JAPAN: CHIRASHI

 

In New York City there's a Japanese restaurant that we used to go to called Ootoya. There were two in the city that we went to regularly. One was on 41st street near Times Square, and the other was in Chelsea on 18th street. The restaurant was often crowded, and they didn't take reservations, and though we would often have to wait for a table, I always considered that a good sign. On their menu, I had my standard favorites, but I almost always ordered their Chirashi bowl. It's a bowl of sashimi pieces, sometimes egg and seaweed, over vinegar rice. It was satisfying and filling, but it was pricey. If I remember correctly, it was about thirty dollars - though it did come with soup and other condiments. But I always thought of it as sushi in a bowl. And that's what it is, essentially. 

I discovered later that Chirashi bowls are typically a way for the chef to use extra, unattractive pieces of fish, the pieces they can't use for making sushi. So it's an economical and practical dish to make for the sushi restaurant, it sounds like. But I'd order it again. I miss it, in fact. I'm thinking of making it at home, and plan to buy fresh fish, which is plentiful in Italy (though Asian ingredients are not). 

A book by an author from Japan to go with Chirashi:

Happy Money by Ken Honda

Ken Honda - Japan's #1 bestselling personal development guru - knows that getting rich quick is no way to achieve happiness. Too often, money is a source of fear, stress, and anger, sometimes breaking apart relationships and even ruining lives. We like to think money is just a number or a piece of paper, but it is so much more than that. Money has the ability to smile; its energy changes when it is given with a certain feeling, and this energy impacts not only ourselves but others as well. 

Although Ken Honda is often called a 'money guru,' his real job over the past decade has been to help others discover the tools they already possess to heal their own lives and relationships with money. In Happy Money the 'Zen Millionaire'' explains, in practical and accessible language, how to achieve peace of mind when it comes to money.

Learn how to treat money as a welcome guest, allowing it to come and go with respect and without resentment, understand and improve your Money EQ; unpack the myth of scarcity, and embrace the process of giving money, not just receiving it.