Sushi

[PHRAG]

Tomorrow, my journey begins...

I have to go the the Japanese market tomorrow and pick up a hangiri (wooden rice bowl) and some crab, shrimp, salmon, avacado and cucumber and then I get to make my lunch. I will post some photos of the results. Pictured above are some chopsticks, bamboo rolling mats, my guidebooks, rice vinegar, nori (kelp sheets), short grain rice, and my ultra sharp new blade.

 

[adiaphane]

Don't forget the saran wrap! You don't want the rice sticking to the bamboo--it will rot it and cause bacteria. (I learned the hard way.)

 

[Jmoney]

good luck! it's fun rolling sushi! (alternatively you can religiously scrub off the bamboo after each use and dry it out).

 

[Heather]

Skip all that and just get a nice chunk of hamachi... one of my very favourite dishes is hamachi with chile and yuzu sauce. I had it at Nobu, and when I cam home, I mentioned it to the manager of the local place and now it is on their menus. mmmm.....

looking forward to your lunch!
(I have leftover indian today.)

 

[couscous74]

Skip all that and just get a nice chunk of hamachi... mmmm.....
looking forward to your lunch!

Yeah, just make sashimi. It's much easier.

 

[PHRAG]

Well, this will be my first time rolling my own (that doesn't sound right) so I am going to be sticking to the standard roll and not the rice-on-the-outside type. I might try hand rolling a couple, and a couple of shrimp nigiri. I almost forgot, I need to get some pickled ginger.

 

[Marco]

rolling my own (that doesn't sound right)

It does sound right, unless you're rolling something else on the side.

I agree with Marcus on this one though. Sashimi is so much easier.

 

[PHRAG]

If I wanted easy, I could have just gone out for sushi.

 

[Marco]

Alright, John you got me there!

 

[Heather]

So? How'd it go, Chef?
details? pictures?

 

[PHRAG]

I can't find a hangiri, so I am going to have to do without one, but driving around Phoenix looking for one ate up all my time, so I am going to have to try again tomorrow.

 

[Heather]

Oh, bummer!
When I noticed around 3pm you weren't around I thought "Hey, John's gone to make his sushi..."

What's a hangiri?

 

[PHRAG]

It's a wooden bowl, made from cypress wood and copper banding. After cooking the rice, you pour it into the hangiri and fan it while it cools. Then you use a wooden spoon to fold the rice while you add a sugar and rice vinegar mixture to the rice to make it sticky. The wooden bowl helps speed the cooling process, and also absorb extra moisture so the rice gets mixed evenly. It is also used to store the day's supply of sticky rice so it doesn't dry out.

I guess I could use a plastic bowl, but I will lose the benefits of the wooden bowl. And I can't use a metal bowl because of the vinegar and it's reaction with metal.

 

[PHRAG]

Interesting bit of trivia... An apprentice sushi chef can spend years carrying supplies and washing dishes before getting the chance to work on the preperation of sushi. One of the first food preperation jobs an apprentice is allowed to do in the sushi kitchen is to fan the rice in the hangiri while it cools.


I didn't know this much about the subject before I read about sushi history in the books I bought. Just so you didn't think I was a Cliff Claven. Cheers was such a good show.

 

[Jmoney]

the inverted rolls take 3 times as long to make if you ask me. but if you really want efficiency in sushi, try hand rolls. all the goods in a fraction of the time. a few slices of salmon, a couple pieces of avocado...

 

[Wendy]

Okay, i know nada about sushi. Is it all made with raw fish? Would somebody please enlighten me? I love fish and would like to know more about sushi.

 

[PHRAG]

Hey Wendy,

Not all sushi is made with raw fish. California rolls have cooked crab meat avacado and cucumber in them. Shrimp tempura rolls have fried shrimp in them, and are pretty tasty. You can buy smoked salmon rolls and that, of course, is smoked. Unagi, is fully cooked, and most of the time served warm with a wonderful smoky sauce poured over it. Unagi is eel. It is also my very favorite sushi of all. Some sushi (tamago) is made with scrambled egg and it is also very good.

There are some raw sushi items that you might want to try. Tuna is very good raw. Salmon can be eaten raw, and though I prefer the smoked kind, regular salmon is nice too. And if you feel really adventurous, you could always try an octopus tentacle or sea urchin.

 

[Jmoney]

most of the california rolls use high-quality "crab sticks" which is in reality mostly pollock or some other type of fish. It is one of my favorites though, since it has avocado in it...

I'm with you on the eel. definitely my favorite, maybe because it takes so long to make. every time I catch an american eel the wheels are set in motion...gotta bake/broil the fish, make up the sauce, but man is it good.

 

[Wendy]

Mmmm. Thanks! I will have to work up the nerve to try raw fish however. The smoked salmon sounds yummy.

 

[Heather]

When I first had sushi, I started with all the really mild things, like smoked salmon (easy one because you get the consistancy of the raw fish but know it is smoked if you are a little squeamish), tuna, hamachi (sea bass), spider rolls (soft shell crab, tempura fried and in a roll with avocado and spicey mayo). We have branched out a bit but still love those things very much. The place we go makes a great Lobster Maki (Maki means it is a roll) with spicey tuna, lobster, and avocado.

We are very good friends with the manager of our local bar, and several of the wait staff. Once, when we asked what what was particularly good, we were told they had excellent "Seal"! We were like, "huh, seal, um...I think we'll pass." So later when we were talking with the manager, we asked where they got the "seal" and he just cracked up laughing and saying "Sea EEL" not "SEAL"! OH!!!
:rollhappy:

Thought that was pretty amusing.