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Shiro: Wit, Wisdom & Recipes from a Sushi Pioneer
"Shiro Kashiba stands atop any list defining Japanese food in Seattle. He's been called many things--culinary master, fisherman, mushroom forager and nature lover--but first and foremost he's the "Sushi King." His eponymous debut cookbook is no chef-vanity affair, though, but a riveting and imaginative blending of East and West in the quest for high gastronomic art." Shelf Awareness
Shiro Kashiba used to walk to the fishing piers of Seattle in the 1960s to retrieve buckets of unwanted salmon roe and pesky Puget Sound octopus from the fishermen. He'd hike the beaches of the Pacific Northwest to gather geoduck before there was a market for the shellfish. Chef Shiro saw treasure where others saw trash. And through this sushi chef's eyes, readers discover the amazing bounty of the Pacific Northwest.
In this revealing cookbook/memoir, Chef Shiro recounts his early days in Tokyo washing dishes and sleeping in the backroom of a prestigious Ginza sushi shop, his decision to come to the United States with little more than an introductory letter, and his ultimate success in Seattle.
But the story doesn't stop there. While Shiro settles into his role as Seattle's premier sushi chef, he develops a deep appreciation for the local delicacies of his new home. Soon he begins to replace expensive Japanese imports with cheaper and more delicious local delicacies. Goodbye bluefin, hello albacore. Shiro tells fascinating and often humorous stories about the region's offerings: his first encounters with geoduck (some say he was the first to serve it raw), the world's tastiest sea urchin, hunting for matsutake mushrooms in the Cascades, a twelve-course meal of silvery ocean smelt, and much more. Ann Norton provides mouthwatering photographs of Shiro's seasonal recipes.
Shiro Kashiba used to walk to the fishing piers of Seattle in the 1960s to retrieve buckets of unwanted salmon roe and pesky Puget Sound octopus from the fishermen. He'd hike the beaches of the Pacific Northwest to gather geoduck before there was a market for the shellfish. Chef Shiro saw treasure where others saw trash. And through this sushi chef's eyes, readers discover the amazing bounty of the Pacific Northwest.
In this revealing cookbook/memoir, Chef Shiro recounts his early days in Tokyo washing dishes and sleeping in the backroom of a prestigious Ginza sushi shop, his decision to come to the United States with little more than an introductory letter, and his ultimate success in Seattle.
But the story doesn't stop there. While Shiro settles into his role as Seattle's premier sushi chef, he develops a deep appreciation for the local delicacies of his new home. Soon he begins to replace expensive Japanese imports with cheaper and more delicious local delicacies. Goodbye bluefin, hello albacore. Shiro tells fascinating and often humorous stories about the region's offerings: his first encounters with geoduck (some say he was the first to serve it raw), the world's tastiest sea urchin, hunting for matsutake mushrooms in the Cascades, a twelve-course meal of silvery ocean smelt, and much more. Ann Norton provides mouthwatering photographs of Shiro's seasonal recipes.
320 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 27, 2021
I don't even eat sushi, but I want to now.
February 2, 2019
Loved this book!
Shiro Kashiba is a legend in the Seattle food world, the first to introduce Seattle to the art of *real* sushi. And such a personable guy!
This chronicles his start and his path along the way to today. He's still working, opening his current restaurant a few years ago. There's some recipes at the back of the book, but I loved his story, pictures, wife's calligraphy....
To my delight, one of the pictures caught my eye. Closer examination proved what I thought was the case - Shiro-san's wedding reception had been held at my father's first restaurant!
That whole slice of time in his career brought back such a flood of fond memories! The original owner of Maneki, across the street from my father's place, was a friend of the family and names and faces and places came back to the foreground.
Beautiful book.....
Shiro Kashiba is a legend in the Seattle food world, the first to introduce Seattle to the art of *real* sushi. And such a personable guy!
This chronicles his start and his path along the way to today. He's still working, opening his current restaurant a few years ago. There's some recipes at the back of the book, but I loved his story, pictures, wife's calligraphy....
To my delight, one of the pictures caught my eye. Closer examination proved what I thought was the case - Shiro-san's wedding reception had been held at my father's first restaurant!
That whole slice of time in his career brought back such a flood of fond memories! The original owner of Maneki, across the street from my father's place, was a friend of the family and names and faces and places came back to the foreground.
Beautiful book.....
April 17, 2018
I love this book and adore Shiro. It was a great meld of memoir with photographs and recipes. I didn't feel like the book was confused and trying to be too many things, I felt like it was exactly what it needed to be. Grateful that it was written and that I came across it at the library.
June 25, 2018
Not the meatiest memoir, but I enjoyed reading his story, especially after our delicious omakase experience at Sushi Kashiba!
December 4, 2023
adored this, best memoir I’ve read yet
December 29, 2014
I received this book for Christmas and expected to find glossy photos of tuna, uni, and piles of grated wasabi. A master's perspective on sushi and the way forward. It was there, but this part of the book seemed like an afterthought. Shiro's memoir, in reality, is a love letter to Seattle, but not today's Seattle. The Seattle prior to Microsoft and Amazon. One that is slowly fading.
The book is printed on a matte paper that almost feels like a worn map. In it are mostly photos and illustrations of the Seattle that nurtured Shiro and allowed him to become a sushi pioneer in the Pacific Northwest. The illustrations are what tugged at my heart. They have the look of photos from the 1970's, that looked as if they were printed on canvas and stretched over a frame. My parents had several of these around our house while I was growing up, and I couldn't help but miss the Seattle in Shiro's book.
Seattle has always been a town with incredible natural bounty. Not just the products that are grown or farmed here, but the food that can be found. While we have not been hit with pollution as badly as many cities, I can't help but feel that we're disconnected from the "live off the land" mentality that was once so easy here. Shiro speaks specifically of wild mushrooms, and how families guard their limited foraging spots because of the scarcity of good mushrooms. In the 1980's you could find chanterelle mushrooms very easily. We would go in large groups, scour the hills, and come back with crateloads of yellow fungi.
Don't get me wrong, Seattle has grown and become prosperous, and my wallet is happy for that. I'm not even an avid outdoors-woman. I do, however, remember many of the days that Shiro spent foraging for food in the Pacific Northwest, and loved his book simply because it reminded me of what I really miss about Seattle from those days and fail to verbalize when people ask me how I think Seattle has changed.
The book is printed on a matte paper that almost feels like a worn map. In it are mostly photos and illustrations of the Seattle that nurtured Shiro and allowed him to become a sushi pioneer in the Pacific Northwest. The illustrations are what tugged at my heart. They have the look of photos from the 1970's, that looked as if they were printed on canvas and stretched over a frame. My parents had several of these around our house while I was growing up, and I couldn't help but miss the Seattle in Shiro's book.
Seattle has always been a town with incredible natural bounty. Not just the products that are grown or farmed here, but the food that can be found. While we have not been hit with pollution as badly as many cities, I can't help but feel that we're disconnected from the "live off the land" mentality that was once so easy here. Shiro speaks specifically of wild mushrooms, and how families guard their limited foraging spots because of the scarcity of good mushrooms. In the 1980's you could find chanterelle mushrooms very easily. We would go in large groups, scour the hills, and come back with crateloads of yellow fungi.
Don't get me wrong, Seattle has grown and become prosperous, and my wallet is happy for that. I'm not even an avid outdoors-woman. I do, however, remember many of the days that Shiro spent foraging for food in the Pacific Northwest, and loved his book simply because it reminded me of what I really miss about Seattle from those days and fail to verbalize when people ask me how I think Seattle has changed.
June 9, 2020
"In sushi, the simple taste is best. This is the most important point in understanding Japanese cuisine. Simple, fresh, local. These are my touchstones." (p.23)
My second read for #januaryinjapan was this visually beautiful memoir and recipe collection of Shiro Kashiba, the renowned chef responsible for introducing traditional sushi to the Seattle area. This was a delightful glimpse into his life journey, one full of 6-day work weeks, 15-hour days, years of training, decades of work, and absolutely no guarantee of success. But always underlined by his passion for sushi and his love of sharing Japanese culture with others.
As a sushi chef, Shiro stood out because he decided to use local ingredients to make traditional sushi. I loved reading about his discovery of the PNW's natural bounty: monstrous geoducks dotting the beaches, mushroom picking, harvesting kelp, collecting precious roe (for free!) from fisherman who were just throwing it out, and his love of smelt. He credits his success to this frugality, creativity, and resourcefulness.
He also included sobering observations about the changing environment. Describing our current Puget Sound as "delicate" or calling to take care of the environment before our resources disappear hit me hard. But really, how can we talk about food without talking about the environment? You can tell that his work is as much about stewardship as it is about creating delicious meals.
This memoir is also filled with stunning visuals - old photos, letters, hand-written notes, and lovely graphic design-work really set this apart. If you are a sushi lover, definitely pick up this book. It's a feast for the eyes and the heart.
My second read for #januaryinjapan was this visually beautiful memoir and recipe collection of Shiro Kashiba, the renowned chef responsible for introducing traditional sushi to the Seattle area. This was a delightful glimpse into his life journey, one full of 6-day work weeks, 15-hour days, years of training, decades of work, and absolutely no guarantee of success. But always underlined by his passion for sushi and his love of sharing Japanese culture with others.
As a sushi chef, Shiro stood out because he decided to use local ingredients to make traditional sushi. I loved reading about his discovery of the PNW's natural bounty: monstrous geoducks dotting the beaches, mushroom picking, harvesting kelp, collecting precious roe (for free!) from fisherman who were just throwing it out, and his love of smelt. He credits his success to this frugality, creativity, and resourcefulness.
He also included sobering observations about the changing environment. Describing our current Puget Sound as "delicate" or calling to take care of the environment before our resources disappear hit me hard. But really, how can we talk about food without talking about the environment? You can tell that his work is as much about stewardship as it is about creating delicious meals.
This memoir is also filled with stunning visuals - old photos, letters, hand-written notes, and lovely graphic design-work really set this apart. If you are a sushi lover, definitely pick up this book. It's a feast for the eyes and the heart.
December 24, 2011
Shiro: Wit, Wisdom and Recipes from a Sushi Pioneer embodies sushi within the context of American social and historical change resulting from the 1960's to the present day: the struggle define life in America as a Japanese person, the history of Japanese restaurants in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, and his concern for the environment, especially the degradation of the natural world due to modernization and population growth in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to adding "author" to his checklist, Kashiba is a teacher and the successful owner of Shiro's Sushi restaurant in Seattle, Washington and the memoir offers detailed insight and advice on running a reputable sushi counter or restaurant. Published in Seattle by Chin Music Press, a small press publisher focusing on Japanese translation, Shiro: Wit, Wisdom and Recipes from a Sushi Pioneer is a noteworthy cultural and culinary memoir certain to please fans of Shiro Kashiba as well as those interested in Japanese food and culture for years to come.
June 20, 2012
Originally published in Seattle Met magazine, Dec 2011
SHIRO KASHIBA’S MEMOIR, Shiro: Wit, Wisdom and Recipes from a Sushi Pioneer (Chin Music Press), takes us from the Ginza district of Tokyo to the shores of Puget Sound, where in 1966, the author says, “there wasn’t a sushi bar anywhere.” Shiro changed that with a series of restaurants—culminating with his namesake Belltown eatery—and helped put both raw fish and Seattle on the American culinary map. Though he considered moving elsewhere, the Pacific Northwest’s underwater bounty (salmon, tuna, the oft-overlooked smelt, and the otherworldly geoduck) was too rich to pass up. You could say the same for the book’s final 90 pages: recipes and tips that have made Shiro’s sushi some of the best in the land.
SHIRO KASHIBA’S MEMOIR, Shiro: Wit, Wisdom and Recipes from a Sushi Pioneer (Chin Music Press), takes us from the Ginza district of Tokyo to the shores of Puget Sound, where in 1966, the author says, “there wasn’t a sushi bar anywhere.” Shiro changed that with a series of restaurants—culminating with his namesake Belltown eatery—and helped put both raw fish and Seattle on the American culinary map. Though he considered moving elsewhere, the Pacific Northwest’s underwater bounty (salmon, tuna, the oft-overlooked smelt, and the otherworldly geoduck) was too rich to pass up. You could say the same for the book’s final 90 pages: recipes and tips that have made Shiro’s sushi some of the best in the land.
April 24, 2014
Not normally the type of book I would pick up based on the cover but the lovely people at Chin Music Press talked me into this book and I am glad they did.
I loved how the book told a story through print and pictures. I always knew that sushi struggled to get a food in the US and it was interesting to see how Shrio helped make sushi a part of Seattle since it is now so popular.
After reading this book I might go back to trying sushi again. I got scared off when people told me about the parasite you could get from it. I was happy to see Shiro address that concern.
I loved how the book told a story through print and pictures. I always knew that sushi struggled to get a food in the US and it was interesting to see how Shrio helped make sushi a part of Seattle since it is now so popular.
After reading this book I might go back to trying sushi again. I got scared off when people told me about the parasite you could get from it. I was happy to see Shiro address that concern.
Read
November 6, 2014A brief memoir with some philosophizing on sustainability and tradition. The interesting layout, lots of whitespace and interspersed pictures, is itself reminiscent of the beautiful presentation of Japanese cuisine. Few recipes and the ones that are included are specific to the pacific northwest.
July 30, 2013
Absolutely a beautiful book to look at, but it is a bit lighter on actual text than I expected considering the page count. Still, I'm glad I bought it and the recipes at the back will surely be useful someday.
April 22, 2013
Great book both about sushi and philosophy. Positive and happy. Life affirming memoir.
May 13, 2013
A quick read from a charming sushi master. I am so hungry now.
November 19, 2015
Delightful memoir by Shiro Kashiba, of Shiro's and, longer ago, Nikko, in Seattle. Lots of photos, artwork and recipes! I tried the sake-steamed Manila clams--they're fabulous (and easy).
January 5, 2015
Lovely book, lovely person, lovely sushi. Will lead you to buy expensive Japanese food.
February 12, 2015
Easy, light, must read for any sushi loving Puget Sounder, especially if you have been fortunate enough to eat any of Shiro's sushi.
May 21, 2015
This is a stunning book in many ways-- simply and beautifully written, and the photographs are phenomenal. Highly recommended for any fan of sushi, Seattle, or Japan.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews