Keeping it Fresh -- How we Guarantee Pristine Fresh Sushi in Niseko

I can’t think of any other food business in which freshness is more crucial to success than restaurants or shops selling seafood for raw consumption — essentially sushi and sashimi. From the moment seafood leaves the water, there is a race against time to deliver it to the consumer’s table, ensuring both:

1. Safety for the consumer; and

2. that delightful “alive in the mouth” sensation that makes great seafood so memorable.

   

Accordingly, businesses such as Ezo Seafoods must apply real commitment and discipline to achieve consistent freshness. 

This may sound like a tedious chore, but for me it is actually the most exciting part of the business, realized when we present a platter of gleaming sushi to our customers and seeing their delight.

In this essay, I wanted to outline how we achieve consistent freshness.

1. Direct Sourcing from Sapporo Wholesale Seafood Markets

Since starting Ezo Seafoods in Niseko in 2009, we have sourced seafood directly from the Sapporo Wholesale Markets — the great hub of Hokkaido seafood.

Rising at 3:30 a.m., we have driven five hours almost every morning to buy seafood directly from wholesalers. This gives us first pick of the day’s catch and has allowed us to build long-standing relationships with suppliers who understand our insistence on freshness.

We could rely on middlemen, but doing so would surrender a degree of control, access and trust. Sourcing directly also brings other benefits. I can mingle with chefs from Sapporo’s top sushi restaurants and learn from their experience. I can observe subtle seasonal changes firsthand. And by buying directly, we secure better pricing, which we can pass on to customers.

2. Live Seawater Tanks for Maximum Freshness

Seawater tanks are a feature of seafood businesses that take freshness seriously. We installed our first tank in 2012 in our Niseko restaurant to store oysters. In 2015, we commissioned a much larger custom tank holding around 1,500 liters, allowing us to stock Hokkaido shellfish such as scallops, whelk, and abalone.

The tank is supplied with unfiltered deep seawater sourced from Iwanai, where water is pumped from an offshore intake about 7 km out to sea at a depth of roughly 300 meters. Guests visiting our shop can order directly from this live tank, enjoying seafood at its freshest possible state.

3. Strict Seafood Rotation for Quality Control

Seafood perishability is the biggest challenge for any seafood business. There is only a brief window when seafood is at its peak — when it feels truly “alive in the mouth” — before its vibrancy begins to fade, like a dimming light.

Even after this peak, seafood can remain perfectly edible for several days. But for us, “perfectly edible” is not good enough. No matter how good it still looks, and regardless of stock levels, we retire seafood after two days. The Japanese word for "OK" is "DAIJOBU" 大丈夫- I am always telling me staff "DAIJOBU is not good enough"

This is the hardest rule to maintain, but it allows us to serve seafood with confidence and consistently meet customer expectations.

Of course, food waste raises ethical concerns. Over time, however, we have learned to align purchasing closely with demand, often selling out rather than carrying surplus. This creates a virtuous cycle of fast seafood rotation and consistent freshness.

 

 

4. Frozen vs Fresh Seafood 

Most of our seafood is "fresh", meaning that it hasn't been frozen. But there are a couple exceptions, when fresh items are neither available or practical.

King Red Crab is one example where fresh product is not always practical. Supplies of live king crab in Hokkaido are now limited, inconsistent, and extremely expensive, making it unrealistic for us to offer live crab. Much of the crab available today comes from nearby Russian fisheries and is cooked and frozen at sea, with quality ranging from excellent to average. We have found, however, that crab frozen raw immediately after harvest produces results almost indistinguishable from live crab once prepared. By steaming this crab daily in our kitchen, we achieve the same sweet, brininess and succulent texture people expect from freshly cooked live crab, and for this reason we serve and recommend it with confidence.

There is also a practical and humane consideration. Transporting live crabs over long distances keeps them out of their natural environment for extended periods, and preparing them requires killing them on arrival. Using crab processed immediately after harvest allows us to offer excellent product while avoiding that process altogether.

As Ezo Seafoods transitions to the next generation of management, it is important to me to codify our commitment to freshness. I want to pass on these principles — and the discipline behind them — so that Ezo continues to thrive in Niseko’s increasingly competitive food scene, and remains here for at least another ten years.

 

As always, thank you for reading this far.

James Gallagher
Ezo Seafoods Fresh