'Sushi police' to protect Japan's culinary exports

Next time you pick up that succulent tuna roll or steaming bowl of miso soup, look behind you: the sushi police may be on the prowl.

Long irritated by the sometimes dire quality of Japanese food on offer outside its home country, Tokyo's culinary guardians may be about to launch a crackdown - and sushi is likely to be top of their hit-list.

Japan's Agriculture Ministry has set up a panel to discuss a certification system for Japanese restaurants abroad. Possible gastronomic crimes include slicing fish too thick, using too little or too much wasabi and overboiling rice. Japanese tourists have also been known to complain about greasy tempura, floppy, lifeless noodles and seaweed that is not crispy enough.

The ministry said its aim was to "spread correct Japanese gastronomic culture" and "improve the reliability of our country's food" in foreign countries.

Many so-called Japanese restaurants in foreign countries "offer food that is far apart from the original in the ingredients used and the cooking methods," says the ministry's website.

Hundreds of new sushi, noodle and tempura restaurants have sprouted in the UK in the past decade but TV and magazines in Japan regularly host complaints by disappointed tourists. "I was very surprised by some of the Japanese food in England," said one housewife, Noriko Iwatani, who came to London last year. "Cucumber tempura and California rolls are not really Japanese food as we understand them." Japan boasts great culinary traditions and a tough licensing system.

Sushi chefs train for years to recognise the smell, taste and texture of good fish, and need a licence to prepare certain kinds of dish, such as the poisonous fugu blowfish. "It's difficult to find a chef abroad who really understands the culture of sushi," laments Tokihiro Funahashi, who has been a sushi chef in London since 1975.

The ministry is hoping the certification system will improve the quality of food and help Japanese companies sell more soy sauce, nori seaweed and other local products. "Partly this move is for Japanese tourists but the government wants to export fish-eating culture and techniques to other parts of the world," said Yasuyuki Saito, a journalist with the Daily Fisheries News.

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