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  Mr. "Yama" Concentrating
  Originally uploaded by yusheng.
 

I was busted by my dining companion a few weeks ago for trying to drop some rusty nihongo on a Korean sushi chef. Somehow our drunken conversation swerved onto the topic of authentic Japanese sushi versus California sushi and then by extension we wandered into a dopey debate about Japanese versus non-Japanese sushi chefs. I’d like to thank Sapporo for the assistance.

Meantime, the Daily Bulletin actually did some authentic reporting on the topic and come up with some interesting information.

Andy Matsuda, founder of Sushi Chef Institute in Los Angeles, said about 70 percent of Japanese restaurants in Southern California are owned by non-Japanese immigrants — mostly with Korean, Chinese, Thai and Filipino backgrounds.

According to reporter Wendy Leung’s findings, the percentage of non-Japanese sushi chefs in SoCal is only expected to grow:

Over the past ten years the Japanese-Americans population in California dropped 8 percent. Meanwhile, the Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Filipino communities grew dramatically.

Leung also talks to Mexican sushi chefs and notes that in a sushi chef competition sponsored by the Japanese Restaurant Association of Southern California, winners in the past two years were of Mexican and Portuguese descent.

Check out the story.

[update] EH just sent me The Prejudice Map. It’s a semi-relevant, highly recommended read. i.e., Ethiopians = “big eyes, rocksteady records” Link