Brazilian Chef Officially Rolls the Best Sushi in the World

A Brazilian chef won the World Sushi Cup Friday, bursting into tears of joy after his knife skills and artful preparation of salmon roe, tuna and shrimp delicacies wowed Japanese judges.

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With the country's UNESCO-recognised cuisine enjoying an explosion of global popularity, the competition—sponsored by Japan's Agricultural Ministry—aims to improve sushi standards overseas.

Dressed in white coats and hats, 27 chefs from countries ranging from France, Brazil and the U.S. to Pakistan, prepared fish and made traditional "Edo" style sushi, in tightly timed rounds.

Their techniques were closely watched and evaluated by a panel of Japanese sushi masters, with 20 chefs making it through to the finals on day two, where they had to show off their own original styles of sushi.

As of July 2015, there were 89,000 Japanese restaurants outside Japan, up from 55,000 two years before, according to the ministry.

But many establishments outside the country serve sushi without proper knowledge and skills, competition organizers said.