Sunday Sushi

Every Sunday afternoon, I walk down to Hiroo, often with Pippi and Mom or Dad. While my parents are busy at the supermarket, I always walk down Hiroo-shotengai (Hiroo shopping street) to a little sushi shop. Every week, without fail, I buy two packs of kappa maki (cucumber rolls), one for dinner, and one for my lunch the next day.

The shop I go to is just a tiny little store front. There is no door and there are no walls between it and the sidewalk. Just simply a glass case filled with packs of sushi, behind that, a cash register, and even further back, a window through which a man making sushi is visible. Every Sunday, I walk up to the glass case, remove two boxes of kappa maki, and place them on the counter with my Y400. The person at the register puts my sushi into a plastic bag and asks me if I want chopsticks. To this, I reply no and just use what I have at home. I am then asked if I want shoyu (soy sauce). I of course answer yes to this every time: last week, this week, next week.

Delicate and Delicious

Last night, Eve, Dad, and I went out to dinner at one of my absolute favorite restaurants: Fukuzushi. Fukuzushi is a relatively fancy sushi restaurant in Roppongi. Whenever we go there, we always sit at the counter, on the corner. In my opinion, these are the best seats because you can see exactly what the chef is doing. It's quite fascinating. Also, the best chef is always situated right in front of us, a great advantage. My favorite thing to watch is when the chef cuts the cucumber for kappa maki. Holding the cucumber still with one hand, the chef gently swings his incredibly sharp knife back and forth so that it penetrates the cucumber's skin and cuts it right through into slices almost as thin as paper. It is a wonder that the chef can control the knife so perfectly that it never cuts him.

I like kappa maki, but they are not my first preference at Fukuzushi. Fukuzushi makes two types of sushi that are so delectable that they have the capacity to induce mouthwatering daydreams. Believe me, I've been on their receiving end. One of these types is takuan maki. Takuan is a type of Japanese pickle with a stunningly bright yellow color. The takuan at Fukuzushi is unusual. It has other things, such as shiso, mixed into it, making the flavor all the more delicious.

The other type of I sushi that I really like features salmon skin. For this sushi, the chef takes the skin and a thin layer of flesh off of a piece of salmon and cooks it through. Then, this cooked salmon skin, along with cut up cucumber and sesame seeds, is put on top of rice and rolled up in a piece of nori (seaweed). Thinking about this dish makes me sigh with longing. I wonder how it will be before Dad takes me back there . . .