tuna, wasabi paste, green onion, toasted black sesame seeds, in rice paper wrappers

It’s not for lack of material – I have pictures of sushi that I made all the way back in March that I never wrote about. Nor is it for lack of time – though I’m incredibly busy with work and play, I could have easily made time to put up a short post. And it certainly isn’t a loss of interest in my blog or my readers – there has been an immense amount of guilt as days turned into weeks without a post, which turned into months of near silence here on Sushi Day.


Pacific Ocean Roll
Pacific Ocean Roll- smoked salmon, avocado, bacon

What it all comes down to is that the sushi I had made just didn’t excite me. Oh yay, another spicy tuna roll. Whoopidee do dah, more shrimp tempura. Everything felt like something I’d done before – after nearly three years of sushi recipes, another California roll spin-off starts to get pretty damn boring.


Pink Panther Roll
Pink Panther Roll – salmon, avocado, tamago, wrapped in rice paper

So I would procrastinate. I don’t want to put you asleep while reading my posts, I want you to hang onto my every word like I do with Shauna’s posts, or Keri’s, or Helen’s. I know, I know, I have a long way to go. But I can’t stand blogs that only give you a recipe without any interesting descriptions or anecdotes… and since I couldn’t come up with any for sushi that bored me half to death, I just kept putting it off.


Too Crazy Roll
Too Crazy Roll – tuna, pesto

Then I was invited up to Seattle to go to the Sustainable Sushi Dinner at Mashiko. Oh, Mashiko. Did I mention that Hajime and I exchanged shirts (no, not like that!)? I sent him a Sushi Day shirt, and he sent me a sushiwhore.com (Mashiko’s website) shirt. Fits perfectly. Anyways. Son and I got to go to this dinner, where we got to meet the very awesome Hajime Sato and the very cool Casson Trenor, and learn all sorts of things that I never knew at all about sushi and sustainability and seafood. Obviously, I loved the trip.


Unicorn Roll
Unicorn Roll – tempura shrimp, cucumber, imitation crab, topped with spicy tuna

But then I come back home, all excited about sustainability and trying all these new types of seafood, and look at the pictures of sushi that I have yet to post. Tuna – not bluefin, of course, but still. Imitation crab – once a great choice, now not so much. *sigh* I just couldn’t, in my good conscience, continue a series of posts that used some ingredients that, in terms of sustainability, aren’t things I should promote.


Bam Roll
Bam Roll – tempura shrimp, mayonnaise, green onions, tomato, hot chile oil topped with spicy tuna, eel sauce, sesame seeds.

But… I feel terrible depriving you all of the remaining sushi that I’ve made. Which is why I’ve posted all the pictures in this post, along with the ingredients that go into each roll. I’ve told you hundreds of times how to put together a roll of sushi… I’m sure you can figure it out from ingredient lists by now. I’ve also put up a separate post for each of these rolls with just the recipes (click the pictures to get to the posts), because Son insisted so you could see all the extra beautiful photographs he put so much work into for each roll.


TNT Roll
TNT Roll – tuna, tomato, Tabasco sauce

So. What do I intend to do now, since I no longer have a queue of rolls lined up for me to post about? Make more sushi, of course. This time trying to be more sustainable, more inventive, more fun. Will the occasional tuna roll sneak in? My apologies in advance, I’m not (quite!) perfect. Might you see a California roll knock off or two? Perhaps, but they’ll have to be really freaking amazing California rolls. But most importantly, what you’ll see is me. Having fun. Doing what I do best as a food blogger… bringing you tons of sushi.

So hopefully you haven’t gone too far away, because… the sushi girl is back, and ready to roll!


Bling-Bling Roll
Bling-Bling Roll – imitation crab, mayonnaise, spicy tuna, avocado, drizzled with eel sauce.

Categories
Other Sushi Randomness

An Interview with Casson Trenor

After my interview with Hajime, I got to sit down for a few minutes with Casson Trenor, sustainability expert and author of Sustainable Sushi: A Guide to Saving the Oceans One Bite at a Time.



Allison: So how did you get into the business of sustainability with seafood… how did you get started with that?

Casson: I get asked that question a lot and I just don’t know the answer. It’s just something that happened… it’s just something I knew I needed to do. Sometimes I say it’s because I grew up on the beach, and I think that’s partially true. And sometimes I say it’s because I used to be in a lot of restaurants and I saw a lot of waste and it really bothered me, and I think that’s true too. And sometimes I say it’s just because I really like sushi, and I want it to be around, and I think that’s definitely true… I don’t know, I just… I just knew it was something that I was gonna do, that I had to do and it just evolved into what it is, and that’s a terrible answer, I know.

Allison: That’s fine. What do you think is very important for people to know, regarding sustainability?

Casson: That it is incredibly important. That our lives in these next years are going to change drastically, due to how many people are on this planet, and the way that we’ve been managing it – and that’s not something that we can do anything about. Those changes are real, and they are coming, and they’re already here, in a lot of ways. And it’s not about trying to resist the changes, it’s about trying to adapt and to move fluidly through them. Sustainability is a way of life. It’s a mantra, for business and just… if we are to continue to exist and be happy in this changing planet, we have to learn how to live with our eyes open, and balance our resources.

Allison: How did you help Hajime revamp the menu and everything, to make it more sustainable?

Casson: That might be a better question for him. I can give you my answer… I think that maybe… I think the thing that I’m proud to say that I was really able to do for this restaurant and for him is to give him the impetus to do what he already knew what he wanted to do. I didn’t really have to convince Hajime that sustainability made sense. I didn’t have to convince him that he didn’t really have to use hamachi, or that these fish were really good also, I mean, I just had to show him that he wasn’t alone in thinking the way that he already was. ‘Cause his heart was in this stuff long ago, you know? But he was, I think maybe a bit shackled by the fact that there was no one else in the sushi industry that was expressing these ideas, and um, you know it’s not surprising. As you know, the sushi industry is extremely ritualized, and very regimented and hierarchical. And it’s tough to break the mold, you need a rabble-rouser, and most sushi chefs are not rabble-rousers. Most sushi chefs- ’cause you know, during the development of a sushi chef, that kind of innovation… sure, I mean, innovation is encouraged, but in certain ways, you know what I mean? In other ways it’s discouraged. I think… I guess I think I’m… I’m just proud to have helped him be himself.



Allison: What kind of advice can you give to people who really can’t imagine giving up all their favorite types of sushi which might not be sustainable?

Casson: First of all, I understand. There are things that I really thought I would miss when I realized I probably shouldn’t be eating them as much or at all. My advice I guess would be to, and I talk about this in my book, I’ve got a few points that I give people when they’re trying to make these changes, and the one that I really feel strongly about, well I feel strongly about all of them, but one in particular is… if you do it… if you just go out there and you try to live your values, sometimes you’ll find yourself struggling but at the end of the meal, you’ll really feel good about it. And if you do it in a group, it makes it much easier to just kind of have that camaraderie, so when you go in there and are like, “alright, we’re going to try to have a sustainable meal,” then you can help each other do it. ‘Cause it’s not always easy. Also try not to… I would say don’t necessarily try to do it all at once. If you love your bluefin, and your farmed salmon and your eel and your hamachi… go in and replace two out of five the first time. And see, you know, try some new things. Then the next time, replace a different two. And then eventually, after three or four visits try to work your way off of all of them. But explore the menu – don’t go in and be like, “I can’t eat anything, I hate this”… that’s not gonna work.

Allison: Anything else you’d like to say?

Casson: So many things. [laughs] I do this for a lot of reasons. You know, I do this because I believe in it. I do this because it’s becoming financially viable. I do this because I see it’s a change that needs to be made. I do this because I am very passionate about the ocean. I do this because I’m an environmental activist. But I don’t want people to ever get the idea that one of the very most essential primary reasons I do this is not simply that I love sushi. That is so important. And the fact of the matter is that a healthy ocean is what gave birth to this art form. And without a healthy ocean, this art form will die. If we do not steward our resources properly, and this is a critical, critical stage… I cannot over-stress the kind of peril our oceans are in right now. The reasons that these fish… these fish aren’t sustainable for very good reasons. You know? Crashing populations, horrible pollution problems, by-catch that you would not believe – millions and millions of tons every year thrown over the side. Horrible. I want my children to be able to eat like this, because it meant so much to me and has formed so much of what I am, and I would really be heartbroken if I knew that it was my generation that stole that from my children, and that cost us this beautiful art form that so many people have put so many years into developing. So sustainable sushi, for the love of sushi.



Wednesday Iรขโ‚ฌโ„ขll wrap this all up with a few extra thoughts that both men had about sustainability and the sushi business. Do you have a question about sustainability? Ask in the comments or email me, and Iรขโ‚ฌโ„ขll do my best to answer your questions.