A Japanese Izakaya Pops Up Inside BirdSong in Chevy Chase

Food going this morning in the Good Day Cafe, two different cuisines, one restaurant, a new Japanese sushi, and Izakaya pop-up is bringing something different to Birdsong, Thai, and Chevy Chase. Yeah, we've got Chef Mike here of Mishi joining us in the kitchen to tell us about this unique concept to show us how to make our own Japanese hand rolls as well. Chef Mike, glad to have you here with us. Thank you. Welcome. Thank you for having me. Yeah, so we're doing a pop-up within Birdsong, which is a Thai restaurant that serves classic street fare as well as larger entree portions. It's kind of interesting that they don't have Pad Thai on the menu, which is something all Thai restaurants normally have. But it's something that doesn't resonate with the chef, Kitty Ma. there's like you know it's not really from her hometown and that's kind of how our pop-up is as well we don't have a bunch of specialty rolls on the menu we just do classic sushi a few like hot items and a few cold plates that are just a little bit like different and innovative compared to what you would find at a traditional izakaya in japan okay and that's why we do the the hand rolls as well so it's kind of a way to like tie in the american and and the japanese cuisine i like that for those wondering what izakaya is it's a pub and restaurant which essentially you can get your drinks and your good eats there exactly it started out as kind of like a way that they would just sell sake and then evolved with uh food as well modern day it's kind of the the place to go to as soon as you go get off of work or maybe if you're trying to get keep the night going you You just, like, it's like, I don't know where to go next. You go to izakaya in the middle of it. Okay, one of those kind of places. Sounds fun. Let's make this hand roll that you are previewing for us. Tell us a little bit about it. And you are very meticulous when it comes to the crab. Oh, so I prefer lump crab meat as opposed to jumbo lump, which has, like, so the lump has a little bit more flavor to it comparatively. But it is a little annoying because it does have more shells. I usually use a black light to pick through. and the meat of it is not fluorescent and the shells themselves are. That's amazing. Maybe something people at home can use. Oh yeah, that is interesting. So there was a piece in there somewhere. I just saw it too. Very easy to spot. Otherwise this can be like a needle in a haystack. Exactly. It's a little bright in here. I usually do it in the dark comparatively. I mean, talk about dedication, Chef. Sitting there picking out crab shells with a black light. I love it. Okay, so let's talk about what goes into making this. Obviously, the lump crab meat, but what else do we have? So, I mean, so this is kind of our local roll. I mean, I grew up in Maryland fishing the Chesapeake, so I have rockfish on the menu, I mean striped bass, and then Maryland crab with asparagus and a little bit of J&O seasoning as opposed to Old Bay because I feel like that's more Maryland compared to Lena at this point. So are we calling this the Maryland crab roll? Exactly. I feel like it's only fitting, yeah. So basically, we just grab, like, a little bit, about 25 to 30 grams of rice. Okay. And then you roll it in your hand, actually. Okay. And how do you make the rice sticky? Yeah. So basically, you mix it with the sushi vinegar is just vinegar, salt, and sugar. But it is short grain rice, so it does start out a little starchy and sticky. Okay. Um, and basically as soon as it's done steaming it, you have to mix it right away. That way the steam kind of evaporates from the rice. And this is that seasoning that you're putting, the J&O seasoning? Exactly. So it's, it's pretty much this very similar to Old Bay. It's just a little bit saltier comparatively. Interesting. Okay. While you're rolling that up, I wanted to show everybody this drink too, that you guys have at the restaurant. It's a sake, but you told us to shake it up beforehand, but in the commercial break, we shook this up. and it turns into like a jelly you were telling me so it's like a jello shot do you want to try a yuzu sake jello shot uh-huh uh it's kind of just a fun way to uh introduce sake to the u.s market uh it's one of those things that because uh it is imported it's it's really not cheap anymore once it gets to the u.s so you have to find creative ways that is very interesting it's like i think the best way i think you described it it was kind of like a bubble tea you get these little pieces yeah that uh come through how fascinating very interesting i'm gonna put some gloves on because i just any chance i get to learn how to make sushi yes i'm all in so you guys have a lot to do there um any specials you guys have going on right now so right now we have a five wagyu on the menu from Hokkaido oh wow a lot of uh places in the u.s use kagoshima and miyazaki because it's just more readily available and they've won a lot of awards in the past but i prefer the meat from the north okay so talk about the difference it's definitely uh the marbling is uh just as consistent but the i feel like the flavor is a little bit more robust comparatively okay uh because it does experience cold weather as opposed to in the south i love the attention to detail that you're even bringing into the kitchen that goes a long way right definitely so we have a over top of rice porridge uh it's a rice and peanut porridge kind of for the like you know fall winter season okay with roasted carrots and it's been braised in a little bit of soy and a nice cozy dish and then we have a beef tartare on the menu as well uh it is uh seasoned with a honey soy vinaigrette with uh asian pears and shiso and then served with some puffed rice crackers well chef the pop-up again is inside of Birdsong um how can people get more information reservations encourage so if you uh go to um instagram it's uh mishi dc and then uh Birdsong Thai DC as well um okay and yeah we're located in Chevy Chase DC right right across the perfect all right we're gonna give us uh give our try at these handles yeah we'll see you after the break guys