Great news. The Ministry of Agriculture has just relieved me of my lifelong mission to educate white people on how to identify real Japanese food. Starting next year, they will be introducing a program that certifies restaurants serving authentic Japanese cuisine in foreign countries.
Living in the US, the one thing that always irked the shit out of me is the plethora of fake Japanese restaurants that contaminate every city from Boston to San Francisco. And the sad thing is, a lot of white people actually enjoy eating at these places.
"Monster Sushi is sooo good!" They'd say. Or,
"Have you been to that Korean/Chinese/Japanese restaurant downtown?"
So I always have to tell them that any sushi restaurant with words like "monster" or "mambo" or "rock star" are probably not authentic. And that any place that serves food from more than one country (and yes, China and Japan are two different countries) probably isn't genuine.
With this wonderful new program, maybe restaurants run by impostors will stop stuffing their sushi platters with cheap fish and too much soy sauce-soaked rice.
Maybe the USDA, and EC, Korea and China equivalents can set up reciprocal programs.Think of some of the gastronomic atrocities that could be curtailed.Only problem is...what would be left in Japan?
Posted by: Ben Miller | November 03, 2006 at 11:04 PM
when i goto a 'sushi' joint, i want the server/sushi chef/hostess to be nihonjin.is that wrong? : /
Posted by: Anonymous | November 04, 2006 at 05:52 AM
LOL Here in São Paulo, Brazil, there is a lot of the same problem.The worst cases is when you order a teppan or tempura they get mix up those dishes with FRIES!! Other disgusting problem is that they prepare sushis before somebody order and when they come to your table the nori is almost like a jelly (ewl).I think the kind of rice they choose to prepare the food is the most reliable indicator about quality of the food they are serving.
Posted by: guscasas | November 04, 2006 at 06:51 AM
Ben: Ya, Japan has some very interesting interpretations of, at least, Western food.Here is something else that needs to be added to the Fake Sushi hit list. :-pHow to Make Sweet Sushi
Posted by: Anonymous | November 05, 2006 at 06:45 PM
I am Japanese and I LOVE MONSTER SUSHI down in Mountain View. It might not be authentic Japanese food for "white" people, but hell! Its GRRRREAT!*please advise* the term "white people" is very cliche... As a writer you should know better than to use terms such as that!-Tsuda
Posted by: Anonymous | November 08, 2006 at 02:47 AM