sushi

do you ever make it yourself?
i really want to, but i am scared.

i did once. it tasted like smelly raw fish. i guess there's something to the whole study-for-five-years sushi master thing after all.

I've made it a couple of times. Very labor intensive, but you do end up getting something that tastes much better than the stuff the passes for sushi at restaurants. All you really need is 1. good rice and 2. fresh fish. What do you want to know?

where do you get the fish? How do you prepare it, etc?

you do end up getting something that tastes much better than the stuff the passes for sushi at restaurants.

good sushi is nearly impossible to duplicate at home

i am mostly concerned with things like: where/how do you find the right fish and what steps in preparation are best to avoid contamination/spoiling/getting sick?

xp tehresa: me too.

like, are there specific things to look out for when choosing fish? is there a fish that's easier to start with?

i also want to make ceviche

good sushi is nearly impossible to duplicate at home

― dramatic, positive, whatever but in an ironic way (I DIED), Thursday, July 16, 2009 8:02 AM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark

Hah yeah I guess I should clarify it'll be better than the sushi you'll get at most places not located inside a major metropolitan area. Actually the other day I went to a place in NYC and thought it was pretty terrible. But you'll definitely not come close to the big bucks places.

i once worked in the fish dept. of the grocery store and we used to sell radiated tuna sealed in plastic for your safety for home sushi makers. i know you can buy raw non-radiated fish that is safe but if you aren't a super-experienced fish buyer or don't live in a fish-rich location that's an option. i would like to do it sometime bc i have done rolls without fish and it was fun, you just need a sushi mat. not the kind of thing i was worried about doing wrong because you just put stuff you like and can chop up small enough. also not worried about making "good sushi" bc i've never had it and would be happy with anything :))))))))))

sushi means "vinegared rice"

rice is the single most important ingredient in sushi. it takes a long time to make "shari", the prepared rice used in sushi. the shari recipe is a balance of sweet/sour/salty/depth, and also preparing the rice to make it sticky enough to use in nigiri or makimono (rolls) is extremely important. if you just use plain white rice, it will be pretty lol.

for ingredients, it's very important how you cut the fish. unless you are making rolls, then it's less important.

oh yeah i did buy short-grain rice, and made it sticky, that was important. did not put vinegar in it because bleh

i like that tiny bit of vinegar taste in sushi.

but back to choosing fish... obv it should not smell fishy... but what else?

Well the easiest to start with, I guess, is salmon. All salmon used for sushi has already been frozen to get rid of parasites - in fact the Japanese never ate salmon sushi until the advent of refrigeration because of the parasites. At a large-ish Korean supermarket near to me you can get a fillet of "sushi salmon." If not just get a nice fillet with large-ish veins of fat, or if you can get to place where they give you cuts from the fish itself, ask for a cut from the belly. If it hasn't been frozen before freeze it for a couple of days to get rid of said parasites. Thaw it and keep it in the fridge til your rice is made and don't actually take it out til all the other prep work is done.

Make sure you get a nice sharp knife - I've never bothered getting one of those long sharp sashimi knives that was forged in special Japanese ovens or whatever. If you're cutting slices for sushi or sashimi, cut at 45 degree angle, perpendicular to the "grain" of the fat (i.e. perpendicular to all the fat lines). There are a bunch of videos on youtube which will walk you through the process.

The easiest roll to learn how to make is the hand roll. The other kind of rolls are rather hard to make, especially if making the inside out kind. They're more fun though.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3213/2926421090_d19345cb02.jpg?v=0

i really like anything vinegary but by "bleh" i meant "i'm a philistine and don't care"

i'm more concerned abotu the fish than rolls, really. not a HUGE fan of rolls.

i like rolls!

there is definitely vinegar in all sushi rice recipes, as well as mirin, salt and kelp/seaweed. sometimes sake is added as well.

fish used at reputable sushi bars is chosen from the highest grades available at wholesale seafood markets/distributors. let's say sushibars get to choose from grades A-C. Grades C-D-F go to supermarkets. Gourmet places like Whole Foods may get a B-grade fish every once in a while.

what about places like public/farmer's markets?

All salmon used for sushi has already been frozen to get rid of parasites

not true. salmon used at reputable sushi bars arrives "raw" (i have no idea where you live, i'm just talking west coast USA and Japan at the moment) and then is brine-cured by the chef. Some chefs smoke it, but that's not very common. you will never eat merely "frozen" salmon at a sushi bar... i mean, i would hope not. yikes.

in fact the Japanese never ate salmon sushi until the advent of refrigeration because of the parasites

also not true. Historically, the japanese ate many fishes that were much higher in parasitic content than salmon-- most hikarimono like saba, aji, etc. as wells as Katsuo (bonito). they had curing processes involving vinegar which is how sushi was invented (vinegar rice).

the Ainu in Hokkaido have been eating Salmon for hundreds of thousands of years. the reasons that the japanese never did was due to their diet being so lean until about 40 years ago when western (namely french/italian) food gained popularity with the post-war nouveau riche. in fact, the most expensive item today at a sushi bar (ootoro, the belly of blue fin tuna) was considered cat food and discarded up until the mid-60s.

T you can try pike's place market and ask their recommendations. there may be a less touristy place available, but you're in salmon heaven. i know that the copper river and coho salmon breeds are highly sought after for sushi.

There is another fish very similar to salmon called "umimasu" (ocean trout) that may be easier to find and equally delicious.

Hah, very interesting Steve. My world has been turned upside down - I suppose those are the perils of getting all of your info from trawling the internet. I did remember reading about the Ainu before though, but the source told me that the reason they ate salmon was because they buried it in the snow - probably apocryphal, I imagine.

I live in south Jersey at the moment, which is a bit of a sushi and fish desert. I'm sure there's good stuff in Philly itself (i.e. Morimoto - never been), but it's mostly out of my price range.

tza, pick up some sashimi grade fish from the Uwajimaya fishmonger. You could try Jack's in the market (much much less touristy than the throwing-the-fish-guys), it's back by the Creamery.

^^^ this ^^^

uwajimaya is so dope!

<3 uwajimaya so much!

i was taught how to make "amateur sushi" by my ceramics instructor in college. he would make an avocado mash with garlic, some sake and soy and a big batch of sushi rice. then you take the nori and fold it to perforate and tear it get smaller "bite size" pieces which you then do up like a taco with the rice and a dab of avocado. if yr stylin, put some wasabi on there. it's fun and doesn't throw the white people off too much if they aint never had no sushi before. goes very well with beer.

So is australia the only place that does sushi handrolls in this manner?
http://images.theage.com.au/2008/09/03/197688/st_sushi-420x0.jpg

ie: fat, tightly wound rolls, rather than loose trumpets? You wouldnt see those loose trumpet type rolls in most Melb sushi bars; and sushi is as ubiquitous a takeaway snack as fish and chips, in Melbourne.

no, i'd say that style is pretty ubiquitous pretty much everywhere but Japan.

Out here it's more of a Korean influence (ie, kimbop) than sushi... it's a lot cheaper and less labor to make rolls than to make traditional sushi.

re: freezing fish upthread

Sushi Fresh From the Deep . . . the Deep Freeze