Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto Teaches You How To Eat Sushi

Hi, I'm Chef Morimoto here.

Hi, I'm Lyric O'Connell

and I'm the host of Morimoto Sushi Master

and we are here to teach you the rules of sushi

and how to break 'e'm.

[lofi music]

Welcome to Morimoto Napa and sushi master.

Are you ready?

I'm so ready.

Are you ready, guys?

Okay.

[lofi music]

So you try this.

This is called Shikai Maki.

Shikai Maki. Yeah.

Cucumber, tuna and then egg inside

Chopsticks with the sushi or just my hands?

When you see the sushi roll, it doesn't matter.

Either one.

Maybe your technique is fine

but mostly with some people, very difficult to use it.

Right.

Don't hesitate to grab your sushi.

Okay. So if you see a sushi that seems really hard to grab

with your chopsticks, use your hands.

[lofi music]

I've been yelled at by my parents in the past

for putting my chopsticks in a bowl

and just like leaving in it in there

cuz it's like not very good etiquette to just

put your chopsticks into the bowl. Right?

Isn't it like more proper to just

rest your chopsticks like this?

No, actually if the royal family invited you to come,

Of Japan?

to their Palace.

Okay.

You cannot do that.

Right. They would be very strict.

But when you go to the regular Japanese, even, you know

a three Michelin star sushi restaurant you can do that.

As long as you pay?

As Long as you pay,

you can do whatever with your chopsticks.

[lofi music]

Oh, That cucumber, the egg, the tuna.

I love that roll because it's just all these things

and it's perfectly proportioned that sushi wasn't too fishy.

But usually when you're eating a lot of sushi

your hands might get a little sticky.

So that's why Chef gave me this little bowl

with a wet towel in it so that

I can clean my fingers off as I'm eating the sushi.

[lofi music]

Chef is that wasabi?

Yes, fresh wasabi from Japan.

Fresh wasabi.

I'm grating wasabi.

You're grating wasabi

This is a shark skin grater.

By grating the wasabi, the actual flavors

and the spices, actually come out by grading it.

So if you're just chopping wasabi

it's gonna taste much different

from what you think wasabi should taste like.

[lofi music]

This is Otoro, so your favorite?

Yes.

Otoro is the fatty part of the chicken.

And usually sushi has wasabi in between fish and rice.

Unfortunately, in this country not many people do this.

Wasabi has sushi on the side.

This is Nigiri style.

Then I'm gonna attach whole seasoning on this side

and then eat it in one bite.

Okay. I know it might seem hard to do it in just one bite

but it's highly recommended to eat the whole Nigiri

because you don't wanna bite into it

and have one side of the Nigiri taste super like wasabi

and then have the other bite be like no wasabi at all.

Right? You wanna keep that consistent.

So I'm about to dig into this Nigiri.

It's tuna, the fatty part called Otoro.

[lofi music]

Not spicy or anything.

That's ridiculous.

So that's why I have no soy sauce tableside.

It's better than mixing wasabi in soy sauce.

Because I already put that.

Right, so instead of serving his sushi with like,

an already prepared bowl of soy sauce

on the side for you to dip the sushi in,

he actually already flavors the sushi with soy sauce

and wasabi so that we don't have to do that.

So did you remember how much I put the red tuna, wasabi?

Yes. See?

Oh, that's way more wasabi for this fish.

And then more.

Is it because it's fatty?

Yes.

So the more fat, the more wasabi.

Sushi is balance.

It's all that balance.

Vinegar rice, raw fish and the wasabi on the inside.

Even the same fish, different parts,

I control the different wasabi.

Gotcha.

But don't worry, it's not so spicy.

It's not gonna be spicy. So this is a lot of fat.

Spicy?

No, that's so weird.

Okay and then

they say, Oh Chef, your wasabi is not that spicy.

Eat this.

Okay, now I'm trying the wasabi by itself without

the fatty fish to see how spicy this actually is.

Yeah, that's.

Oh my god.

My nose.

My nose.

Sorry! Sorry!

No, it's okay.

Okay. Okay.

So yes, he did that to prove that the wasabi-

Dip in soy sauce!

Dip in soy sauce to cancel out the wasabi taste.

Itadakimasu

See? And that solved everything.

[lofi music]

How much ginger do you like to eat while eating sushi?

Actually, the ginger is not really food.

So, it's just a change in palate,

in between fish and the fish.

Okay.

So, sometimes you eat Otoro first

and then you change your palate, you know?

So it making your palate more neutral.

Gotcha.

And then, Okay Chef ready to next.

Right. So for ginger, eat enough ginger to

freshen up your palate in between different fish.

[lofi music]

Japanese presentation style, left side is higher.

Your right hand side higher,

it's very difficult to go this way.

So, that's why you present it that way

cuz it's easier to eat the fish.

Maybe chopsticks go this way,

you can pick up this one, this one, and this one easily.

The Chef likes to present his fish from

having the left side of the platter

higher than the right side.

So it's easier for the customer,

who most likely is right-handed,

to eat their sushi.

[lofi music]

[Chef] So I teach you how it Sashimi.

How can we eat with sushi or sashimi without wasabi?

So with the sashimi he does present me

with a little plate of soy sauce so that I can dip myself.

Is there like the best type of temperature to serve sushi

or is there a rule of thumb

when it comes to serving raw fish?

Temperature-wise?

Not too hot.

But it's a kind of little warmer than room temperatures.

So sashimi you can put wasabi on the fish.

On the fish. Yes.

So you recommend me putting this

on the fish instead of putting it in my soy sauce like

how we do it in the states? Yes.

Okay.

This is the fat.

This has no fat. Right.

Maybe you remember that?

How much wasabi you need?

Okay, this is a little bit of test for me.

[lofi music]

Us Americans, we like to dunk our sushi into soy sauce.

I say no rule, no rule

whatever you do, as long as you pay.

Of course.

If I pay, you have to follow my instructions.

When you have sushi like this, dip it in soy sauce.

Fish side.

The Nigiri sushi,

when you're dipping it in the soy sauce

dip the fish side into the soy sauce

instead of just dipping the whole clump of rice

Dip in fish side and then eat it in one bite.

[indistinct] One bite. one bite

Oh yeah, you gotta eat in one bite.

[lofi music]

What do you think about like if I don't

finish the whole plate?

It's okay

That's okay?

Everything is yours?

As long as it's my sushi, I can do what I want.

Yeah. Take it home or leave it right there,

don't worry about it.

Oh. I love your restaurant Chef.

Itadakimasu.

Yes, yes.

So in Japan you might look at me and be like

why are you holding a bowl up to your face girl?

Well that's because in Japan

this is actually proper etiquette.

If you've got a big bowl and there's food

instead of bringing the food to just your mouth

it's better to maybe perhaps hold the bowl

close to your face already

so that you're not like, you know, making a mess.

[lofi music]

How do you know what kind of drink

to pair with what kind of fish?

Actually no rules, too.

There there's no rules for that either.

We think the Japanese sushi and sashimi is good with Sake.

With sake.

And Sake is better. Right.

And then lot of people say white wine and champagne.

Little bit.

I might not agree there but of course it doesn't matter.

Right.

So you can maybe have it with Chardonnay

or with some Riesling.

Yes.

It's good for sashimi and sushi as well.

Right.

As long as you can see Sake in this country,

it's almost the same quality.

So Chef obviously is sticking with, you know,

you can break the rules,

but he recommends eating sushi

with Sake because you know that's how they did it in Japan.

As long as you can enjoy the Sushi.

Yes.

Do what you wanna do, man.

Hospitality we have means caring entertainment.

That's hospitality, omotenashi.

What's good for you?

What's good for this, this

what's good today, for this and this.

That's caring entertainment.

Gotcha.

[lofi music]

So that's it y'all.

We taught you some rules of sushi

and now you can break them.

Thank you for coming to Morimoto Napa.

Thank you for having me Chef.

No, no, thank you.

All yours. Okay.

Are you serious?

I get to eat all this? Of course

I have the best job in the world.

Thank you. Kanpai.

Kanpai.