Just came back from Honolulu and still thinking of two items ordered from an izakaya dinner. The OToro sushi, according to the server, is a premium piece of Toro that is 100% fat. The other item was an Uni Truffle bowl of rice with shredded Nori, an egg yolk on top and a hint of sesame oil.There could be other ingredients but I’m not really sure.The idea was to mix everything with a spoon first . It was vey rich and filled with Umami flavor. Both were excellent and unforgettable.
Anyway, my question is, has any FTCers had these and which Japanese restaurant would have them in their menu here in Los Angeles? TIA
Otoro’s the fattiest cut of tuna, but it’s not 100% fat. Every sushi restaurant typically has it.
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The Uni truffle bowl sounds unbelievably decadent and I WANT ONE.
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Thanks, good to know, Robert.
Amazing otoro can be had in any of the high end sushi places in town. Shin, Mori, Kaneyoshi, SGO, Hide, Shunji…amongst a few other temples in LA. Those masters know how and who to source product from.
Not sure where you’d get the second dish from, but it sounds good. Shunji-san does a similar version, but it’s a chawanmushi with corn. But it’s not the same thing.
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Thanks, attran99.
I’d check out Yamakase in West LA. It is known for its generous use of truffle, uni, toro, caviar and other decadent ingredients. It says invitation only but if you fill out the “Invitation Request” on their website you should be fine. Omakase only.
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Lots of places put uni in their chirashi, so might be persuaded to do a half order with uni only.
Some poke places have uni bowls on the menu, as do some fusiony / less traditional sushi places.
Having had izakaya fare in Honolulu, I believe the “wow” factor in your two items may be due in part to the “local” (island) ways of sourcing/eating these items.
The otoro you enjoyed in Hawai’i may actually be from not bluefin tuna, but rather bigeye tuna (a much more sustainable fishery exists for the Pacific bigeye tuna than the Pacific bluefin tuna). Due to nature’s generosity with its fishery, the Pacific bigeye is a common species tuna served in all tiers of sushi/sashimi establishments on many Pacific islands. One of the most supreme bites of tuna I ever enjoyed came from a random fisherman’s poisson cru, made from bigeye, on a boat dock in Tahiti.
The truffle/uni/nori/raw egg bowl looks to me like a luxe take on the classic Japanese dish tamago kake gohan. Each of these ingredients contain significant amounts of glutamate (AKA umami), so it’s no surprise that this was a flavor bomb in your mouth. I agree with onelabneh that Yama-san can fulfill your wildest umami-laden dreams at his restaurant Yamakase.
(Ivan Orkin does a nice job recreating his first tamago kake gohan in this “Mind of a Chef” video…)
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This is why I like FTC. Thanks, J.L.
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