A Feast of Flavour: Wa Sushi’s Yoshimi Hayakawa
In 2001, I visited Galway to study English for just two months. When I cooked Japanese food for my host family and for friends from the language school, it became popular, and everyone said to me: “You should open a Japanese restaurant!” After that, I met Seamus Sheridan, the owner of Sheridan’s Cheesemongers, and got an opportunity to sell sushi rolls at the Saturday market – that’s how it all began.
On a typical day, I wake up at 6am and go jogging in Salthill. After taking a shower, I go to the restaurant and do paperwork and prepare for the day. I call my parents in Japan and get in touch with friends between work tasks.
My favourite time of day is during the evening service, when I stand at the counter, making sushi in front of the customers and interacting with them.
I’ve been watching people in the same place for 23 years.
I’ve been watching people in the same place for 23 years. I meet people who have been coming for a long time, and the next generation after that, and new customers as well. It makes me feel like we’re growing old together.
My earliest food memory is of my mother making tamagoyaki (rolled omelette).I was standing next to her, singing a song about it. I can still remember the delicious smell as it cooked.
My fridge and pantry essentials include soy sauce, miso, butter, ginger and garlic. The kitchen gadgets worth the hype for me are kitchen knives , three different types: a Nakiri vegetable knife, a Deba knife and a Sashimi knife. And I love scissors too!
I return to my notebook, which contains what I learned from my sushi sensei (teacher), often. It is full of basic techniques for preparing fish and knowledge gathered over many years of his work.
Photography by Nathalie Marquez Courtney.
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