Nozawa Bar

Single piece of anago, or saltwater eel, nigiri

Food Spotlight: Anago and Unagi

By Clement Mok October 24, 2018 Food Spotlight / KazuNori / Nozawa Bar / SUGARFISH

For thousands of years, eel has been an important part of Japanese cuisine. There are two main types of eel: saltwater, or anago, and freshwater, or unagi. While they are both eels, unagi and anago have very different tastes and textures. Unagi is the richer and more flavorful of the two and is full of umami; we serve it at SUGARFISH and are working on a hand roll for KazuNori.  When our team travels to Japan, one of Nozawa’s absolute […]

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Dish of soy sauce

Food Spotlight: Soy Sauce

By Clement Mok July 27, 2018 Food Spotlight / KazuNori / Nozawa Bar / SUGARFISH

Soy sauce in its current form was created about 2,200 years ago, making it one of the world’s oldest condiments. It is a popular complement to many Asian cuisines, including sushi, that lends an earthy, umami flavor. Soy sauce, or shoyu, is made of soybeans, wheat, salt and water, plus “koji.”  The soybeans are soaked, boiled, and combined with the roasted wheat, and then the koji – a mold culture for the fermentation process – is added.  The mixture is […]

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Dish of thinly sliced jellyfish sashimi

Food Spotlight: Kurage

By Clement Mok May 15, 2018 Food Spotlight / Nozawa Bar

Kurage, or jellyfish, has been a surprise favorite for guests at Nozawa Bar. Just after we opened five years ago, we served kurage as something new for guests to try. Because it’s such an unusual dish, we were not sure of how it would be received. Happily, our guests’ reaction has been so positive that we try to serve it every day it’s available. Our kurage is flown in from Japan, and we serve it as sashimi, sliced and simply prepared with […]

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Knife cutting slab of tamago, or cooked egg

Food Spotlight: Tamago

By Clement Mok March 22, 2018 Food Spotlight / Los Angeles / Nozawa Bar

Tamago, Japanese for “egg,” is essentially a Japanese omelet made by rolling together several layers of cooked egg. Traditionally, tamago is prepared with a combination of eggs, rice, vinegar, sugar, and sometimes soy sauce or sake. The chef then uses a makiyakinabe, or special rectangular omelet pan, to cook the egg, layer after layer, carefully folding it upon itself. Many sushi lovers gauge a chef’s skills by how well artfully they prepare their tamago. At Nozawa Bar, Chef Fujita slices the […]

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