Sushi has long been a staple for hungry Muscovites. Chef Ichiro Higashiyama brings its most authentic incarnation to Tsveteniye Sakury.
Moscow probably has as many sushi bars as cafes, but there are still scarcely twenty Japanese chefs working here. Chef Higashiyama is one of them, and also one of the few sushi masters in Russia. He has worked in his own sushi bar for years in Japan, and is the epitome of a sushi master — taciturn, strict, and stubborn.What do you think of sushi culture in Russia? Sushi in Russia basically derives from America, not Japan. America took sushi and made it more accessible for foreigners by creating many original rolls, such as the California. Here too, rolls are very popular. Sushi in Japan means Edomae [Sushi began in the Edo era in the city of Edo (now Tokyo) as a quick snack for laborers ed.], which centers on nigiri, not rolls. Much emphasis is placed on how the rice is molded — it must not be packed, but be a softly molded mass which includes a lot of air. Here, they tend to squeeze it tight, and I tried to teach them not to, but it didn’t work out — Russians dip the sushi rice first into the soy sauce, and unless the rice is tightly packed, it falls apart in the sauce. The correct way is to flip the sushi over, and just lightly touch the surface of the fish to the sauce. I realized that the problem was not ignorance on the part of the staff, but that the masses do not know what real sushi is. Perhaps this is also why rolls are so popular. What has been your biggest culinary failure since you started working in Russia? It’s not a specific failure, as in a one time incident, but I do regret that my Russian is so poor. When I first came here in January, I didn’t know a single word, and I can’t say I know much more now. It’s something I should really work on. Any difficulties with the staff here? I definitely think that people here are very smart. They’re even cleverer with their hands than the Japanese. Still, it’s discouraging that sometimes the staff are slacking. If nothing else, Japanese staff are diligent. What would you like to introduce here? I may be a sushi master, but I’d still like to introduce other Japanese dishes. All over the world, people only think of sushi when they hear Japanese cuisine. In our restaurant, I have introduced several dishes which are popular and standard in Japan, but few Russians order them. It’s a pity, I think. Personally, being away from Japan makes me really appreciate Japanese cuisine. What do you think of Russo-Japanese relations? I definitely think Russia will become very popular in Japan. Russia often appears in the Japanese media, and in a very positive light. Lots of people are interested in it, too, and if it weren’t for the expensive hotels, more people would come. |
