The beautiful sushi of July, 2021

The controversial Tokyo Olympics have finally begun in the blazing summer heat.

On that day, I went to a Japanese restaurant called, Kazahana located inside the Conrad Hotel to savor authentic sushi.

The hotel was empty.

If there was no COVID-19, the hotel would be crowded with so many tourists visiting Japan.

Be that as it may, I’d like to introduce the sushi that I ate.

The sushi chef made 12 sushi for me.

Among them, Kisu (sand borer) and Hoshigarei (spotted halibut) made me feel that the middle of summer had arrived.

In addition, the sushi chef made Shinko sushi for me.

Shinko sushi is the rarest traditional sushi of all.

Kohada (Japanese shad) sushi is a popular authentic sushi.

Young Kohada is called, Shinko.

So Shinko and Kohada are the same fish.

Kohada can be eaten all year long, but Shinko can only be eaten in the summer season.

Shinko is a small fish; it is about the size of my little finger.

So filleting it requires good culinary skills, and it takes a lot of time.

After completing the time-consuming filleting, Shinko is marinated in salt and vinegar.

After that, it is left out overnight to enrich the flavor.

For these reasons, Shinko sushi is so expensive compared to other sushi.

The Shinko sushi that I ate was so wonderful.

Three Shinko were on the vinegared rice.

Its taste blended sweetness and sourness very well without spoiling the freshness of the young fish.

In the Edo period, the people who had the sprit of a native of Edo (Tokyo) were called, “Eddoko”.

They loved Shinko sushi. Though Shinko sushi was also expensive in that age, they went out of their way to eat it.

Today, on the other hand, Shinko sushi seems to be a little-known sushi.

But authentic sushi restaurants in Japan will definitely serve Shinko sushi if you want it.