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Tonight I had a gastronomic experience that made me say, ‘I could die now!’ But I’m not gonna die just yet… so it means I’m in trouble. From now on, I don’t think I could ever have sashimi again… unless it’s Class A tuna.

See, tonight, at a Japanese friend’s home, I was served Class A yellow-fin tuna (kihada maguro) — this is what is exported to Japan and sold for loads of moolah per kilo. It’s the kind of sashimi-grade tuna that’s sweet and oh-so-fresh it feels like angels caressing your palate.

My one-time client, Nakamura-san, he prepared tuna belly sashimi and tuna senaka (back) sashimi — the latter is wa-a-ay better (but I gorged myself in the former just as much). Dipped in shoyu and lightly powdered with fresh wasabi… to die for! And I’m talking about wasabi daikon that’s still in its vegetable form — Nakamura-san just grated the horse radish, and voila! the real thing. This was my first time to have honmono no wasabi, and I tell you, it’s way different from the packaged stuff. For us, it’s just like the difference between using gata that’s freshly-extracted from coconuts, and instant gata. Another Japanese, Yano-san, had me try the daikon leaf off of the vegetable, and it was wonderful! The taste was so unlike anything I’ve ever had before. Very refreshing in the mouth.

The place was simple, not at all ostentatious, but the cooking was fantastic! The sashimi tasted so subtly and yet slightly sweetly it boggled the mind. (Now I understood why our other friend, Azuhata-san, burst into tears when he tasted this kind of sashimi here in Davao, after being away from Japan so long.) The sushi as well was sugoi oishii!! Yano-san had brought sushi rice from Japan, and OMG!, the way Nakamura-san cooked it? no need to dip the sushi in Kikkoman. And for contrast, we had tako (octopus) sashimi as well — very smooth and soft. I guess Nakamura-san stripped it of its tough outer membrane, just like how my pop prepares kinilaw na pusit.

That was just for appetizers. Main course was kamameshi and — Yano-san’s idea — green papaya tenpura bacon maki, or: young papaya flash-fried in batter then wrapped in bacon. I didn’t think it would fly, but it did with flying colors!! And the kamameshi, also using sushi rice, it was just heavenly.

Then we had more of the sushi maki. It’s called gunkan maki, topped with mashed avocado (and mixed with something that Nakamura-san just won’t share with me). Sprinkled with wasabi and dipped oh-so-slightly in shoyu… you’d forget your name! The Japanese guys loved it. But when Nakamura-san served the sushi maki topped with sliced avocado, I got to like that better. The nori’s taste, mixing with the subtle avocado flavor, and the tinge of soy sauce, and all of those brought together by the soft, chewy sushi rice… it was ecstasy!

Just how am I supposed to enjoy local Japanese fare now??

Tagged: Japanese cuisine, sashimi, sushi

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