I feel so torn writing about Musashi’s and there are several reasons for this: One, it has a special place in my heart because Mitsuko is part of my family. Two, it was the first place I ever worked (busing tables at the tender age of 12). Three, they have the best chicken teriyaki and harusame salad. The only downside, really, is that it’s dingy and I have a hard time taking friends there. Luckily there is take-out.
Chicken teriyaki – Sweet, salty and thick teriyaki sauce paired with grilled and lightly charred, white-meat chicken skewers.
Harusame noodle salad – Who knew that mayonnaise, harusame noodles, fake crab and cucumbers could taste this good? I always order an extra salad.
Yaki onigiri – A delicious ball of rice that’s been lightly grilled and mopped with teriyaki sauce. These are better when you eat them at the restaurant; by the time I got home they were cold.
Salmon onigiri – A rice ball stuffed with salmon and bonito flakes, but not grilled. Zach’s favorite.
Sushi – The unagi (eel) was really moist and good, but again, cold by the time I ate it. The tamago (omelet) was delicious as was the sweet tofu inari.
Please Please tell me how to make the Harusame noodle salad you mentioned! Is there a recipe?
Do you have a recipe for the Harusame noodle salad???? I’ll be your friend forever!!!
Judy,
I don’t have the exact recipe… and I doubt that she’ll give it to me, but I’ll ask. I may also do some experimenting to see if I can recreate the salad. I’ll let you know if it turns out.
Off the top of my head it would be something like this:
Salad:
Rice glass noodles, cooked and cooled
Cucumber, julienned
Surimi (imitation crab meat)
Sesame seeds, toasted
Dressing:
Mayonnaise
Mirin
Thank you, I was looking for this too, I’m thinking also there’s a little spiciness, maybe some wasabi added?
Ohh! I had a dream last night about harusame salad from Musashi’s. My mother took my brother and me there so often when we lived in Seattle. I was 7-8 then, 20 now and living in Montreal, and have tried making it on my own so many times, hee hee. That, and the salmon onigiri, yum yum yum. I still haven’t had it turn out right, but thanks for posting that little recipe up there. I forgot mirin!! If you can post anything more detailed, I would appreciate it so. But thanks for posting what you did, again : ) Such nice memories from childhood eating in that tiny restaurant (which didn’t seem so tiny as a schoolgirl.)
Hi you all! It’s years later and Musashi’s has a new owner but the noodle salad is still kicking ass at Musashi’s. I live in New York now but make it to Seattle often, The woman that used to make Sushi and was always stressed out in the late 1990s shared with me the recipe but I didn’t get proportions. So tonight one of my covid 19 projects has been to re figure out this recipe. So far I have Harusame glass noodles (with mung bean starch etc…), Japanese Mayonnaise, Toasted sesame oil, imitation Crab, Cucumber with skin on slivers, lightly salted egg omelette slivers, Mirin (I think), a little sugar (this I remember). It takes a while for the sugar to melt in and for the flavors to mix, so next I throw it in the refrigerator for a few hours and then mix again. When serving put toasted sesame seeds on top. After eating this dish for about 30 years now at Musashi’s, I think I have it pretty close. Now to figure out what that sweet spongy thing is inside their California rolls, maybe a teri-yaki fried tofu? Any itel would be awesome! cheers, Jon
The grime was part of the charm! The food was amazing and everyone that worked there was wonderful. Nothing, has been the same since it was sold to a new crew. My friends and I guess that the recipes were given to them but they’re not making it with love, so it’ll never taste as good. I’m inspired by this fifteen year old post though and am going to try to recreate it!!
In the 90’s, while I was an undergraduate at UW, I worked for Mitsuko and Paul. I skewered countless pans of chicken, portioned endless containers of harusame salad and washed and rinsed the rice until the water was crystal clear. I prepped many hundreds of pots of rice and I was never given the satisfaction of getting the proportions right. Paul would adjust the liquid, often removing or adding a tablespoon or less till perfect. It was a game we played.
I worked evenings every other day. I would arrive in the afternoon and have a plate of curry rice before my shift. Prep cook and clean for the evening’s dinner, bus and support the wait staff, then clean up and mop for the closing. Mitsuko would then take her only break of the night, often squatting down behind her station and enjoying a cigarette. When I left there was always a full to-go bag of styrofoam clam containers full of sushi, teriyaki and sometimes cake or lasagna that Mitsuko brought in to share. This was my nourishment for the next day. I did this for almost five years. They were incredibly generous and kind. I am very grateful for this experience and for knowing the recipe of that amazing salad.