I thought some of you who might remember what I wrote about my bad experience with trying sushi, and how I have never been able to try it since, might get a kick out of this. (And I am primarily thinking of you, Mike. )
A few weeks ago I was eating (a non-sushi) dinner in a sushi restaurant, which came with half of a New York roll on the plate. I would have been quite happy to throw it out or let Cor have it, but I decided to try to force down a bit of the stuff once again . . . and it wasn't so bad! Since then, I've had Sushi two or three more times, and even experimented with different types of rolls.
Mainly, what I've discovered is not so much a fondness for sushi, but that I REALLY dig wasabi (sp?). (And I always loved soy sauce.) I just load it up with insane, eye-watering amonunts of wasabi and have at it. (Since neither wasabi nor soy sauce were present, as I recall, the previous time I tried to get down a bit of sushi, this might be a factor in why I could not get near the stuff for 10+ years.)
I'm trying to discover types of rolls I like, and which names are standard and which are local creations. Part of the difficulty is that I despise mayonnaise, so that rules out quite a few right there. But I have quite enjoyed a Philadelphia Roll a couple of times (is that a real type of roll? I got the impression it was).
Anyway, I know quite a few people here like sushi. I've always felt vaguely like an outsider when discussions of sushi came up, so I thought some of you might be amused to hear I am learning to like it!
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
I'm glad, Icky. I'm an avid sushi fan, but I hate fish. Hee hee. Before I left Bozeman, my friends took me out for sushi and I had just a plain Maki roll with cucumber and mango. Sigh... I have fond memories of that sushi roll.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Every time I try to get sushi, the place ends up mysteriously closed. Ask celia.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Actually, I think the memory of that last night out for sushi and the vague smell of sesame oil that for some reason I can perfectly recollect right now is going to make me cry.
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
Personally, I like the pickled ginger.
But I also love the sushi. Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Oh, the pickled ginger! Especially when it's pink!
*weeps*
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Pickled ginger is edible, but not exciting. Wasabi is vile.
But California rolls! Ah!
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Pickled ginger is edible, but not particularly pleasant.
Wasabi is teh awesome!
The Benihana's in Miami used to serve a shrimp cocktail with a wasabi sorbet instead of cocktail sauce . . . mmm!
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Mmm, wasabi.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
! Wasabi sorbet !?!
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Yeah! Isn't it cool?!
(Well, um yeah, actually. Cool. And hot. Hot, too. But cool.)
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Mmm... and the little dishes you mix the wasabi and the soy sauce in, creating that cloudy brown sea that's so very very salty.... and the waitress tells you the ginger is for cleaning your palate, but you eat it on top of each bite anyway. And it's just spicy enough! And it's so very very salty! Salty like human tears...
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
It's also good to put the ginger in the soy-wasabi mixture.
A Philadelphia roll is an American invention, but they are fairly common and quite tasty. I enjoy the Spicy Spider rolls, but really - I'll take whatever sushi I can get whenever I can get it.
Mmm... sushi... definitely going to get some this weekend...
Posted by Allegra (Member # 6773) on :
I don't have a cloudy brown sea. I tend to have a greenish brown sludge. Very, very spicy.
I reccomend: California roll, veggie roll, salmon sushi, tuna.
I tend to not go for raw, but I eat the tuna raw and I like it.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
I'm sushi stupid. What's the difference between a California roll and a New York roll? (Don't say one gives you the finger when you cut it off and the other just shoots you)
Posted by Allegra (Member # 6773) on :
Boris.
I don't know what the New York roll has in it, but the california roll generally has avacado, cucumber, and imitation crab all wrapped in rice and seaweed.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote: California Roll: avocado, crab meat, cucumber.
Tuna Roll:Tuna, wrapped in rice and seaweed. This same combination is used to make plain rolls with any other type of fish.
Spicy Tuna Roll: Tuna, spicy sauce (mixture of Japanese mayonnaise and sriracha)
Kamikaze Roll: Tuna, yellowtail, spicy sauce
Philadelphia Roll: Salmon (either raw or smoked), cream cheese
New York roll seems to mean several different things, including a Philadelphia roll with cucumber. Posted by Allegra (Member # 6773) on :
to Rivka's resourcefulness.
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
Rock on Icarus!
Welcome to the sushi club! Posted by Amka (Member # 690) on :
We love the california roll. We make it ourselves at home.
Vovka is a wasabi man, and I'm a ginger woman.
Yum, I think we'll have it sometime this next coming week.
Posted by accio (Member # 3040) on :
Authentic sushi rolls are Kappa maki (cucumber roll) and Tekka maki (tuna roll). Rest are American invention. It started out with California roll for American palate. Among those rolls, I enjoy tempura rolls. I dip it in ponzu sauce instead of soy sauce. They don't usually have it on the table but they will bring it to you if you ask for it. Try it next time! No mayonnaise and cream cheese in my rolls, please. Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
My favourite new sushi is an inside out roll with sesame seeds on the outside, smoked eel, cucumber and egg omlette on the inside.
Smoked eel is suprisingly *good*.
Apart from that, tuna or salmon sashimi on rice is lovely.
I also like the sushi with seaweed salad in - very finely shredded and bright green. Slightly peppery.
Oh, I need to visit my favourite sushi restaurant again (it's one of the conveyer belt ones, with the chefs making the sushi fresh in the middle).
Posted by Jim-Me (Member # 6426) on :
Wasabi is defiitely the key to sushi.
I have since discovered that the slab-like salmon sushi is far and away my favorite...
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
quote:Smoked eel is suprisingly *good*.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...eeeeeeel. I'll back that up! It's my absolute favorite!
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
So, a few things. First, despite the fact that I like mayonnaise, I am firmly of the opinion that it does not belong in sushi. But it shouldn't be too much of an obstacle for you, Joe, because very few rolls at a normal sushi restaurant will contain it. In fact, if more than one or two rolls on the menu contain sushi, I'd probably be looking for a different restaurant. Just my opinion, anyway.
quote:I had just a plain Maki roll with cucumber and mango.
This is a nitpick, really, but "Maki roll" is redundant, as maki is just the Japanese word for "sushi roll."
California rolls do, indeed, contain avocado, crab meat (real or imitation, depending on the place), and cucumber. Another important distinction is that they are rolled with the rice on the outside and the nori on the inside. They also sometimes have sesame seeds or flying fish roe sprinkled on them.
quote:Authentic sushi rolls are Kappa maki (cucumber roll) and Tekka maki (tuna roll). Rest are American invention.
I note that you are leaving out futomaki, which definitely an authentic one and also good for vegetarians and people who don't like fish. And even though many maki may have been invented in the US, you can still get lots of different kinds of maki in Japan these days.
Anyway, I'm glad you've come over to the dark side, Joe, even if you have to overdo the wasabi to enjoy it. Hey, whatever it takes, man. Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
I love sushi. I generally eat nigri, but if you're going to stick with the rolls see if there's a #9 on the menu. It's a standard roll up here, but I don't know if it is everywhere.
Posted by Vána (Member # 6593) on :
Aw, man! Now I'm really wishing I had a spider roll in front of me. Or an ami ebi. Or how about just a whole sushi lunch? That would be lovely.
Maybe tomorrow. Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
I could walk across the street and have sushi for lunch, but I have to go and host a recognition lunch at a restaurant I don't particularly care for instead. *grumble*
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
The #9 roll is not a standard roll in California. At least, not in the parts of California in which I've eaten sushi.
Posted by Risuena (Member # 2924) on :
Man, I really, really want sushi for lunch now. I think I might just have to wait till dinner though.
My only problem with sushi is I ever know the names of what I like. Of course, I've pretty much liked all the sushi I've had (uni being the exception), but it's hard to order when you don't know the names.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Hmmmm. Around here a #9 is an inside-out roll with shrimp tempura and spicy sauce on the inside, and salmon and avacado layered over the top and then drizzled with unagi (sp?) sauce and sprinkled with seseme seeds. When they get it out fast the shrimp is still hot, and the salmon and avacado are cool, and the crunchiness of the tempura contrasts with the smoothness of the stuff on top, and it's just wonderful.
Posted by Mike (Member # 55) on :
Uni is... interesting. My favorites are hamachi (yellowtail), salmon, saba (mackerel), and unagi (eel). Oh, and I once had a blue-fin toro nigiri at a place in NYC that was incredible, but I haven't found anywhere else with toro that I like.
The #9 sounds good, if not entirely authentic. So, the sushi is still good that far inland? I've been to a place in Albany, NY that is entirely unremarkable, and I always figured it was too far from the coast. But I guess sushi fish is frozen, so it shouldn't make a difference, neh?
Oh, man, it's been too long! Maybe I'll get sushi for lunch tomorrow. *drools*
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
I've had sushi here that's good, and sushi that's kinda eh. I've always figured that since it gets frozen it doesn't matter too much... I just tend to go to the better places.
I3 and I went out for sushi last Thursday, and ordered mostly from the specials... had some really fabulous fish, but I'll never remember what was what. Ooooh, and there's a little place near my house that serves their sashimi scallops with thin slices of lemon between them... I just love it.
Again I bemoan my lunch destination for today. I think I'll have to stay out of this thread now.
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
Word up on the unagi.
My favorite roll is the tekka maki with flying fish roe.
Posted by Intelligence3 (Member # 6944) on :
According to the chef where we ate sushi (last time I was there), ElJay, the stuff here is not frozen and is flown in fresh every day. It gets packed on ice for the flight from California in the morning but isn't frozen through.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Really? I thought all fish used for sushi, even right on the coast, was flash frozen first to kill any possible parasites.
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
In general, fish intended for sushi is not frozen. From what I understand from talking to chefs, freezing the fish destroys the texture, which is possibly the most important component of the sushi experience.
Posted by accio (Member # 3040) on :
The reason I didn’t include Futomaki is that they are not in a regular menu where I go to eat sushi. Futomaki to me is “home made sushi” i.e. mothers make them at home. They have homey touch. If you want to be technical about it, you can include Oshinko maki in the same category with tekka and kappa.
California roll imported back to Japan, just like tie dyes. And Japanese sushi chefs started to experiment with that idea. But I don’t think you will find those rolls in Tsukiji district.
[ February 03, 2005, 03:59 PM: Message edited by: accio ]
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
All this talk of sushi made me have to run to the Trader Joe's a couple miles away and grab some sushi for lunch! Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
I got pre-packaged sushi at the Union for lunch. It wasn't great, but it served to fill the craving. I suppose I'll have to get good stuff this weekend at some point.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
I really wanted sushi after reading this and I got the opportunity to go into town and run errands this morning. I was so excited to be able to get some sushi that I couldn't sit still. Unfortunately, I had to be back to get to work by noon and that meant I had to leave at 11:15 at the latest. Try finding an open sushi place - or even a decent Chinese place at the least - at 10:30 in the morning.
I am now very sad. I think I shall petition for sushi breakfast places.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Just popping in to say I definitely had Eel and Salmon rolls for lunch today. Yum! And no accompanying "delicious food guilt"! Even better!
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
I see the Philly roll as more of a breakfast-type roll, really. That would be good first thing in the morning.
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
Mmmmm... I likes me some oshinko maki.
I could totally go for some inari and takuan right now.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
I love inari. Now that would make a nice breakfast...
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
I would move to Seattle just for the food. Seriously.
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
In fact, it does make a nice breakfast.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Maybe I should move to Japan just for the food.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
HA! Mommy has a meeting tonight and Daddy was working late, so he's swinging by on his way home and taking me to Sakura for dinner!
Now I wish I hadn't eaten those chips an hour ago...
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
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(And I always loved soy sauce.) I just load it up with insane, eye-watering amonunts of wasabi and have at it. (Since neither wasabi nor soy sauce were present, as I recall, the previous time I tried to get down a bit of sushi, this might be a factor in why I could not get near the stuff for 10+ years.)![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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Boris.![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
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to Rivka's resourcefulness.
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