Japan: Forty-Four Plates Of Sushi

My Japanese friends in France taught me how to make sushi with tinned tuna, mayonnaise, frozen crab stick, salad, cucumber, omelet, seaweed and round rice from Spain. Having grown up with long rice, I simply found the round rice was stickier and required more water to cook. But Akio once commented, "In Japan, this quality of rice is for dogs!" Thank God he did not further rebuked the processed seafood...

During recent years, sushi became popular in Malaysia and could be purchased even at hypermarkets. Every time I tasted one made with our local rice, Thai flagrant rice or other round rice, I would imagine Akio shaking his head.

So, I must not miss authentic sushi when I was Japan. Even though sushi restaurants were everywhere in Moriya, we only tried "Kura Sushi" recommended by Emi which was more than half an hour's driving from their house.

The specialities of this restaurant was their additive-free food all sold at a fixed price of 100 yen for every plate.

As we were six, we chose a table instead of the counter seats, around a rotating conveyer belt.

When plates with sushi, fruit and dessert were moving steadily in front of our table,

we picked our selections. If we could not find our desired dishes, special orders could be placed through the computerized screen above us. Then, the plates would be put on red bowls on the conveyor belt or marked, so that other customers knew those were ordered by someone.

Self-served tea and ice water were complimentary, with green tea powder in a storage container on the table. Condiments like pickled ginger were there to enhance the taste of the raw seafood. As soon as my tongue sensed the dipping sauce, the wasabi which was claimed to be without chemical seasonings somehow caused a chemical reaction inside my oral cavity. Then I would stop chewing my sushi for a few seconds until all vapour passed through my nostrils and ears!

Colourful "nigirizushi" (hand-formed sushi) and "makizushi" (rolled sushi) were a delight for our eyes. I was busy sending one sushi after another into my mouth, as Seng and Emi who were sitting next to the conveyer belt kept taking new plates onto our table. I could picture Akio smilingly saying to me, "Only our Japanese rice and fresh seafood can make this perfect combination deserved to be called sushi..."

When we finished the plates, we dropped them into a counting machine near our seat to be counted automatically. Last, we pressed a button to call the attendant and settle our bill. We had altogether consumed forty-four plates of sushi and two bowls of soup.

I doubt we would ever order forty-four plates of chicken rice in Batu Pahat which would cost the same price.