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Lets go to the kitchen and check out iron chef morimoto. speaking japanese how are you . speaking japanese ming what are you doing . Im polishing rice. Ming polishing rice. Yeah, from brown to white. Ming so thats california or japanese . Yes, this is california. So this is different. Ming so you take the hull off. Yeah. Ming and why do you polish your own rice . After polish rice to white, so they keep it in the warehouse at room temperature. Ming right. Its, you know, losing moisture and all the taste, everything. Thats what i think. Ming okay, so you think this is Higher Quality rice. Yeah. You know, i am a sushi man, so i need best quality rice. Ming but theyre all exactly the same size, which is one of the great keys of sushi rice, right, so it all cooks the same . So this is secret number one to great sushi at morimotos, is actually you polish your own rice. I think so, yes. Ming all right, will you show me how, then, you make this into rice, please . Okay. Ming okay. Im going to show you how to wash the rice. Ming all right, morimotosan, so the first step is to wash the rice, right . Yes, this is the washing process. So very important is to run the water like that, and then, okay, wash it here so water become white. Ming okay, yep. And then you have to throw away first, you know, water like this right away. Ming you have to throw that away, because thats. And thats the starches, right, that are washing off . Yeah, starch is outside, and then this is dried rice. Ming okay. And then come into water with the starch inside. Ming you can smell that. Yes. You have to take the white water right away, you know, as soon as possible, okay . Ming so thats the first rinse, right . Yes, first rinse. Ming so how many times do you think you have to do it . Actually, until the water is clear. Ming until the waters clear, okay. Yeah. Ming all right, thats good. See this is kind of okay. Ming yeah, okay. Perfect. All right. So then here you have. This is your insert of your rice cooker. Yeah. Ming why the netting . Whats the netting for . Easy. Easy to take out. Ming easy to take off, all right. Okay. Ming like that. Then make it a flap. Ming it looks beautiful. Bright. Ming yeah, its very bright. It is. Its shiny. Its shiny looking rice. And then basically one part rice in the same part of. Ming one part of. Oh, so equal volume. One cup, one cup. Oh, so you dont do my take. See, i do it by hand. You just do it by exact one to one. Yeah, this is. Yes, yes, yes. Ming im just curious. My hands are clean. Where, here . Ming no, i go right. Yeah, right there, mount fuji. Right, right, right. Ming same thing, right . Or to the finger, to the first line of your finger. Same thing when you touch the rice. All right, so now this goes into your rice cooker, right . Yes. Ming oh, you actually cover it up. Look at that. All right, lets go cook it. Yep. Ming ah, so you have a gas rice cooker, huh . Yes. Ming wow, thats a big one. Lets be careful there. Okay, lets make sure fit. Ming okay. Then a cover. Yes. Ming and then how long does this cook for . It cooks, like, about 15 to 20 minutes, and then maybe another 15 to 20 minutes of rest. Ming okay, so about a half hour total. Yes. Ming okay, so. This is ready. Ming half an hour. So how do you know if you have perfect sushi rice . Can you tell if its overcooked or not, or. No, no, this is. Im cooking it 365 days. Ming a year. So theres no question its perfect. Okay. Okay, morimotosan, so the first secret of sushi rice is you actually polish your own rice. Right. Ming then you wash and cook it, secret two. Yes. Ming the third secret for the flavor is the su, right . Su, yes. Ming the flavored vinegar. So what do you put in your seasoned vinegar . This is all the ingredients i have. Ming okay, what do we have . So this is red vinegar made from the sake. Ming oh, sake leaves. Okay, so sake leaves is the top when you make sake. Its kind of. Usually. After squeeze. Ming after you squeeze, right . So the top kind of foams. So vinegar is made from that. So. Interesting. This is rice. Ming so rice vinegar . Okay. And then sugar and salt. Ming okay. So. Ming about what kind of ratio . Total, vinegar, four, two, and one. Ming okay. Yes. Ming all right. So then. Put in the kombu. Ming kombu, which is kelp. Yes. Ming right. So more umami, right . More flavor of the sea, excellent. Yes, naturalness of the sea. And then just heat it enough to melt with these powdered things. Ming all right, so just heat it enough to just melt the sugar and the salt. You dont have to boil it, okay. Ming look at that. You can tell how perfect. Everything. Every single kernel is cooked perfectly. Ming yeah, because they are, you know, all the same size. All the same size, yes. Ming all the same size, which is why you polish your own rice. Right. Ming okay. Easy, easy. Ming right. Then. Ming so. And this is called what . Its called hangiri. Ming hangiri. Yes. Ming and this is white pine, correct . Yes. Ming and if you notice, its moist on the inside, so the condensation from the steam goes into the wood. Otherwise, if it was a stainless steel bowl, it would sweat on itself and get mushy rice. Yeah. Ming right . Okay. This is, like, 400 ccs. Ming thats 400 ccs of the soup, okay. speaking japanese so this is ten percent. Ming okay, ten percent of that. Then using this paddle. Ming okay. And then. Ming and you do the motion so that it spreads evenly . Yes. This is only here, right . Ming okay. So this spreads it out. Ming oh, okay. Interesting. And its important that the rice is hot, right . Yes. Ming because thats when it absorbs most of the soup. Yes, yes. And another key is this is the line. Ming okay. Okay. Ming the lines this way, okay. Yes. You have to cut from the line. Ming you cut. You cut the rice. Yeah. Cut. Not the mix, mix. Ming dont mix. Its combining gluten, and then make sticky, sticky. Then. So mix well like that. Then you take everything off. Okay. Take this five, ten minutes. Ming right. Single rice, again, dry easier. Ming right. Right. Come on, baby. Everyone together. Ming yeah, thats my sushi method kobayashi in osaka taught me. He said folklore was if the rice is by itself, it will die and get lonely. Yes. Ming right . And thats no good. Yes. Ming but in reality if you have a single rice, it will dry and be crunchy. Yeah. Ming and thats. You dont want crunchy rice in your sushi, right . No. Ming ah, because when youre making sushi, you definitely dont want it cold. You want it at what, body temperature . Yeah, body temperature, yes. Ming and why is that . Whats this. Why. I mean, obviously cooled it gets crunchy, but does it help the fish better when its body temperature . I think its about. On the other hand, it makes sushi easier. Ming right, to roll it. Roll it, yeah, everything, yes. Ming lets go roll some sushi. speaking japanese ming all right, so listen. In the spirit of cooking on the fly. Sure. Ming . Were just going to pick and choose some of your seafood. So whatever you want to pick, you pick. I have a lot of selection here. Okay, a little color, right . Ming all right, so some shrimp, beautiful. And then. Ming what am i going to use . Okay, this is mackerel. Ming oh, saba. Saba. Ming okay, good. Octopus. Ming a little tako. Yes. Ming man, i havent gotten anything yet. And maybe a little. Ming this is scrambled egg, but cooked with a little dashi, right . Yes. And i need red. Ming ah, maguro, tuna. Yes. Then orange. Ming youre picking everything. All right. What else . And. Ming youre going to. And this. Ming uni and tamago. All right, ive got some beautiful alaskan king crab legs that im going to use. Youre going to pick more . Maybe. I need white. Ming okay. Fluke. Oh, wait. Oh, my god. Is this local . Yeah, Santa Barbara. Ming Santa Barbara abalone. Cooked in the pressure cooker. Ming all right, lets go roll some sushi. Okay. Ming tsai becomes a sushi chef with this headband. You want me to make it tight . Ming yeah, go ahead make it tight. Like that . Perfect. So now im a sushi chef . Thats all it takes, is a headband . Yes. Ming okay, perfect. Good. Okay, iron chef, you first. Whats your first dish . Okay, i have to show you how to, you know, make the. Ming so this is die cut. And we have beautiful produce here, right . This was from boku farms, here, right . All organic. So this is a very original technique called katsuramuki. Ming do not try this at home. No, no, no. Ming or you can try, but you just. You have tool now, yeah. Then. So. Ming perfect. Roll up, then cut, and roll up again. Then slice it. Ming so thats how you make dikon shred, or dikon noodles, or. Yes. Ming then, so. Maybe you can see with the sashimi, right . Ming so is this one of your dishes, sashimi salad . Yeah. Ming thats awesome. Look at that. Thats amazing stuff. Oh, my god. So just ice water . Ice water, yep. Ming okay. Okay. Now to cut our greens. Same technique, katsuramuki. Ming so english cucumber. Yes, english cucumber. Ming thats amazing. I could do this. Practice for 20 years, and i could never do this. No, no. You can. Ming at what age did you master this . I started at 18. I think cucumber is much easier in that it goes soft. Ming right. Yeah, yeah, i use cucumber myself when i do this. No, i dont. Same thing. Then. Ming and the same thing. Again, you roll up and slice . Yep. Ming wow. All right, well, im going to grab a zucchini blossom. Im trying to think what dish i want to create myself as im watching you. I mean, these are unbelievable. I think thats one of the advantages you have in napa. Yes. Ming you have the most beautiful products. Okay, so what first dish are you going to do . Now you have kind of your garnish. Okay, so. Ming so pattypan squash . Yes. Ming its beautiful stuff. So you have this farm, grows your stuff for you, right . Yes, yes. Ming and its just down the road . Yes. Ming can i slice some of this for you . Sure. Can you . Ming how big . Any size is good. Ming any size. Any size is good. Ming round, thin . Yes, any size. Ming all right. So this is for. Whats your first dish . So im going to make a chirashi. Its kind of the. Ming so chirashi is kind of a sushi rice with sashimi on top. This is a nice cube. Ming all right. Then this, i take the skin off, see . Ming all right. Called hamachi. Yes. Ming yellowtail. Is this okay, morimotosan, all right . Yeah, more than okay. Ming more than okay. they laugh you want round slices too . Yes. Ming all right, so we have thin round. So now you have salmon. So you have umachi, you have maguro, which is tuna. Yes. Ming and so you use. From kindai, this tuna, right . I think its important to say this. Because bluefin is being overfished now, right . Right. This is sustainable from kindai. Ming so sustainable tuna from kindai. And you must use bigeye, too, from hawaii, right . Yes. And then local. Ming and local, right. Yes. So this is tough situation, tuna. Ming its really tough, right . Yeah. Ming i mean, i think the whole seas are having problems these days. Yes. Ming right . So why dont you grind the wasabe for me . Ming wasabe . Hai. Yes. Ming how much do you want . As much as now. Ming all right, so this is fresh wasabe. Yes. Ming using sharkskin. Okay. This is the rice i made. Ming all right. And then. Ming is that enough . Yes, enough. Ming okay. All right, so you put the sushi rice on the bottom . Yes. Ming so is this a traditional dish you grew up eating . My family, when i was a kid, poor. Ming right. Actually, this. Actually i can eat, like, this gorgeous sushi. Ming right. Then thats why i become a sushi chef, to. Ming so you dont go to sleep hungry. Yes. Ming dude, thats the reason i became a chef. Oh, really . Ming i dont want to go to sleep hungry. All right, so fresh wasabe. Wasabe. Ming so you added the saba, the mackerel, and the tako, which is octopus. And then. So thats the soy sauce i have. Can you pour this . Ming hai. So this is housemade soy sauce. Yes. Ming how much . So maybe you can do like this. Ming ahhah. I like that. Is that enough . Enough, yes. Ming okay. Anything else . Can you mix with it . Ming yep. You have a chopstick there . Ming hai. Yes. Ming thank you. Who invented the chopsticks, chinese or japanese . In between, in between. Ming in between. The koreans. Yes. Okay, this is seaweed, and then. Ming what is that . This is kampyo. Ming which is . Dried squash. Sweet corn. Ming sweet corn, yeah, squash. And you have nori. Nori, yes, i did. Ming this looks awesome. Then, okay, this is. I need a color like this. Can you get this in the same shape as this . Same shape as the cube . Okay. Hai. Okay. Yes. Yes, yes, nice, nice. Ming okay, hai. It looks awesome. And then. Ming looks so good. Oh, my god. And so healthy too, right . Yes. Ming i mean, theres almost no fat, just natural fat. Yes. And then. So. From here. Ming on top . Yep. Go, go, go. Ming this looks awesome. And then blossom leaf here. Ming oh, my god, beautiful. And then. Ming oh, my god. Could you get the soy sauce again . Ming hai. That looks awesome. This is adding a little more color. Ming all right. So a little ikura, right . Salmon eggs. Yes, orange, yes. Ming this really is like napa valley in a bowl. A cornucopia. Beautiful. Thank you. speaking japanese cant wait to eat that. So im going to make a little onigiri. Onigiri. Ming did you eat this as a child . Yeah, lots. Ming you actually make triangles of the sushi, and you kind of flip it in your hands. And the key here is actually wet hands, right, morimotosan . Yes. Ming you have to have wet hands. And with wet hands. And they have machines that do this, right . But i think my hand has just. It gets a better look, right . This is all you need. Ming thats all you need, right . Yes. Ming okay, so then, as you know, umeboshi, which is the really, really tart plum, right . Yeah, salty and spi. Sour. Ming yep. Do me a favor, okay . Take your. What do you need . Ming the zucchini flower. Chop just a little chiffonade of zucchini flower. So chopped up . Ming what you do is you actually stuff this. And im going to take some bonito, some of this umebushi, a little bit of his zucchini flower. Just a little bit, yep. Any seasoning . Ming i have to make two of these. No, were going to put a little shoyu on that. And im going to just make two of these real quick. Should i mix in with that . Ming yeah, just mix it here, right here with this bonito. Oh, okay. Ming umeboshi, bonito, right . All right. Two triangles like that. A little shoyu. I love your. I love your technique. Enough . Ming perfect. Okay. Ming all right. Now, this, quite often, you grill them, too, right . Yeah. Ming but i like to take. And you just poke a hole, and you take this, right, and you stuff it. Ming and you can stuff again that one . And then put it inside. How did you know . And you stuff it in like this. Iron chef. Ming iron chef, yes, he is an iron chef. Behind you. Ming thank you. All right, and this is. Kids in japan eat this, right . Yeah. Ming this is a great kind of a snack food on the street. Right. Ming right, and they stuff this, and then you reseal it like this. All right. Then we have those. All right, then im going to take. Because i love the look of these, theyre just so beautiful, i just think, as a backdrop to these rice cakes. Because zucchini blossom you can totally eat raw. Well put that there. Well, youre. Look at you. What are you rolling over there . I dont know. Ming so you cant keep an iron chef down. I want to watch what youre doing here. So he has cucumbers, sushi rice, and nori. Yeah. And then tuna in the middle. Ming tuna, okay. Yes. Ming im just garnishing here, so you keep going, morimotosan. Yep. Ming all right. Then like that. Okay. Right. This is going to come out this way, and flip over. Ming i have a little togarashi. Yes. Ming on top like this. All right. And then a little shoyu like that. All right, so theres my dish. And you have a maki. Yes. Ming and im going to take a little of this great alaskan king crab. speaking japanese very expensive now, right . Yes. It was inexpensive from the ocean. Ming right, so you have what . So you have a maki. Will we do some nigiri . Yes. Ming so im going to make a little just king crab kind of salad to go on top of my rice cake. Just a little bit. Just a little bit of shiso. And youre doing some sashimi . Sushi. Ming okay. I have some shiso. And you have beautiful. Im going to come behind you, iron chef. You have those fantastic. So this is ginger, right, that you had made for you . Yes. Ming some pickled baby ginger. So, you know, all this summer, we got whole baby ginger, take everything, and then marinate the whole year and then use it next near. Ming thats awesome. So this is very simple. I love the brightness. All right, so then i have just a very bright, light salad. It goes with my tamari. Oh, look at that. Rose. This is wine barrel. Ming what is that . Wood, huh . Yes, its from wine barrel. Ming from wine barrel . Yes. Okay, so rice, hold in right hand. Ming yep. And then fish in left hand. Ming yep. Take the wasabi in the middle, between fish and rice, and hold like this, okay . And then turn it over, squeeze, push, squeeze, push. Ming thats awesome. Very easy. Ming so we have a hamachi nigiri. Yes, hamachi nigiri. Then same thing, okay . Fish, rice, wasabe inside. Ming hai. Hold, then make, turn over. Ming thats awesome. Let me ask you, morimotosan, what would you drink with this . You have your own sake, right . Yes, i have a morimoto. See, see, see . Ming i love the teardrop. Thats beautiful. Awesome. And then here. Ming a little bit of wasabi. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Ming laughs fantastic. Here. speaking japanese okay, morimotosan, you are the best. Thank you very much. Ming thank you. So your headband. Ming my headband. Thank you. Ming all right, lets try this. I want you to try. Tell me what you think. Im going to try your. Im going to try the hamachi. Oh, soy sauce. Ming yes, shoyu. Hai, shoyu. Ming in japan they use their fingers, too, right . Sushi is a finger food. Ming yeah, its a finger food. Yes. Ming mmm. See . Ming please, try this out. Okay. So load up everything . Ming yeah, just take it. Exactly, exactly. Use the leaf. How did you know . So its kind of like a sandwich. Yes. Ming right . Lets see. One, two, bite. Mmm, good. This is nice. Ming maybe its on your menu. Mmm. Ming all right, unfortunately, weve got to go. Morimotosan, you are the best. I have to try your sashimi salad. See this. Oh. You know what . Theres a reason youre an iron chef. Thank you. Ming speaking japanese you are the best. Thank you all for watching. Come to napa, come to morimoto. As always, peace and good eating. Drinking my s