Sushi Chef Sukiyabashi Jiro is in part a life story of Jiro Ono, the owner of the famous restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro, known to the wider audience thanks to the movie Jiro dreams of sushi, and in part a manual full of sushi secrets. The book might look underwhelming, but ever since its first edition in 1997, it’s been an essential part of the home library of every fan of Japanese cuisine. It’s often called The Bible of sushi lovers.
The book will delight (or maybe frighten) with its stunningly intricate details, and will answer all possible questions. You will find a variety of essential information: from the basic method of preparing sushi rice, to the availability calendar of most common fish and seafood along with nigiri options for each part of the year, prepared with seasonal ingredients, to a calendar-diary showing different specimen of Kinkai Hon Maguromonth by month, analysing differences in texture, fattiness or the look of tendons.
As Jiro Ono himself admits in the introduction, in theory the book is mostly just an instruction for preparation of nigiri sushi in Edomae style (which came to be in 19th century Tokyo), but among the technical descriptions you will also find Jiro Ono’s vivid tales about his beloved job, written in light, entertaining language, as well as hundreds of colourful photos. The book will surely satisfy all fans of Japanese cuisine, and give some daydreaming material to those who cannot afford the three Michelin star price tag.
