A New Burger (Nearly the Finished Version)

It is only natural for things to evolve, and I do not believe that tradition must equal conservatism.

Customers often ask us, “Is there a flavor that has remained unchanged throughout all your years in business?” I reply that there is nothing whose flavor has remained completely unchanged for a hundred years.

I read somewhere that tradition, viewed subjectively, is generally no more than what has existed during one’s own lifetime—and, more specifically, within the period one can remember.

Setting aside traditions associated with Shinto and Buddhist rites, I do not think one often finds foods whose flavors have remained unchanged for one or two hundred years.

Even with sushi, the flavor of shari from an era when sugar was precious must have been very different from today’s. At Yahata Sushi, too, we greatly reduced the salt content when the fourth-generation owner was young—some fifty years ago—and have continued that way ever since.

Sometimes I think that reforming things to suit the times and people’s tastes is far more difficult than carrying on a single flavor unchanged across eras and generations.

For example, when the fourth-generation owner created the cucumber roll shortly after the war, the idea of eating cucumber raw was unfamiliar at the time, and it was not initially accepted even by his predecessors. Likewise, the fifth-generation owner’s Zuiun with uni, now an unwavering favorite, was not easily approved by the fourth-generation owner.

With this outlook, the fifth-generation owner is always looking for something new.

A few years ago, after making a sandwich of grilled Pacific saury and ankimo, the Yahata Sushi version of a Filet-O-Fish was born.

Wrapped in lettuce leaves and eaten by hand, it is now served as one of the pieces in our omakase nigiri course.

Lightly seared ankimo is placed on a lettuce leaf, and brushed with the sweet sauce used for anago.

A round ball of shari is stacked on top, followed by lightly seared barracuda.

Because the ankimo is dressed with sweet sauce, momiji oroshi and vinegar soy sauce are placed on the barracuda to balance the sweetness with a touch of heat, then topped with chopped scallion for color.

We sometimes use avocado in place of the shari, but avocado is close to ankimo in both texture and flavor. Since we serve this as part of our nigiri sushi, a ball of shari seems to fit better after all.

It appears around the middle of the omakase nigiri course, and everyone’s eyes light up when they eat it.

The fifth-generation owner’s guiding principle is, “The answer comes from our customers,” so their beaming smiles give us confidence.＾＾

Edomae-style nigiri sushi is at the heart of what we serve, but we think it is also fun to occasionally include something a little unexpected like this. Please do make a reservation for our omakase nigiri at the counter.