posted
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!
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
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.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
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.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
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!
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
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...
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
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...
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
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)
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
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.
Posts: 1015 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
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. Posts: 333 | Registered: Feb 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
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).
Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
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. Posts: 4534 | Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
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.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
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*
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
The #9 roll is not a standard roll in California. At least, not in the parts of California in which I've eaten sushi.
Posts: 4534 | Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
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.
Posts: 959 | Registered: Jan 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
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.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
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*
Posts: 1810 | Registered: Jan 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
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.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
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.
Posts: 720 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Really? I thought all fish used for sushi, even right on the coast, was flash frozen first to kill any possible parasites.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
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.
Posts: 4534 | Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
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.
posted
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! Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
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.
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
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.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
Just popping in to say I definitely had Eel and Salmon rolls for lunch today. Yum! And no accompanying "delicious food guilt"! Even better!
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I see the Philly roll as more of a breakfast-type roll, really. That would be good first thing in the morning.
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
)![[Cool]](cool.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
(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)
![[Laugh]](graemlins/laugh.gif)
Boris.![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
![[Hail]](graemlins/hail.gif)
to Rivka's resourcefulness.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Grumble]](graemlins/grumble.gif)
