A Packed Room on University Avenue
On Monday afternoon, September 28, some of Toronto’s best-known chefs and restaurateurs filed into Shangri-La Toronto at 188 University Avenue for an invite-only tasting that had the whole room leaning in. Talent from Michelin-recognized kitchens mingled with hotel teams, seafood buyers and guests from Japan, all there to meet Japanese madai and buri, 2 fish that plenty of Toronto diners haven’t tried yet. We were there with our camera, and it was a full house from start to finish.
The host was the Japan Farmed Fish Export Association, a group of Japanese fish farmers, co-operatives and traders that formed in 2022, with support from the Japanese government, to bring Japanese farmed fish to kitchens around the world.
Meet Madai and Buri
The stars of the afternoon were madai, the red sea bream that’s often called the “king of fish” in Japan, and buri, a mature Japanese yellowtail. Madai is the delicate one, with firm white flesh and a gentle sweetness, and it has long been a centrepiece of Japanese celebrations. Buri is its rich, buttery counterpart, a fatty fish with deep flavour that practically melts as you eat it.
A Chef Who Wouldn’t Stop at Sashimi
Shangri-La Toronto’s executive chef, JohnRoss Woodland, and his team prepared the menu, and you could tell they had fun with it. Spread across 8 interactive stations, the fish showed up smoked, flamed, cured and sliced raw, so guests could taste how each one changed with the technique. Bright citrus cut through the richness of the buri, while sourdough brought a toasty, savoury note to one of the most talked-about bites in the room. Madai showed up cold and silky in some bites and hot with crispy skin in others, a reminder that it’s just as happy in a pan as on a sashimi plate.
Woodland, whom many will recognize from Chopped Canada, has told reporters that his kitchen tried everything from smoking the bones to dry-aging the fish on the bone to see how far these 2 could go. From where we stood, the bites disappeared fast.
How They’re Raised and When You Might Taste Them
Organizers say the fish are raised ethically and sustainably in Japan, in conditions that mimic natural ocean currents. They also say madai and buri could reach Toronto menus as early as this winter, and Woodland has said his team is already working buri into dishes at Bosk, the hotel’s signature restaurant.
It was a delicious glimpse of what could be coming to a plate near you this season, and we can’t wait to see what Toronto’s chefs do with these 2 fish next.
Watch the reel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mytorontonews/reel/Dd_Rhxqu19B/