Sushi Kashiba ★ 4.7
Sushi Kashiba in Seattle's Pike Place is Shiro Kashiba's omakase counter: the chef who opened Seattle's first sushi bar in 1970, still running the pass at 86.
History
Seattle's modern sushi tradition runs back to Maneki (founded 1904 in Nihonmachi), among the oldest Japanese restaurants still operating in the United States. The city's Pacific Northwest seafood (king salmon, Dungeness crab, geoduck, spot prawn, Pacific oysters) gave Edomae sushi an American regional dimension that Japanese chefs adapted directly. Sushi Kashiba (Shiro Kashiba, who trained under Jiro Ono in Tokyo, opened 2015 near Pike Place) is the reference omakase counter; Wataru in Ravenna is widely cited (Seattle Met, Eater) as the chef's-counter standout. The contemporary form sources king salmon, hamachi, ankimo and ikura day-of from Pike Place Fish Market.
Common allergens: Fish, Shellfish, Soy
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 300g Japanese short-grain rice (Koshihikari or Calrose)
- 60ml rice vinegar
- 30g caster sugar
- 5g fine sea salt
- 300g sashimi-grade Pacific Northwest fish (king salmon, hamachi or albacore tuna), sliced 1cm thick across the grain
- 100g sashimi-grade spot prawn or sweet shrimp (peeled, tails on)
- 20g fresh wasabi paste (or 10g good prepared wasabi from a tube; not the green powdered horseradish version)
- Japanese soy sauce, for dipping
- Pickled ginger (gari), to serve
Method
- Rinse the rice in cold water until the water runs clear, then drain in a sieve for 30 minutes.
- Cook the rice with 330ml fresh cold water in a rice cooker or covered heavy pot. If using a pot: bring to a boil, reduce to low, cover, cook 12 minutes. Rest off the heat 10 minutes.
- Warm the rice vinegar, sugar and salt together until dissolved.
- Tip the cooked rice into a wide non-metallic tray. Fold the vinegar mixture through with a wooden paddle in a cutting motion (do not stir; you bruise the grains). Fan the rice as you fold to cool it. Cool to body temperature.
- Slice the fish on the diagonal across the grain into 1cm-thick pieces, 5cm long.
- Wet your hands with vinegar water (a 1:1 mix of water and rice vinegar; keeps the rice from sticking).
- Pick up a 20g ball of rice; press gently between your palms into an oval shape with squared edges.
- Lay a slice of fish across one palm; smear a tiny dab of wasabi onto the fish; place the rice ball on top of the fish.
- Press once with two fingers to seat the fish onto the rice; turn over so the fish is on top.
- Plate immediately; serve at body temperature. Repeat for each nigiri.
- Set out small bowls of soy sauce and pickled ginger; instruct diners to dip the fish side (not the rice) lightly in soy.
Tip from the editors. Sashimi-grade Pacific king salmon (Mutual Fish, Pike Place mail-order) is the regional pick; supermarket salmon is not safe raw. Form rice at body temperature.
Where to eat edomae sushi
Edomae sushi in Seattle
Wataru ★ 4.8
Wataru is tucked into a saxe building ground floor in ravenna, far from any tourist corridor, with a 10-seat bar and no signage at street level.
Why locals love it: Tucked into a Saxe Building ground floor in Ravenna, far from any tourist corridor, with a 10-seat bar and no signage at street level.
Tip: Tock booking opens at midnight three weeks out; the 19:30 second seating is easier than the 17:00.
Maneki ★ 4.5
Maneki in Seattle's International District is the oldest Japanese restaurant on the West Coast: opened in 1904, surviving wartime internment.
Signature: Nigiri set, Geoduck sashimi, Sukiyaki
Order: The geoduck sashimi if it is on the board, otherwise the chef's nigiri set with a tatami room.
Tip: Reserve a tatami room four to six weeks ahead; the bar runs walk-in but the room shapes the meal.
Rondo Japanese Kitchen ★ 4.4
Rondo Japanese Kitchen in Seattle's Capitol Hill runs late-night izakaya from 22:00: shorter menu, allocated sakes, walk-in bar seats most nights.
Try: Late-night izakaya plates and sake
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