When he eventually makes his most expensive box, there will be a good chance that he won’t turn a profit on it. When you learn that nodoguro wholesales for between $45 and $75 a pound, and that sushi bars can charge $20 for a single slice of this prized fish, you realize that Liao’s chirashi is simultaneously about extravagance and value. There’s super-high-grade kinmedai and so many more fish we can try.” “I think $400 is very realistic,” Liao says of the boxes he wants to sell for the holidays. Liao is now considering ways to make his chirashi even more over-the-top. It’s just a cool little experience, getting to know the person who’s doing each box. “You see him and a couple guys slicing all the fish. “Beyond the pure quality of it, the amount of time and effort he puts into each box is incredible,” said Adrian Bustamante, a Studio City-based actor who’s enjoyed Liao’s chirashi three times. At least one component is aburi, which is seared or charred or half crispy or half raw.” “By design, if you were to sit down for a proper omakase, the fish you’re going to eat will go from lean to fat to sweet to tender. “There’s whitefish, the jacks, the salmon, the tunas,” Liao said. There are usually four slices of at least five different kinds of fish with distinct characteristics, such as San Clemente maguro chu-toro, Baja kampachi and New Zealand Ōra king salmon. Let’s just make perfect slices in perfect rows.” Or let’s put a wad of finely strained daikon just to fill that corner. A lot of boxes seem to have leaves to fill things in. “I kind of get mad when I experience something and there’s no purpose to that thing on a plate. “I’m trying to fill the box as classy as possible without fillers,” Liao said. His boxes are meant for sharing, and the seafood inside is equivalent to more than 30 pieces of nigiri at a sushi bar. When Liao makes chirashi, one goal is “smashing all other bento boxes in weight” while also ensuring that every bite stands out. Pre-orders came in rapidly, whether he was selling $150 boxes or loading $230 boxes with ultra-premium nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch). He immediately had demand, so he stepped things up to 25 boxes and then 50 boxes. He started with 18 boxes for his first run, which he refers to as Chirashi 1.0. “The last thing I wanted to associate The Joint with was Japanese cuisine.”īut thanks to social media and word-of-mouth, Liao’s chirashi has become a coveted LA sensation. “I wanted to disconnect the chirashi from The Joint,” he said. Liao respects those restaurants and wasn’t trying to step in their lane. WhistlePig’s Founder Just Dropped a Distinctive New Bourbon Aged in Armagnac CasksĪnother reason Liao kept things quiet is because The Joint is on Ventura Boulevard, which has no shortage of great sushi bars. Here’s What Hollywood’s Biggest Stars Will Dine on at This Year’s Academy Awards Governors Ball A Premier Mezcal Maker Is Dialing Back the Spirit’s Smoky Flavor to Lure in a Larger Audience
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