In Japan, they say, “Japanese cooking means taking away and Western cooking means adding.” This concept is well-known among Japanese chefs, but it may be difficult for western chefs to understand. This is verified in the way the white Japanese sea bass, the representative fish of summer, is prepared. This is all connected to clearly explaining the irrefutable differences between sushi and western fish cuisine, which also involves differences in cultivated history and culture.
In the case of Sushi, a representative of Japanese cuisine, the decisive point is to prepare the fish in a way that removes the fishy odor characteristic of Japanese sea bass. At the same time, the finished piece should be a simple dish that can be enjoyed with only a minimal amount of nikiri soy sauce and wasabi, so as not to override the natural refreshing flavor and umami of the fish. It should let the customer imagine sea bass swimming in the summer sea. And yet, the deep flavor required for the dish is successfully brought out using only a balanced combination of vinegar rice, the topping, wasabi and soy sauce. The method is really just to take out the excessive elements of the dish.
Meanwhile, the method for making sea bass dishes in French cuisine, representative of western cooking, includes seasoning the fish with salt and pepper and saute in butter, then adding rich, creamy sauce as well as other things like herbs, caviar, black truffles, etc., creating a dish that allows enjoyment of multilayered flavor. This sort of dish beautifully makes up for the flavors that the light, white fish lacks and portrays a flavor with depth through the finished plate over the individual flavor of the sea bass. In this cuisine, it can be said that the cooking method is more important than the raw ingredients. It can be thought of as cuisine that adds many ingredients.
Comparing the two, it’s clear that the approaches are completely opposite. Another difference is how the flavors are treated. Flavors perceived through aroma can be described as “aromatic flavor”.
If this fragrant flavor were not important in sushi, then there would be no debate on whether to use wild or farmed fish. For example, sea bream is available both in the wild and as farmed fish. There is not much difference in amino acid composition and umami content between the two. So how is it that farmed sea bream and wild sea bream end up tasting so different? The reason is undoubtedly the aroma. The subtle aromatic compounds, volatile substances carried in the fish’s fat, are what define the essential flavor of the sea bream. Wild fish, having fed on a natural diet and lived in varied ocean environments, develop a more complex and refined aromatic profile. In contrast, farmed fish, raised on controlled feed in uniform conditions, lack this nuance. This means that much of the pleasure of eating sushi comes from recognizing and savoring this delicate aroma.
On the other hand, in Western fish cuisine, the culture is to combine many different aromas, as if composing a perfume, probably because people want complex flavor. In addition, in French and similar cuisines, care to serve dishes at a temperature that is warm, but not hot, in order to bring out the natural flavor of the ingredients. While cooking the dishes, the temperature is strictly controlled so that the components of the ingredients don’t change from the heat, in order to maintain the taste and aroma. This method does not neglect fragrance by any means. In sushi, the fish itself is the centerpiece, with preparation methods designed to remove distractions from its inherent character. In Western cuisine, the plate as a whole is the centerpiece, where the fish is one component in a carefully constructed harmony of flavors.
In either method, the one essential element is this “aroma”. The only true difference is how that is expressed.
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Revision date: August 11, 2025
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In order to maintain the quality of tuna, when it is caught in the sea, the ikejime technique is used first, then rapid freezing is used as a matter of course. This means that the quality of the thawing technique is also important. Poor thawing conditions mean that the drip outflow volume will be too high, shrinking the meat and worsening the texture. Here I will explain a thawing method that doesn’t cause drip, uneven thawing, or loss of color.
I’m sure you’ve seen it before in any type of thawing frozen meat, but there is a red liquid that comes out of the tuna when thawing. This is called ‘drip’. This liquid includes the tuna’s umami, and when the fish loses a lot, it naturally detracts from the flavor.
There is only one trick to distinguishing between conveyor belt sushi restaurants (kaiten-zushi), and that is to try eating the tuna as your first dish.
The most commonly used ingredient at kaiten-zushi is tuna. At kaiten-zushi, the tuna is imported and frozen nearly 100% of the time. The most famous is the Southern blue-fin tun, but you’ll also find Boston bluefin tuna, Canadian tuna farmed in fish preserves, inland sea tuna from Turkey and Spain, New Zealand offshore tuna, Atlantic tuna, etc. Also, the season of each type of tuna and the timing of high-volume catch differ, which makes the prices fluctuate greatly.
It seems kanikama was invented in Japan. In the early 1970s, Sugiyo, a fish paste manufacturer, in a failed attempt to develop artificial jellyfish, ended up with a product that had a texture exactly like crab and shifted development to that instead.
On the other hand, an orange-colored tobiko is often seen at conveyor belt sushi restaurants, etc., but this is the roe of a fish called capelin (カペリン), which is similar to shishamo smelt. A salted version of this is used for sushi rolls in the US and other places, where it is called masago. Compared to tobiko, the grains are smaller and the texture is a bit chewier. It is mainly rich in EPA (Omega-3 fatty acids) and collagen.
Finally, we’ll let you in on a not-so-pleasant secret. Flying fish and capelin roe is actually a light yellow or beige color. However, you’ll find it in bright red, orange, yellow and lately even green or black. Of course, these are colored by either natural pigments or synthetic coloring. Furthermore, tobiko is sometimes mixed with the cheaper capelin or herring roe. Unfortunately, food fraud is common in seafood products that are consumed in high quantities.
Why is only tuna brought into certain ports high-priced, even though all of the tuna is caught in the seas near Japan? This is because the level of stress caused to the fish when it is caught has a huge impact on the quality, including taste, color and texture. In other words, the same fish may be delicious or taste unpleasant depending on how the fisher handles the fish directly after catching it. Naturally, everyone ends up wanting the fish from the ports with fisherman who are skilled in this practice*. Furthermore, it is individuals who process the fish. The quality changes drastically depending on who caught it.
However, sushi chefs will remove the topping from the refrigerator and leave it standing out for a while (in the case of tuna, the fat will melt at around 23℃). They do this because if the topping is cold, it becomes difficult to taste the essential nature of the fish. The temperature of the shari is best at human skin temperature (around 36℃) to maximize the taste and sweetness of the rice. However, the ideal temperature differs very slightly depending on the topping.
No one is more sensitive to the changing of the seasons than sushi lovers. This must be because the taste of sushi toppings is directly tied to the seasons. There are terms to describe this such as Hashiri (early season), Sakari (in-season), and Nagori (late season). In Japanese culinary tradition, these three terms capture the evolving flavors of seasonal ingredients. Recognizing where a sushi topping stands within this cycle allows diners to appreciate not just its taste, but its fleeting character.
Fish seasons are categorized as the ‘catch season’ and the ‘flavor season’. The ‘catch season’ is the time when lots of fish can be caught and are cheap. Take 
Natural fish are part of the food chain and have concentrations of harmful substances. Since 2000 the amount of mercury found in fish has become an issue. The American Natural Resources Defense Council has said tuna is a fish that should be avoided if pregnant or planning to get pregnant. A more recent problem is the large amounts of micro plastics found in fish meat. This shocking phenomenon will likely be reported by research organizations at some point in time. If it does reach that extreme, then it will be better to avoid the danger of eating fish.
Tuna at top-end restaurants is light in flavor. Its Akami (red meat) has an indescribable acidity with a delicate harmony between the shari vinegar, the nikiri soy sauce, and wasabi. However, on the other side of the coin, it feels almost like a waste to eat it without a sense of luxury. Of course tuna with delicious akami, also has delicious fatty tuna (toro). And you’ll never get tired of it. It would be easy to polish off 10 pieces as a light snack. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not the high fat content that makes it so easy to eat. However, it is because of that popular belief that many people feel that the big chain store