This restaurant closed on 30 April 2022 and will be moving to a new location. Thanks for the memories!
21-days aged sushi in Toronto, edomae style
Sushi Nishinokaze is the latest darling in the omakase space. It opened in late 2021 and is one of three restaurants specializing in edomae sushi. If you’re wondering, the other two are Shoushin and Sushi Masaki Saito. Nishinokaze is also the cheapest at $169.50, compared to $316.40 and $680.00 respectively. Lots of Japanese air-flown imports and the intricacies of fish curing push up the price.
The 19th-century ancestor of contemporary sushi
Edomae (江戸前) literally means “in front of Edo”. Edo is understood to refer to the castle in Edo, now modern-day Tokyo. Edo is also the name of the imperial period from 1603 to 1867 before Japan opened up to the world and brought about industrialization, political reform, and World War II, among other things.
The sushi from the Edo period was quite different from that of today. Because of the lack of refrigeration, fresh fish sushi was rare. Chefs had to think of ways to preserve fish like curing in soy sauce, salt, or vinegar. To put it in a nice way, fish could be “aged” anywhere between a few days to a few weeks. There’s less moisture and the protein gets more mushy from enzymatic action.
Edomae sushi is slowly gaining awareness in North America. Mainly in top-end omakase restaurants going for hundreds of dollars. Such an irony considering that edomae sushi was originally fast-food for peasants. I guess it can be justified because there’s more chef work compared to regular sushi.
For example, one defining characteristic of edomae sushi is the red vinegar (赤酢; akasu) used to prepare the rice (酢飯; shari). It gives the rice a brown hue. This vinegar is more expensive to procure and the taste is more complex than the white rice vinegar used in regular sushi. If you arrive early like I did, you can watch the chef make the finishing touches to the giant tub of rice.
