Jan 16 2009
A Sushi guide for the iPhone
Shogakukan’s illustrated sushi guide for the iPhone can answer your sushi identification questions.
Back in November of 2008, Randye and I discovered another local sushi restaurant in Newburyport, Hana Japan.
It’s a nice, clean restaurant situated in a back corner of the Port Plaza off of Rt. 113 as you get off Interstate 95, heading into Newburyport. Inside, you are greeted by a zen water fountain and the decor includes lots of bamboo and lots of modern Asian-style furnishings.
Every time we go, we are greeted by the same bowing, friendly and attentive hostess/waitress (and we presume owner) who loves children; she brings special tidbits for our son to snack on during dinner. Each time we’ve ordered the chirashi dinner entree and each time the fish was fresh and tasty. In fact, we found it to be the freshest we’ve found in the greater Newburyport area.
We love ordering chirashi because it’s a goodly amount of fish and rice for the price, and it comes with a small bowl of miso soup, a small salad and a personal pot of green tea. (Hana Japan’s green tea is awesome!) The other fun thing about chirashi is that it’s often a selection of fresh fish that the sushi chef has on-hand, and sometimes there are bits of fish you typically don’t see. For example, chirashi typically comes with tuna, red snapper, salmon, shrimp, squid or octopus and mackerel. And there is often a few pieces of fish that are not easily identified by the typical American. Here’s an oft-heard conversation at an American sushi restaurant:
“What the hell is this?” the man asks poking at a white piece of glistening fish with his chop stick.
“”Dunno,” his wife replies. “Eat it and tell me if it’s good so I can try it.”
That’s where this new illustrated sushi guide comes in. For those of you who love sushi and wonder what those mystery fish bits are, the sushi neta zukan (illustrated sushi guide) is likely to answer your questions. Made available in December of ’08, it will cost $5. Although it’s in Japanese, the developers promise that it will have an English appendix. The guide will have photos and descriptions of 82 different types of sushi.
I’ve been looking for it in the App store in iTunes and have been unsuccessful in finding it. If anyone knows where to find this baby, other than the Shogakukan website, which is in Japanese, I’d live to know.
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