How do I ask chefs who don't speak in English if they can torch sashimi, in writing?

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Accepted answer

I suspect you're not going to like this answer, but I think you're going about this the wrong way.

In Japan, the idea of "customizing" dishes like this is basically unknown: the chef makes dishes designed to taste good, and your choices are to order them or not order them. Handing over a card like that is going to cause confusion and bewilderment, and not only are they unlikely to comply, but you'll likely be seen as rude and entitled. (Especially with the current near-incomprehensible machine translation, where the last phrase comes off as almost accusatory, but that's another story.)

The second problem is that "grilled sashimi" is not a thing, pretty much by definition: once cooked, it's no longer sashimi. And in a sushi context, aburi is indeed a reference to a specific style of nigirizushi (not sashimi) usually quickly grilled with a blowtorch.

Instead, I'd recommend you find some existing Japanese dishes that match your requirements.

  • You're already identified aburi as an option, and if ordering piece by piece (not set courses) it's entirely possible to order just aburi at many sushi places. (Beware that not all sushi places offer aburi, particularly more traditional ones.).
  • Tataki (たたき) is another common style of quickly searing fish or meat on a grill so the inside is still raw, with bonito tataki (カツオのたたき katsuo no tataki) a particularly common izakaya staple.

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