As noted by Kristin in the comments of my Cuisine of Japan post, I made no mention of the glorious sushi found throughout Japan. That’s because the sushi of Japan could not be simply lumped into a roundup cuisine post, with fish this amazing it demands a dedicated post.
The Tsukiji Market
This is the undisputed biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world, and also one of the largest wholesale food markets of any kind. It is the source for most of Tokyo’s amazing sushi and for those reasons I was really looking forward to visiting. So much so that I excitedly set the alarm for 4:30am to ensure we caught the very first train to the Tsukijishijō Station at 5:12am. However, even this effort was not enough to secure one of the 140 tourist spots to witness the famous tuna auction on the official tour. Not being so easily defeated, I was able to strategically position myself outside one of the massive garage doors that opened into the tuna area. From the picture below you can see that I was able to get a much better and unobstructed view of the action than the tourists on the official tour. They are the ones in the green jackets roped off and fighting with each other for a view and a quick snapshot over my left shoulder.
After seeing the tuna auction, which ends by 7 am, we wandered around the inner market looking at all the other great fish and seafood on offer. Watching the precision carving of a massive tuna with a 3 foot knife was amazing. Not a bit of the expensive meat was left on the bones. The market itself is huge and we spent a good hour wandering around and taking in all the sights and sounds. Oddly different from any other fish market we visited, and even the fish vendors at Reading Terminal Market back in Philadelphia, there was no fishy smell to speak of. This is a result of the extensive daily cleaning the market gets everyday at 1pm once it closes.
Sushi Breakfast
The best end to a visit to Tsukiji is a sushi breakfast at one of the many restaurants ringing the market. Amy and I decided on a small one just to the east of the market. The only seats were at the counter and there were 4 options for sushi sets: good, better, best and really expensive. Amy went with “good” and I decided that “best” was the way to go. The fatty tuna was silky, the rice firm and my first taste of raw prawn was quite good. I would not recommend raw prawn outside of Japan but I thought it has to be better than my sister Kristin’s experience, when she mistakenly ordered raw chicken. Thankfully there was no raw chicken on my gorgeous breakfast banana leaf. I savored each bite and lamented that what I previously thought was good sushi at home was never going to measure up to this.
Logistics
- Tuna Auction: if you really want to go on the official tour of the auction you need to spring for a taxi. The trains do not start running early enough to ensure you get there in time to get one of the 140 tourist spots. Also be sure the taxi takes you to the office where the tickets are distributed on Harumi Street, northeast of the actual tuna market.
- Photos: taking pictures in the fish market is tough. It is early in the morning, the light is very low and the distance from you to the tuna is 20-30 meters at best. The key is to ensure you have a camera with a high ISO setting (>1600) and if it is an SLR you have a zoom lens with a wide aperture while at 200-300mm. I used a Tamron 70-300 1:4-5.6.
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Update June 27, 2010:
This morning after reading the New York Times Magazine cover story on the destruction of the wild blue fin tuna stocks in the worlds oceans I felt compelled to link to the article as a way to help inform others. Before reading this well written and informative article I was not aware of the perile that these wonderful, if tasty, fish are in. I will no longer be able to order tuna sushi in good conscious and I would suggest that if you enjoy tuna that you read the article to see if it changes your mind. If Japanese sashimi was my last, I am glad for it.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
YUM! You made my mouth water for that sushi. Beautiful food shot!
Great post! I’m glad you guys got to see the tuna even if not on the official tour. Can’t wait to see you both when you’re back!
Just saw this–coming to a restaurant near you, soon!
http://www.philly.com/philly/restaurants/20100826_Kindai_bluefin_tuna__farmed_sustainably__available_in_Philadelphia.html
Robyn – that is awesome! Now we just have to save up and head to Morimoto for delicious, but sustainable tuna. I also wonder if Samuel and Sons does tours like they do in Tokyo. Might be another revenue opportunity.