And are sushi safety standards abroad adequate?
Japan’s bureaucrats made headlines a year ago with a plan to dispatch “sushi police” to check the culinary credentials of Japanese restaurants overseas. That triggered a wave of negative publicity, and now restaurateurs are trying a more diplomatic approach.
“I have to say that the fact that the word ‘sushi police’ came about is something very unfortunate,” said Yuzaburo Mogi, chief executive of soy sauce maker Kikkoman as well as chairman of JRO, the Organisation to Promote Japanese Restaurants Abroad.
The organisation decided to try and improve standards at sushi bars around the world after hearing of cases of food poisoning linked to restaurants abroad that employ inexperienced or unskilled chefs.
JRO has set up offices in various cities, including London, Los Angeles and Shanghai, to offer training opportunities for chefs, and is working on other ideas to support the sushi scene.
“The objective of our organisation is to try to upgrade the hygienic level of Japanese restaurants overseas and promote Japanese food culture overseas,” Mogi told reporters at a news conference on Monday.
Sushi bars have become hugely popular in Europe and the United States, not least because of the image of Japanese food as fresh and healthy. As incomes rise in countries such as China and Russia, fashionable diners there are also discovering the joys of raw fish, vinegary rice and seaweed.
Some of those restaurants are in fact Chinese, Thai, or Vietnamese eateries that put up a “sushi” sign to cash in on the lucrative trend – diners tend to be willing to pay higher prices for Japanese food.
Other sushi bars offer concoctions such as the “California Roll”, made of rice, avocado, and imitation crab meat, that have purists shuddering.
“I personally feel the California Roll can be acknowledged as part of Japanese cuisine,” he told reporters, adding that some traditional Japanese food, such as deep-fried “tempura” seafood, was in fact inspired by European dishes.
The Japanese Restaurant International Forum will be held on March 27 and 28 in Tokyo.