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[title]This advertising content was produced in collaboration between Time Out and JFOODO, without involvement from the Time Out editorial staff.
Savory yellowtail (hamachi) is delightful year-round. But in winter, when the fish build up fatty protection against the cold, they aren’t just delicious, they’re auspicious. Called buri in Japan, these larger, plumper yellowtails have been popular gifts for bringing luck and success in the New Year since at least the 16th century.
While wild-caught buri haven’t always been accessible in the U.S., recent advances in sustainable aqua farming technology at fisheries in Kagoshima Bay, Bungo Channel and elsewhere off the Japanese coast have made them more widely available than ever. That’s good news for more than just our taste buds. Cold water fish like buri are loaded with protein, brain-stimulating DHA, heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins E and B.
This winter, try some amazing buri specials at some of our favorite restaurants in Los Angeles and New York City to get a taste of Japan’s deep-water delicacy.
Kinn
This petit Koreatown restaurant’s five-course tasting menu reinvents the familiar. Led by acclaimed chef Ki Kim, the menu at Kinn combines nostalgic Korean flavors and dishes like minced beef short ribs and cold buckwheat noodles with fine-dining techniques and seasonal California delicacies. But while the plates are as distinctive and intricate as they come, the restaurant’s atmosphere is far more straightforward. Kinn seats just 20 at a handful of tables and a simple wooden bar that are more corner cafe than pompous celebrity-chef showcase. It's just the right tone for a restaurant that disrupts the fine dining experience as much as it embraces it. The fact that Kinn may just have the most affordable tasting menu in LA makes it all the better.
Buri special — The twice cooked buri at Kinn is first sous vide before being placed on a charcoal grill. It's then served with an oyster cream sauce and dashi poached turnips with a garnish of caviar and a housemade seaweed powder.
Citrin
Santa Monica’s Citrin seamlessly fuses French and Japanese cuisine with ripe, seasonal produce from local California farms. In the kitchen, chef Ken Takayama carefully attends to every detail. On his menu, savory buri, its raw cuts served with yuzu-compressed apples, its fatty collar served with carrot escabeche and yuzu mayo, rubs elbows with wild mushroom soup with whipped black truffle mousse and almond-crusted sole with chanterelles and sweet corn. While the disparate traditions may seem out of sync on paper, on the table they sing with a harmony Michelin’s critics found worthy of a star. Citrin’s softly lit terrace is a shade of romance all its own. Indoors, the restaurant serves its indulgent meals at a sleek marble bar with Old Hollywood vibes.
Buri special — Japanese buri collar is roasted with a glaze of tamari, mirin, plum wine and yuzu juice and then served with a side of carrot escabeche, yuzu emulsion and topped with puffed grains.
Shibumi
After years spent studying under a sushi master, chef David Schlosser put his skills to work at Shibumi, one of the country’s first kappo omakase restaurants. Kappo, a relatively informal style of Japanese preparation that means simply “to cut and cook,” emphasizes the relationship between chef and guest. In the sparse, intimate 40-seat downtown L.A. space, that connection anchors each one of Schlosser’s four seasonal tasting menus. Behind the 400-year-old cypress-trunk bar, the chef slices, dices and fires dishes like grilled wild Japanese buri with dried persimmons and glazed wild boar for guests seated just feet away from the blade of his knife. Sit back with sake or a Japanese craft beer, and let the show begin.
Buri special — At Shibumi, the buri is marinated overnight in sake, ginger and mirin and each piece is grilled fresh to order.
JFOODO promotes Japanese agricultural, forestry, fishery and food products.