Zoë Escher

Is sushi expensive in Japan?

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Sushi chef & sake sommerlier Zoë Escher

I have been coming to Japan since 2004. Over the years, I have eaten a lot of sushi. It ranges from everyday sushi to sushi served at Michelin restaurants.

In my eyes, sushi is not expensive in Japan.
Here I look at the quality you get for your money. Whether you buy everyday sushi or gourmet sushi in Japan, it is cheap compared to sushi restaurants in Europe.

There are several reasons for this.
In Japan, only 8% is paid in tax on restaurant invoices and take-away food. That in itself is a pretty big saving. It can be felt especially if you often go out and eat.

The competition among restaurants is very fierce.
As in Europe, restaurateurs want to have filled restaurants all week opening days. It is also important that the food is of a high quality and that guests are happy. There are also many restaurants that maintain a price level where their customers can afford to come and eat.

At the Sushi course for beginners, you learn step by step how to make sushi with the most in-demand ingredients in Europe.

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

When is sake used in Japanese dishes?

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Sushi chef & sake sommelier Zoë Escher
Sake is widely used in Japanese cuisine.
When sake is used is a little different, it depends on the dish. That, of course, must fit. Sake is added to dishes a bit in the same way, such as white wine or red wine in European cuisine.

However, not all types of sake are suitable for cooking. There are large selections of sake that are only suitable for drinking.
In Japan, several different types of sake are produced for cooking. It does not matter what kind of cooking sake are poured into the dish, as they taste very different.
You can, without knowing it, change the whole taste of the dish in question by pouring ”wrong” sake into the food.

Traditional Japanese food course for beginners you get a thorough introduction to the different types of sake used in Japanese cuisine. You will also learn when and in what dishes the different sake should be used.

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

How many styles are there in Japanese sushi?

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Sushi chef & sake sommerlier Zoë Escher
In Japan there are several different sushi styles several more than in Denmark.
The range between lower quality sushi and very high quality sushi is very large.

At the very top you will find sushi restaurants that are so exclusive that they are too good to be in the Michelin guide. Then you will find exclusive sushi restaurants, which have been given a place in the Michelin guide.

Then you will find 5 different quality levels of sushi restaurants.
In general, the level for every type is very high, yes even the lowest level will be high compared to Europe.

Sushi in Denmark which is considered exclusive gourmet sushi is everyday sushi in Japan. This is because sushi has its origins in Japan, there are many sushi restaurants and the competition between the restaurants is fierce.

In the Sushi course for beginners, you learn step by step to apply the techniques used by Japanese gourmet sushi chefs.

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

What soy sauce is used in classic Japanese dishes?

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In traditional Japanese cuisine, not only soy sauce is used for Japanese dishes.

In Japan, soy sauce is considered a spice; it is a way to season the food. There are as many different soy sauces in a Japanese supermarket as cheese in a Danish supermarket.
Therefore, it does not matter which soy sauce is used for which dishes.

Most people eat sushi to a greater or lesser extent.
If you use a completely classic soy sauce or one soy sauce which is not suitable for e.g. sushi, it will ruin approx. 40% of the taste experience. That’s a lot.

Therefore, the choice of soy sauce plays an equally important role as the choice of fish for sushi. It’s like night and day.

In the Traditional Japanese food course for beginners, you will get to know several different types of soy sauce. You also learn that dossiers and add the different dishes, the right amount of soy sauce. So that the dishes get, the unique flavors and aromas that characterize the dishes that are served in restaurants in Japan.

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

How popular is Teriyaki sauce in Japan?

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Teriyaki sauce is very popular in Japan.
It is a classic sauce that is part of the classic Japanese cuisine. There are several different types of teriyaki sauce.

I prefer to make teriyaki sauce as it tastes better and goes best with the ingredients used in the dish.

In Japan, teriyaki sauce is used in several ways along with various meat dishes in the classic Japanese cuisine. It is a Japanese sauce which has a slightly different function than a classic béarnaise sauce in Europe.

It is a classic Japanese sauce which also suits the European taste buds and which more and more people knows about.

In Traditional Japanese food course for beginners, you will learn how to make teriyaki sauce from scratch. This sauce you can use for several different dishes.

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Who invented Sushi?

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Sushi chef & sake sommerlier Zoë Escher
It is a very specific group of the Japanese people who have invented sushi. It’s not chefs.

Sushi has originally been a poor man’s dish.
Along the coast of Japan fishing families live and make a living by catching fish. At that time many hundreds of thousands of years ago, their income was modest. It depended on how many fish were caught.
To support the family, some of the freshly caught fish was set aside. The fish was filleted and cut into smaller pieces. Along with freshly cooked rice, the fish was eaten with a little wasabi and soy sauce.

This raw fish dish came to Tokyo. The dish was refined and served in a different way by Japanese chefs and turned into sushi. For decades, Japanese chefs have made their own interpretation of sushi.

Some styles can be seen at sushi Michelin restaurants in Tokyo, others make classic Japanese sushi and some sushi restaurant chains make sushi for students.

At Sushi course for beginners, you learn step by step how to make sushi with the ingredients and techniques used at exclusive Japanese sushi restaurants.

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Can all types of vegetables be used for sushi?

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Sushi chef & sake sommelier Zoë Escher
Not all types of vegetables can be used for sushi.
A vegetable like eggplant is not suitable for sushi at all. There are several reasons why

If you cut an eggplant into slices, then it is not firm in consistency. And once it is cooked on a pan or in the oven, it is very soft and falls apart easily.

Eggplant is also a vegetable that in itself does not have much flavor. It requires the use of some other ingredients that can provide an extra flavor dimension.

Onions are also not a raw material that is optimal to use for sushi.
No matter what type of onion is used, onions have a rather strong taste. Raw onions can also bother the stomach and, not everyone wants to smell of onions the rest of the evening.

At Sushi course for beginners, you learn step by step, to prepare and slice ingredients and make tasty sushi according to the Danish Food Administration’s rules.

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Is there a difference between the noodles used in Japanese soup?

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Noodle soup
There is a big difference in the noodles used in Japanese noodle soups.
Most people have heard about ramen soup, where one type of noodles is used. They are long, thin, and yellow and looks like spaghetti, but, the texture of the noodle and taste is different.

Ramen soup is not the only soup that the Japanese eat all year round.
In Japan, there are several different types of noodle soups are eaten, some at specific times during a year.
It is the stock, vegetables and meat/fish that determine which type of noodles are used.

In some soups, noodles that are neutral in flavor are used in udon soup. It is the soup itself that has a lot of taste and aromas. In other soups, noodles that have a delicate taste ramen noodle are used because it adds an extra dimension of flavor to the noodle soup.

In the Japanese noodle soup course for beginners, you will learn step by step how to make 2 very different tasty noodle soups.

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

What does the Japanese diet pyramid contain?

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Gyoza
The Japanese diet pyramid looks different from the Danish diet pyramid.

Japanese cuisine contains basic items which are a “must”.
It is rice, seafood, soybeans and seaweed. These are the basic elements of Japanese cuisine. They are essential and absolutely indispensable. The Japanese eat much seafood as we eat meat.

The Japanese also eat meat and vegetables. However, the Japanese do not eat as much meat as we do in Europe. They eat the same amount of meat as we eat fish.

In Japanese cuisine, several different types of cabbage are used. Cabbage is eaten in many different ways and, is a staple in Japanese cuisine. Of course, the Japanese also eat many vegetables that we know in Europe such as carrots, spring onions and cucumbers.

In Traditional Japanese food course for beginners, you learn step by step, how to make tasty dishes with Japanese ingredients, Japanese ingredients and Nordic ingredients.

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Sushi is the easiest way to get more vegetables eaten!

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Sushi chef & sake sommerlier Zoë Escher
Yes, it’s true. Sushi is the easiest way to get more vegetables eaten without you getting tired of the food.

For sushi, a certain type of seaweed is used. A seaweed sort that is grown on the seabed like oats and wheat is grown in Europe. Seaweed for sushi is grown on the ocean floor in China, Japan and Korea. There is a big difference in taste, depending on in which country sushi nori is grown.

In Japan, sushi nori is harvested in the autumn.
The harvested seaweed must go through a long process, where it is washed, cleaned, dried, pressed and cut to the “right” size.
In Japan, seaweed is grown in several different qualities. There are sushi nori for everyday use and exclusive sushi nori for gourmet sushi.

Sushi is the vegetable in the world that contains the most vitamins and minerals. You should not eat very much sushi until you have met your body’s need for vegetables.

At the Sushi course for beginners, you learn all the processes you have to go through to make tasty sushi at home in your own kitchen.

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.