Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 366 Food is the most important thing for the people

Zhang Chao put down his phone, feeling quite depressed, and wondered if he was that terrible.

It turned out that before leaving get off work, Tie Ning received a call from Professor Yoshio Iizuka, the main organizer of the "China-Japan Young Writers Exchange" event.

Professor Iizuka said that young Japanese writers who participated in this exchange activity, such as Wataya Risa and Aoyama Nanae, all "subtly" expressed their concerns to Iizuka, fearing that during the exchange, Zhang Chao would "get excited" and tear them apart and eat them as snacks.

After all, a monster like Shintaro Ishihara couldn't withstand Zhang Chao's firepower, and his life was over without even a head-on confrontation.

Professor Iizuka Yoshio had no choice but to call Tie Ning, hoping that through her arrangements, Zhang Chao could be more restrained. After all, Ishihara is Ishihara, and most of those who are willing to participate in the exchange activities this time are friendly.

When Zhang Chao received the call from Tie Ning, he was having dinner at the famous "Sukiyabashi Jiro" sushi restaurant on the basement floor of the Tsukamoto General Business Building at 4-chome, Ginza, Tokyo.

This "Sukiyabashi Jiro" is the restaurant of the nearly 90-year-old senior sushi chef Jiro Ono who later became world-famous in the documentary "God of Sushi".

However, this was still early for the release of the documentary "God of Sushi", and Jiro Ono was only over 80 years old and still made sushi frequently. It was not particularly difficult to reserve a seat, so Zhang Chao spoke to Kadokawa Bookstore on a whim and they immediately reserved a seat for him during prime time in the evening.

Although Zhang Chao is not particularly interested in sushi, he is still quite interested in personally experiencing some "urban legends" that he did not have the opportunity to verify in his previous life.

Before the documentary was released, "Sukiyabashi Jiro" still maintained a relatively "people-friendly" style. There was no mandatory 15-minute dining time, and guests were not prohibited from answering the phone, taking photos or talking during meals.

Chef Jiro Ono occasionally smiles, and he is not as serious and unapproachable as many Chinese gourmets reported after they went to experience his restaurant after it became famous.

Since Kadokawa Bookstore ordered the meal for Zhang Chao during prime time, and the guests were all high-ranking guests, it was naturally Jiro Ono who made the meal himself. He used his skinny, powerful fingers to poke at the rice and fish, and the whole piece of flounder sushi was placed on the plate in front of Zhang Chao from Jiro Ono's hand.

Zhang Chao looked at the sushi in front of him with snow-white fish and crystal-white rice, then glanced at the plate of the lady next to him and found that his was indeed a size bigger than hers. This really confirmed the legend that Ono Jiro would adjust the size of sushi according to the customer's gender and body shape.

Zhang Chao didn't use chopsticks either. He picked up the sushi with his hands and put it into his mouth. Then he frowned - the rice part of the sushi was sourer than anything Zhang Chao had eaten in his past and present life, and much sourer, which made him very uncomfortable.

However, the aroma of the flounder meat and the taste of the specially prepared sushi soy sauce made him finish the sushi.

Maybe Jiro Ono also noticed that Zhang Chao's expression was not right. He whispered something to his apprentice beside him. The apprentice came to Zhang Chao and explained in halting English: "We use the 'Edo-style' sushi, which is the seasoning of early sushi. The vinegar rice will be more sour."

What can I do? I chose the restaurant myself and spent 3 yen. I have to finish the meal even if I cry!

Zhang Chao suddenly understood why when Abe, who was not so open-minded back then, invited Obama to eat sushi here, Obama stopped eating after a few dishes and tried to divert his attention by chatting.

The reporter even took a picture of him taking only one bite of the sushi and leaving the rest on the plate untouched.

After all, not everyone can stand the "original flavor". Zhang Chao, a native of Fuhai, thinks it's too sour, not to mention Obama, an American who grew up in Hawaii and ate mayonnaise California rolls since childhood.

Next came squid sushi, needlefish sushi, and scallop sushi. After eating a few pieces, Zhang Chao finally got used to the sour taste of "Edo-mae" sushi and could gradually taste the sweetness of these fish and shellfish.

As a native of Fuhai, Zhang Chao has no lack of experience in eating seafood and has a very sensitive tongue. Although he is not fond of raw food, the fresh taste experience is still eye-opening.

However, what interested Zhang Chao even more was that, combined with his memories of watching documentaries in his previous life, he witnessed the entire process of Jiro Ono making sushi up close and personal.

From any perspective, sushi is a simple meal, and its origins are also fast food that is convenient for the middle class to eat. Until after World War II, sushi was not considered a high-end food.

It is this kind of common meal, with the help of Japan's economic boom in the 1960s and 1970s, that has gradually become a kind of high-end cuisine in Japan, and can be on par with traditional Japanese "banquets" such as Kaiseki and Kaiseki.

If we talk about the average customer spending, Zhang Chao's meal cost 3 yen, which even exceeds the cost of high-end kaiseki cuisine.

This not only relies on the improvement of food - for example, from using pickled, fermented, and vinegar-soaked fish to using fresh fish - but also relies on the ritualization of its processing and dining process, as well as the unremitting promotion and mystification of Japanese cultural figures.

What about women not being allowed to make sushi because their body temperature is slightly higher than men's, which would affect the taste of vinegar rice? What about knives used to cut fish, which must be made of local jade steel and refined carbon to avoid the smell of iron...

After years of promotion, sushi has finally become a popular food all over the world.

Zhang Chao looked at the sushi in his hand, his mind having wandered off to who knows where else, until Jiro Ono reminded him. He came to his senses and discovered that the customer next to him had ordered two more pieces of sushi than he had.

Only after Zhang Chao finished the tuna belly sushi in his hand in one bite did Jiro Ono breathe a sigh of relief.

Although the guest in front of him was young, he would never dare to look down on him, let alone urge him or even scold him with a bad attitude - that was the attitude he should show to ordinary guests, and he must never show it in front of distinguished guests.

Not only had he seen this young man many times on television and in newspapers in the past few days, and knew that he was the Chinese writer who "angered to death" Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, but also that this seat today was arranged by a very influential figure in Tokyo's food industry who called him personally.

The fact that he could "cut in line" like this shows that he is not just a sharp-tongued writer, but a big shot as well.

I am in my seventies and just want to make a few more pieces of sushi before I die, but I don’t want to be on the front page of the news for no reason.

In fact, Jiro Ono was definitely not the stern and unapproachable "sushi master" described in documentaries and restaurant bloggers. After all, early sushi restaurants were not high-end restaurants. In addition to sushi, they also provided side dishes and drinks. It was common for customers to talk and laugh loudly, drink, and even joke with the chef in the restaurant.

At that time, people from all walks of life came to the store, even some "Yakuza". If Jiro Ono really had to serve customers with a stern face, this store would not have been open until today.

Therefore, he developed the ability to read people's expressions. He could tell the temper and character of any customer who came to the restaurant at a glance, and then provide attentive service. From the moment Zhang Chao frowned after eating the first piece of sushi, Ono Jiro knew that the young man didn't like his sushi, but out of respect and decency, he didn't embarrass the chef, so he was considered a relatively high-quality customer.

Therefore, he used special techniques and seasonings in the following few pieces of sushi to reduce the sourness and enhance the other flavors.

Zhang Chao didn't know that in just a dozen minutes, he had already made the old man in front of him very worried. He just noticed one thing - there was no "Michelin" restaurant logo in this store.

Wasn't this a Michelin three-star restaurant at that time? Zhang Chao's knowledge of Sukiyabashi Jiro was limited to documentaries, and he didn't know much about its development history.

In fact, when he first asked Kadokawa Bookstore to help him book a restaurant, he couldn't even pronounce Ono Jiro's name, let alone such a long store name as "Sukiyabashi Jiro".

Zhang Chao was too embarrassed to call her "the God of Sushi" out loud, and he gestured to Ogiwara Miho for a long time before she understood which restaurant he wanted to eat at.

Zhang Chao asked Erlang's apprentice, who was helping out and knew some English, with some curiosity: "Isn't your restaurant a Michelin-starred one?"

Jiro didn't dare to answer this question "privately", so he asked the master beside him. Jiro Ono was obviously more cautious about this question, so he stopped what he was doing and spoke a lot of Japanese to Zhang Chao.

After he finished speaking, Erlang's apprentice translated: "Master, what you mean is that although we are not a Michelin restaurant yet, the quality of the food and the dining service we provide are not inferior to any Michelin restaurant - no matter how many stars it has.

The chef hopes that customers come here because they like the sushi he makes, not because of the number of stars it has. "

Zhang Chao muttered in his heart: "It sounds nice now, but I'll have to say something else when I get the stars." But he was polite: "Of course I came here because of Chef Erlang's cooking skills - but I want to know, what does Chef Erlang think about the selection of Michelin restaurants?
If one day - I say if - "Sukiyabashi Jiro" becomes a "Michelin" restaurant, or even a "three-star restaurant", how would Chef Jiro feel about it? "

Jiro's apprentice's English was not very good, so Zhang Chao repeated it twice before he recounted the complete content to Jiro Ono.

Jiro Ono obviously didn't expect the customer to ask such a difficult question. He hesitated for a moment, and after making a piece of sushi for a customer, he wiped his hands with a clean towel, stopped his work, bowed to the other customers, apologized, and said something.

Upon hearing this, the other guests cast curious looks at Zhang Chao. Many of them recognized who he was, but they basically remained restrained. Only one or two young female guests covered their mouths.

After Ono Jiro apologized to everyone, he turned to Zhang Chao and answered seriously. His apprentice also translated:

“I know you are a great writer with great influence, so your question concerns the reputation of the restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro, so I have to answer you seriously.

First of all, it is an honor for any restaurant to win a Michelin star, but that is the result of hard work, not the goal - that is to say, in my heart, the goal is always to make delicious sushi.

As for whether it can win a Michelin star, I certainly hope it can. Because it can bring more customers to the restaurant, and make it easier for the sushi craftsmen of the "Sukiyabashi Jiro" line, that is, my apprentices, to open a shop. "

There was a chuckle from the guests.

Jiro Ono placed his hands on the cypress chopping board, leaned forward slightly, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes trembling slightly as he thought, and continued: "But a 'three-star restaurant' is like snow on a pine tree, it will melt when the sun comes out.

But the pine tree will continue to grow for another thirty, fifty years...Whether there are those stars or not, as long as I am alive, I will continue to make sushi, and Sukiyabashi Jiro will continue to operate."

After listening to this, Zhang Chao took advantage of the fact that Ono Jiro had not yet picked up the sushi knife to cut the fish and returned to his work state, and asked another question: "Do you think the standards of the "Michelin star restaurant" originated in France can be applied to traditional Japanese food, such as sushi, sashimi, and kaiseki?"

After listening to his apprentice's translation, Jiro Ono fell into deeper and longer thought than before. After almost a minute, he slowly answered: "Although "Michelin" is a standard set by the French, French cuisine has a long history in Japan and has even become a standard for entertaining foreign guests.

As far as I know, there are even more high-end French restaurants in Tokyo than high-end sushi restaurants, and there are also a large number of cheap French restaurants on the streets, selling home-cooked dishes such as braised beef in red wine.

So from the perspective of Japanese people's understanding of food, they don't particularly think that "French food standards" are foreign. As for food, as long as it tastes good, it's fine. So just let it go. We don't make any special preparations for the "Michelin" selection, nor do we consider whether the sushi we make meets the "Michelin standards."

"Sukiyabashi Jiro" demands of himself that every day is the same."

After Ono Jiro finished speaking, the other customers in the store clapped their hands softly. After listening to the translation, Zhang Chao also clapped his hands twice and stopped asking questions.

Jiro Ono breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the kitchen knife and started cutting fish and making sushi - but the gourmets who often come here think that the "shari" (rice balls) of the last few pieces of sushi are a little tighter than before.

Ten minutes later, Zhang Chao left "Sukiyabashi Jiro" and walked in the night of Ginza.

He asked Jiro Ono about his opinion on the "Michelin standard" not on a whim, but was the main purpose of this trip.

In the past, he mainly viewed and thought about the Japanese attitude towards foreign cultures from the perspective of literature and culture, which was a bit narrow after all. As one of the most important symbols of a country's national culture, food also has indicative significance in this regard.

Jiro Ono's answer seemed neither humble nor arrogant, and it upheld the dignity of Japanese cuisine, which won him applause. However, Zhang Chao was disappointed.

If he had not watched the documentary "God of Sushi" and the many subsequent reviews, he might have believed it if he had not known how arrogant and inflated the sushi restaurant "Sukiyabashi Jiro" became after Jiro Ono won three Michelin stars.

But after experiencing Jiro Ono's "meticulous" and courteous service tonight, he realized how hypocritical the saying "every day is the same day" is.

Even a chef like Jiro Ono, who has been working for more than 60 years, can hardly resist the huge fame and fortune hidden behind the "Michelin standard", let alone others? As the saying goes, "food is the first necessity of the people", so what color is the sky in Japan?

Zhang Chao has new ideas for the next few days of exchange activities...

(End of this chapter)