I’m in enjoy with chirashi. It is a current obsession: I was functioning all-around in a frenzy of errands when I spotted a uncommon mid-afternoon chirashi bowl between the chilled bentos at Nijiya Market and grabbed it. As I wolfed it down in the back seat of my motor vehicle, its goodness halted my chopsticks—deep pink slices of akami of maguro, easy and sinew-free of charge silken crunches of akagai and other shellfish from Japan a generous mound of ikura. The rice, even cold, was sweet and evenly, perfectly seasoned, each grain unique.
It is now a mission of my foods life to relive those times, in areas outdoors sushi bars. Chirashi, in my belief, is for lunch at a sushi bar I want the leisure and surprises of omakase. Happily, I have nevertheless to find a chirashi bowl I don’t like. If slices are slim, I do not care, as prolonged as they are fascinating and contemporary. And wherever I utilised to crave experience from a bowl of chirashi, reveling in anything at all that was not the common ‘ahi, salmon and hamachi (due to the fact why, Hawai‘i? Why, living on reef-fringed islands surrounded by seasonal seafood, do we try to eat the identical number of issues all calendar year?), now I have appear to take pleasure in these, too. A bowl of chirashi with out ‘ahi, salmon and hamachi lacks an elemental Hawai‘i-ness.
SEE ALSO: 6 Takeout Areas for Maximalist to Price range-Helpful Chirashi in Honolulu
You will uncover these seven bowls in foodstuff courts, poke retailers and sure, a grocery store. They selection in rate from about $10 to $25 regardless of whether you discover them worthy of the value is a conversation for you and your personal chirashi preferences.
Nijiya Market place
Photograph: Mari Taketa
The a single that started out it all—and for the impressive supermarket value of $9.99. This one particular caters to Japanese tastes. Given that my favored issue to try to eat in Japan is seasonal seafood sashimi—whatever’s swimming in the seas off Hokkaido in late April, for example—this a single requires me to a extremely joyful location, skinny slices and modest rice portion notwithstanding.
Various areas, @nijiyamarket_hawaii
Take’s Fish Sector
Photo: Mari Taketa
Take’s slicing can be homey, which is a attract for me. The small counter inside the Moanalua 99 food stuff court (formerly regarded as 99 Ranch Market) is a mom-and-pop operation and unfailingly pleasant. Rice is cooked and seasoned to Japanese requirements, yet another moreover, and the dashimaki egg roll is created as it is in Japan, by flipping a thin sheet of whipped egg around and around on itself as it cooks. But my beloved part of Take’s $10.99 chirashi bowls is the vertical tasting of ‘ahi akami, chutoro and nakochi, little parts scraped off tuna ribs. It’s a respectful and delectable procedure of the fish.
1151 Mapunapuna St., (808) 834-8485
Paradise Poke
Image: Mari Taketa
Chirashi bowls at poke outlets carry thick slices of the most loved community trifecta of ‘ahi, salmon and hamachi, and from time to time, as at Paradise Poke, a scoop of ikura that makes sushi fans swoon. Slices of tako and dashimaki egg roll round out the toppings on this $20 bowl.
1613 Nu‘uanu Ave., (808) 260-4580, paradisepokenuuanu.com, @paradisepokehi
SEE ALSO: Garlic Shrimp, Musubi, Lemongrass Kalbi: There’s Way Much more than Fish at Paradise Poke
Fish & Rice
Picture: Mari Taketa
Another Japanese-inflected chirashi bowl, the crowning glory of this 1 ($17) is the supple piece of softly grilled unagi dressed in soy-forward tare, almost everything certainly fresh. Tucked in the modest food court of a Korean grocery, Fish & Rice offers a sushi chef from OG izakaya and sushi bar Imanas Tei.
1670 Makaloa St., (808) 367-0863, fishandricehawaii.com
SEE ALSO: Uncover This Tiny Sushi Counter Inside of a Korean Supermarket
Mama Kim’s
Picture: Mari Taketa
You do not have to go luxe at Mama Kim’s. The typical chirashi bowl ($17) has generous slices of translucent ‘ahi, salmon and hamachi, additionally dashimaki egg roll and shrimp. But where there’s a deluxe solution ($24), I’m taking it, and my reward is the addition of grilled unagi, sweet scallop, ikura and luscious lobes of uni. One of the finest chirashi discoveries of my quest.
1481 S. King St., (808) 260-4109, @mamakimshawaii
SEE ALSO: Mama Kim’s New Sushi and Poke Bowls Spice Up Kāheka
Maguro Brothers
Image: Mari Taketa
Maguro Brothers sells poke, sashimi and chirashi bowls in Chinatown at lunch and Waikīkī at supper, all takeout. This $12.65 bowl is a hybrid—‘ahi, salmon, hamachi and tako are all neighborhood favorites, but rice and part dimension hew to Japanese requirements (the big chirashi offers far more of the over for $5 a lot more). That is because brothers Jun and Ryo Tsuchiya, born in Japan, have been catering to community preferences for years (bear in mind their Sakura restaurant on Waialae Avenue?). Tremendous noteworthy: This chirashi comes with authentic wasabi—not new, but the genuine thing—which adds to the seafood a fruity, fleeting, nuanced sting.
Various spots, @magurobrothershawaii
‘Ahi & Vegetable
Image: Mari Taketa
You uncover the thickest slices in chirashi bowls from poke places to eat at ‘Ahi & Vegetable, they’re way too big to healthy in my mouth and chew usually. This $18.95 bowl is an simple, filling discover if you are in Kalihi or at Ala Moana Heart. Of take note: A option of white, sushi or brown rice and ikura, golden tobiko fish roe and boiled choi sum, a stunning complement with salinity and darkish leafy eco-friendly depth.
Various places, @ahiandvegetable
