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The Hindu : Fascinated as she is by the way fish is caught at the Chinese nets in Fort Kochi, sushi expert and food consultant Hiroko Shimbo says that fish hauled in nets is not right for sushi, the Japanese style of eating raw fish. A consultant with Japanese restaurants in America and Europe, author of two cookery books, ‘The Sushi Experience’ and ‘The Japanese Kitchen’, Hiroko says, “Japanese food is amazing because of sushi. You can find sushi in Russia too and it is coming to India.”The reason for the spurt in popularity of Japanese cuisine according to her is, “the Japanese way of cooking is very different from other cuisines. We don’t use much oil. The most popular way of cooking is grilling, boiling, braising or steaming. We don’t start with oil in a wok as for in a curry or as in Italian or Spanish food. So Japanese food is very light.”And the fish curries in India? “Here you have wonderful spices but we don’t have any. So when we eat fish we get the real taste of the fish, its flavour.”But the curry is special to Hiroko. Comparing it to a musical orchestra she says, “It’s a very clever way of cooking, almost like an orchestra playing where different notes combine in harmony.”But it’s the sushi that Hiroko is an authority on. And she explains. “The fish needs to be very fresh in sushi. The fisherman angles and brings the fish aboard gently. The fish is kept alive till middleman sell it to sushi chefs. There is a special way to kill the fish. It is killed in one stroke and another gash is made towards the tail. The fish is then plunged in water and allowed to bleed. After the bleeding is complete it is sent to the restaurant.” And she goes on to explain about the expertise needed by a sushi chef…More