Jiro Ono

Jiro Ono was born in 1925, and now he is 94 years old. He is the oldest Samsung chef in the world and the protagonist of the documentary "The God of Sushi". The status in Japan is quite lofty, and the reputation of sushi as the first person is spread all over the world.

Chinese name: Jiro Ono

Ethnic group: Hezu

Birthplace: Japan

Date of birth: 1925

Occupation: Chef

Major achievements: the oldest Samsung chef in the world

Representative works: sushi

Work attitude: preciseness, self-discipline, accuracy and pursuit of the ultimate < Japan regards him as a national treasure, and he is 94 years old, still clinging to his sushi journey-this is Jiro Ono, the protagonist of the documentary "The God of Sushi".

Jiro Ono once said, "You have to love your job, and you have to fall in love with your job. Even at my age, my job has not reached a perfect level. I will continue to climb and try to climb to the top, but no one knows where the top is." This spirit of professionalism, strictness and pursuit of Excellence has made a generation of masters.

Jikiya Jiro

Jiro Ono's sushi restaurant located in the basement of Ginza office building: SukiyabashiJiro is world-famous, and many gourmets from all over the world come here just to taste the sushi kung fu of "the first person in sushi" for more than 5 years. From the appearance, it looks very simple, even a little shabby. In a small shop with only ten seats behind the wooden fence, even though their restaurant has only ten seats and the toilet is even outside, even though it is necessary to make a reservation one month in advance and have a meal for 15 minutes, and the per capita consumption is hundreds of dollars (the minimum consumption is 3, yen), people who have eaten it will still sigh that this is "sushi worth waiting for all their lives".

There are only two three-star sushi bars in Japan, and this is one of them. There is no regular menu in the store, only the chef's order of the day (Omakase). I don't sell other dishes, only sushi. The price depends on the ingredients selected on the day, starting at 3 thousand yen per person. And such a small shop "Jiro Jiro" won the highest crown of Michelin's three-star restaurant for two consecutive years; You need to reserve a seat one month in advance. A meal lasts for 15 minutes, and the per capita consumption starts at 3, yen. Jiro Ono buys fish from the best fishmonger, shrimp from the best shrimp peddler and rice from the best rice peddler. From the temperature of vinegar rice, to the time of marinating fish, to the strength of massaging octopus, Jiro Ono still personally supervised. He will carefully arrange seats according to the gender and dining habits of customers, and always pay attention to the dining situation of guests to make adjustments.

Dedicated to sushi all his life

Jiro Ono, Jiro Ono is 91 years old in 216. Rigidity, self-discipline, accuracy and pursuit of the ultimate are his attitude towards work. He always demands himself and his apprentices with the highest standards, observes the guests' dining conditions, and fine-tunes sushi to ensure that the guests enjoy delicious sushi. Even in order to protect the hands that create sushi, he always wears gloves when not working, and never slackens off when sleeping. There are countless sushi chefs in Taiwan Province who worship him. When they saw the master's movies, they said with emotion: "Arouse my sincere heart when I first entered the chef's work, and I also feel that Master Xiao Ye will dedicate his life to the pursuit of more delicious sushi, which is very worth seeing and watching again."

In sushi, he came second, but no one dared to come first. The so-called first, mostly refers to Jiro Ono's Jianghu status. This 9-year-old veteran wears white gloves to protect his hands when he sleeps, which shows how expensive it is. As the saying goes, sushi tastes three points and gestures seven points. The gesture here refers to the sushi chef's skillful skills in holding sushi. Jiro Ono's technique of holding sushi is neat, which is really unique in the world. The camera is always wandering in the close-up of the production process of delicious sushi, and you can also see the sauce slipping slowly. Unfortunately, customers who usually go to the store can only eat Xiao Ye's son's tricks. Despite the supervision of the old man, the taste is still different.

The spirit of professional

Bright red tuna is placed on vinegar rice, and Jiro Ono holds sushi with a rigorous attitude and presents it to customers. He observes customers very carefully and adjusts the size of sushi according to gender. He will carefully remember the seating order of the guests, remember the left-handed habits of the guests, and adjust the preference of sushi placement. He only makes sushi from beginning to end, without drinks, so that customers can fully appreciate the beauty of sushi. In the process of production, he is particularly calm and serious, and his gestures have a sense of ritual solemnity. Although the per capita consumption reached $4, all the diners interviewed expressed their indescribable good feelings. This less than an hour and a half documentary records Jiro Ono's attitude towards his career from an unpretentious perspective. The characteristics of great chefs are similar: they have a serious attitude and are bent on improving their skills, stubborn, opinionated, and finally full of enthusiasm. They are all perfectionists. Jiro Ono emphasizes that he is a real professional-he will find the best ingredients and handle them in his own way. Don't care about money and cost, but just do the best. Xiao Ye said that repeating one thing to make it better, but never ending, "no one knows where the real peak is."

When preparing daily sushi materials, Jiro Ono will personally go to the fish market to choose, and all the details should be asked by himself. It was not until he had a heart attack at the age of 7 that he finally stopped shopping in person and acquiesced in the selection of fish market materials to his eldest son. The supplier and his sushi restaurant have long-term cooperation and established an absolute trust relationship. Professional tuna suppliers only supply tuna, and shrimp suppliers only sell shrimp. Everyone is an expert in their respective fields. Hongdao, a rice vendor, said that the ingredients provide a kind of trust. "Some rice is only provided to Jiro's shop, because only he will know how to cook it." The shrimp vendor said that sometimes there are only 3 kilograms of wild shrimp in the whole market, all of which will be supplied to Jiro's shop: "Good things are limited and will only be left to the best people."

The difference in food is not other fancy things in gimmicks, but maybe it's just the simple details. According to the senior apprentice in Erlang Store, the rice in sushi is considered to be cold, but in fact it should be consistent with human body temperature, and the rice needs to be cooked under very heavy pressure to be delicious. "Every ingredient has the most delicious ideal moment, so we should grasp it just right." Apprenticeship is hard, and it takes at least several decades from entering the profession to starting a career. "Shrimp and octopus take longer to process-octopus needs manual massage to make the meat more delicate and delicious, not rubbery."

Small storefront

The storefront of Jiro Sushi is small enough to hold only 1 to 11 people, and the cooking is only simple with sushi of various flavors. Master Xiao Ye repeats simple but basic actions behind the counter, kneading the rice balls, attaching fish, and kneading them back and forth repeatedly. The strength is difficult to describe in words, and it can only reach the standard after repeated operations. Like skillful magic tricks, it seems very easy.

Actually, such a skillful technique requires many years of basic skills. Repeated repetition and repeated practice can make this technique become a habit as natural. The way to be a professional is to repeat the same job every day and do one thing to the extreme, so you can succeed. As Master Xiao Ye said, once you decide on a career, you must devote yourself to your work, you must love your job, never complain, and you must spend your whole life honing your skills. This is the secret of success.

apart from being serious about things, Jiro Sushi is also impressed by its pursuit and persistence in ingredients. In the fish market in the early morning, the employees who feed the food sift out the ingredients to buy, and these professional fishermen will deliberately leave high-quality ingredients because it is Jiro Sushi.

These top ingredients are combined with serious and skillful craftsmanship, which makes Jiro sushi worth waiting for.

And the guests are treated from the details. After each piece of sushi is made, it is placed in a convenient position with chopsticks for the guests to take. No more wasabi and soy sauce make it a pleasure to simply eat. If the guests are left-handed, Jiro will considerate change the position of sushi for the left-handed guests to eat. Perhaps it is this pursuit of detail and the ultimate achievement of this sushi god!

Continuation and inheritance

In all times when efficiency is emphasized, costs are reduced and benefits are maximized, both attitude and people's hearts are particularly extravagant. While the ancient manufacturing technology is lost, it brings some irreversible losses to the food culture.

Jiro Ono's eldest son, Yoshikazu Ono, is over 5 years old and has not taken over. In Japan, the tradition is that the eldest son inherits his father's business, and only one person can be a chef, so the younger brother goes out alone. The second son, Xiao Ye Long, opened a branch in Roppongi to reduce the price of sushi; Xiao Ye Long said with a smile: "Diners who are under pressure from their father will come here more easily."

Due to family changes, Jiro Ono left his family at the age of 9 to stand on his own feet. In order to survive, he started as an apprentice. The second son opened a shop independently, and his father said that Roppongi is home from now on, and you must have your own skills to make a living. "I know he's doing well and I won't let him go until he's ready-but there's no turning back. I have to make my own way." Jiro Ono, who has experienced the changes in the world, said, "Parents often tell their children to go out and rush, or they will come back if they can't-so that their children will accomplish nothing." Jiro laughed at himself. In the family, he looked more like a stranger and was not close to his children. After the children graduated from high school, he persuaded his sons not to go to college to help in the shop. The eldest son's initial interest was not in sushi, and it took him a long time to learn to accept this outstanding skill from his father, which made him feel pressured.

Apprentices' experiences are difficult and long. All apprentices should start with hand-made towels that are ironed. Gradually start processing and preparing ingredients, and after 1 years, you will be allowed to fry eggs. This kind of ascetic food spirit is far beyond human reach. "I practice frying eggs four times a day at most, and I made 2 failed products after three to four months." Until Jiro finally nodded acquiescently, the apprentice was so excited that he burst into tears. "I was finally called a real professional, which is the final result of my efforts."

Jiro Ono said that he never got tired of this job, but devoted himself to it all his life. "Even though I am 85 years old, I still don't want to retire." However, the pursuit of quality needs to be inherited by future generations. Although both children have inherited this line and improved their craftsmanship, it is very difficult to inherit the mantle of Michelin. Even if we make sushi that strives for perfection, both the ecological status of ingredients and diners who can appreciate the beauty of sushi are rapidly declining with the development of the times. It is a contradiction that it is difficult to decide whether to compromise with the status quo or make great efforts to protect the soul of food. And this is not just the embarrassing situation faced by food.

The God of Sushi

The God of Sushi is a film about Jiro Ono. The director DavidGelb is not Japanese, but a New Yorker! He loved sushi since he was a child, and was moved by Jiro Ono's professionalism. He simply took his camera to Japan to shoot, and the documentary "The God of Sushi" was successfully selected into the "Gourmet Movie" unit of Berlin Film Festival! He captures every detail of Jiro Ono's sushi making, and uses symphonies with slow-motion images to exquisitely present the delicacy of Japanese food culture. He recorded the legendary story of Jiro Ono, and through the lens, let us see the uncompromising belief and attitude of sushi chefs behind perfection.

Jiro's sushi restaurant, "Jiro Kikuwabashi", is well-known, and every step has been carefully calculated from ingredients, production to instant entrance. This small storefront, which is hidden in the basement of Tokyo office building, has won the highest evaluation of three stars in the food bible Michelin Guide for two consecutive years. Known as a delicious food worth waiting in line for a lifetime.