Sushi Dreams

Sushi makes us happy!



JING SAYS...
Months ago, Erika told me about this documentary about a great sushi chef in Japan. By the way she described it, it sounded like a very intriguing story. Unfortunately, I forgot all about it when work came calling.

ERIKA SAYS....
One Saturday afternoon, the boyfriend and I had ran out of movies to watch. So as we were browsing my laptop, we came across Jiro Dreams of Sushi. I don't remember how that got in my external drive or when I had it downloaded, but we decided to give it a shot. A couple of minutes in, we learned that it was a documentary about Jiro Ono, the man behind Sukiyabashi Jiro, a sushi restaurant in Tokyo which was given three stars by the Michelin Guide.

JING SAYS...
I was totally riveted. It didn't matter that it was in Japanese. I bit into every word.

Jiro Ono had devoted more than seven decades of his life to making sushi. At 85 years old, he was still at it, going to work early in the morning and staying till late at night. Even as he slept, thoughts of sushi were never far from his mind; they visited him in his dreams.

I was inspired both by his work ethic and his unrelenting zeal for perfection. He did the same thing day in, day out, never tiring of his routine. He believed very fervently that every day of practice only made him better at his craft.

I marveled at the energy by which he exerted himself. I know the value of hard work and I am not afraid of it, something I learned from my parents. At times, however, I have a tendency to procrastinate, to put off for tomorrow what I could do today, well, just because... Seeing this octogenarian work like a forty-year-old, I was speechless.

Most of all, I admired his humility. Jiro may be the rock star and all, but he knew that without his eldest son and their apprentices in the kitchen, he wouldn't be making such great sushi. Sweet!

ERIKA SAYS...
The boyfriend and I loved how passionate Jiro was in perfecting his art. One of these days, I'm going to fly to Japan and taste Jiro's perfect sushi. After the docu ended, we were so psyched up that we decided to grab some sushi. We even pretended to be sushi connoisseurs and imitated the way the Japanese ate theirs! Haha!

JING SAYS...
Oh, I later found out that Daisuke Nakazawa, one of the apprentices featured in the documentary, the one who cried when he was able to make a "good" egg custard after three to four months of practice, has moved to New York, where he now runs Sushi Nakazawa. Nice!









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Erika & Jing

Erika is a budding entrepreneur, who dreams of having her own fashion label one day. She's the mommy of Sophie and the daughter of Jing, a fortysomething single mom of four, who's a writer, editor, and craft enthusiast. Click here to read more.