Making sushi is an art, and experience is everything.
Nobu Matsuhisa
I cannot bring myself to wear the Nobu hats, or the Nobu T-shirts. But the chef's jacket, that is mine. And when I wear it, I am very proud of myself.
With sushi, it is all about balance. Sometimes they cut the fish too thick, sometimes too thin. Often the rice is overcooked or undercooked. Not enough rice vinegar or too much.
The fine art of preparing sushi is something that you watch and learn.
Of course the Japanese and Peruvian fish are different, but it's the same Pacific Ocean. They are different, but I know fish.
I like Mercedes because my wife has been in two big accidents and emerged without a scratch, thanks to the safety of these cars.
I eat soup noodles for comfort. In fact, noodles of any kind. It's a food that is very easy to eat; it's very soothing and comfortable, too. If I could choose any, I'd say buckwheat was my favourite: it has a very good flavour and is healthy, too.
Cooking and film are completely different - but I'd rather stay in the kitchen than be in movies.
I started cooking when I was 18 years old, and now I have restaurants all over the world.
My favorite knife is from Miyakoya in Japan - I have one in each of my restaurants.
I travel all over the world, usually 10 months out of the year. I stay at a lot of hotels, and the ones I like best are clean and not complicated. You go to bed and say, 'Wow, I feel comfortable.'
My cooking is very simple, so I don't really use machines at all. A knife, cutting board, frying pan and strainer are my essentials.
A sushi chef has to spot the best-quality fresh fish instantly.
When I'm in L.A., I go to Spago because the chef is a friend of mine.
One day, the people who work in my kitchen stir-fried chopped Napa cabbage to serve with some meat or fish for their own dinner. I got to thinking: 'What if the cabbage was the most important thing on the plate?'
Large fish such as tuna are shown already cut into fillets and bought by the block. Fillets should be almost transparent. Avoid tuna that looks rainbow-colored or black.
One of my favorite ways to use cilantro is in a beautiful clear soup with monkfish and lime. It's a great dish for cooler weather, especially because monkfish is very good in fall and winter. Also, I like the meatiness and rich texture of monkfish.
Swimming keeps me fit and flexible, and it helps that I have a large pool at my house in Beverly Hills.
You know how kids dream of being soccer players or actors? Well, my dream was to be a sushi chef.
Every morning when I woke up, my mother was already in the kitchen making breakfast. It was always the same: steamed rice, pickled vegetables, grilled fish and miso soup. Each day there was something different in the soup such as tofu or potatoes.
When I set up my first restaurant, I was so inspired by Wolfgang Puck, who is also based in L.A. and is now a good friend of mine, and the way he would engage with his customers and greet them personally.
Every year, I do a New Year's day party at my home. I invite my staff and my friends and their kids. Around 40-50 people come by, and I do a barbecue and salads, steak and sushi, and also lots of cheese.
My business partner Robert De Niro knows a lot about hotels; he opened the Greenwich Hotel in New York City.
My cooking is simply ingredients plus umami.
I feel like I owe something to America, as it is where I found success.
Dashi remains unfamiliar to most French and American cooks, who tend to reach for a bouillon cube to do many of the same things. But dashi is worth preparing and using the way the Japanese do: for poaching fish, as a soup base, and in simmered dishes.
When I'm home in L.A., I go to La Brea, a bakery which does artisan breads, excellent sourdoughs primarily, but also patisserie and cakes.
I grew up in the countryside in Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo.
One evening, Mike Myers and Steven Spielberg were discussing 'Goldmember,' and I just happened to joke, 'If you need a Japanese character, let me know!' The next day, they called me for audition! I find it's always helpful to maintain a sense of humour.
People who make mistakes but try their best, other people will support. But people who make mistakes because they're lazy, nobody supports.
Eating a lot on the plane is not good for jet lag.
Cooking is like fashion. Always, I like to try to change. If I'm traveling in a different country - to Australia, the Bahamas, Budapest, Moscow - and I see a new ingredient, I like to try it in a new dish.
Chefs are artists, and I couldn't be happy with my art if I was forced to use cheap ingredients.
I like both potatoes and rice. You can do a lot with both of them. But if I could eat only one carbohydrate for the rest of my life, I wouldn't choose bread, potatoes or even noodles. I'd go for rice instead; I eat more of that than anything else.
I enjoy people who have passion, whether it is as a musician or whatever they do. All people who have success keep it very basic. Try your best. But without passion, you will not have success.
In Tokyo, we have more three-star Michelin restaurants than Paris.
One of my great loves is golf. When I am in L.A., I like to play with a few close friends: no phones, no distractions, the great outdoors and the chance to bet some money to keep it interesting.
Peru was the Incas; it has 3,000 to 4,000 years of history.
The first jolt I received in my life was when I lost my father in a motorcycle accident when I was eight. I would have been with him if he hadn't turned down my request to go out with him that afternoon.
What I relish most is when a member of my staff, who has worked with passion and patience towards achieving their dream of owning a restaurant, walks up to me and says, 'Nobu! I have done it!'
I love big shrimp, like Japanese botan shrimp and the meaty ones from Santa Barbara, Calif. In classic Japanese cooking, shrimp like these would be dropped into a broth or boiled as served with sushi. But I think boiling dilutes their great flavor, and they are better when stir-fried.
I was a bit of a wild boy - always swimming and exploring the mountains.
Once I fell out of a tree and was hit by a motorbike. I still have the scar on my head now.
When I was 11 or 12 - a young boy in Japan - one of my older brothers took me to a sushi restaurant. I had never been to one, and it was very memorable. Back then, sushi was expensive and hard to come by, not like today, when there's a sushi restaurant on every street corner and you can buy it in supermarkets.
Have you ever been to Mexico City and haggled with the locals over souvenirs? Well, in Peru, you had to negotiate like that to get the freshest fish at the market.
Napa cabbage is very beautiful, all those long, pale leaves with ruffled edges.
I remember watching steak being cooked on TV and wanting to try it. As a special treat, my mother cooked it for me, and I thought this would be the time I would eat with a knife and fork. Alas, I ate it with chopsticks!
I want to always keep going. I don't want to ever stop.
I'm a lucky person because the company keeps growing, and that means my team keeps growing.
I used to watch my mother cooking when I was a child; she influenced me a lot.
