The dragon of the West hoards gold in a cave and breathes fire. The dragon of the East is another creature altogether: lord of water and rain, emblem of wisdom. In Japanese belief, the sea god Ryūjin 龍神 sits at the bottom of the ocean in a palace called Ryūgū-jō, ruling the tides with two jewels, his messenger a turtle. To carry the dragon’s name at a sushi counter is therefore a reference not to fire but to water.

The Dragon Roll was born in America’s sushi bars in the 1980s, a child of the age of invention that the California Roll had opened. The idea was visual and bold: lay paper-thin slices of avocado over the roll, scale upon scale. What emerged was the silhouette of an emerald dragon curling across the plate. Inside there is usually grilled eel, unagi; the sweet tare glaze becomes the dragon’s warmth, the avocado scales its armor.

Among chefs this roll counts as an examination of the hands, for the scales show everyone whether the knife trembled; there is nowhere to hide.

To host the lord of the sea at a counter this close to the water: for us, a small ceremony every time.