How often do sushi restaurants in Japan replace in the menu?

Sushi chef & sake sommerlier Zoë Escher
Japanese sushi restaurants in Tokyo change the menu more often than in Europe.Often the menu will consist of 13-15 different seafood. Some fish such as salmon and scallops can be found year-round on the menu.

There will typically be 3-5 fish on the mennu that follow the season for fish. Some fish are caught in the spring when they are going to spawn, while other fish are to be caught in the summer. It depends on the species of fish.

A fish like tuna is also popular in Japan.
Often a sushi restaurant will have 3 different kinds of tuna on the menu. It will often be tuna of different qualities, one will be lean tuna, another will fat tuna and the more exclusive restaurants have a tuna on the menu, which is matured just like beef. Tuna can be matured for several weeks just like beef.

Some sushi restaurants have the fish of the day on the menu. There it is up to the sushi chef what can be bought of fish on the fishing market in the early morning hours.

In Japan, it is an exciting experience to go out and eat, since you do not always know what fish are on the menu.

Read more about Sushi course for beginners

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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.

Where are there gourmet sushi restaurants in Europe?


There are several gourmet sushi restaurants in Europe that make delicious and tasty sushi of very high quality. You can always find michelin restaurants, which you just look up in the guide.

There are really good sushi restaurants which can be hard to find if you don’t know them well.

London is one of the cities that has many really good restaurants too when it comes to sushi.

Yashin sushi in London in the Kensington district makes traditional Japanese sushi with a twist. All their sushi chefs come from Japan. Their food is delicious and tasty of high quality.

Not far from Regent Street in London is Ikada, which makes traditional Japanese sushi as it is served in Japan. They have a large menu, so there is plenty to choose from. All their chefs are from Japan. You have the option of sitting in the sushi bar or in the restaurant.

Sushimama is located in Ljublijana, Slovenia, a sushi restaurant that makes tasty, high-quality sushi. All their sushi chefs come from Japan. Sushimama is one of the sushi restaurants where you can get sushi with truffle. There is also a restaurant that I can highly recommend.

Read about Sushi chef & Sake sommelier Zoë Escher

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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.

Are Japanese sushi restaurant in Tokyo different?

TokyoThere are many different types of restaurants in Tokyo.

The most exclusive sushi restaurants in Tokyo are very different compared to European restaurants.
The size of a Japanese sushi restaurant can be very small.  There are many Japanese restaurants that has only room for 6 – 15 people. There are several reasons for that.

Tokyo has 20 million citizens living in a very small geographic area. Besides the many people living in Tokyo there are also many restaurants, street food and shops. There is almost a restaurant on every street in Tokyo so the competition in the neighborhood is fierce.

There is also another factor which is that the Japanese do not compromise on the quality of food and service. Tokyo is the city of the world with the highest quality of food.

Every restaurant try their best to provide the best food and service. The competition between the restaurants are very fierce. In order for a restaurant to succeed the has to be good.

Please read more about Sushi course for beginners

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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.

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Where is it best to buy fish for sushi?

It is hard to say where it is best to buy fish for sushi. I will only buy fish at fishmongers in Copenhagen.

There are some basic things to look for in a fishmonger.

Fish for sushi should never be placed with other fish. Fish for sushi has a completely different quality than”ordinary” fish for cooking. To ensure that bacteria are not transferred between the 2 types of fish they must be kept separate.

Fish for sushi should be perfectly fresh. On the sushi course for beginners, I talk about what to look for if you want to make sure you leave the fishmonger with fresh fish.

Read more about the Sushi course for beginners

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

How long can sushi stay in the summer heat?

Sushi should not be in the sun very long time.

If you have bought take-away or made sushi at home then sushi should be kept in the fridge.

Normally, it is said that sushi must be taken out of the fridge 15 minutes before it is eaten so it has room temperature. If the food is too cold you will not fully benefit from the flavors.

When it’s as hot as it is at the moment I’ll first take sushi out of the fridge approx. 10 min before.

Bon appetite!

Read more about Sushi course for beginners

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

What are Japanese sushi chefs take on fresh raw materials?

A Japanese sushi chef in Japan have a different view of raw materials.
If a fish is still alive or caught the same day when the restaurant collects raw materials from the supplier then the raw material is considered fresh.

In 2010, I visited the exclusive sushi restaurant Kyubey in Tokyo where I had a sushi dinner.

At one point the sushi chef came out into the sushi bar with a big shrimp sitting on a leaf on his hand and was looking.

He looked at me and asked, “Do you want it fresh or cooked?”
I thought “I can always get cooked shrimps in Denmark”. “I want it fresh,” I said.

2 seconds later the chefs broke the head of the shrimp and removed the skull and intestine. A few seconds later, the sushi chef made a nigiri. The shripm that lay on the nigiri was still moving it was the nerves that moved.

I looked with big eyes and thought “that might be fresh enough.”
I ate it and I have never eaten a nigiri with shrimp that tasted so good. It still had body temperature and it was so good.

Read more about Sushi chef & sake sommelier Zoë Escher

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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 is one of the biggest challenges of a knife?

NigiriWhen making sushi the knife play an important role.

The secret to tasty nigiri include your ability to cut fish to perfection.
The more a clean cut you can make the more tasty is nigiri pieces too. The reason is that even the smallest “wrong” section of a fish or vegetables can be tasted.

It is also important to know the structure of the fish as it has a direct impact on how clean a cut you can make. If you cut the filet the wrong way the whole filet can fall apart.

The Japanese use very few ingredients when they make nigiri and because of that you will be able to taste everything because nothing can be hidden.

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Zoë har holdt foredrag og afholdt sushikurser for A.P. Møller – Mærsk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis,Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup og mange flere.

What was your impression when you first tasted sushi in Tokyo?

In 2004, I traveled to Tokyo for the first time on a training session. My Japanese kendo teacher Hirakawa sensei had arranged that I was going to practise in Tokyo’s best kendo club.

As it was my first trip to Japan, I was told that I was going to take the bus from Narita Airport to the Sunshine Hotel in Tokyo where I would be picked up by 2 members from the Kendo Club Yushinkan Dojo.

When I arrived at the hotel we walked directly into the hotel to have lunch at one of the hotel’s many restaurants. In the restaurant I was served sushi and it was my first meeting with Japanese sushi.
I clearly remember the experience. The quality was different and the sushi pieces tasted more fish than what I had experienced in Denmark.
I was also surprised at how many different kind of seafood are used for sushi.

That it would later go to be my way of life I did not really think so at that time.

You can read more about Sushi course for beginners

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

How often do Japanese eat sushi in Tokyo?

The Japanese are very fond of sushi. But, they do not eat as much sushi as most people think. Sushi in Japan accounts for less than 15% of Japanese cuisine.
The Japanese cuisine has so many dishes and food styles that there is always something new to try. The Japanese people try their best to eat as varied as possible so when the day is over they have been through the entire diet pyramid.

Sushi is a dish that the Japanese like to spend som time to enjoy therefore it is not eaten on a busy day. Like so many others sushi is often eaten in weekends.

Read more about Sushi chef & sake sommelier Zoë Escher

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

What is sashimi?

SashimiSashimi is raw fish slices without rice.

It is a dish which the fish slices are cut in such a way that they highlight the fish’s qualities.

Sashimi slices is not the same fish slices used for Nigiri. Sashimi slices are larger and abroad will often be square and 1 cm. thick.
This is because the sashimi dish in countries like Japan can be a full meal.

The picture shows a sashimi plate in Tokyo as you can see several different seafood had been used to create the dish.
The size of the dish is larger than what you typically experience in Europe as it is for 2 people.

Read more about Sushi chef & sake sommelier Zoë Escher

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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.