[JO1] ELLE 221106

https://www.elle.com/jp/gourmet/gourmet-restaurants/g41208341/kimata-sushi-with-ren-22-1106/

Part 1

[Part 2] JO1‘s Kimata Syoya tastes New Wave Edo Style sushi together with Kawashiri Ren! | The True Tone on Kimata Sushi Vol. 6

Releasing the “true tone” of the two who have a lot in common.

The popular series “The True Tone on Kimata Sushi” by JO1's Kimata Syoya features honest talks with the other members at seasonal sushi restaurants while eating delicious sushi. Continuing from last time, we bring you the second half of the sushi and the honest talk with the performance leader Kawashiri Ren!

Also this month we ate with Ren-kun at the New Wave Edo Style sushi restaurant!
Following the last volume, we bring you this report from “Sushi Yoshikawa” in Azubu. After sashimi, grilled dishes and nigiri, the second half of the course is also full of must-try dishes.

Signature dish 1 - Futomaki with toro and egg yolk

Syoya: We just ate nigiri and now we move to the later part of the meal, which is so exciting! First we have some French toast like egg rolls and sweet pickled tomatoes to cleanse the palate.
Ren: Next up is the signature dish of this store, the futomaki.

Syoya: Is this… egg yolk?
Ren: Those are Dragonballs! And the sea urchin is back!
Syoya: We were waiting for its comeback! It’s beautiful how neatly it’s lined up… Ah, but Ren-kun, you dislike eggs, right?

Ren: No, It’s okay! I can eat egg yolks like in yukhoe.
Syoya: Oh, there is the theory that you can eat raw eggs, Ren-kun.
Ren: There is a theory? (Laughs) It’s just that if I see this, I can’t help but eat it. This looks like a masterpiece.
Syoya: I want to make Ehomaki with this… Next year’s…
TN: yukhoe is a Korean meat dish, usually made of marinated raw beef and raw egg yolk.

Chef: I want you to eat a bit of the futomaki and feel the “marriage”, with the thick red dashi sauce.
Syoya: Wow, a thick miso-soup?
Ren: Amazing. The flavor develops even further.
Syoya: This is so amazing. Time to focus!
Ren: Completely focused!
TN: In this case “marriage” is a culinary term, meaning that two components go so well with each other that they enrich the dish, usually used in the context of wine.

Syoya: A gasp of pickled ginger!… and a nice aroma of seaweed.
Ren: And another futomaki.
Syoya: Fatty tuna and sea urchin are crazy. Ah, Ren-kun is eating eggs!
Ren: The marriage is also really good. That guy, he is not just gentle, he can hit with quite some strength (laughs).

Signature dish 2 - Eel-dog

Syoya: The next one… it’s kinda warm!
Chef: This is the eel-dog.
Ren: I love eel!
Syoya: Rice sandwiched between eel! You could make a food stall with that?
Chef: This is served with homemade onion-based sweet sauce. Be careful or else it will drip from the side…

Syoya: Thank you! Wow! Crispy, fluffy, crunchy and chewy.
Ren: The crispiness of the seaweed is good, again.
Syoya: I had the image of eel being chewy, but this Kansai-like crispy grilling? The skin became crispy. I think I prefer it this way!

This month’s special

The “special of the month” is a steak with fresh onions, limited to members. It is topped with butter-sautéed fatty (salmon) belly and sea urchin, as well as seasonal vegetables.
Syoya: This is harassment!
Ren: What?
TN: fatty (salmon) belly = harasu which is also the short form for the Japanese pronunciation of ‘harassment’.

The finish is a small bowl of torotaku

The final of the course is a small bowl of toro, salmon roe, sea urchin and yellow pickled radish mixed with rice.
Ren: This looks like a parfait. And the bowl is so pretty and beautiful!
Syoya: This was really a fulfilling course. With a full stomach I’m going to do my best at the hard practice now! (Laughs)

The regular True Tone talk starts now

Syoya: Since this is “True Tone on Kimata Sushi”, ELLE-san asked us to talk about what we respect about each other (laughs).
Ren: Syoya is… I feel he is very similar to me. The way he perceives things, the way he looks at things. When I think of something, Syoya often voices it. It is often said that Syoya is strange, but I feel more comfortable having one person like this in the group (laughs).

Syoya: I have also felt so. My way of thinking is similar to Ren-kun's. But this also makes me feel frustrated sometimes… Ren-kun is older than me, and even though he says the same thing, he acts on it and says what he feels.
Ren: But it is easier to say it because I am older.
Syoya: That's why I have to work hard, too… It was often like that during the audition. Ren-kun was in a prominent position from the very beginning, but I kinda knew what he wanted to do and what he was thinking. I hated my position to be one of following his footsteps, so I tried not to rely on him as much as possible. I was pretty stubborn back then.

Ren: You are a very smart kid, Syoya. Your intuition is good.
Syoya: You relatively have a good one, too.
Ren: Relatively? (Laughs) Syoya might not be the most attentive person, but he is kind.
Syoya: Ren-kun got a lot of sensitivity.
Ren: Hmmm. You often say that.

Syoya: It is the same for both with your work and with your surroundings, your sensitivity is high. First, you never say something that is not sensitive.
Ren: Syoya and I often talk. Like when he is worried or lost.
Syoya: When I speak to him, it turns into “Oh, makes sense. I thought so.” and talking to Ren-kun convinces me that I am not alone.

Ren: Our positions in the group are similar. If the opinions differ, we play the role of bringing everything together.
Syoya: We join and say “This is good, that’s also good.”
Ren: In this case, as I am older, I calmly tell them or support them, but Syoya has a lot of members close to his age and I think he is good at telling them this in a funny and frank way.

Ren: I have to consult Syoya about a problem, right? I don’t really have any but… Maybe that we have so many things to do and no time to sleep… (laughs) We can’t sleep, right?
Syoya: No, we can’t (laughs).
Ren: Hahaha! I have the worry that when I get into something, I forget the time and then no time to sleep is left anymore.
Syoya: This was the case yesterday and the day before, it was quite bad.
Ren: Yes, it was (laughs).

Syoya: What we do is just to play games, use our tablets, draw and show it to each other. Until very late at night.
Ren: We don’t care about the time. But I really don’t care. Cause I can sleep a lot after I died (laughs).
Syoya: I also don’t care at all (laughs).

Ren: But well, this is because I am thankful for this time. Because the time we spent at this place is limited and I want to use the time I have as much as possible. Surely, if you don’t get enough sleep, it is hard for your body, but even when I have a schedule on the next day that requires me to sleep properly, I’m already so used to staying up late that I can’t sleep when the time comes.
Syoya: Well, life is about having fun, isn’t it?

Syoya: But when it is time to sleep, I sometimes have trouble sleeping because I remember the schedules from the day. In the case of TV programs, I think of various routes, like “Oh, I shouldn’t have said this there.”
Ren: I am the opposite, I think of the future instead of the past, like “There is this in a few days, so I have to do that…”. Like “If I don’t finish this until then, it’s going to be a problem”. Regarding dance practice or variety programs for example.
Syoya: I often have regrets after variety shows. How about you, Ren-kun?
Ren: It is tough, really tough, but lately I realized something.
Syoya: Eh? What is it?

Ren: These programs are group project in the end. Most of the time, the viewers only care whether the program as a whole is interesting and not which person made or said something wrong, so even if I did something wrong, it is also the fault of everyone else (laughs).
Syoya: This way of thinking is good (laughs).
Ren: There is another thing that makes the programs enjoyable. In order to make the show more exciting, professional comedians and other celebrities always try to be friendly with us once the camera is on. Don’t you think that this is a privilege?
Syoya: This is nice, yes! (Laughs)

Ren: Well, because it really is. I’m happy that they are friendly! This thought surely raises your mood. Once I realized this, I really started to enjoy appearing on TV.
Syoya: You are so objective. I can’t be like that. (laughs)
Ren: You don’t have to say anything so far-fetched! Well, you are a really pure kid, Syoya.
Syoya: Thank you very much.
Ren: I think that’s why they want you to say what you really think!

Ren: Speaking of schedules other than performing, we appeared in a drama from Amazon Prime Video, but I think Syoya and I approached the acting in a similar way. I think it’s probably the way of really creating it to become that person…
Syoya: That’s right. I really felt like a different person for a while after the drama. When performing at concerts or appearing in TV programs, I am still a part of my role. But there I thought “Ah, that’s not the current me.”
Ren: Yes, I can understand this.

Syoya: I guess it was partly due to them giving me a character I could easily become.
Ren: I really liked yours.
Syoya: I am too embarrassed to watch anyone else. Especially my own one, it is impossible!
Ren: Hahaha!