The seasonal omakase meal starts with tsumami small dishes, followed by courses of beautiful nigiris. The selection depends entirely on what catches the chef could get his hands on. The order of the courses are carefully designed to build a gradual momentum.

Just like in any cuisine, the simplest dishes can often demonstrate the quality of the chef’s skills. Take a plate of sashimi for instance. Caught off the shores of Kutami in Akashi, the red-tinted slices of fresh snapper are beautifully draped over one another. Slightly chewy, every bite unleashes great umami in your mouth. On the side is a small piece of boiled snapper skin, infused with kombu dashi. Enjoy the jelly-like texture.

Next is an ensemble of the treasures of the sea. Pieces of sweet shrimp and sword tip squid are tossed and coated with sea urchin and rich sweet shrimp miso. The rich and salty creaminess brings together all the different flavors so perfectly, without one overpowering another.

The steamed abalone has become a signature dish, simply for its divine flavor, filled with the aroma of the ocean. He likes to use ones that are as large as 500g, typically sent from Sanriku in Tohoku during the winter and from Shimane in the summer. Young blue crabs from Boze are steamed, not boiled, to keep its softness while bringing out all its sweetness.

Miso-marinade sujiko is one of those dishes that will make you want to come back to Sushidokoro Amano. Served only during November to end of December, the sack of salted salmon roe is marinated for a week in a mix of white miso, sake, mirin and dark soy sauce, and lightly seared on the grill. The caramelized pieces of roe pop on your tongue, letting the juice inside meld with the sweet and salty sauce, creating an incredible sensation.

Now, the nigiri. Begin with lighter flavors like squid and Japanese halfbeak, the courses gradually build up to richer flavors like tuna, blue fish, shrimp and sea urchin. Every piece is made to perfection, demonstrating the level of Amano’s sushi craftsmanship. “I think the best kind of shari rice is the kind that has a lingering flavor and goes well with all sorts of fish,” he says.

A long strip of Japanese halfbeak drapes over the small morsel of vinegared rice. It has a beautiful silver shine with the light-colored meat looking so soft and fresh. Instead of using akami, he likes to marinate chutoro. The secret to not marry the fattiness of the meat and the flavors of the soy marinade, he dips the fillet into boiling water for a few seconds, which prevents the meat from soaking up too much of the marinade.

To wrap up the meal, he likes to serve a classic Edomae maki made of soy-marinated kanpyo, dried gourd shavings. The maki is flattened slightly so they are easier to bite.

INGREDIENTS
Thanks to his experience of working as a fishmonger, Amano has a built a great procurement network. For snapper, for example, he is specific to buying catches from Akashi, especially Kutami. The crabs come from Boze in Hyogo Prefecture. He tries to find rare fish that are not distributed widely, which allows him to offer unique dishes to his guests. For the sushi rice, he uses kinuhikari grown in Shiga Prefecture. The small grains are not too sweet and contain just the right amount of moisture. For the vinegar, he mixes two type of red vintages produced by Yokoi Vinegar Brewing. The aromatic sheets of seaweed are sent in airtight packaging from Shiga Prefecture. The wasabi from Mazuma in Gotemba is top quality.