Fresno Famous

From these years of coffee tasting you can say you develop a kind of palate for tasting things, or rather to really enjoy what makes a food unique, delicious, good or not so good. Often I find myself picking out flavors and making notes out loud and I'll hear someone say they agree, they taste that too. I'm not meaning to share what I think out loud like that, but sometimes I get feedback from the people who hear me and the look in their eyes and face will say thanks for waking up my palate.

So I offer to you a chance to wake up your sushi palate. This place is owned and operated by Jack Kijima. We've gotten to know him well. He also is the sushi chef, the only chef at Kijima. That old saying, if you want it done right....

This place is no frills, no ultra mega fancy schmancy rolls. It's all about the fish. I have to blog on this last experience because once again I was blown away by authentic flavor at Kijima. We like to sit at the bar to watch our food get made fresh and talk with the chef to learn about what we are eating. We started the evening with Salmon Sashimi. It might be a bit in your face on flavor to start with, but we like our fatty foods don't we. Perfectly cold and fresh. We start our orders of sushi. We discovered and were awakened by Ono here at Kijima. We had never had that at any place before and we are always looking for a different food to try. Ono is also known as butter fish. We have found letting this fish sit for a minute, or warm up to room temp, really brings on a pronounce butter flavor (actually like a pat of butter). We also order Mackerel and Surf Clam to round out the experience. To me Surf Clam is sweet, sometimes chewy but in the sweet delightful kind of way. Mackerel is another discovery at Kijima for us. This fish tastes like the sea. Salty briny and fishy with a bit of a dry texture to the meat. Very delicious. We like to start with the Surf Clam, the Mackerel and lastly with the Ono. Cleaning our palate after each bite so as to be able to truly taste your next fish.

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We were about to put in our request with Jack for the next dish, at this time when we usually ask for something different that we have never tried. He once gave us spicy fresh muscle. Sooooo good. Uncooked muscle is something I hadn't tried before, this experience has us spoiled. Not this time though, right as we are about to ask he knows that we're after something different, so he leads out with, "have you ever tried Monk Fish Liver?". Gasp! No! Bring it! This stuff comes in a bamboo tube. He uses a plunger to push it out from one end and he slices off the portions directly into a bowl. He dresses it and serves. This my friends is a true experience. I cannot express enough how genuine a feeling it is to be able to have this experience. If you're a fan of liver, this is the liver you have to try. Smooth, cool, creamy, buttery, slight fish flavor and still that distinct flavor from liver- iron-y perhaps. Simply delectable. We are both left in awe of the flavors going on. A truly unique experience we are having. We feel as though we are eating sushi in Japan.

We finish the meal with Uni and Salmon Eggs. I love both of these so much. Sea Urchin Roe is simply amazing when fresh. Freshness is so key in all these, and becomes tantamount very often. For the Uni, when un-fresh you'll find that it kind of just bursts and all you get is salty water. I can still remember the best Uni experience at place in the bay area. This will also have a buttery taste with notes of a kelp-y or sea flavor. The Salmon Eggs also I enjoy just as much for the salty pops of the eggs and the buttery-ness.

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Yes, we like our buttery textures and flavors, that's evident. I think it's a kind of over the top American palate thing. In Japan Tuna is the fish of choice. It really takes a fine palate to sit and appreciate Tuna. I have Tuna from time to time but find myself wanting more brash flavors. I'm sure someday I'll grow into that, but for now I'm happy with discovering all those things that make sushi great.

Nigori Sake is the usual accompaniment. Sapporo works well as well.

If you are in the mood for a truly great sushi experience I highly recommend Kijimi. Second to none.

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