Ponzu sauce is a common sight in Japanese cooking, coming in the form of a dressing or marinade that is closely related to the more common soy sauce. It is often made by combining simple soy sauce with ingredients that may include dried fish flakes, mirin rice wine, and an Asian citrus fruit known as yuzu. The final product is a flavorful, complex taste sensation with a delightful citrus tang.

You can find ponzu sauce on many of the dishes at our Japanese restaurant in Bellevue, including our New York steak tataki, our panko crusted soft shell crab tempura, and our crispy salmon dish. Try it out for yourself tonight!

There was a time when tuna took a back seat to no other fish. Unfortunately, it lost its seat as the nation’s favorite fish in recent years to the lowly shrimp. This is due largely to the fears that came about from the revelation of the mercury content of certain cans of tuna. However, Flo’s Bellevue Japanese restaurant wants to remind you that this is not typical of tuna, and this amazing fish actually has quite a lot to offer.

One of the best things about tuna is that it is a “fatty” fish. This means that it is a particularly strong source of the omega-3 fatty acids that are a vital part of keeping your heart healthy. It is also full of nutritious, low-cholesterol protein, providing you with twenty-five grams of protein in three ounces. Further, it is a source of important nutrients like phosphorus, vitamin b12, niacin, and selenium. These are good for stabilizing your blood sugar, strengthening your immune system, and purging carcinogenic toxins from your body. Ultimately, the benefits of a low-mercury cut of tuna fish far outweigh the possible drawbacks. Come to Flo to enjoy this classic fish in the form of our many different tuna sashimi, nigirisushi, and sushi rolls!

When you’re looking for an authentic Japanese sushi experience, it can pay to know what kind of sushi the Japanese themselves favor. If you’d like to eat like the Japanese do when you visit our Bellevue Japanese restaurant, try out a few of Japan’s favorites off of our nigiri menu.

Asahi surveyed a selection of eight hundred thirty people above the age of twenty from all across Japan, asking them what their favorite kind of sushi was. The top three proved to be chutoro (medium-fatty tuna) with 15.3%, sake (salmon) at 9%, and maguro akami (red tuna) at 8.8 percent. These were followed by the likes of uni (sea urchin), ikura (salmon roe), hamachi (yellowtail), ika (squid), and others. You can find all of these at Flo Restaurant, so come and get a taste of Japan’s favorite sushi for yourself!

At Flo’s Japanese restaurant in Bellevue, you can enjoy a delicious amaebi nigiri sushi as part of your authentic Japanese dining experience. The amaebi, commonly known in English as the sweet shrimp or spot prawn, represents an excellent sushi choice both in terms of taste and environmental sustainability.

Taste the Sweetness of Amaebi

What makes the amaebi special is that it is the only shrimp that is largely accepted as being best served raw. This is because it has a sweet taste that can be easily destroyed in the cooking process. Additionally, they are known to be a fertile species reproducing abundantly in the Canadian Pacific; their populations are strong enough such that Seafood Watch rates them as a “best choice”. Come and indulge in a delicious and guilt-free amaebi nigiri at Flo Restaurant tonight!

At our Bellevue Japanese restaurant, there’s no better drink to accompany your sushi than a glass of real Japanese sake. But what brings the sake to our tables? From the rice grains to your glass, the production of Japan’s famous rice wine is a long and complex one:

• First, the rice is milled and cleaned. This rice then needs to be steamed to achieve an appropriate consistency to be properly fermented. Half of this steamed rice is placed in a large fat and the other half is put aside to create the starter.
• The rice set aside for the starter is seeded with a species of mold known as koji. This mold starts the fermentation process, converting the starches of the rice into sugars. This process lasts between three and four days.
• When the koji starter is ready, it is mixed with the remaining rice. This is then combined with water and yeast. The resulting mixture then continues to ferment for the next few weeks.
• Once the brewer deems the mixture to be ready, it is pressed to remove the fluids. This fluid is filtered and pasteurized.
• The sake is aged about six months, then distilled with water to achieve the desired level of alcohol by volume. At this point, it is ready to be bottled, sold, and enjoyed!