2011 Where to Dine Awards Finalist

2.May.2012

A heartfelt thank you to all our guests who voted us to be a finalist in the Best Japanese category at the 2011 Where to Dine Awards!  Although, we didn’t take home the gold, we are completely honored to be a finalist and in the same category as Guu, Ki Modern Japanese, Hapa Izakaya and the winner, Tojo’s.  Kazuhiro Hayashi, head sushi chef, Patrick Rider, Minami Manager and myself, Erica Pang, media and community relations representative for Miku attended the event held at the beautiful Ki Modern Japanese in the Shangri-La Hotel.  The charming and entertaining Fred Lee emceed the awards ceremony along side Tim Pawsey.  A great moment was honoring restaurant legend, Bud Kanke who is officially retiring from the industry after 40 years.  Congratulations to all the winners and finalists!  A huge thank you to Where Magazine for putting on such a wonderful event and of course, to Vancouver for being an amazing foodie city!

To view a list of all the winners, please check out Where to Dine Award Winners.

Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards 2012

24.April.2012

The Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards is one of the most talked about, anticipated culinary events of the year and yesterday was no exception.  Over 700 guests including foodies, chefs, restauranteurs, front of house staff and sommeliers gathered at the Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel to celebrate the best of the Vancouver culinary community.  Guests indulged on endless amounts of savory and sweet plates from the Sheraton, Two Rivers Specialty Meats, The Roaming Dragon and many more.  The event was truly a special celebration of Vancouver’s diverse, skilled and passionate restaurant industry.

The event hosts, Fiona Forbes and Michael Eckford of Urban Rush did a fantastic job at leading the awards ceremony.  The definite highlights of the night, were Kingyo’s crew chugging the bottle of wine and of course, Hawkworth Restaurant’s sweeping win.  Manager, Gary Hutton and Media and Community Relations, Erica Pang attended the event, to represent Miku Restaurant as it was nominated in the Best Upscale Japanese category.   Although we didn’t come home with gold, we are completely honored to in the same category as Tojo’s and Zest.  A heartfelt congratulations to all the winners — all very well deserved!  Special thanks to Lisa Nakamura Ngyuen of BC Business ‘The Social List’ for picture number 2!

For a full list of all the winners, check out Vancouver Magazine.

Miku Celebrates the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

28.March.2012

SakuraB Bento Box (April 5th)

We are excited to announce Miku Restaurant’s collaboration with Tojo’s and five other local Japanese chefs from: Shuraku, Zest, Zen, & Toshi’s Sushi for a limited-edition bento box.  Each chef has created a special dish that best represents the season of the cherry blossoms.  Our head sushi chef, Kazuhiro Hayashi has created the ‘Sakura Oshi’ which consists of ebi and hotate pressed with house made ume sauce.  The bloom of the cherry blossoms represent an important custom in Japan called hanami, literally meaning ‘viewing flowers.’  It’s said that the origin of hanami dates back to more than one thousand years ago when aristocrats enjoyed looking at beautiful cherry blossoms and writing poems.  Nowadays, people all over world enjoy this tradition while feasting on a picnic style meal.  Treat yourself on April 5th with SakuraB bento box and enjoy an afternoon lunch underneath a delightful cherry blossom tree!

> To view the full menu and to pre-order your SakuraB bento box, please click here (SOLD OUT!)

Hanami Select (April 5th-April 28th)

To celebrate the return of cherry blossoms this spring, Miku Restaurant will be featuring the ‘Hanami Select’ from April 5th-April 28th.   The dish will be inspired by the beauty of the delicate petals of a sakura tree and the fresh flavors of spring.  The dish is an assortment of flavors, featuring a Sakura roll filled with salmon, ebi, kanpyo, yamagobo, spinach, sakura denbu rice topped with pickled sakura blossom and wrapped in daikon.  The selection also includes 3 pieces of Aburi saba, maguro and hotate sushi, Aburi beef, wasabi heirloom potato and spring pea salad and a snow crab and shrimp cake miso tartar.  It will be available during dinner service for the price of $30.

> To view all restaurants featuring a Sakura Menu during the festival, click sakura map.
> For more info on the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, visit the official website or JapanFairVancouver.com

OH! SUSHI

15.March.2012

Last weekend, I attended the 7th Annual Vancouver Women in Film Festival at Vancity Theatre.  One of the featured films called ‘Oh! Sushi’ explores the origin of the BC roll.  The director, Toshimi Ono leads audience into the Vancouver sushi culture to how it all began and what it has evolved into today.  Two prominent sushi chefs, Hidekazu Kobotake of the popular downtown ‘fast food’ restaurant, Sushi Zero One and Tsutomu Hoshi of The Sandbar in Granville Island are interviewed in the film.
If you love sushi and is curious about Vancouver’s sushi culture, I highly recommend watching this heart warming film.  If you missed the screening, OH! SUSHI will broadcast in Ontario (OMNI 2), Alberta and BC on OMNI TV Sunday, March 18th at 9pm ET, MT and PT (English version). Check your local listings for details!

To learn more about the film, please click here.

A Guide to Different Types of Sushi

9.March.2012

Do you know the different types of sushi?

Before I started working at Miku, I only knew of two types of sushi: maki and nigiri.  I was then introduced by our chefs to a whole other of sushi that I never even knew existed.  There are literally hundreds of different kinds of sushi that come from all areas of Japan, in a variety of shapes and sizes. The history of sushi is an interesting evolution of what started out to be a very simple dish.  Originally, it was created as a way to preserve food, where the fish was placed inside rice so the fish could ferment and be kept longer.  The fermentation process gave the rice a sharp, sweet taste that went perfectly with the fish.  Eventually, the idea of adding vinegar to the rice developed and the flavor of a three day long process could be acheived instantly.  As the popularity of sushi hit the coast, nori and other specialty ingredients were eventually added.  It no longer became about food preservation, it became a culinary art form.  Perhaps, the style of sushi will change again in the next 100 years but here is a simple guide to the most common types of sushi found in restaurants:

 

Nigiri sushi meaning ‘hand-pressed sushi’ is one of the most popular types of sushi.  It consists of an oval mound of sushi rice that the chefs presses between their hand that is served with a variety of toppings.  A sushi chef has to go through extensive training to make the ‘perfect nigiri,’ it is all applying the right of amount of pressure, to the perfect amount of rice.  A Miku nigiri must try: Premium Aburi, Premium Nigiri and Premium Zuke.

 

 

 

Maki sushi or rolled sushi is a cylindrical piece, formed with the help of a bamboo mat, called a makisu. It is generally wrapped in seaweed but other ingredients can be used as well.  Maki sushi can come in different forms.  Another popular form of maki is hoso maki or thin rolls with nori on the outside and usually containing only one ingredient.  Temaki or handroll is a large cone-shaped piece of nori on the outside and the ingredients spilling out the wide end.  A Miku maki must try: Red Wave roll, Pacific Roll and Oxford Roll.

 

 

Oshi Sushi, also known as box sushi is a pressed sushi from the Kansai Region, a favorite and specialty of Osaka. A block-shaped piece is formed using a mold, called an oshibako. The chef lines the bottom of the oshibako with the toppings, covers them with sushi rice, and then presses the lid of the mold down to create a compact, rectilinear block. The block is removed from the mold and then cut into bite-sized pieces.  A Miku must try: Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi, Saba Oshi Sushi and Ebi Oshi Sushi.

 

 

Chirashi sushi translates to “scattered sushi” and is served in a sushi bowl. It consists of a bed of vinegar rice with the ingredients, most often with sashimi placed on top.   A Miku must try: Kaisen Chriashi Don

 

 

 

 

Onigiri also known as omusubi or rice ball, is formed into triangular or oval shapes and often wrapped in nori. Traditionally, an onigiri is filled with pickled ume or salted salmon.  You will find various fillings and flavors being sold in almost all convenience stores in Japan.

WE Best of the City 15th Annual Reader’s Choice

23.February.2012

Thank you Vancouverites who voted for us in the Best Japanese category in the Westender!  It’s been three amazing years since our opening and we are honored to be recognized by the people of Vancouver and to be in the same category as Tojo’s and Guu.  Congratulations to all of the winners!  We look forward to showing you our newest project, Minami, opening this summer.

A heartfelt thank you to Vancouver and the Westender!

Valentine’s Day in Japan

14.February.2012

Valentine’s day was first introduced to Japan in 1936 by Morozoff Ltd., a confectionery and cake company.  The advertisement was originally aimed at foreigners but was eventually followed suit by everyone.  In 1953, Morozoff began promoting the giving of heart shaped chocolates and by the 1960s, Valentine’s day became a popular mainstream holiday in Japan.

The main difference between the celebration of Valentine’s Day in Japan versus North America, is that the women are the ones that gives the gifts. This custom is said to have originated from a translation error of a chocolate-company executive during the initial campaigns . The gifts are divided into three types: giri choco (obligatory chocolate), honmei choco (chocolate for the man the woman is serious about) and tomo choco (chocolate for the woman’s female friends) Giri choco is given by women to their superiors at work as well as to other male co-workers. It is not unusual for a woman to buy 20 to 30 boxes of this type of chocolate for distribution around the office. The most important aspect of this holiday is about giving the right amount of chocolate to each person. Chocolate companies make half their annual sales during this time of the year.

In the 1980s the Japanese National Confectionery Industry Association launched a successful campaign to make March 14 a “reply day”, where men are expected to return the favor to those who gave them chocolates on Valentine’s Day, calling it White Day. According to the official website the color white was chosen because it’s the color of purity, evoking “pure, sweet teen love”, and because it’s also the color of sugar.

Men are expected to return gifts that are at least two or three times more valuable than the gifts they received. Not returning the gift is perceived as the man placing himself in a position of superiority, even if excuses are given. Returning a present of equal value is considered as a way to say that you are ending the relationship. Originally only chocolate was given, but now the gifts of jewelry, accessories, clothing, flowers are common. Sometimes the term sanbai gaeshi, literally translated to “triple the return” is used to describe the generally recited rule that the return gift should be two to three times the cost of the Valentine’s gift.

The typical romantic “date night” associated with Valentine’s Day in North America, is celebrated on Christmas Eve in Japan.

A Message From the Miku Team…

8.February.2012

Three years ago, owner Seigo Nakamura brought his family restaurant business of nearly six decades across the globe from Miyazaki, Japan to Vancouver.  In 2008, Miku restaurant opened the doors to the public specializing in Aburi or flame-seared sushi.  Now, just a few short years later, we are very grateful to have earned a reputation amongst Vancouverites as ‘the place to go for Aburi sushi.’  We have grown and developed from a small organization to a company with over 50 employees, including a small corporate team to handle our back-end operations.  Our success since opening has been a dream come true and we have all of you to thank for it.

Expansion was never an ‘if’ but only a matter of when and where.  When the opportunity of a spot in Yaletown arose, we knew it was the right place and time.  We are honored to take over the lease at Goldfish Seafood and Chops, a place that was well loved by many Vancouverites.  Bud Kanke has been nothing but supportive and his guidance and advice has proved invaluable to the team.

Miku’s new sister restaurant, Minami, is scheduled to open early this Summer.  Minami is the name of Seigo’s youngest daughter and when written in Japanese; Minami  symbolically means ‘a beautiful wave.’ This is to follow the footsteps of his first venture in North America, Miku which is the name of his eldest daughter, meaning ‘a beautiful sky.’  Minami will be the younger, more relaxed sister of Miku while still focusing on our Aburi brand.

Our corporate philosophy, ningenmi, is a term to describe the belief that success can only be achieved when it is built upon the passion and pride from each individual embracing it at heart.  What we keep in mind on a daily basis is the philosophy that ‘to bring joy into someone’s life, joy will follow in our life.’  Our goal is to offer a great dining experience to each of our guests and we do this with our whole heart everyday.

We are honored to be a part of such a vibrant neighborhood and are excited to showcase our love for Aburi style cuisine and most importantly, our passion for great service and people to the Yaletown community.  Seigo believes when surrounded by the right people and environment the world will present itself with limitless opportunities.  Thank you for providing us with the opportunity to open Minami Restaurant, we look forward to celebrating with you on opening day.

For any updates on the progress of Minami, keep checking back on our blog!