Chef Erika Yokoyama Sanchez opened Tokachi Musubi to share the flavors of her hometown (Tokachi, Japan) with the Bay Area. She started cooking professionally six years ago, but the concept for her business began in La Cocina (an incubator program for upcoming chefs). She wanted to start her own business inspired by the musubi she learned to make from her mom. In California, when most people think of musubi they picture a block of rice and spam wrapped in seaweed. Chef Erika’s are a bit different as they’re known as omusubi, balls of rice which apart from looking cool also serve a culinary purpose. They resemble onigiri. It may seem like a minor change, but slicing a rice ball open and stuffing it allows for different, unique flavors and textures. Take the karaage musubi, for example, you bite through a layer of chewy rice to reveal the crispy fried chicken in the center. It’s loaded with teriyaki sauce for a touch of sweetness and savoriness.
Erika was inspired to start her business to connect with people. Coincidentally, the word musubi also means to link together. She moved to the US as a single mother and didn’t speak English at the time. Yet, she was able to overcome these challenges and establish a thriving food business while simultaneously connecting with her roots from home. Originally, she started with the traditional fillings she learned from her mother, but overtime she started experimenting and came up with creative fusions and defined her own style.
While she does offer her own take on the popular spam musubi, a lot of her dishes are inspired by traditional Japanese dishes. She offers musubi stuffed with mentaiko, spicy fish eggs, balanced with a touch of mayonnaise. The ikura crab musubi pairs salmon roe and imitation crab in a roll along with mayo, corn, and lettuce. If you want to try a bit of everything, go for their musubi bento which includes two musubis, chicken karaage, edamame, and miso soup. Don’t miss out on their bowls of udon served in dashi and topped with tempura. Make sure not to miss out on the chef’s favorite — the karaage musubi filled with Japanese-style fried chicken. She hopes to one day open a storefront in San Francisco and another in Tokyo.
