Home Omakase

home-omakase

Turn "I want to do an omakase at home" into an executable plan: a course-by-course menu sized to the cook's budget and skill, the right fish chosen and sourced safely, portions scaled to headcount, a printable shopping list, and a time-reversed prep schedule so the host plates one course at a time instead of drowning at service. The skill's whole value is the rhythm — omakase is "served one piece at a time, in sequence," not "a platter dumped on the table."

A real home omakase succeeds or fails on three things, in order: 醋饭 (sushi rice) > sourcing safe fish > knife work. Most beginners over-invest in expensive fish and under-invest in rice and prep timing. This skill counters that.

When to Use

• "我想在家做一次 omakase / 割烹 / 寿司宴,你帮我安排" — full planning request.
• "几个人、预算 X、在 [城市],帮我出菜单 + 采购清单 + 备菜流程."
• "认鱼 / 哪些鱼能生吃 / 刺身级鱼去哪买 / 怎么挑" — sourcing & fish-ID help.
• "我醋饭老是失败 / 握不成形 / toro 炙烤怎么做" — technique troubleshooting in a home-omakase context.
• The user shared a paid "omakase course" and is deciding whether they actually need it — give them the free, actionable version instead.

When NOT to Use

• Booking or reviewing a restaurant omakase → not a cooking task.
• A single recipe ("how do I make tamagoyaki") with no course/menu context → answer directly, no skill needed.
• General dinner-party or non-Japanese menu planning → adjacent, different domain knowledge.
• Food-safety medical questions (parasites, pregnancy, immunocompromised) → give the safety rules in references/sourcing-and-prep.md but tell the user to confirm with a clinician; do not improvise medical advice.

Workflow

Step 1 — Intake (ask only what's missing)

You need five parameters to produce a real plan. If the user already gave some, don't re-ask — only fill gaps. Use AskUserQuestion for the rest, in one batch:

If the user is clearly a beginner, default to 割烹式 (course meal: 前菜→刺身→ 烧物→炸物→握寿司→汁物→甜点) over pure nigiri — it has far more error tolerance and still feels like high-end omakase. Say so and let them override.

Step 2 — Design the course (use the template, then customize)

Read references/course-templates.md. Pick the template matching the budget tier and headcount, then customize against 忌口 and what's buyable in their city. Output a numbered course list with, for each course: dish name (CN + JP), the key ingredient, and whether it's prep-ahead or à-la-minute.

Rules of thumb baked into the templates:

• 8–10 courses for 2–4 people; never exceed what the host can plate in rhythm.
• Lead with cold/prep-ahead courses (先付/刺身) so the host isn't cooking at the start; put à-la-minute items (天妇罗, 炙烤握寿司) in the middle/late.
• One "wow" course (toro 炙烤 / 海胆军舰 / 喉黑盐烤) is enough — don't stack three splurge items; it blows budget without raising perceived quality.

Step 3 — Fish selection & sourcing (safety is non-negotiable)

Read references/fish-guide.md for the 认鱼速查表 (species → part → season → how to pick → how to eat) and references/sourcing-and-prep.md for channels.

Hard safety rules — state these every time raw fish is involved, never soften:

• Only 生食级 / 刺身级 / sashimi-grade fish, from a vendor who labels it as such. "Fresh" ≠ "safe to eat raw."
• Freshwater fish and wild salmon are not eaten raw without commercial freezing (parasite risk). Farmed "三文鱼" sold sashimi-grade is fine.
• Keep cold chain unbroken; slice with a clean board/knife reserved for raw fish; eat the day of purchase.
• Pregnant / immunocompromised / young children / elderly → flag the elevated risk and recommend cooked courses; do not wave it away.

Never invent a vendor, price, or "safe to eat raw" claim for a specific product — if unsure, say "confirm sashimi-grade with the vendor" rather than guessing.

Step 4 — Scale portions & build the shopping list

Scale each course to headcount (sashimi ≈ 4–5 slices/person/fish; nigiri 1 piece/person/type). Produce a shopping list grouped by store section (鱼/ 生鲜 · 主食调料 · 蔬果 · 即买现成) with quantities. Mark each line: 🛒 buy fresh same-day vs 📦 pantry/can-buy-ahead. Include the rice and 寿司醋 — beginners forget the rice is the soul of the meal.

Step 5 — Prep timeline (time-reversed from service)

This is the step that separates a calm host from a chaotic one. Read references/sourcing-and-prep.md § prep timeline. Produce a schedule working backward from serving time:

• Day before / morning: 醋饭米泡水、出汁 (dashi)、腌渍、甜点、茶碗蒸液、 酱汁 — everything that holds.
• 2–3 h before: cook rice → season → cool to body temp (covered with damp cloth); portion fish blocks; set up the "吧台" plating station.
• At service: only slicing + assembly + à-la-minute frying/torching remain.

Goal: by the time guests arrive, ≥80% is done and the host only finishes and hands over courses one at a time.

Step 6 — Service & ritual (what makes it feel like omakase)

Give the host the rhythm, not just the food:

• Serve one course at a time, clear before the next — sequence is the point.
• Announce each course in one line (name + origin + how to eat it): "这是青甘,鰤鱼的一种,蘸一点点酱油直接吃." Pull the one-liners from references/fish-guide.md.
• Warm light, a drink pairing (清酒 / 麦茶 / 气泡水), a cleared counter as the "吧台." Provide technique fixes from references/technique.md if the user hits 醋饭 / 握 / 炙烤 problems.

Step 7 — QA loop before delivering the plan (assume-failure)

Before handing the final plan to the user, re-read it as a skeptical first-timer and check:

• Every raw-fish course carries the sashimi-grade + cold-chain rule?
• Shopping list quantities match headcount and every course's ingredients appear on it (especially rice + 寿司醋 + wasabi + soy)?
• Prep timeline leaves only slicing/assembly/à-la-minute at service?
• No fish recommended that the user's city likely can't source? (If unsure, offer a substitute.)
• Beginner not handed a course count or technique they can't execute?

Fix anything that fails before delivering. A plan that omits the rice or tells a torch-less beginner to make 炙烤 toro is the failure this loop exists to catch.

Quick Reference

Common Mistakes

• Over-spending on fish, under-investing in rice. Rice/醋饭 decides the meal; a cheap fish on great rice beats toro on bad rice. Always budget rice + 寿司醋 first.
• Plating everything at once. Kills the omakase rhythm. Serve in sequence.
• No prep timeline → chaos at service. Always time-reverse from serving time; ≥80% done before guests arrive.
• Treating "fresh" as "safe raw." Only labeled sashimi-grade; freshwater/wild salmon need commercial freezing.
• Beginner attempts a 20-piece nigiri marathon. Steer to 割烹式 course meal — same prestige, far more error tolerance.

Rationalization Table