Chirashi

The last time I had a chirashi was back in 2005 at the Fish Market in Tokyo. God knows why it's been so long that I've had  chirashi. I remember that moment too. It was a small, narrow restaurant on the side of the Fish Market. None of us knew how to speak Japanese but the good thing is their menu was all in photos. This restaurant seemed to make nothing but chirashis.

From wikipedia:
Chirashizushi (ちらし寿司^?, "scattered sushi") is a bowl of sushi rice topped with a variety of sashimi and garnishes.

At first, I was a bit skeptical on how good raw fish would be on plain white sushi rice. I suppose it's not much different than from sushi other than its placement. But, there was just something about a chirashi that makes it so good. Maybe because that's all there was. Again, going back to to simplicity makes it best. Thick slices of the freshest raw fish placed in a shape of a fan on top of a bowl of rice. The fish was so fresh that it melted in my mouth. I remember it was my first time eating sea urchins. It looked disgusting. But, tasted so... so good.

The chirashi I had tonight looked very different. But the presentation itself was beautiful. Sorry, didn't have a camera on me. There were different kinds of roes mixed in with all sorts of sliced sashimi and unagi. There were also crunchy, sweet radishes and some sort of sprout. Oh, to die for.

I was trying out Kiyo Sushi on Cambie Rd. in Richmond with Geoff, Kia, and Patsy.. It was recommended by Geoff's mom I believe, but I've also heard a friend mention it before. It's run by Japanese people. Small. Simple. But busy on a Friday night. Geoff and Kia are in town for a few days. Even though it's been more than a year since their wedding, I could still see the honeymoon phase in them.

I was a 14 year old teenage girl when I met Geoff. And through all these years, we went through our own heart breaks, graduating highschool, graduating university, and then him graduating post-grad and changing his "Mr." to "Dr.". He also gave me my first sip of alcohol when I was only 16 and him 19. I still remember. Irish cream. It tastes good, he said. Haha. And now... having dinner with him and his wife and chatting about work.

Patsy and I go way back to highschool as well. Although I must admit, being in the same city, we don't see each other very often. But, to me anyway, who's counting how many times we see each other? As long as every time we do, we always have a memorable good time.

Meeting up with old friends for dinner on  a Friday night... oh, and chirashi... some of life's many simple pleasures.