The Seven Sushi Samurai competition is coming up next tuesday. It will be a grand finale of a four-month, nationwide celebration of Japanese food, drink and culture, and top Japanese chefs will participate in what some call “the world’s only sushi Oscars”.

This battle is between seven of the best sushi chefs out there. It has already created a lot of buzz and all of the around 300 tickets sold out within two weeks of going on sale. No wonder it is sold out - everyone who attends the Sushi Awards event is given the opportunity to taste sushi created by the Seven Sushi Samurai and vote for their favorite! Mmmm.

Who will win?
The sushi chefs are competing on making the best and most innovative nigiri sushi. Jeff Ramsey won last year with his nigiri sushi of electric eel and pineapple. This year his dish is called - “The Whole Salmon”. It brings together every part of a salmon - from the roe to the head and cartilage in a single dish, marinaded with passion fruit juice and a coffee mustard sauce.

Yasuhiro Mineno is the head chef at Nobu Group’s restaurant Ubon are competing with Ramsey. The Guardian Observer reports that Mineo says ‘I want to show that sushi is not limited to fish alone. In my exquisite multi-ethnic dish, Scottish beef fillet is marinated in miso, a quintessential Japanese ingredient, and served with pureed tomatoes for a refreshing tang.’

It sound absolutely amazing being there watching these people. Another contestant - Masaki Anayama, head chef with Matsuri, one of the oldest Japanese restaurants in Britain will make a seared seabass sushi and a thick tangy tartare made from yuzu (Japanese citrus) and fresh limes with red chilli and chives. Andrei Sim, from Planeta Sushi in Moscow, is represented with his signature dish, Red Square - a daring combination of tuna, cream cheese and a sweet-sour dressing. Mexican-born chef Jose Calderon, of the Tako Grill in Maryland is combining salmon and octopus in tortilla shells, with guacamole, jalapeno peppers, fried kelp and flying fish roe.

I hope they will share lots of images and video from this competition! Ahh, how I would have loved to have been there!

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