Tag Archives: sushi

Salmon Tartare

Gazing begrudgingly at the day’s selection of sashimi grade fish at my local supermarket, I realized that my options are, and have always been, quite limited. Tuna, salmon, squid, or kampachi.

Despite having moved 50 km away from the ocean, I refuse to accept the fact that I am stuck with a dimished selection of fish to choose from whenever I get that urge for sushi or sashimi – and unfortunately, that craving is five days out of the week.

What to do? Resort to my usual menu of salmon and avocado wraps (norimaki) accompanied by a haphazardly concocted egg pancake (tamagoyaki)? Attempt to better my hand-form sushi (nigirizushi) made with kampachi and tuna? No!

So, I am splintering away from the Japanese world and applying what I’ve learned about working with raw fish to a western delicacy inspired by a recent trip to Amsterdam. The day’s special is Salmon Tartare!

Now, you might have heard of the beef variant known as steak tartare, which is made with raw beef, mustard, herbs and spices served with toast and tartare sauce. Salmon tartare is, unsurprisingly, the fishy version of perhaps one of the greatest dishes I’ve ever had the pleasure of consuming.

Salmon tartare as featured on Sushi Break is not a new invention. But I will share the result of my experimentation below.

Homemade salmon tartare served with special soy sauce

Salmon tartare – with special soy sauce and sliced tomatos

Salmon Tartare served with toast and sliced tomatos

Recipe is not exact*, but if you want to try yourself, here is the shopping list:

1 lb fresh sashimi grade salmon (I used Norwegian salmon, sans skin and bones)
1/2 seeded finely sliced/diced cucumber
1/2 tbs minced shallots
1/2 small white onion
1/2 to 3/4 tbs truffle infused olive oil (normal EVOO is fine too), don’t add more than 1/2 tbs if your salmon is really fatty or you’ll have salmon fat contending with oil which I find a little distracting and not so tasty
1/2 tsp salt (Okinawan salt was used, but if you’re going to use table salt, a small pinch only)
1 tsp fresh parsley finely chopped (dried parsley also ok)
1/2 tbs Jane’s Crazy Pepper (finely ground with mortar and pestle)
1 tbs of fresh squeezed orange juice (I didn’t have lemon/lemon juice)
1/2 tsp (and I mean no more than 1/2 tsp) of sesame seed oil (aka 胡麻油) – this stuff is quite aromic and strong tasting, so don’t let it steal the show

*The shopping list was based on a salmon tartare recipe on Bon Appetit

Instructions: Slice the salmon finely, but not so small that you get mush. You’re trying to make food for humans, not cat food. Keep the salmon aside in a chilled bowl. To the salmon, add the other ingredients in no particular order – but I find that mixing it all in separate bowl ahead of time is a nice idea, so you can just dump it in with the freshly sliced salmon, and be on your way to eating. Rapidly but gently blend together the ingredients with a rubber spatula or other forgiving tool – in other words, don’t use a wooden spoon that grips (and rips) the salmon meat apart with each stir.

For the presentation, what I did was scoop half the mixture into two shallow coffee mugs, flipped them upside down onto the serving saucers, and stored in the fridge for 30 minutes (or however long it takes you to make your other dinner items). Ideally, when you remove your mugs, your salmon tartare should look like little domes.

Temarizushi on Hina Matsuri

Temarizushi, or, “ball sushi,” is a smaller variant of the hand-formed nigirizushi. Temari refers to those colorfully decorated “handballs” made of silk and fabric.

I whipped these up for Japan’s Hina Matsuri “festival for girls” and although chirashizushi is more commonly served on this day, homemade temarizushi were still a good choice! The ingredients used were: engawa, shrimp, avocado, egg, and shiso.

Homemade temarizushi made with engawa, shrimp egg, avocado, and salmon. Garnished with green shiso leaves (also yummy to wrap the sushi up when eating).

Very simple to make. All you need is some sushi rice, choice of toppings, and a square piece of plastic wrap. There isn’t really any limit to what you can make so long as it’s delicious and doesn’t take up too much time!

Start off by putting your topping in the center of the plastic wrap followed by the rice. Then wrap your ingredients with the plastic wrap – easiest done by twisting the wrap tight (not too tight!) around the ingredients whilst maintaining a round shape. Give it a couple of gentle but decided pinches as if you were doing a normal nigirizushi with your thumb and forefinger only. Remove the plastic wrap, place the finished temarizushi on a platter, and continue with the next one.

If you have any decorative ingredients like ikura (salmon eggs) or sliced spring onions, save those for garnishing finished temarizushi pieces. I gave my egg-topped temarizushi avocado bunny ears (see below).

Egg and Avocado Temarizushi

On a Roll with Makizushi: Homemade Salmon Avocado Rolls Part 2

The key to a good sushi roll is balancing a lot of little things (ingredients, texture, shape, and more) all at once to form a great culinary unit that is more than the sum of its parts. Sheez, easier said than done!

Practice, practice, practice and practice more, and you’ll get to a level where you can crank out a fine plate of what you see below.

Sushi Rolls made from Avocado and Salmon plus carrots and sprouts

While I won’t go into every single step, the best things to remember are:

K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple Sushi. Don’t go all fancy with your first few attempts. You won’t impress anyone and you’ll only end up frustrating yourself. Limit your ingredients to 1 or 2 (not including rice and seaweed).

Seaweed – Use the expensive stuff. Do not use the cheap stuff. Do not use Korean salted “snack seaweed”. Do use anything labeled “Asakusa Nori” or anything pretending to be even if it might not be the real thing.

Don’t Roll – It may sound counter-intuitive given the dish’s name and all, but, don’t roll your sushi like the ladies rolling dough at Cinnabon. There is a method to it for which careful observation at your local sushi restaurant or 10 minutes on YouTube will prove very educational.

There are tons of sushi roll recipes out there already, and many yet to be invented! Give it a go and always, always test your work yourself before giving others to eat – if you like, chances are someone else will, too.

Author’s Note: I didn’t really use Shiso in my rolls this time around, but their inclusion is a great idea. Why? You may have noticed the main ingredients used are avocado and salmon, two foods with bland but dominant “fatty” tastes and pasty textures. To counterbalance their dominance, shiso adds a bit of herbal freshness in a way that keeps the sushi interesting without being as acute as sliced ginger (another possible substitute if you don’t have access to shiso), as shy as (adding more) sprounts, or as unpredictable as wasabi. A thought has come to mind that if you don’t have any shiso, ginger, or wasabi, a little chopped fresh parsley may give a slightly more aggressive but similar impact that this sushi needs. If you have any other great suggestions, please send an email to info@metropolitansushi.com!

On a Roll with Makizushi: Homemade Salmon Avocado Rolls Part 1

Makizushi a.k.a. sushi rolls is something I have come to appreciate more and more. The reason being, that, simply eating it is no longer satisfying – making sushi rolls is fun, challenging, and gratifying when you get it right.

My favorite homemade sushi rolls to make and eat are filled with avocado, salmon, carrots, beansprouts, and shiso (red or green). I always make sure that the avocado is nice and soft, carrots crisp, salmon fatty, and beansprouts and shiso fresh from the garden.

Avocado, Carrots, Sprouts, and Salmon

When first learning to make your own homemade sushi rolls, don’t be afraid to cut your ingredients to a size/shape that’s easy to work with – but be reasonable. For example, avocado is quite slippery so you may need to slice it into smaller pieces but not so small that you get guacamole (a sushi roll recipe that does use guacamole I will save for a future post)! At least, my recipe does not call for mushiness but some sushi rolls like negitoro-maki “spring onions and minced toro maguro rolls” (yum-yum) are quite mushy.

Finished product will be in the next post.

Sushi for lunch. Everyday?!

There is nothing like being able to walk 2 minutes from the office to a sushi shop for lunch. I have been blessed with a workplace that allows me to spend my 12 to 1 fulfilling my sushi craving, any day.

But would I go everyday?

I remember writing a post about the dangers of eating too much sushi, but I never thought about it too seriously until I faced the pleasant reality of stuffing myself with sushi daily.
Despite the possibility of getting food poisoning, parasites, mercury poisoning, or suffering from a major foodgasm before the next shift starts, I don’t really see a problem with the concept of everyday sushi – I’m sure there are some out there who actually do this.

Of course, my wallet may have objections of being emptied a bit sooner than if I practiced a bit more delayed gratification.

So, I like the idea that I could have sushi everyday but I probably won’t pursue it in reality.

My latest take-away sushi box is below. The combo is: chutoro, kappa-maki (cuccumber rolls), aji (horse mackerel, and saba (pickled mackerel).

Takeout Sushi!

November 1 is Sushi Day: Born from the Japanese connection to the Fall season, marketing, and a love story

Since the 1960s, November 1 marks Sushi Day in Japan.
The All Japan Sushi Guild in 1961 came up with a way to help the Japanese celebrate and give thanks to the coming of the Fall season. This time of year, fruition, harvests, and rice are highly valued in Japanese culture. Also, Fall is a time that traditionally the Japanese associate with appetite and the in Japanese Shokuyoku no Aki (食欲の秋) literally means “Fall appetite”.

Smart marketing
Having established a cultural connection to eating and to the Fall season, the All Japan Sushi Guild intended for sushi to be celebrated and enjoyed by people of all ages and gender, and promoted National Sushi Day to appeal to everyone. In a way, it was a successful marketing ploy to get more people to eat sushi especially since in the 1960s onward, with Japan’s economy rapidly recovering after its defeat in WWII, more and more people, not just rich elites, but of all parts of Japanese society were able to enjoy sushi.

Why November 1?
There is sort of a love story behind the Sushi Day date of November 1 which has its origin in theatrics. A sushi restaurant appears in a kabuki play in which Taira Koremori, a samurai warrior defeated in battle, visits and falls in love with the daughter of the sushi chef (if interested, he was serving Ayu or sweetfish sushi). The warrior then gives up his status as a samurai and is adopted into the sushi chef’s family and changes his name to Yasuke on November 1. The sushi restaurant is known today as Tsurubesushi Yasuke, or Yasukezushi and is located in Nara Prefecture, Japan. If you’re in the area, go and grab a bite of sushi history!

Big Prawns from Indonesia – Shrimp Sushi for the those not getting the raw deal

I have found that most people who come from cultures where eating raw fish is not a norm tend to break into sushi for the first time through cooked sushi, like the commonplace boiled shrimp sushi (ebi).

Shrimp sushi is easy for sushi first-timers.

Boiled shrimp is familiar to most people in the West, which I can understand would make it easier to accept when eaten as sushi.

Other cooked sushi toppings like egg omelets, barbecued eel, and blanched sea bream, are other common cooked items on sushi restaurant menus.

But if you absolutely can’t handle raw fish, you don’t have to limit yourself to these slim choices. There are so many other kinds of sushi and many additional ways to enjoy them in a less-raw state (after overcoming the impressions you already have).

Take for instance sardine sushi (iwashi): Westerners are probably used to seeing sardines in cans or jars with oil, and not exactly the most appetizing things. That impression is stuck in their minds when told of sardine sushi. Raw sardines, even fresh ones, are somewhat fragrant and can kill your appetite rather quickly. But why settle for the raw deal when you can ask the sushi chef to make it a little less raw?

Aburi (炙り) is the method of torching something with, of course, a blowtorch or flame. In sushi, it means to singe the top or outer surface of raw fish, cooking it. The result is a sardine with a browned crackling surface and the juiciness of a flame-broiled steak (it’s still fish, mind you). The part that has been put to the flame often tastes good enough to make you forget about the fact the rest is raw, but at least it might turn your “ewws” into “yumms”.

The shrimp sushi featured above was made from giant Indonesia tiger prawns, caught fresh (not farmed) and packed at 680 yen for 6 prawns ($8.71) or about $1.45 per prawn. These monsters are large enough to satisfy the no-raw-fish sushi fan, but if you’re felling only a little bit adventurous, take my advice and experiment with others toppings!

Fillets of Sole (karei)

I used a lull in between rain storms to venture out and have a look at the Sunday fish stock at a neighborhood grocer. The only thing decent they had was makokarei (below “karei”), or young marbled soles that were shipped fresh from Chiba prefecture.

Prepped sole (karei) with head and guts removed.

About a 10 inches in length and weighing about 380 grams, this flatfish was not exactly a bargain at 752 yen ($9.64). But when these babies are available, I won’t waste the opportunity for a nice meal in the form of sushi, sashimi, or grilled sole.

Karei are a white meat fish and have a light taste that when properly served can have a slightly fluffy texture, especially when grilled, broiled or otherwise cooked.

The sushi and sashimi iterations present an unexpectedly tough and chewier texture compared to the cooked versions. Karei and its opposite-eyed cousin the Hirame (Flounder) are popular choices at restaurants that specialize in fish — but they are also more expensive compared to more common fish like aji (horse mackerel) and sake (salmon).

I sliced my sole at home (I had the fish seller remove the head and guts before repackaging) using the Gomai-oroshi or five-piece fillet method. Like the name suggests, the result is 4 boneless fillets and a bony carcass (not pictured) — the fillets I used for sushi and frying, while I threw the leftovers into a pot for soup.

When filleting a flatfish, make sure you have a thin and flexible fillet knife or other chef’s knife with a slender blade. It also helps to rinse and wipe your blade during the filleting so you can make a clean cut as often as possible — this will help prevent tearing or ripping of flesh and possibly ruining your fillets.

Sole fillets after using gomai-oroshi (5-piece fillet). Carcass (the fifth piece) is already in the soup pot!

Picking a good flatfish (sole or flounder) is not difficult, but what is difficult is finding one that isn’t cultivated (“farmed”). I personally preferred freshly caught flatfish because while I have a general idea of what these bottom-feeders dine on in the wild, I don’t want to think about the stuff the farmers are giving them in the cultivation ponds. Not that it’s easy to taste the difference either, but it is just for peace of mind.

Farmed soles and flounders can be spotted very easily by flipping them to see the white underbelly and checking for dark spots on the skin. I have been told that the feed used in cultivation causes this, but I will save the science behind that for another time. The point is, if you want a fresh flatfish, go for a pure white underbelly specimen — don’t forget to ask the salesman if it’s not indicated. Most supermarkets and fish mongers know that more and more people have become aware of the difference between fresh and farmed fish and may likewise develop a preference for the fresh version. So, they sell their flatfish in packages with the fish’s white underbelly in full visibility. I think this is great because not only does it show honesty on the part of the seller, but it prevents too many people from messing with the fish too many times to check for spots — someone eventually needs to buy that fish and it’s best that it’s not been handled too much!

Hetakuso Bocho Series – Episode 1: Isaki (Striped Pigfish) 3-part filet

This video is the first of several planned productions of Hetakuso Bocho (“Unskilled Knife”).

In the first episode, I gut and filet a striped pigfish, also known as an isaki in Japan. Isaki is best eaten in the summer months (June, July, August), can grow up to 50 cm, and fetch a relatively high price at market.

This fish is known to be tasty grilled or fried, for sushi or as sashimi.

Isaki have a reddish flesh that you might notice resembles red sea bream (when sliced for sashimi and sushi) but has a little more fat and softer flesh when eaten raw. If raw fish is not your thing, you need to be careful not to overcook isaki as doing so may result in it becoming dry and not so tasty. That is, unless you have some tartar or cocktail sauce, but in my opinion that doesn’t do justice to a fish that can cost $20 or more, and certainly not to be confused with the stuff you get for fish n’ chips.

Picking out a good Isaki can be difficult as the common rule of thumb involves checking the fish’s eyes — the more clear and full, the better — but with even good isaki the eyes are a bit cloudy. I always try to choose gerth over eyes, but if I can confirm both the better.

Merry Christmas 2011 from Sushi Break

Wishing everyone health, happiness, sushiness, and a great 2012!

Today, I received a pop-up Christmas card from my wife. It shows Santas eating sushi at a kaitenzushi restaurant. The kaiten (conveyor belt) moves as your open/close the card. Great work by the peeps at Sanrio! Not including the patrons and staff, the card gives a pretty accurate rendering of a real kaitenzushi restaurant. Even the prices are realistic. Probably one of the more creative things I’ve seen come out of the Japanese gift card industry in recent years.

Autumn | Best Season for Sauries

The Pacific Saury, or “Sanma,” is a very tasty and versatile fish available most of the year, but is best eaten during the Autumn-to-early Winter months.

Written in Japanese, “Sanma” literally translates to “Autumn Sword Fish” due to its body shape resembling a sword or blade, as well as the pinnacle of its taste achieved by the Fall and early Winter months.

Sanma tastes so good during this time of year thanks to its tasty oil and the fat it develops as it migrates to the north of the Pacific Ocean from Summer to Fall. Using that fat to survive the colder waters of the north, it migrates southwards through the Japan Sea during Winter to Spring. Therefore, the best time to eat Sanma is August to December.

By no means a large fish, Pacific Sauries are sleak, slim and streamlined fish. They have a thin layer of fat that surrounds their internal organs, which consists basically of little or no stomach, which results in a very fast digestive cycle. I’ve yet to find krill or other prey intact in this fish’s gut.

Next Up: I’ll show you how to easily remove the guts of a Sanma.

Choose your sushi well

Eating sushi at home can be cheaper than eating out, as well as fun. However, it’s worth noting that what you choose for dinner has an impact health-wise as well as economically. So, ask what you’re buying, where it’s from, when was it caught, and how did it come to be a candidate for consumption.

WHAT & WHERE
Take for instance a simple sushi plate that offers three types of sushi: Trout Salmon, Yellowtail, and Pacific Saury. These fish were chosen based on both personal preference as well as place of cultivation:

Trout Salmon (reddish pink colored) has been imported from Chile
Yellowtail (cream colored) farmed from Shikoku, Japan
Pacific saury (blue and red colored) from Hokkaido, Japan

As Salmon and Yellowtail are longer-lived fishes, I made sure they were cultivated in parts of the world I would not immediately think of disaster zones (natural or otherwise) and thus would be less likely to absorb unhealthy nutrients like mercury during their oceanic feeding stage. On the other hand, I chose the saury based on the fact that now is the best time of year in Japan to eat them as they have developed a thick and tasty layer of fat in order to withstand the frigid waters of the Hokkaido north – furthermore, Saury, or “sanma” written in Japanese characters, basically translates to “sword-shaped fish of Autumn”, a name worthy of a fish meant to be eaten this particular time of year.

WHEN
All the specimens I chose were fished and labeled to be sold within the week, so I had a little piece of mind regarding freshness. Then again, most things in Japan, especially fresh vegetables, are labeled to expire pretty soon after purchase.

HOW
You might also ask about the fish’s origin and condition prior to it becoming a shop item – Did it spend a long time in a tank after being caught? Was it killed with as little struggle as possible? A classic way of slaughtering a fish meant for raw consumption is called “ikejime”, which results in a less traumatic death and better preservation of the meat and fat that wil eventually find its way to your stomach.

So, you might want to keep in the back of your mind, the questions of what, where, when and how your sushi is presented to you, which can only be answered by asking directly. My rule of thumb, if it’s not written on the label, ask!

Better Sushi Rice Recipe

Ingredients:
Japanese rice (short-grain) 250 cc
Rice vinegar* approx. 15 cc
Salt 5 grams (or a large pinch)
White Granulated Sugar 20 grams
Water 250 ml
*White wine vinegar also works

Tools:
A medium-sized tall metal pot you might use for boiling spaghetti noodles
Plastic or Rubber spatula
Flat dish or container about 30 cm (a ceramic casserole dish would be fine)
Hand fan or electric fan

Preparation time:
Approx.. 30 minutes

Step 1: Prep the uncooked rice (5 minutes)
Put rice into pot and wash the rice by hand under running water, draining a few times to get rid of excess rice starch. After draining, put in the equivalent amount of water to rice (250 ml).

Step 2: Cook the rice (12 minutes)
Boil rice and water, covered, at high heat until the lid starts rattling around from the escaping steam. Immediately reduce heat to low and continue to boil covered for 11-12 minutes. Caution: Avoid using a pot with an air-tight lid that clamps in place to avoid a violent steam explosion.
Tip: Avoid removing lid until time is up or rice may be undercooked.

After boiling for 11-12 minutes, the water should be gone and the rice should be steamed through. Remove the pot’s cover (be careful of the steam). Your rice should be firm but not hard, and at the same time soft, but not mushy.
Tip: If your rice is watery, then it might not have cooked long enough or too much water was added before heating. If your rice is dry or has stuck to the sides of your pot, you didn’t add enough water or cooked for too long. Expect some sticking to occur.

Step 3: Prepare your vinegar mixture (1 minute)
While your rice is cooking, put the vinegar and remaining dry ingredients into a cereal bowl and heat in a microwave on high for about 30 seconds, stirring well afterwards to dissolve the dry ingredients. Set aside until rice is finished cooking.
Tip: If your local grocery store has premade sushi vinegar, that would be just as good and save you the hassle of making it yourself.

Step 4: Toss the rice (5-7 minutes)

Unlike a salad, tossing Japanese steamed rice requires one to be delicate. Take your spatula and “slice” into the rice in vertical arced strokes – this is meant to prevent your rice from being pulverized (from simply stirring) as well as helps cool the rice grains. Do this a few times in the pot before transferring the rice to the flat dish.

Once you’ve moved your cooked rice to your flat dish, add half of your prepared vinegar by pouring it over your spatula so as to coat the rice more evenly. Turn on your electric fan and aim it at your rice. Alternatively, have someone fan it with a magazine or whatever is handy. While being fanned, toss your rice once again, this time, aiming to have every grain of rice coated with vinegar. It’s also acceptable to gently scoop and fold the rice over itself, while taking care not to mash. When you think it’s well coated, try a few grains for tasting, and if the flavor is not robust enough, add more of the remaining vinegar mixture a bit at a time until you are satisfied with the taste.

That’s it! You can serve right away or cover and save it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, but there is nothing better than freshly prepared sushi rice.

Flaming Sushi Zodiacs

Saw this on a subsidiary site of Huffington Post: “Sushi for Your Sign” and had this sudden urge to find fault with its zodiacal advice and flame it with a comment or two. I don’t do this too often, but when I see something that has so much wrong in it, I’d rather say something than nothing. Don’t worry, I’m not trashing the entire article, just 7-8 comments that did not sit well with me.

Check the article at the link above — those of you with the same sushi experience as me or more might have more to say, and if you do, please leave a comment.

Aries
Sure, just fire up that tuna hand roll with a double order of wasabi – that’s really complimenting the chef’s training and skill. While you’re at it, why not dump a spoonful of sour cream on top and then you’d get the most expensive seafood taco in town.

Taurus
I’m sorry, but minced beef on rice = art? (seriously…) Show me a hamburger nigiri that didn’t look like a steaming you-know-what planted on a rice ball.

Gemini
Sushi eating is not all about variety, and as most sushi enthusiasts like me will add, order is also important. Standard sushi eating custom suggests you start from the weak-tasting sushi first and work your way up gradually to the stronger sweeter tasting sushi (there are many varieties and combinations). Or don’t, and remain an uncultured Gemini.

Cancer
A raw uzura (quail) egg on a sea urchin gunkanmaki is actually pretty good, but I don’t think it qualifies as a sushi equivalent to caviar – for one thing, they’re bird eggs. Flying Fish roe (tobiko) or Pollock roe (tarako) are probably the closest IMO. Or better yet, mentaiko – spicy tarako famous in Hakata, Japan – spread on a rice cracker will probably give you the Japanese match (in both price and substance) to your standard caviar on a Ritz.

Leo
Okay, so Leos will approach the eating of sushi as one might on an episode of Jackass – a Taco bell crisp taco (again) with “fire” hot sauce will give you the same rush, and cost a helluva lot less. Are Leos supposed to be splurging masochists too?

Virgo
Picky sushi eaters need to know what they’re putting in their mouths, all the way down to what species of fish they’re being served. Relevant because long-lived fish like tuna – the primary ingredient of tekka rolls – are prone to absorbing mercury throughout their lives by eating mercury contaminated prey.

Libra
Sharing is good.

Scorpio
Worth mentioning that unagi and anago served at the head of your meal is like saying to your sushi chef, “I’m in a rush to eat and leave” – shame on you.

Turned that Buri into some Goood Sushi

Okay, finally got a pic up for the sushi I made from the buri that I made such a big fuss over in a recent blog entry.

I’m starting to get more used to molding sushi (nigirizushi)– it’s become more of a rhythm rather than a rigid series of motions. Reminds me to post a new vid to compare with my first attempts at making sushi at home.

Tasted damn good, btw.

Economics were:

5 bucks for the fish
No bucks for the sushi rice (as I had already made some fresh)
1 buck for the package of instant powder wasabi (with enough for 20 more sushi dinners)
I managed to make 13 pieces, so, 6 bucks ÷ 13 pieces of sushi = 46 cents per piece
Average price of a sushi train plate of the same stuff being approx. 3 bucks, I’d say I made off pretty well.

Inarizushi from the In-laws

Hey there. Here is a photo of a box of inarizushi, or o-inari (below, just “inari”) that my in-laws sent me. Made of local rice, vinegar and pouches from Kyushu, Japan, I could rest assured that it was a helluvalot safer to eat than what they deem “safe” to eat at the Tokyo stores — okay, things aren’t as radioactive as they say, but there’s plenty of other things fish and veggies absorb from the wild that are bad for you. There was no fish in these inari sushi dumplings, as they are made with sushi rice stuffed into a sweet bean curd pocket.

I used to not like this kind of sushi, because the restaurant types I ate, mainly at “WEST” (ウエスト) were so darn sweet and probably full of chemicals and preservatives I could do without. I warmed up to inarizushi after I tasted my mother-in-law’s secret recipe.

I might have mentioned before that sushi refers to the rice, not the fish. Hence, if you want to start getting used to the sour-sweetness of sushi rice, or are vegetarian, inari is a pretty good choice.

Some inari have sushi rice that is closer to chirashizushi, in that it contains vegetables and is stronger tasting. The inari featured here are the pure-white rice type, which I prefer since it cuts down on the overall sweetness.

Try inari if you have the chance!

Ike Jime Buri Best for Sushi

Got some good buri (yellowtail) when I was out shopping the other day. It was supposedly shipped directly from Kagoshima, Kyushu to my local supermarket in Tokyo. With all the pollution and radiation floating around the Pacific side of Japan, I am trying very hard to source my ingredients (especially fish) from western Japan. My strictness paid off.

The package of this buri says basically that it is sashimi grade, and was cultivated (farmed) locally in Kagoshima. Then it was taken from the water and killed right on the spot, a type of quick fish slaughter that originally came from Japan known as ike jime (printed as 活け〆 on the label), This is the preferred method of killing a fish meant for eating as the taste is comparably better than say, a fish that was subject to prolonged suffering prior to death (i.e. left to bleed to death), or stuck in a live-catch tank with 25 of his mates for hours and hours of pre-death stress.

If you’re a fish addict, then you should care not only about where your fish comes from, but also under what circumstances the fish was put out of its misery.

Not that every fish seller will tell you if your soon-to-be sushi dinner was killed as soon as it was taken from the water, but you should at least ask.

This wasn’t cheap, by the way: 7 bucks for 167 grams!…okay I got 2 bucks off (see the sticker) because it the last day it was eligible for sale.

Sweet Anago Sushi | Conger Eel

Cooked conger-eel coated with a sweet soy-based sauce is a good finisher for any sushi dinner.

Conger-eel, or anago, is like unagi in that it has small thin bones that are meant to be eaten with the flesh. I would kindly advise against asking a restaurant to serve boneless anago or unagi as it would be a pain the you-know-what to filet one of those things. It is boiled or grilled and often coated in a heavy sweet sauce made from soy sauce, sugar, eel fats, and other ingredients bringing out its distinct flavor.

I’m unsure as to how the anago I received from relatives in Okayama, Japan was prepared, but unlike unagi, it was fairly mild in flavor — the relatives were kind enough to send it with little bottles of anago sauce packed separately.

Sweet and a bit tangy, it was a great way to end a 3 course sushi meal I made over the weekend which started with a garden salad, then aji and salmon nigiri, followed by a ham sandwich (you know, to clear your pallet…), and finally a few pieces of anago nigiri.

I took care not to put too much of the sauce on the anago after I had molded it with the sushi rice. Just enough to end the meal on a high note.

When ordering sushi in a restaurant, they say you should start with the least sweet fish and move your way up and finish with anago or tamagoyaki (sweet fried egg omelet). I don’t always follow this method. The thing is, ordering anago as your second, third, or even first piece can be a bit irritating to the sushi chef because he might think you’re not planning to stay long as something as sweet as anago is normally served towards the end.

Sour Kohada Sushi Needs More Practice

Gizzard Shads, or Kohada (コハダ / 小肌) are a common ingredient and you probably won’t find a sushi menu without them. They are pretty cheap, sometimes going for 110-120 yen or less in the sushi shops.

But, depending on where you eat kohada, it can be a pleasurable addition to your sushi lineup, or a sour disaster.

Kohada are typically soaked in vinegar before being used for sushi or sashimi. This creates a tasty yet potent vinegary-fishy flavor that can catch you off guard.

The kohada pictured left turned out to be way too sour, even after a precautionary soak in water. The end product featured below, while a good balance of fish-to-rice, was still too strong to eat more than 2 or 3 pieces. It might have been better just serve it as sashimi alongside oily, less strong tasting items like tempura or french fries.

Occasionally, I do find a really good sushi restaurant that makes kohada quite well. Okay, that’s a lie — all sushi restaurants’ kohada are fantastic as they have found the secret to getting that slightly sour but not overpowering taste that maintains the overall balance of the sushi itself.

As for how to get the same effect at home, I’ll need to do more research and/or practice my own technique. If I find out any secrets to making the perfect kohada, I’ll blog it.

Fish Market Days | Kampachi

The market today didn’t have much on display today. Mainly shellfish, nishin, and inada. Their refrigerated section always has some good fish so the pick of the day is kampachi (greater amberjack), a favorite of mine among the white fishes and is good for both sushi and sashimi.

The specimen pictured below comes from one of Japan’s main islands, Kyushu, which lies to the south just short distance from South Korea. At the very southern region of Kyushu is Kagoshima, which is the specific location where this piece of kampachi originates. It was a great piece that went well with a slightly “weak” sushi rice — I had to balance out the flavor of the both the fish and the rice so that neither dominated the sushi I made (a pinch of salt and drop of sesame seed oil did wonders here).

Kampachi is a fatty yet light-tasting fish given its peach-whitish flesh. Raw kampachi sushi or sashimi IMO is better eaten closer to room temperature. It gives you that melt-in-your-mouth effect, which is harder to achieve when it’s too cold. It might be a bit on the expensive side but just getting your hands on it is only half the battle. Picking the best piece may take you to a few different fish shops. My favorite cuts are like the one featured above, with a good balance of red to white (skin layer) which gives a nice shimmering meaty appearance.

Kampachi sashimi and nigirizushi is common, but I’ve yet to sample a piece of rolled kampachi sushi. I wonder if the seaweed taste overpowers the subtle, yet rich kampachi flavor which is why it isn’t necessarily a typical makizushi ingredient.

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Metropolitan Sushi

Just a sushi and Japanese seafood blog