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Tag: sushi

  • Bluefin Tuna Prices Plummet At Japan Auction

    Sushi restaurateur Kiyoshi Kimura was the top bidder of bluefin tuna in the year’s first tuna auction at Tsukiji market in Tokyo, Japan. The event normally draws very high bids given Japan’s insatiable appetite for the fish.

    Kimura paid a whopping 7.36 million yen (about 70,000 USD) for the 507-pound fish. However, that price pales in comparison to his record breaking winning bid last year. In 2013,  Kimura paid 154.4 million yen (about 1.7 million USD) for the 489-pound bluefin tuna.

    Though the demand for bluefin tuna is high both in Japan and worldwide the high bid is more a fight for status and does not translate into a profit for Kimura. The first purchase at the Tsukiji market is a mark of honor to the auction patrons. Kimura would need to sell the fish at a minimum of $345 a plate to break even, but Kimura admits it will only sell for about $4.60 per serving – a huge loss.

    The record breaking bid last year attracted a lot of criticism and complaints from Japan’s fish supplier industry. Many thought that the price of bluefin tuna had soared way out-of-control. Following this year’s relatively low bid, many are left wondering what it could mean for the industry but Kimura said that the bid had brought back sanity to the auction.

    “I’m glad that the congratulatory price for this year’s bid went back to being reasonable,” said Kimura.

    Environmentalists have already warned that the increasing global consumption of bluefin tuna will soon lead to its depletion and those who are supposed to take charge in managing the dwindling species are failing to protect it. Japan alone consumes about 80% of world’s bluefin tuna.

    Stocks of all the three bluefin species-the Southern, Pacific and Atlantic-have reduced over the past 15 years due to overfishing. Currently, the bluefin tuna population is at an all-time low of less than 4% of its unfished size. According to global conservation group, The Pew Environment Group, over 90% of the fish is caught before maturity.

    So far, very little has been done by governmental bodies to protect the species leaving many to have doubts about the sustainability of the bluefish tuna market.

    Bluefin Tuna Sold For $1.7 Million In Japan

    http://youtu.be/f7nnkqjQw-o

    Image via YouTube

  • Nicole Scherzinger Brings Life To Party

    Nicole Scherzinger Brings Life To Party

    Everybody’s talking about and ogling Nicole Scherzinger ever since she stepped out in a body-hugging, skin-exposing black suit for a wild night out.

    The former Pussycat Doll and X Factor judge effortlessly grabbed the attention of all onlookers with her killer cat suit, which featured an elaborate and blinging brocade-like front and back. The main parts of the shining silver fabric of the suit were held together by a revealing net-like construction that ran along Scherzinger’s body.

    No peek-a-boo teases here! Nicole went full on with her outfit as well as her partying.

    Nicole wore the painted-on, eye-catching suit for the Sushi Samba’s birthday bash, which took place on Tuesday in London. The London party was the restaurant’s first celebration, and with much thanks to Nicole Scherzinger, the party was a big hit.

    The Mirror has it that Scherzinger was the life of the party. Apparently her skin-tight suit didn’t prevent Nicole from getting down on the dance floor with many of the party attendees and having a blast. The mirror also reports that Scherzinger enjoyed many shots and continued to jam in her sexy, pointed black heels. Well, in one of the photos we can see that she at least took one break from the heels and removed them. That’s ok. We can live with that.

    It is also being said that Nicole was doing a whole lot of flirting at the party which might make some people very sad that they were not cool enough to be invited. Back in August people were first gossiping about whether Nicole Scherzinger and her former boyfriend Lewis Hamilton were getting back together. To the delight of those who would be jealous of Hamilton, Scherzinger announced that they were just friends. At the Sushi Samba party, Scherzinger apparently made that very clear. She is a free woman.

    Usually there are complaints about a suit so sexy, but nobody’s complaining yet. So far people are enjoying the eye candy.

    Sources via The Mirror, yahoo.com, and E! News

    Image via Twitter, Sushi Samba

  • Sushi Making Robot Devalues Artform?

    The SushiBot can make 400 rolls an hour. In the following YouTube video you can see how quickly it molds the rice base that will later present pieces of fresh seafood.

    The machine is on display at the World Food and Beverage Great Expo 2012 in Tokyo this week.

    I don’t know about you, but I love sushi and do not find cuisine made by a robot very appetizing. Sushi is supposed to be an art form created by masters like Japanese chef Ken Kawasumi. Each culinary master has their own unique style, process, and preference.

    The thought of mass produced sushi may cut down prices but could certainly take away from the experience. One of my favorite parts of dining at a sushi restaurant is talking to the chef, picking out the fish, and watching his delicate work unravel as he shapes the edible art.

    A new documentary, “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” tells the story of 85 year-old Jiro Ono, considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef. He is the proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant inauspiciously located in a Tokyo subway station. Ono has been claimed as one of Japan’s national treasures and the devotion that he puts into each morsel is evident as he gently brushes sushi with soy sauce.

    Making sushi is a tradition that is passed down generation after generation but will the artform become just one more line of worked devalued by machinery?