Nobu Matsuhisa

One evening, Mike Myers and Steven Spielberg were discussing 'Goldmember,' and I just happened to joke, 'If you need a Japanese character, let me know!' The next day, they called me for audition! I find it's always helpful to maintain a sense of humour.

The fine art of preparing sushi is something that you watch and learn.

The first jolt I received in my life was when I lost my father in a motorcycle accident when I was eight. I would have been with him if he hadn't turned down my request to go out with him that afternoon.

My favorite knife is from Miyakoya in Japan - I have one in each of my restaurants.

One of my favorite ways to use cilantro is in a beautiful clear soup with monkfish and lime. It's a great dish for cooler weather, especially because monkfish is very good in fall and winter. Also, I like the meatiness and rich texture of monkfish.

When I was 11 or 12 - a young boy in Japan - one of my older brothers took me to a sushi restaurant. I had never been to one, and it was very memorable. Back then, sushi was expensive and hard to come by, not like today, when there's a sushi restaurant on every street corner and you can buy it in supermarkets.

Making sushi is an art, and experience is everything.

My cooking is simply ingredients plus umami.

One day, the people who work in my kitchen stir-fried chopped Napa cabbage to serve with some meat or fish for their own dinner. I got to thinking: 'What if the cabbage was the most important thing on the plate?'

Dashi remains unfamiliar to most French and American cooks, who tend to reach for a bouillon cube to do many of the same things. But dashi is worth preparing and using the way the Japanese do: for poaching fish, as a soup base, and in simmered dishes.

I can't imagine Japanese food without dashi, a broth made with kelp and dried bonito flakes. It has the aroma of the sea, tinged with a subtle smokiness, and adds a very important, distinct flavor.

It's true that cilantro has a strange, strong flavor. People seem to love it or not like it at all. Even I didn't like it at first when I had it in Peru. But I got used to it - it's hard not to in South America - and now I can't live without it.

Of course the Japanese and Peruvian fish are different, but it's the same Pacific Ocean. They are different, but I know fish.

I'm not perfect. I am not Iron Man.

Large fish such as tuna are shown already cut into fillets and bought by the block. Fillets should be almost transparent. Avoid tuna that looks rainbow-colored or black.

Shellfish is better to buy live. In the U.S., because we eat oysters and clams raw, it is very important that they are alive before we prepare them. It's important to look for a closed shell. If a clam is alive, the shell will be closed. Never buy clams if the shell is open.

Whenever possible, buy a fish whole. With tuna, this isn't practical; with smaller fish, it is.

A sushi chef has to spot the best-quality fresh fish instantly.

I like both potatoes and rice. You can do a lot with both of them. But if I could eat only one carbohydrate for the rest of my life, I wouldn't choose bread, potatoes or even noodles. I'd go for rice instead; I eat more of that than anything else.

I used to watch my mother cooking when I was a child; she influenced me a lot.

My cooking is very simple, so I don't really use machines at all. A knife, cutting board, frying pan and strainer are my essentials.

I'm a lucky person because the company keeps growing, and that means my team keeps growing.

I want to always keep going. I don't want to ever stop.

I remember watching steak being cooked on TV and wanting to try it. As a special treat, my mother cooked it for me, and I thought this would be the time I would eat with a knife and fork. Alas, I ate it with chopsticks!

Napa cabbage is very beautiful, all those long, pale leaves with ruffled edges.

What I relish most is when a member of my staff, who has worked with passion and patience towards achieving their dream of owning a restaurant, walks up to me and says, 'Nobu! I have done it!'

Cooking and film are completely different - but I'd rather stay in the kitchen than be in movies.

I eat soup noodles for comfort. In fact, noodles of any kind. It's a food that is very easy to eat; it's very soothing and comfortable, too. If I could choose any, I'd say buckwheat was my favourite: it has a very good flavour and is healthy, too.