Ebi Nigiri (Boiled Shrimp)

Serve when

One of the second-movement's daily-catch items — the shrimp goes in the pot the moment the customer sits down, not before.

In the movie

Theatrical

00:28:12 Jiro explains the change in technique over the decades: shrimp used to be boiled in the morning and refrigerated; now the kitchen waits and boils it fresh the moment the customer arrives.

Jiro walks through exactly how much this one dish has changed under his watch: shrimp used to be boiled first thing in the morning and held in the refrigerator until it was needed — "a lot easier back then," he admits — but now the kitchen waits until a customer is actually seated before it goes in the pot. It's a small, concrete example of how the restaurant kept raising its own bar on a dish that most places would consider already finished.

Ingredients

8 large shrimp, shell on, deveined
Salt, for the boiling water
Rice vinegar, a splash, for the boiling water
3 cups cooked, seasoned sushi rice (shari)
Wasabi paste

Method

Skewer each shrimp lengthwise with a bamboo skewer before cooking, so it stays straight rather than curling.
Bring salted water with a splash of rice vinegar to a boil. Drop the shrimp in and cook just 1–2 minutes, until they turn pink and firm — pull the skewer the moment they're cooked through.
Shock in ice water briefly, then peel, leaving the tail on for presentation. Butterfly each shrimp along the belly and lay it flat.
Shape the sushi rice into an oblong mound, dab wasabi underneath, and press the butterflied shrimp over the top while it's still just warm.