Jiro Ono, the God of Sushi: Doing one thing to the extreme is the secret of my success

In Ginza, Tokyo, Japan, close to the subway, there is a small underground store with a seating capacity of 10 and no separate restroom. This store looks very ordinary, very inconspicuous, and there is no menu, small dishes and drinks, every day inside the store random food, but at least one month in advance to reserve a seat , and even the Japanese Prime Minister is very difficult to book a seat.

"This is the closest thing to heaven" - said the Michelin three-star chef Frenchman Joel Houbouhoun, who is known as a genius chef.

The name of the restaurant is "Sukiyabashi Jiro", a name that may not be familiar to many, but the chef, Jiro Ono, who is known as the "God of Sushi", may be unknown.

In 2008, the restaurant received three Michelin stars. Jiro Ono was 82 years old at the time, making him the oldest three-star chef in Michelin history.

Back then there were protests about how Michelin could give three stars to a restaurant with only 10 seats, and the jury's answer was, "You know when you've been there, Jiro's restaurants can't be given any other star, only three stars are worthy of him," and said that for the sake of the restaurant- - "It's worth specializing in a trip abroad".

How does Jiro Ono do it all?

In the documentary God of Sushi, we find the answer, which is dedication, excellence, and Jiro Ono's love of sushi.

In this post we take you on a journey to discover the four secrets that have made Jiro Ono so successful.

Every day, Jiro Ono arrives at the store early, and he samples all the ingredients, so that nothing tastes bad is allowed on the market.

Every day, Jiro Ono's sushi restaurant arranges the seating of guests in advance, and adjusts the position of diners according to their age, gender, and status. That way, when it's time to serve the sushi, the backroom is able to remember the order of the men and women so that they can pinch sushi with different amounts of food. "This doesn't disrupt the rhythm of eating sushi." Jiro Ono said.

Jiro will stand in front of the sushi table and pinch the sushi for each customer with his own hands, and when he is working Jiro Ono's expression is so serious and focused that space and time seem to freeze, and everything is so full of sacred rituals that many of the customers who dine at the restaurant feel nervous.

Jiro Ono pinched sushi like a flowing stream, full of rhythm, movement is crisp, flexible, fingers as in the dance in general, sushi after Jiro's hands, as if there is a spirit, some customers say you can even feel the sushi in the breath.

When the sushi is done, the guys run to serve it.

This is because the sushi must be eaten immediately, and it tastes best when it is close to the temperature of the human body. Jiro Ono believes that sushi should not be left on the table for more than three seconds, as this changes the temperature of the sushi and affects the taste.

So eating here also requires total concentration and meticulousness. Because the food is served so quickly, the meal is short, with customers eating a meal in about 30 minutes.

Jiro Ono, in 2003, developed his own unique serving program, he designed the best order to enjoy sushi: the first movement is the classic sushi, such as salmon, halibut; then the second movement "improvisation", according to the seasonal seafood on food, such as needlefish, octopus; the last movement is some traditional dishes, such as sea eel, fried octopus. The last movement is the traditional dishes, such as sea eel and fried cake. The sushi flows like music, and with every bite you can taste Jiro's philosophy of life.

These are the rules of the trade that have touched the hearts of his customers and are in Jiro's blood, making him known as the "God of Sushi".

Whenever a customer finished eating, Jiro Ono and his eldest son, Sakichi, would bow at the door and see the customer off.

Seeing the satisfied faces of customers after eating their food is the happiest thing for Jiro Ono.

Unique products and perfect dining experience come from Jiro Ono's extreme pursuit of details.

Onojiro very much attention to detail, each link is trying to do the best. Including the front of the tableware arrangement, tea set have strict requirements, even including guests can not see the seasoning box, side dishes box, knives, fans.

Only wild wasabi from the Izu Peninsula is selected, and the wasabi is ground in specific quantities with specific force and speed.

The side dish box is specially customized with a bamboo bottom for high class luxury.

Ginger slices are pickled for a sour and spicy entry into the mouth to be rounded and soft and refreshing.

The ceramic tableware is made by a famous artist and Jiro Ono himself is personally involved in the design.

The curtains outside are also changed regularly according to the season.

What's the hardest part of making sushi?

It's not really the kneading in the foreground, but the preparation of the ingredients.

Jiro Ono says that by the time the ingredients are ready, the sushi is 95% done.

Until he was 70, Jiro Ono picked his ingredients himself at the Tsukiji market near Ginza. Then, because of his heart, now Teichi, Jiro's eldest son, bicycles to the Tsukiji market every morning to buy fresh ingredients.

The seafood merchants who work with Jiro's sushi restaurants are specialists in selling only a single ingredient - shrimp for shrimp, octopus for octopus, and moray eel for moray eel.

"The whole market only has about three kilograms of wild shrimp a day, and I'll leave it all to him." The owner of the shrimp seller said.

"The best tulip, only one. We sell it to him." The tulip fish owner said.

The owner of the rice store refused the big restaurant order and left him the best rice, saying that only Jiro Ono can cook this best rice.

Jiro purchases ingredients with a focus on quality, regardless of price. It is no exaggeration to say that the high demand for quality ingredients is the key to Jiro Ono's perfect sushi.

Attention to detail and the pursuit of perfection is the secret of all successful people.

Just like Steve Jobs, who was known for his pursuit of perfection.

Jobs grew up with the idea of a good product, the craftsmanship that is celebrated today: "A good carpenter will use the best boards on the back of the closet as well."

This philosophy of upholding perfection in the details led Steve Jobs to insist on a constant quest for perfection in the design of Apple's products: trying out the best accessories, pursuing beautiful designs, stunning features, and so on.

What's even more admirable is that he also pursued perfection where people couldn't see it. When you open an iPhone, the user is touched by the delicate wiring design and layout - even in the "back of the closet" where no one can see it, Apple delivers unparalleled beauty and sophistication, as always.

Steve Jobs once said that the iPhone would be unsurpassed in 5 years. And it's true, not that he was arrogant, but the reason the iPhone is unrivaled is that it's the ultimate product, and it's hard to beat a product that's so unprecedented.

If we do things with the spirit of Erlang and Steve Jobs, then it's hard not to succeed.

In order to provide customers with the best sushi, in addition to the pursuit of extreme details, Jiro Ono has also been trying to refine the sushi techniques, and strive to make more perfect works.

Jiro's chef once told him that sushi had a long history and there was no room for improvement. But Jiro Ono didn't think so. He felt that even though his master's skills were pure, there was always room for improvement.

Later in his sushi career, he continued to improve and innovate, creating many dishes that did not exist before.

Jiro Ono was also constantly improving and upgrading the processing of ingredients.

For example, ordinary octopus sushi tastes as bad as a rubber tire, but Jiro Ono's unique culinary treatment makes octopus sushi tender and delicious.

This comes from his unique treatment, in which the octopus is continuously kneaded in a specific basin for 30 minutes, leaving the flesh soft and fragrant.

Jiro Ono says he's worked for decades but has never been satisfied with the sushi he makes, so he has a lot of work to do.

"Look forward and outdo yourself. Always strive to improve your craft with excellence, that's what he taught me." Teichi, Jiro Ono's eldest son, said.

Not only did he require himself to be refined, to go above and beyond, and to pursue perfection, but for his apprentices in the store, Jiro Ono was also very strict and instilled this pursuit of perfection in them.

Shop apprentices, the first must learn to wring the towel by hand, the towel is very hot, the beginning will burn your hands, this training is very tough. But it is the basic course that every apprentice must go through.

Without learning to wring the towel, it is impossible to touch the fish; then, you have to learn to use a knife and cook the fish. Only after ten years can you fry an egg.

Jiro Ono's protégé, Daisuke Nakazawa, said, "I practiced frying eggs for a long time, thinking I had no problem, but when it came to actually doing it, I kept messing up. They kept saying, 'No, it's not good enough'."

It took a full decade of basic skills training before an apprentice was finally good enough to make an omelette, only to realize he still couldn't meet the masters' standards. He spent another four months making more than 200 failed eggs before finally making his first qualified finished product.

When Jiro Ono said, "This is what an omelette should look like," and finally called the apprentice a "jobber," he cried with joy.

It takes 10 to 20 years to become an apprentice here, and it depends on the apprentice's own understanding and hard work.

A strict teacher makes a good apprentice, and after his apprenticeship, Daisuke Nakazawa opened a sushi restaurant in New York City, which quickly became the best and most difficult to book sushi restaurant in the country.

When something is 80 points, it may be related to money, but when it is 100 points, it must be related to passion.

Jiro Ono's dedication and love for sushi has reached mind-blowing levels.

Jiro Ono has been leaving at five and coming home at ten every day for 75 years straight, specializing in sushi and only making hand-held sushi.

"I love what I do and I'm going to devote my life to it."

Jiro Ono has nothing but sushi on his mind, sushi is all he lives for, and he wants to keep doing it until he can't do it anymore, and he thinks he can still make better sushi.

Jiro Ono after 70 years old, he has been tortured by angina thyroid cancer, if it is the average person would have gone home to rest.

Instead, Jiro Ono said, "I'm 93 this year, and I want to knead sushi with these hands until I'm 100."

His son said, "He's not going to retire, he's going to die by the sushi table."

Sushi is more than just food to Jiro Ono. To him, sushi is a work of art, and like a master artist himself, he is constantly refining and striving for perfection.

Jiro Ono's love for sushi is more than just a love; he puts his spirit and soul into it, an artist's quest for artistic perfection.

Tetsuya Saotome, another "God of Tempura" in Japan, who is also known as Jiro Ono, expressed this even more clearly.

From the age of 14, he learned his trade, and now, at the age of 70, he still stands in front of a frying pan for 56 years. On the album he gave to his guests, he wrote:

This is probably the realm where Zhang Dai of the Ming Dynasty said, "The skill of the cover is also in the Tao".

I think people go to Jiro Ono's sushi restaurant not only to taste the delicious food, but also to feel the spirit of Jiro Ono's pursuit of the ultimate - the realm of infusing the soul into the sushi and becoming one with it .

Summarizing his success, Jiro Ono said to his apprentice.