When is japanese food not japanese food?

When an international star like Jared Leto blogs about it.

Not too long ago, 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Leto was in town and raved online about  ‘Great Japanese food in London’ – only to post the above picture of Yauatcha, one of London’s finest dim sum emporiums.

And I know, I know, he’s a big film rock star who may not grasp the delicate intricacies that distinguish Chinese from Japanese cuisines, but still… this cross-cultural confusion made me lose all faith in the man. (Even more so than his choice of film roles/women/wacky hairstyles of late).

In Leto’s honour, I present some recent examples of sushi art, just to prove that Japanese food can take different guises (none of which look like dim sum, though):

Exhibit A: Brownie ‘nori roll’ cupcakes and Rice Krispies/Bubbles with Swedish Fish. These amazing sweet sushi creations come from Saucy, a Canadian blogger/supermum who tends to refer to herself in the third person. (It’s fine though, as her talent for re-imagining sushi through sugary sweets is worth the occasional little idiosyncrasy).

Exhibits B & C: Neither of which I would like looking back at me.

So am I just being pedantic, or does someone need to give Jared Leto a culinary education? If he wants to start at Yauatcha, I’ll quite happily volunteer.

<Sushi sweets from Saucy via Paper-, platter from ulteriorepicure>