Sozai Restaurant

04/28/2025

01/22/2025

During these intensely frigid days, nothing can warm you like the comfort of home cooked food. You know the kind of meals that evoke nostalgia, even if you’ve never had that particular flavor before. Washoku refers to traditional Japanese home cooking. One of our favorite washoku dishes is chawanmushi.

We take our time crafting chwanmushi in our kitchen, switching up the dashi depending on what our chefs are most excited about that day. And truly, chawanmushi is all about the dashi. Hajime likes to use whitefish for this dashi, slowly simmering it for at least five hours to capture the essence of the fish. The dashi is carefully steamed with eggs to create a very rich and savory dish. Washoku dishes such as chawanmushi are a highlight of our Chiso omakase.

#茶碗蒸し #家庭の味 #ご馳走 #だし #美味しい #うま味 #和食 #和食レストラン

01/05/2025

There are still a few seats available for the upcoming Introductory Saké Pairing Dinner that Hajime has planned. This will be a wonderful opportunity to explore a sampling of premium sakés, each paired with one course of a thoughtfully crafted omakase.

#ペアリング #利き酒 #酒米 #乾杯 #デトロイト生活 #酒 #日本酒 #美味しい #吟醸酒 #純米酒

01/02/2025

Happy New Year!

It is Japanese tradition to eat sekihan on New Year’s Day. Made with adzuki and mochi rice, the flavor and texture are like nothing else. Red is the color of good luck in Japan, which is why red beans must be used when making sekihan. Hajime explains that making sekihan is a multi-day process that involves many steps but that it is worth the effort when you get to eat it. We couldn’t agree more. 😊

#2025 #もち米 #新年 #明けましておめでとう #小豆 #うま味 #和食 #赤飯 #和食レストラン #美味しい #今年もよろしくお願いします

12/18/2024

Sunomono is one of our most frequently requested kobachi. A traditional Japanese favorite, sunomono is made of fresh vegetables that have been carefully pickled in seasoned rice vinegar. Sunomono is most commonly made with cucumbers. The sunomono pictured also incorporates fresh ginger slices, nasu, napa, and oyster mushrooms for a really wonderful flavor profile.

Many folks enjoy our sunomono as a great start to their meal, but Hajime reminds us that sunomono can be a refreshing accompaniment to go with our yaki zakana. Either way, our house made sunomono is a great way to enjoy crisp, flavorful vegetables all throughout the year.

#美味しい #酢の物 #小鉢 #きゅうり #きゅうりの酢の物 #和食 #浅漬け

12/11/2024

A true labor of love, Hajime sources the most sustainable seafood to incorporate in our recipes. Florida pink shrimp are very tasty and are a much better option than many other types of shrimp. The most commonly available shrimp are farm raised overseas. With little to no oversight, these farms can be detrimental to the local ecosystems. Oftentimes the ponds where the shrimp are raised are created by cutting down vast amounts of mangroves and other vital plants. Besides taking away important areas for fish to flourish, the removal of mangroves leads to soil erosion and lack of land protection during harsh weather events. These farms also rely on numerous chemicals to artificially nourish the shrimp while destroying the natural balance of the local ecosystem. This can make it impossible for sealife to thrive or for anything to grow near that area for many years. When we choose domestic wild caught shrimp, we are choosing to preserve our precious world.

Nimono is a traditional Japanese dish of ingredients carefully cooked in an aromatic dashi. The flavors come together and become even more delicious! Nimono can be enjoyed anytime, but we especially appreciate it this time of year. Pictured is a seasonal nimono that made with sato imo (taro root), kobocha, and wild caught Florida pink shrimp. Rich with our housemade dashi and seasonal root vegetables, this hearty nimono keeps you feeling cozy through even the chilliest winter evenings.

#煮もの #エビ #かぼちゃ #美味しい #だし #和食 #うま味 #冬の総菜

10/29/2024

We are once again delighted by a surprisingly early start of uni season. The part of the uni, also known as sea urchin, that we eat are their eggs. Uni are typically rich with eggs from November through March, but we are able to enjoy them a little earlier than that this year. Hajime has sourced fresh green uni that have been sustainably harvested from the Gulf of Maine. These are exceptionally sweet with a very rich flavor.

Our chefs always create so many delicious recipes during uni season. This beautiful dish was served as a recent omakase course. The uni rests atop a bed of silken tofu, accompanied by fresh shiso leaves and kaiware.

Hajime reminds us that the best time to enjoy any food is when it is in season. Uni is a prime example of why we should eat seasonally as much as possible. Uni should only be eaten during the winter months when it is fresh and in season. People who have eaten uni when it wasn’t in season tend to not like the flavor as it has become very metallic due to the chemicals used to preserve the uni. Unfortunately, that is the most common uni on the market because it is consistently available and much less expensive. But you deserve better than that. Please enjoy uni while it is in season. We sure do. 😊

#美味しい #ウニ #うに #旬の食材 #旬 #すし飯 #すし #寿司屋

10/22/2024

We are grateful to have been named Best Sushi 2024 by the readers of Detroit Metro Times. Our gratitude goes out to everyone who has supported us for the past three and a half years. Hopefully this recognition will help bring more attention to the importance of sustainable sushi. https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/metro-detroits-best-restaurants-and-food-of-2024-according-to-our-readers/Slideshow/37567472/37568916

Aa always, anyone who is interested in learning more about ocean conservation and the importance of sustainable seafood should reach out to Hajime directly. Although he is extremely busy, Hajime will continue to make time for outreach.

Photo Credit: Detroit Metro Times

#サステイナブル #レストラン経営 #寿司屋 #デトロイト近辺 #ミシガン #デトロイト #デトロイト生活 #和食 #和食レストラン #レストラン経営 #ちらし寿司

10/18/2024

Updated Seafood Watch guides have just arrived!

We know it can be overwhelming trying to find reliable information about sustainable sushi. Monterey Bay Aquarium updates their Seafood Watch guides regularly to help people make better choices. Their QR code leads to their digital recommendations, or you can keep the printed guide in your wallet. It’s pretty straightforward. A lot of people have told Hajime that it has helped them to make informed choices when ordering sushi. This is one of the most user friendly consumer resources we know of. We hope you will check it out.

#デトロイト生活 #サステイナブル #寿司 #寿司屋 #海を守ろう #寿司を守ろう #魚を守ろう #寿司の未来 #魚 #漁業 #和食 #和食レストラン #レストラン経営

10/08/2024

Many fish populations are in steep decline due to overfishing. When chefs choose to only offer the same few species as everyone else, they are contributing to this serious problem. We must take some pressure off of overfished species and allow them time to repopulate. When chefs shift their focus to underutilized seafoods, great things can happen. We can all enjoy wonderful seafood in a more responsible way. After all, getting to explore new flavors is one of the best things about going out to eat.

It took almost 15 years, but Hajime was finally able to source sayori! This is one of the fish he loved growing up in Japan, but it is sadly underutilized here because most people just don’t know how to prepare it. Hajime is excited to finally be able to share sayori with everyone!

Sayori is more commonly known as ballyhoo or halfbeak. Sayori is in season, so Hajime has been getting some really beautiful fresh ones direct from Florida. These are a slightly different subspecies than the ones Hajime would get in Japan, but they are equally as delicious. Their flavor is light and very fresh tasting. This is why sayori is popular as sushi in Japan. With fresh shiso and a touch of our house blended ponzu, it is outstanding as nigiri. As sashimi, Hajime likes to pair it with our cucumber sunomono. If you haven’t had sayori before, now is definitely the time to try something new.

#サヨリ #握り寿司 #酢の物 #美味しい #サステイナブル #寿司 #光り物 #フロリダ #旬の食材

10/02/2024

Today is World Saké Day! Please celebrate responsibly! Don’t worry, you can still have more tomorrow! 😊

#利き酒 #酒米 #乾杯 #デトロイト生活 #酒 #日本酒 #美味しい #吟醸酒 #純米酒 #酒飲み

08/28/2024

A few days ago, our very own Hajime enjoyed a great conversation with Jena Brooker about the importance of seafood sustainability and the responsibility of sushi chefs to prioritize sustainable options. You can check out her BridgeDetroit article here:
https://www.bridgedetroit.com/sustainable-sushi-a-conversation-with-sozai-owner-hajime-sato/ Thanks again to Jena for helping people learn more about the importance of sustainable sushi. #デトロイト近辺 #ミシガン #デトロイト #デトロイト生活 #寿司屋 #寿司屋のおやじ #インターネット #和食レストラン #レストラン経営 #フォーブス誌

A Q&A with the owner of Sozai, Hajime Sato, on how he does sushi sustainably at his Clawson restaurant.