The Basics of Plating at Yahata Sushi
A colorful array of dishes arranged on the table.
I believe that the ideal meal is one enjoyed with all five senses.
Needless to say, flavor is important, but aroma is also an essential element.
The aroma rising from a warm dish tickles the nose and heightens anticipation for the next bite.
At the same time, visual appeal is also important.
When you see a dish elegantly and colorfully arranged on its plate, it feels like gazing at a wonderful painting.
Japanese cuisine has various conventions and constraints that have taken shape over its long history of more than a thousand years, and dishes are arranged within these traditions to look more beautiful and more delicious.
With the assumption that diners use chopsticks with their right hand, one basic principle of plating may be that they move from the dish on the right to the one on the left.
Sushi, however, has a shorter history and does not yet have such clearly defined conventions as Japanese cuisine, so I think it is often arranged with greater emphasis on appearance than on the progression of flavors.
In terms of color, tuna, ark shell clam, and shrimp are in the red family; white-fleshed fish such as sea bream and flounder are in the white family; even among white-fleshed fish, blue-backed varieties such as amberjack and striped jack have flesh-colored tones; silver-skinned fish are blue, silver, or gray; tamagoyaki is yellow; and nori is black. Fortunately, each fish has its own color.
By arranging these with contrast, they naturally become beautiful.
The same is true of sashimi.
Of course, color is important in à la carte dishes besides sushi as well, so we use garnishes and liners with the main dish to avoid making the presentation monochromatic whenever possible.
The tableware we use is important, too.
That said, Yahata Sushi does not have the wide variety of vessels that a traditional Japanese restaurant would, so the dishes we use are naturally limited.
Within that limited selection, we consider the color combinations of each dish and each piece of sushi when choosing the vessel.
We also vary them to evoke the seasons—for example, cut glass in summer, and more subdued vessels from autumn onward.
When making sushi—whether lunch nigiri or bara chirashi—we keep the colors of the fish in mind and decide on the color arrangement in an instant.
The next time you enjoy sushi, we would be delighted if you would also take notice of the color arrangement. ♪
* Our familiar extra-large lunch nigiri. We are fortunate that each fish has its own color.
* Zuiun and bluefin tuna arranged on fresh bamboo leaves. The red, white, and yellow are dazzling to the eye.
* Yahata Sushi's course dishes are quite a sight when gathered together, aren't they? A little self-praise, perhaps…
* A summer dish: grilled sweetfish dengaku with kinome miso. Bamboo leaves are laid on transparent cut glass and garnished with red and white hajikami ginger.
* A sushi cake for Christmas. The colorful seasoned toppings may look as though they have been scattered about at random, but each color combination has been carefully considered. Fluffy, tender grilled conger eel is layered between the beds of sushi rice.
* Winter yosenabe hot pot. A special menu item.
* We do not cut corners even with staff meals. This is ramen from one day, prepared with color and nutritional balance in mind. For the young people at Yahata Sushi, making staff meals every day is also an opportunity to study cooking.
* An appetizer by Chef Obara of Artisan, a teppanyaki restaurant in Ikebukuro that the fifth-generation owner often visits. With his French culinary background, the chef uses a round black plate as a canvas, arranging the food in a beautiful array of colors. And, naturally, there is beef in the center—it is a teppanyaki restaurant, after all!
* An exquisite dish by Chef Fusao Suzuki of Le Trianon, the French restaurant at the now-closed Akasaka Prince Hotel. I hesitate to call cooking art, but I do believe that truly wonderful cuisine has something in common with art.
