Sushi Quotes

“Heaven has no taste."
"Now-"
"And not one single sushi restaurant."
A look of pain crossed the angel's suddenly very serious face.”
― Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

“And yes, we do have some food. Maybe you'd like to join us? Unless you want to stick with your sheep sushi.”
― Michael Grant, Lies

“I was so mad, I reached into the drawer for her fake sushi eraser and put it in my pocket. Serves her right for being such a big, fat, Eggo-scarfing liar.”
― Sarah Darer Littman, Want to Go Private?

“Celebrity chefs are the leaders in the field of food, and we are the led. Why should the leaders of chemical businesses be held responsible for polluting the marine environment with a few grams of effluent, which is sublethal to marine species, while celebrity chefs are turning out endangered fish at several dozen tables a night without enduring a syllable of criticism?”
― Charles Clover, The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat

“Sometimes the best pizza is sushi. That’s where I go to get my haircut. Discounts available for fish with fur.”
― Jarod Kintz, There are Two Typos of People in This World: Those Who Can Edit and Those Who Can't

“What a deeply rich and full-bodied piece of chutoro tuna! The sweet nikiri sauce brushed ever so lightly over it makes the fish's natural umami flavor stand out in stark contrast! *Nikiri sauce is a sweet glaze made from soy sauce, mirin, and other seasonings that are heated just enough to dissipate the alcohol content.*
"The akami piece was cured with kombu seaweed. Their savory flavors meld harmoniously in my mouth!
And finally there's the rare gill-meat delicacy- the kamatoro! Its almost savage richness is gently wrapped in the sweetly tart freshness of the sushi rice!”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 26 [Shokugeki no Souma 26]

“It's a parade of flawless tuna deliciousness! But by far, the most dangerous piece... is the one that looks like a bomb of pure tuna goodness, the straw-grilled, seared noten sushi!
The noten- a cut of meat from the top of the tuna's head- is one of the priciest cuts. Extravagantly fatty, its richness melds with the fragrant searing into a powerful duo! Yet there isn't the first hint of fishiness! Searing it using aromatic straw burned it away, leaving only pure savory flavor behind to please both nose and palate!"
"His Trace was dead-on. Looks like it really will be his arrangements on that Gunkan Maki that decide this card."
"I can't even begin to guess what it tastes like."
What's this on top of the minced tuna and leeks?! Is it... meringue?!
"Aah! Now I see! I know what Subaru Mimasaka took out at that moment! It was the same smoked soy sauce he passed to Kuga!"
The mellow, full-bodied aroma of smoked soy sauce has seeped into every crevice of the minced tuna...
... while the differing textures of the meringue and the negitoro create deeper, more complex layers to the flavor!
If I were to name it, I would call it the "Ultimate Negitoro Eggs-over-Rice Gunkan Sushi"! Minced tuna rib meat mixed with leeks and smoked soy sauce, topped with quail-egg yolk”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 27 [Shokugeki no Souma 27]

“Well then, first would be the abalone and sea urchin- the bounty of the sea!
Ah, I see! This foam on top is kombu seaweed broth that's been whipped into a mousse!"
"Mm! I can taste the delicate umami flavors seeping into my tongue!"
"The fish meat was aged for a day wrapped in kombu. The seaweed pulls just enough of the moisture out of the meat, allowing it to keep longer, a perfect technique for a bento that needs to last. Hm! Next looks to be bonito. ...!" What rich, powerful umami!"
Aha! This is the result of several umami components melding together. The glutamic acid in the kombu from the previous piece is mixing together in my mouth with the inosinic acid in the bonito!
"And, like, I cold aged this bonito across two days. Aging fish and meats boosts their umami components, y'know. In other words, the true effect of this bento comes together in your mouth... as you eat it in order from one end to the other."
"Next is a row... that looks to be made entirely from vegetables. But none of them use a single scrap of seaweed. The wrappers around each one are different vegetables sliced paper-thin!"
"Right! This bento totally doesn't go for any heavy foods."
"Next comes the sushi row that practically cries out that it's a main dish... raw cold-aged beef sushi!" Th-there it is again! The powerful punch of umami flavor as two components mix together in my mouth!
"Hm? Wait a minute. I understand the inosinic acid comes from the beef... but where is the glutamic acid?"
"From the tomatoes."
"Tomatoes? But I don't see any..."
"They're in there. See, I first put them in a centrifuge. That broke them down into their component parts- the coloring, the fiber, and the jus. I then filtered the jus to purify it even further. Then I put just a few drops on each piece of veggie sushi."
"WHAT THE HECK?!"
"She took an ingredient and broke it down so far it wasn't even recognizable anymore? Can she even do that?"
Appliances like the centrifuge and cryogenic grinder are tools that were first developed to be used in medicine, not cooking. Even among pro chefs, only a handful are skilled enough to make regular use of such complex machines! Who would have thought a high school student was capable of mastering them to this degree!
"And last but not least we have this one. It's sea bream with some sort of pink jelly...
... resting on top of a Chinese spoon."
That pink jelly was a pearl of condensed soup stock! Once it popped inside my mouth...
... it mixed together with the sea bream sushi until it tasted like-
"Sea bream chazuke!”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 8 [Shokugeki no Souma 8]

“The tofu pocket is soaked with butter, every bite of it drenching the lips...
... sending rich waves gushing through the mouth. Just one taste is enough to seep both tongue and mind in a thick flood of butter!
"The tofu pocket is so juicy it's nearly dripping, yet it hasn't drowned the filling at all. The rice is delectably fluffy and delicate, done in true pilaf style, with the grains separate, tender and not remotely sticky. Simmered in fragrant chicken broth, the prawns give it a delightful crunch, while ample salt and pepper boost both its flavor and aroma!"
"The whole dish is strongly flavored, but it isn't the least bit heavy or sticky. The deliciousness of every ingredient, wrapped in a cloak of rich butter, wells up with each bite like a gushing, savory spring! How on earth did you manage to create this powerful a flavor?!"
"Well, first I sautéed the rice for the pilaf without washing it- one of the major rules of pilafs! If you wash all the starch off the rice, the grains get crumbly and the whole thing can wind up tasting tacky instead of tender. Then I thoroughly rinsed the tofu pockets with hot water to wash off the extra oil so they'd soak up the seasonings better.
But the biggest secret to the whole thing...
... was my specially made Mochi White Sauce!
Normal white sauce is made with lots of milk, butter and flour, making it really thick and heavy. But I made mine using only soy milk and mochi, so it's still rich and creamy without the slightest hint of greasiness. In addition, I sprinkled a blend of several cheeses on top of everything when I put it in the oven to toast. They added some nice hints of mellow saltiness to the dish without making it too heavy!
Basically, I shoved all the tasty things I could think of into my dish...
... pushing the rich, savory flavor as hard as I could until it was just shy of too much... and this is the result!"
Some ingredients meld with the butter's richness into mellow deliciousness...
... while others, sautéed in butter, have become beautifully savory and aromatic. Into each of these little inari sushi pockets has gone an immense amount of work across uncountable steps and stages.
Undaunted by Mr. Saito's brilliant dish, gleaming with the fierce goodness of seafood...
each individual ingredient is loudly and proudly declaring its own unique deliciousness! ”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 28 [Shokugeki no Souma 28]

“But more than that, what's up with this rice?! It's mellow and mild, without the first hint of any vinegary tang!
This isn't your normal sushi rice!"
"Exactly! For this recipe, I used red vinegar.
The vinegar used in sushi rice is typically rice vinegar made from a blend of rice and wheat or corn that is fermented. But red vinegar is made from fermented sake lees!
By the time Edomae sushi- sushi as we know it today- first became popular in the 1820s, red vinegar was already a condiment...
But since the brewing and aging process can take up to five or six years, it has become a luxury vinegar in the present day
Isn't that right, Senpai?!"
"You are correct!"
Oh, I get it! Because of how it's made, red vinegar has less sugar and a mellower flavor! Plus, mixing it with rice won't make the rice as tough, leaving the finished sushi rice soft and fluffy!
But that also makes balancing the flavors of the sushi rice and its toppings a much more delicate task. ”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 26 [Shokugeki no Souma 26]

“Sometimes the best pizza is sushi. That’s where I go to get my haircut. Discounts available for fish with fur. (Ducks are birds that swim, and are therefore not pizza.)”
― Jarod Kintz, Music is fluid, and my saxophone overflows when my ducks slosh in the sounds I make in elevators.

“Sushi," I announced, hoping to set him at ease. I then proceeded to tick off my favorites- chutoro (fatty tuna belly), hamachi (yellowtail), anago (conger eel), and uni (sea urchin). I then added on saba (mackerel). Aside from being cheap, it has a lustrous metallic tang, like the blood-dark portions of bluefish and swordfish.”
― Victoria Abbott Riccardi, Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto

“While Mrs. Hisa steeped fresh fava beans in sugar syrup, Stephen dry-fried baby chartreuse peppers. I made a salad of crunchy green algae and meaty bonito fish cubes tossed with a bracing blend of soy and ginger juice. Mrs. Hisa created a tiny tumble of Japanese fiddleheads mixed with soy, rice vinegar, and salted baby fish.
For the horse mackerel sushi, Stephen skinned and boned several large sardine-like fillets and cut them into thick slices along the bias. I made the vinegared rice and then we all made the nigiri sushi. After forming the rice into triangles, we topped each one with a slice of bamboo grass, as if folding a flag.
Last, we made the wanmori, the heart of the tenshin. In the center of a black lacquer bowl we placed a succulent chunk of salmon trout and skinned kabocha pumpkin, both of which we had braised in an aromatic blend of dashi, sake, and sweet cooking wine. Then we slipped in two blanched snow peas and surrounded the ingredients with a bit of dashi, which we had seasoned with soy to attain the perfect whiskey color, then lightly salted to round out the flavor.
Using our teacher's finished tenshin as a model, we arranged most of the dishes on three polished black lacquer rectangles, first lightly spraying them with water to suggest spring rain. Then we actually sat down and ate the meal. To my surprise, the leaf-wrapped sushi, the silky charred peppers, candied fava beans, and slippery algae did taste cool and green.”
― Victoria Abbott Riccardi, Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto

“With six thousand miles separating me from sleep, I stumbled down into the subway at dawn and emerged on the outskirts of the Tsukiji market just as the sun broke across Tokyo Bay. Inside the market, I saw the entire ocean on display: swollen-bellied salmon, dark disks of abalone, vast armies of exotic crustaceans, conger eels so shiny and new they looked to be napping in their Styrofoam boxes. I stumbled onward to a tuna auction, where a man in a trader's cap worked his way through a hundred silver carcasses scattered across the cement floor, using a system of rapid hand motions and guttural noises unintelligible to all but a select group of tuna savants. When the auction ended, I followed one of the bodies back to its buyer's stall, where a man and his son used band saw, katana blade, cleaver, and fillet knife to work the massive fish down into sellable components: sinewy tail meat for the cheap izakaya, ruby loins for hotel restaurants, blocks of marbled belly for the high-end sushi temples.
By 8:00 a.m. I was starving. First, a sushi feast, a twelve-piece procession of Tsukiji's finest- fat-frizzled bluefin, chewy surf clam, a custardy slab of Hokkaido uni- washed down with frosty glasses of Kirin. Then a bowl of warm soba from the outer market, crowned at the last second with a golden nest of vegetable tempura.”
― Matt Goulding, Rice, Noodle, Fish: Deep Travels Through Japan's Food Culture

“From the salty bite of gizzard shad to the supple sweetness of horse mackerel to the crunch and brine of ark shell clam, Sawada guides you through the full spectrum of ocean taste and texture. A giant prawn split into two pieces delivers dessert levels of sweetness. Saltwater eel is equal parts crunchy skin and tender flesh. Smoked bonito, in all its concentrated, fire-kissed intensity, will keep you awake at night.”
― Matt Goulding, Rice, Noodle, Fish: Deep Travels Through Japan's Food Culture

“The real game, as I soon discover, is donburi. Donburi, often shortened to don, means "bowl," and the name encapsulates a vast array of rice bowls topped with delicious stuff: oyakodon (chicken and egg), unadon (grilled eel), tendon (tempura). As nice as meat and tempura and eel can be, the donburi of yours and mine and every sensible person's dreams is topped with a rainbow bounty of raw fish. Warm rice, cool fish, a dab of wasabi, a splash of soy- sushi, without the pageantry and without the price tag.
At Kikuyo Shokudo Honten you will find more than three dozen varieties of seafood dons, including a kaleidoscopic combination of uni, salmon, ikura (salmon roe), quail eggs, and avocado. I opt for what I've come to call the Hokkaido Superhero's Special: scallops, salmon roe, hairy crab, and uni. It's ridiculous hyperbole to call a simple plate of food life changing, but as the tiny briny eggs pop and the sweet scallops dissolve and the uni melts like ocean Velveeta, I feel some tectonic shift taking place just below my surface.”
― Matt Goulding, Rice, Noodle, Fish: Deep Travels Through Japan's Food Culture

“Briefly I survey the sushi on the table, and my mouth waters. Cuttlefish. Hamaguri. Sashimi-Salmon Rose.”
― Jaspreet Singh, Chef

“I placed the first piece of sushi in my mouth. HIGH HOLY HEAVEN! It was like a dance of flavors and textures- salty, rich, sweet, chewy yet silken- all at once. "This is maybe the best thing I've ever eaten," I said after swallowing. To be fair, food that good did deserve rules for eating. Each flavor ping caused epic delirium to my taste buds. Ramen was okay. Sushi was the bomb.”
― Rachel Cohn, My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life

“the ability to reach customers is more cost effective than ever—therefore the intangible and emotional elements have become the key differentiating factor. There are plenty of places to purchase a great spicy tuna roll, but there’s only one Masayoshi Takayama. According to his website, “Masayoshi Takayama’s appreciation for food started at a young age, growing up working for his family’s fish market in a town of Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. From his early years of delivering fresh sashimi to neighbors on his bicycle, to prepping and grilling hun- dreds of fish courses to cater weddings in high school, his relation- ship with food has always been a way of life.” That’s the beginning of a story that makes Takayama’s sushi different and special—that makes it art. And that art is what induces people to pay $600 per person in his New York restaurant for a chance to try it.”
― Alan Philips, The Age of Ideas: Unlock Your Creative Potential

“On seeing Proteus: he saw what the pile was: an old man, his body wrapped in kelp, his long white hair strewn with seaweed. Ick, Nick thought, this guy could be served with sushi!”
― Amy Wolf, The Twelve Labors of Nick

“Wealth is wasted on me, I resolved, because I don’t like sushi.
The best way to spend money is on sushi.”
― Rebecca Dinerstein Knight

“Will your friend allow curry powder on her raw foods?"
"Not allowed, my dear," said Nat Morrill. "Curry powder is already a mixture, thus impure. In any case, she does not allow one to sprinkle something on top of something else."
"This is worse than kashruth," Leah said. "What about sushi?"
"Not allowed. It's raw, but still, it's a combination, because of the rice, the seaweed."
"Sashimi?"
"Fine. But no joining, no marriage of the fish with soy sauce or pickled ginger, no green shiso leaf.”
― Grace Dane Mazur, The Garden Party: A Novel

“So for the first course, we have flounder sashimi served with green onions and momiji oroshi, or daikon radish with chili pepper."
The fish was delicate and subtle, with a nice, firm texture. What followed after this opening course was an onslaught of fantastic nigiri, small balls of pressed sushi rice with various toppings, served two at a time so I could fully appreciate each perfect morsel.
Sea bream was followed by sweet shrimp, tamago, yellowtail, salmon, soy sauce-braised octopus, crab, grilled eel, and the final two pieces were otoro, or tuna belly. The richest, fattest, most melt-in-your-mouth pieces of tuna I'd ever had.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“An indigo bottle is placed in front of us. "First rule of sake." Yoshi picks up the flask and one of the matching ceramic cups. "Never pour for yourself." He pours a shot for Taka and me. I reciprocate, pouring one for Yoshi.
We hold the cups close to our faces and sniff. Sweet notes rise up and we toast. "Kanpai!" Then we sip. The rice wine goes down cold but warms my belly. A few more sips and my limbs are warm, too. Scallops and yellowtail sashimi are served. We sip more sake. By the time the yakitori arrives, our bottle is empty and my cheeks are hot.
The group of salarymen have grown rowdy, their ties loosened. Yoshi winks at the pink-haired girls and they collapse into a fit of giggles. My God, to have such power over the opposite sex.
Gyoza is next. The fried pork dumplings dipped in chili oil burn my mouth but soak up some of the sake, and I sober a little, just in time for the group of salarymen to send us a round of shōchū, starchier than the sake but delicious all the same. We toast to them, to the bar, to the night, to Tokyo. My stomach is near bursting when the chef places agedashi---fried tofu---in front of us. Finally, Taka orders fermented squid guts. I don't try it, but I laugh as he slurps them up.”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“I'd have no problem describing the ceviche in words. Raw sea bass, firm and gleaming and presenting just a little resistance to my teeth, marinated in an explosion of sour citrus and ripe garlic and crunchy onion, chile peppers sparking heat on my tongue. The fierce citrus cooked the fish in a way that allowed the essence of the fish to shine through along with the marinade, untouched by fire. To soothe the intense flavors of the ceviche, it was served alongside a simple mashed sweet potato and crunchy pieces of giant corn that tasted like a purer corn chip.
We also noshed on maki rolls filled with eel and cream cheese, a strange combo of fat and fat that somehow worked, a salad of pickled sunchokes, some charred octopus with yucca root.”
― Amanda Elliot, Best Served Hot

“I hate sushi.” And I hate him. What kind of monster hates sushi?

“I do a bit of mixed martial arts.” Meh. He’s not that bad.

“And I like tea.” Okay, I take it back. He probably drinks with his pinky up, and I refuse to corrupt this guy if he’s a pinky-upper. I mean, the pinky could come in handy . . . No. Nope. I cannot like him.”
― Rory Miles, Shadow Slayer

“In the bottom right is the grilled fish of the day--- in this case, teriyaki yellowtail. Top left is a selection of sashimi and pickled dishes.: Akashi sea bream, Kishu tuna, and flash-grilled Karatsu abalone. Seared Miyajima conger eel, served with pickled cucumber and myoga ginger. And in the bottom left is the matsutake rice--- the mushrooms are from Shinshu, and wonderfully fragrant. I'll bring some soup over shortly. In the meantime, enjoy!'
Nagare bowed and turned back to the kitchen.
'Let's tuck in,' said Tae, joining her hands together in appreciation before reaching for her chopsticks.
'It's delicious,' said Nobuko, who had already reached into the bento and sampled the sea bream.
'The sashimi looks wonderful, but these appetizers are simply exquisite. Let's see... rolled barracuda sushi, dash-maki omelette, and those look like quail tsukume balls. And this simmered octopus--- it just melts on your tongue!”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“—Un simple sushi de caballa podría decidir el destino de un país [...]”
― Kashiwai Hisashi, Kamogawa Canteen (2)

“I need Sushi. Sakura delivers. I must call Sakura. Straightaway, I call.”
― Sebastian Rödl

“In the top left you have simmered Nagaoka bamboo shoots and wakame seaweed from Izumo, served in a Karatsu-ware bowl. Next to that, on the long Oribe dish, is grilled masu salmon seasoned with pepper tree leaves. The square Kutani bowl is dashi-simmered egg scrambled with green peas. The next row down is a series of five small Imari plates. Starting on the left: white miso clam gratin; salad of finely chopped cockles and Kujo green onion; tilefish sashimi with a ponzu, miso, and pepper-tree-leaf dressing; slow-cooked Tamba chicken in a salt koji marinade. At the end, on the right, is pickled sweetfish sushi, served whole. The round dish at the bottom is a selection of wild vegetables: butterbur buds, devil's-walking-stick, ostrich fern, momiji-gasa, bracken shoots, and smilax. Normally those would be served as tempura, but I've gone for something a little different and deep-fried them Western-style instead. Sprinkle them with matcha salt if you like, or they go very nicely with this green peppercorn-infused Worcestershire sauce." Nagare produced a bottle of white wine. "Now, will something like this do?"
"Hang on a moment," said Kana, reaching for her digital camera again.
"My friend in Tamba makes this," continued Nagare. "Hundred percent Chardonnay grapes, fermented in small French casks, apparently. Has an elegant flavor--- perfect for spring, I'd say.”
― Jesse Kirkwood, The Restaurant of Lost Recipes