notes:
1
Kanibaba (the vegetable version is the Chinese Pygmy Rodeo) is
our most dificult roll to make. It takes me about forty minutes to
complete one. It is a hand carved potato wrapped around a jumbo
soft-shelled crab, with torch toasted havarti cheese and lemon dill
sauce on top. It is topped with dime-sized fried Asian shore crabs.
These crabs are caught by licensed Connecticut fisherman. Asian
shore crabs migrated on the ballasts of ships in the 1980's. They
are aggressive predators and disliked by fisherman for eating up
the larvae of shellfish. There are no known recipes that exist that
use these foreign invaders and your pioneering eating habits are
doing the fisherman a favor (not really). This is my favorite roll.
The dish is sculpted to look like crabs crawling on rocks during
low tide on one of many of Connecticut’s sea shores. Sip Ultra
Violet Kisses17while you stare at it and you can truly believe that
you are the sea.
2
Recently catfish wiggled its way into my menu. Historically,
when sushi cuisine used freshwater fish such as carp (narezushi), it
is not outlandish to surmise that catfish may have also been used.
When you think of it that way, suddenly, it’s not that strange that
you’re eating catfish sushi. My most basic catfish sushi is named
the Catfish Blues. Its recipe is simple and good in the way a cat-
fish po’ boy is. The Greatest Sushi South Of The Mason-Dixon (the vegetable version is the Apple Bottom Sushi) is my way of
tipping my hat to the south’s greatest shared creation: Soul Food.
This sushi recipe is especially time consuming to prepare but the
ingredients are decidedly unglamorous...true to good old fash-
ioned Southern cooking. I use grits, fried catfish (marinated
overnight in lots of spice and garlic) and okra and lots of Cheddar
cheese and hot hot spices which results in perhaps the heartiest roll
in the history of sushi...or at least in the history of Miya’s Sushi. I
use grits in lieu of rice because there’s nothing more American
than corn and this is sushi that could have only been born here in
America. My recipe for grits is inspired by Mary Margaret’s
famous cheese grits, one of my favorite things to eat while I’m in
Texas...or anywhere else for that matter. I chose not to use a more
sophisticated cheese than cheddar because there is no cheese that
says working class American more than bright yellow Cheddar. If
you were to replace the Cheddar in macaroni and cheese it would
no longer be that wonderful dish of our youth. Similarly, if I were
to put Camembert in this roll or steamed it instead of frying it in
cornmeal...it simply would be robbed of it’s Southern Soul. It is
safe to say that Fats Domino probably didn’t like sushi but I imag-
ine that he would have loved the Apple Bottom Sushi with some
cornbread and some black eyed peas!
2.5
“Your tempura is brown and burnt up” he huffed. My Mexcans can’t make tempura!? They can, and our tempura is brown because we use our own vegan whole wheat recipe, okey?
3
The Devil’s Black Fish Sampler tips its hat to Cajun cooking. I
sear tuna, salmon and black marlin in Korean processed chili pep-
per called Kokucharu. Kokucharu is used to make Kimchee. By
searing the fish in super high heat (with the pepper pressed onto
the surface of the fish) the fish stays raw in the center while it
cooks and burns on the outside. I love the contrast between fla-
vors, textures and temperatures that are created by the searing.
4
Tea Leaf Aloha: The Chinese use black tea to cook poultry. My
goal for this recipe was to use Japanese green tea to cook fish
instead. The result is a parched earth tasting green tea flavored
Black Marlin.
5
Tyger Tyger (the vegetable version of this is the JapAfrican
Queen): In his poem, "Tyger, Tyger," William Blake asks the ques-
tion "why are things the way that they are?" With this roll, I ask
the question why did sushi have to come from Asia? With the Tyger Tyger I imagined that sushi originated in Africa, where
geneticists have discovered that man originated. Many scholars
believe that the land of Sheba, which was one of the ancient spice
trading routes of the world, might have existed where Ethiopia is
today. Tyger, Tyger is a roll of rare cooked tuna (plenty is caught
off of the coast of Ethiopia) and goat cheese (Ethiopians are lovers
of meat and until recently didn't eat much seafood). It contains a
dozen spices (collectively called berbere) some of which originated
in the modern Eritrean and Ethiopian coastal region of Africa.
Axumite Legend, the Old Testament and the Torah describe a time
in history when the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon and
gave him a gift of spices around 1000 BC. For this roll, instead of
rice, I used Teff (which is a highly nutritious Ethiopian grass grain)
to make a crepe. This roll should not be dipped in soy sauce.
6
The Two Fish Cha Cha is seared black marlin that has been line
caught in the tropical and sub-tropical Indo-Pacific oceans. It is in
the family of swordfish and is a true giant that can weigh up to
1200 pounds. When people ask for Toro, which is Bluefin Tuna
belly fat, I offer them Black Marlin instead which is every bit as
buttery but not over-fished. In this recipe dehydrated bits of
Bonito Tuna and coarse kosher salt are pressed onto the fish, so
one type of fish becomes the central seasoning for another.
7
The Nine Spice Sashimi was my most popular red snapper dish.
I replaced the snapper with tilapia when I learned that
red snapper was over-fished. Funny thing is, tilapia shines
through in this recipe far better than the snapper ever did. Tilapia,
by the way, is the wold’s original aquaculture fish. Hieroglyphics
show tilapia being pond raised. Tradition, also, holds that tilapia
was the fish Jesus used to feed five thousand on the Sea Of Galilee.
8
Sakura Sashimi is tilapia sashimi that has been marinated in fresh
beat pulp to give it a earthiness and a sweetness. It is served thin-
ly sliced and frozen, seasoned with coarse sea salt and a squeeze of
lime. As a kid I became fascinated by Inuits; maybe because of our
striking resemblance and love for raw fish. When I saw them on
National Geographic TV I always wished I could be there too, nib-
bling on the little frozen fish piled next to their ice hole. Eating
frozen raw fish the way Inuits do in the wintertime became the
inspiration for this dish. This dish should be served along with The Softest French Kisses, to contrast the sashimi styles. This
should not be dipped in soy sauce.
9
The secret to our sushi rice: Historically, vinegar and salt were
added to sushi rice as a way to preserve fish at a time when there
was no refrigeration. Today, rice sugar (mirin) and more often
cane sugar is added to sushi rice to sweeten it. Today our diet has
become dangerously and unpalatably salty and sugary. I limit the
intake of processed sugar in my diet. And since I do not need to
preserve my fish, doing away with the standard recipe for sushi
rice made perfect sense to me. Since most of my sushi involves
large flavors, the hearty whole grain mixtures that I have created-
help carry the recipes in a way that traditional sushi rice alone
could not. All of my sushi is multi-grain. As it’s base, my recipe
contains Carolina Gold Rice, which is considered the father of long
grain rice in the Americas. It originates from both Africa and
Indonesia and is among the most aromatic rices that I have ever
experienced. It was the economic back bone of the colonial and
antebellum Georgia and Carolina. After the Depression, Carolina
Gold Rice lost its popularity to new varieties of rice and became
practically extinct until it was brought back again in the mid nine-
teen eighties by a plantation owner in north Carolina named
Richard Schultz. Presently, it is one of the rarest and most expen-
sive varieties of rice that is commercially available. Since it is not a
glutenous rice, in order to use it in sushi, the grains are cracked
before cooking, to make it stickier. This rice is perfect for cracking
because it is more delicate than most and fractures very easily. The
traditional Japanse techniqe of cooking rice frowns upon the break-
ing of rice grains for it’s own legitimate gustatory reasons. The last
ingredients that I add to the Carolina Gold Rice is Japanese style
California short grain rice, quinoa and oat groats. For a few of my
other recipes I also add brown rice, wild rice, and whole grain bar-
ley. I’ve become enamored with whole grains because of the tex-
tures, flavors and aromaas that imparts to my recipes. I also love
them because, as I am becoming older and more health conscous, I
realized that eating whole grains makes me feel as healthy as an
Asian Hercules. An interesting fact: Quinoa is a complete protein;
it contains all the essential amino acids needed to sustain life.
Whole grain oats, on the other hand, helps lower high blood
pressure.
10
Wabisabi Salmon (the vegetarian version is Warm Grapes
Falling On A Happy Head): In Tanizaki's book, In Praise Of
Shadows, he talks about going into the woods, picking persimmon
leaves and using them to make wonderfully delicious salmon sushi
rolls that he ate all summer long. Inspired by this recipe, but
unable to find persimmon leaves, last summer I used wild grape
leaves instead to make my own seaweed-free salmon roll. In my
recipe, the grape leaves are simmered in a vegetable broth then
stuffed with seared salmon, flying fish caviar & avocado. For a
final Mediterranean twist, I drizzle the roll in extra virgin olive oil.
Wabisabi is a word coined by Tanizaki which describes the appre-
ciation for the beauty of something that ages naturally; like antique
furniture or the wrinkled face of the one you love are all Wabisabi.
11
The Bad Tempered Geisha Boy uses rope-grown mussels as the
central ingredient. I wanted to use mussels in my sushi because as
filter feeders, mussels naturally clean ocean water (rather than pol-
lute their environment like most farmed animals do). They also do
not need to be grazed or fed grain (mainly soybean) like all other
farmed animals. The Bad Tempered Geisha Boy roll reminds me of
fried clams, which are one of my favorite New England specialties.
12
The Squiggly Giggly Roll: This roll integrates very traditional
Japanese flavors of ume, shiso and bonito with the unusual texture
of squid. It should be served with the Black Eyed Squid because,
though the central ingredients are the same the rolls couldn’t be
more different. Neither of these rolls should be dipped in soy
sauce.
13
The Oaxacan Dragon: I’m crazy about Mexican food and culture
because I regularly raid the fridge at Chef Pablo’s and Juan’s house
while watching our favorite soap opera, Maria la del Barrio. Over
the years I’ve become crazy about mole and the Oaxacan Dragon is
inspired by Mexican mole poblano. Chef Juan’s mother sends him
homemade batches of mole from Mexico and Chef Anisseto cooks
it up in our kitchen, often served with tender boiled chicken wings.
Mexican cuisine is the most complicated of all of the cuisines in
Latin America and mole is a good example of this. Mole, more
often than not, contains pepper, fruit and a cacao base. Its recipes
vary vastly from one region to the other, from family to family. For
the Oaxacan Dragon, I wanted to use a central ingredient as delicate as Anisetto’s boiled chicken skin, so I chose locally caught bluegill sunfish. I drape tender
sunfish on a shrimp roll seasoned with my own recipe of
mole made from crushed cookies, bananas, strawberries, chocolate,
pumpkin seeds, raisins, ancho chiles and a bunch of other ingredients. Cookies are often used in traditional recipes for mole. There
are very few cookies more American than Oreos and since we’ve
all grown up with them I wanted to incorporate this American
Icon into my recipe. Oreos and soy sauce do not mix.
14
There’s a lot more to the crunchiness in the Best Crunchy
Roll Ever than meets the eye. Shiitake mushroom flavored tempura batter is
tossed with dried chili pepper, Rosemary, flaked seaweed and Iranian ghormeh sabzi
which contains leek, parsley, spinach, fenugreek and coriander. Deep water smooth
skin domestic escolar is tossed with a roasted sesame oil that is infused with chili
pepper, black pepper and garlic. I debated if I should use escolar as it naturally
contains wax esters that can cause strange, messy bowel movements when consumed in
quantity. Smooth Skin Escolar is deemed "GREEN-BEST CHOICE" by the South African
Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI/WWF) in terms of its environmental sustainability.
"Escolar is landed all over the globe, but only U.S. fisheries are known to have any
sort of management protocols. Outside of the US, the longliners that bring in escolar
kill countless sea turtles, sharks, seabirds, and other animals through their lax
regulations and sloppy practices."
- Sustainable Sushi, Casson Trennor
15
Happy Together: In this recipe my goal was to have very differ-
ent but related species of fish compliment each other. Yellow fin
tuna is light and lean while Boston mackerel is full-flavored(fishy)
and oily. In this roll, you will find that you will taste the ingredi-
ents in stages; the powerful mackerel first, followed by the clean
sweetness of the tuna then the aromatic shiso that finally lingers,
cleansing your palate. This roll would not work without the shiso
used to bind the flavors. And in case you were wondering, I grow
the shiso myself.
16
Black Eyed Squid: When I was a teenager backpacking in Spain
I ate a squid dish that sparked a sushi epiphany. It was a spicy
and aromatic black rice paella. This is my sushi homage to this
wonderful memory. Like the paella, Black Eyed Squid is best
served with a wedge of lemon or lime. Black Eyed Squid is made
from rice cooked in seafood stock then tossed with imported
Spanish squid ink. Inside the roll are fried squid with scallions,
salted Chinese black beans and hot pepper. As a stark contrast, the Squiggly Giggly roll should be served with the Black Eyed Squid.
The Squiggly Giggly roll is raw squid with refreshing home grown
shiso and pickled sour plum (ume). Since I am surrounded by
pine trees, there’s not much that I can grow on teh land around my
house, but shiso thrives. By autumn they even spring from cracks
in the pavement around my house. These rolls should not be
dipped in soy sauce.
17
Passion Without Words (Ride The Wild Donkey is the seafood
version with shrimp): It is believed that brie cheese was the
favorite cheese of King Charlemagne, the father of Europe. But
more significant to my creation is my own childhood brie addic-
tion. I loved brie so much that for my twelve birthday, my mom
bought me three huge wheels of it and I savored every bite I took
of it over the next few weeks. My goal for this roll was to simply
use brie as the central ingredient. The above rolls are a couple of
my all time favorites where the brie is an essential and irreplace-
able component of the recipe.
18
The Chinese Firecracker Sake: Firecracker lovers drink it out of
snifter glasses, sipping it slowly, savoring its honey citrus fire. It’s,
also the best sake to sake bomb with. It turns beer into a citrusy
spicy cocktail. It is full of vitamin C and the chili pepper causes
your stomach to secrete enzymes that help protect it from the rav-
ages of cigarettes and junk food. It also promotes a feeling of
euphoria since the capsicum (chemical that makes peppers spicy)
in it causes your body to produce endorphins (active component of
a "runner's high”). The Chinese firecracker sake is aged from six
months to a year, depending on how long the batch takes to fully
mature.
.
19
Emerald Witches' Lips: It's made from the needles and cones of
Norway Spruce, White Pine or Hemlock, (not what Socrates used
to kill himself – which is in the carrot family). The pine sake is cit-
rusy, because pine contains more vitamin C than citrus fruit.
Native Americans used to eat the inner bark of pine during winter
famine because it is so nutritive. It was also used to treat scurvy
(vitamin C deficiency during the turn of the nineteenth century.)
Imagine taking a sip of lemonade while inhaling a deep breath of
surrounding pine forest; that sums up the Emerald Witches' Lips
experience. Every batch is different since it is affected by the indi-
vidual tree, the seasons and myself.
19.5
Nine Spice Lion Years ago there was an article in the Times about how fugu (deadly pufferfish) consumption in Japan had dropped dramatically. People are bored with fugu, and want a new poisonous sushi fish. the destructive lionfish is a voracious invasive predator should be part of every sushi menu.
20
Ultraviolet Kisses is made with red basil from my garden and
salted green plums. My cousin, Erichan, took me to a tea ceremony
at a monastery in Japan where they served us salty ume tea. I
couldn’t believe my mouth so I tinkered with the concept of a salty
beverage and evolved it into one of Pierre’s and my favorite
watch-the-sun-come-up sakes. I infuse autumn shiso into sake for
most of the winter before adding ume and infusing it for at least
another month.
21
Kids love the Cherokee Sumac Love Potion Sake because it
tastes a lot like lemonade! (I’m kidding, I don’t give kid’s booze
unless they are European). I specifically use the furry staghorn
sumac, roasting it for three hours in the oven to deepen its flavors
similar to the technique of roasted coffee. Like all of the other wild
plants that we use, we forage this from my friend’s farm, in
Ledyard. Native Americans would dry staghorn sumac to make a
nutritious winter beverage. I feel a special affinity towards Native
American culture, because after my people (mongols) crossed the
Berring Strait from the Asian continent, during the Ice Age, we
evolved into “American Indians.” Though I didn’t personally walk
across the Berring Straight to get here (I took a plane), still, I feel
like a brother to Sitting Bull.
22
I was the cool acting Asian guy in a Carlsberg beer commercial
that ran its course in Asia. I travelled to Asia that year but nobody
seemed to notice that I was famous, except for me.
23
Seven Deadly Sushi: is a roll of banana, peanut butter, straw-
berries & chocolate – deep fried and topped with baby scoops of
rose petal ice cream that we make ourselves from organically
grown rose petals. Ideally, it is eaten immediately in one bite, com-
bining the hot, the cold and the different flavors simultaneously. If
you think sushi styled desert is strange; think of rice pudding. The
proof is in it. Heaven forbid you dip this dessert in soy sauce.
24
My favorite thing to do when I was a kid was to create a new
world out of crayon, clay or just about anything I could get my
hands on. Not much has changed, except my medium these days
is food and my technique is cooking. With my cooking I always
strive to nourish the body, the mind and the soul. The other day, I
read a touching memoir called "The Tender Bar" by J.R.
Moehringer, about a bar and its regulars that tenderly raise a lost,
fatherless child. I couldn't help but think that this is what we do
for each other at Miya’s. Not that we are lost or fatherless but that
we have created a haven for people who care about each other.
You can't do anything great without CARE...it is the intangible
thing that you can taste is missing in the food, even when all else is
done perfectly.
25
The summer before Miya’s opened, I could see that my mom was
killing herself with all of the work she had to do, so I asked her if
my classmate David I could help her out by painting the restau-
rant walls. I begged her to let me do the job and I knew I could do
it because I was one of the best artist that I knew, at my age, in my
school. So, after striving to create a Jackson Pollock on about five
square feet restaurant wall, my mother thanked us and let the pros
take over. As David and I literally slid out of the restaurant, leav-
ing streaks of paint behind our heels, I knew that we had helped
my mom out. Helping her out made me feel like a grown up, sort
of, as we ran off to find bait to go fishing with. I hoped that we
would catch a largemouth, because I had a recipe in mind.
26
A man came into the restaurant immediately giving my
buddy/soul brother/waiter/ Pierre a hard time. He looked
around noticing that none of our staff is Asian. “Why aren’t you
Japanese?” He accused, now fixated on the Mexican chefs.
“Because my parents are from Chicago,” Pierre deadpanned. Some
of the brightest people play the best dunces. After dinner, the man
raved about the food and promised to bring his family to eat from
New York. We felt like Catholics because we knew that we had
saved the soul of yet another heathen. It was as if we were able to
say to him, “No, it doesn’t always have to be missionary position.”
27
For years, people would come in and sit down, take a peek at the
menu and get up and leave, in a hurry. People like that used to
break my little heart, but they did me a favor. I promised myself
that no matter how “successful” I ever got, I would never take any-
body for granted and I don’t.
28
Today, Bruce Blair (Buddhist Chaplain of Yale) introduced me to
a new word: MAHA GHOSANANDA which means in Tibetan, the
silence in the time between when thunder rolls and lightning
strikes. I love this word because it makes me think about the
moments that we let slip by, unnoticed but not any less significant
than the ones that we do notice. Last year we were open 7 days a
week and I felt like I was on over-drive with my eyes set on some
distant future. This year we are closed on Sundays and Mondays.
It is a Sabbath that allows us to chill out and appreciate all of the
momentitos that add up to our lives. “Gather ye rosebuds while..”
29
Food has always aspired to be more than something that is sim-
ply nutritive, delicious or beautiful. Man has always used food to
reach out to God. Recently, I’d been studying The Seven Species of
the Old Testament/Torah. These were the basic foods consumed
by the Jewish people in Israel during biblical times. I have been
planning a trip to Israel to immerse myself in that ancient world
with the goal of creating a personal dish that would celebrate this.
Serendipitously, through mutual friends, Dr. Dave and Shana Ross,
I was introduced to James Ponet (Jewish Chaplain of Yale). It turns
out, for years, Jim had been trying to create a Jewish cuisine based
on the concept of light which is a central theme in the Torah. The
other night we spoke for six hours about this but I could have
enjoyed six more, which will happen soon.
30
What I see myself doing is something that I call Food Cubism – I
break up the foods that individual cultures enjoy, by analyzing
them, and re-assemble them into another form to create, finally, a
more expansive, if universal, human cuisine. I use the techniques
commonly used in the cuisine of sushi as the media.
31
I will go to Mexico and live with the families of the guys that I
work with. This trip would include crossing the dessert and endur-
ing some of the hardships involved with being an illegal immi-
grant. (By the way, all of my guys have social security cards and
pay taxes. Lots of taxes. Though an anarchic part of me believes in
an ideal world where nations would not exist, I have mixed feel-
ings about illegal immigration for practical, if not selfish reasons).
Being foreign born and with parents who spoke with accents, as a
child I had this acute sense of being an immigrant. I think this is
the reason I have this affinity towards displaced people every-
where. In its heart of hearts, my cuisine has this hope to bring
together and heal this broken home that we call humanity.
As I’m writing this, I can smell the chicken grilling and it’s making
my stomach roar like a lion!
Best Sushi Statewide Winner 2009 - Connecticut Magazine Reader's Poll
"The courage to present such radical dishes is rare and admirable, but the ability to make them all appetizing is extraordinary."
-Yale Daily News 2008
"For Sheer, gutsy inventiveness, nothing I've eaten this year beats New Haven's Miya. When the young chef...is at the stove, it is sublime and it is a joy to be in the presence of such an original mind."
-The New York Times 2005
27 time winner - Best Overall Restaurant, Best Sushi
& Best Japanese Restaurant,
-The Advocate reader’s poll, 1983 - 2008
“Bun Lai performed the seemingly impossible and assembled
the most incredible combination of food stuffs, turning out
one brilliant creation after the other...”
-Offshore Magazine. 2004
“The cozy decor; the waiters who know your name and
favorite dish after you have eaten there twice; and the
general sense of brio, elan, eclat, panache - pick your favorite
unusual word to describe this most unusual sushi joint, a
sushi restaurant with the spirit of a bar and the comfiness of
a diner.”
-New Haven Advocate. 2005
“The food was unique, precisely seasoned, beautifully
prepared and presented - the best one can hope for in an
original cuisine.”
-The New York Times. 2004
I went to Miya’s twice last week and would like to add a few
words: Oh, My, God!”
-The New Haven Register 2003
“The search for the best sushi ends at an unprepossessing
eatery on the western edge of Yale’s campus. Miya’s serves
the state’s most inventive and artfully presented Japanese
creations.”
-Fairfield Magazine. 2001
Best Of Show, 2004 & 2005
-Taste Of The Nation
|
