Sushi Anyone?

[duxthe1]

Any Sushi fans in here? Anybody make their own? I've been working on my skills for a while and I have a few rolls that I can knock out of the park. A recent trip to the Asian market yielded a sashimi grade cut of tuna, salmon, and octopus. Additionally smelt roe, pickled ginger, radish sprouts, daikon radish, avocado, cucumber, and scallion were procured. Seaweed sheets, sticky rice, rice vinegar, sesame seeds, wasabi powder and chili powder were already in the cupboard. While at the market I also procured a new sushi knife. Its nothing fancy among sushi afficianados, but among my silverware it is king.

I rolled several rolls. There was the obligatory spicy tuna, as well as a spicy salmon. My signature roll is my Octopus roll. Octopus is a hard ingredient, but I have it figured out. When done properly it is delicious, I find it to be similar to crab. The rest was a mix or variation of the preceeding. Garnish with pickled ginger and wasabi and dinner is served.....

[SwampYankee]

I don't make it but I sure as heck eat it.

Those rolls of yours look great!

[Stoneseller]

Looks delicious to me as well.

We dine out typically once a week, and for the last couple years it has been nothing but sushi restaurants. My wife has a boatload of dietary restrictions, so she will only consume a couple kinds of shrimp/ avocado/ vegie type rolls.
I'm very into salmon/tuna/spicy type rolls.

I don't think I'd ever feel confident to make this style food at home. Good for you for doing an excellent job!

[Jorn]

I'm blessed by living only 5 minutes from Little Tokyo with some amazing Sushi places. Sushi is relative young, I believe only since the sixties and some finds it's origin in Southern California.

You should watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi it's on Netflix.

[The Clk Man]

Sushi gives me the chits.

[Jorn]

Originally Posted by The Clk Man

Sushi gives me the chits.

To bad for you.

[ramonajim]

Originally Posted by The Clk Man

Sushi gives me the chits.

Pretty much eveything does that to you, doesn't it?

Gimme sashimi over sushi each and every day.

Furthest out there I've gone with it? Whole, live baby octopus. Dang thing took twenty minutes to quit wriggling around in my belly.

[The Clk Man]

Originally Posted by ramonajim

Pretty much eveything does that to you, doesn't it?

Gimme sashimi over sushi each and every day.

Furthest out there I've gone with it? Whole, live baby octopus. Dang thing took twenty minutes to quit wriggling around in my belly.

Hmm... I think you may be correct.

[Jorn]

Originally Posted by ramonajim

Pretty much eveything does that to you, doesn't it?

Gimme sashimi over sushi each and every day.

Furthest out there I've gone with it? Whole, live baby octopus. Dang thing took twenty minutes to quit wriggling around in my belly.

That takes balls. That's pushing it for me.

[Mr.Kenny]

I make it! I've made it for years.
I have a Japanese book on sushi making; they use things like Vienna sausages and spam.........
I found 'cider vinegar' gives a fruitier fresher spark to the sushi rice.
So after experimenting I found smoked ham, beef, mozzarella cheese, sliced pickles, pineapple work very well in sushi roll also.
I make rednek hillbilly sushi for squeamish newbies; usually with ham or beef, green onion, cream cheese, pickle, & pickled ginger and they seem to love it.
You probably know to keep dipping the very sharp knife in a glass of water so it will cut easier. I use a wet fine serrated knife to cut through the nori.
I buy the wasabi in the tube rather than the powder; it is 'spicier' and stays fresh.
Have fun experimenting American style....

[elchivito]

No thank you. Years ago, when I worked in a high end kitchen and used to strip the worms out of whole swordfish I was cutting steaks out of, I sort of got over any attraction I may have had to the odd food those folks eat. I'd happily let baby squid squirm around in my gut if I was starving to death, and I do like my Ahi seared quickly and served rare, but I'll pass otherwise. Especially if I have to eat it with a pair of twigs.

[duxthe1]

Thanks for the kudos.

Mr. Kenny, I like your ingredient list. I'm apt to add some pineapple to a roll and see how it goes. Doubt I'd use any of the "American" ingredients though. My wife is 1/2 Korean and if I tried that I'd get the look. You know the one, snarky disapproval.

Until buying my new knife I used a filet knife to minimize the surface area exposed to the sticky rice. The nifty thing about the new knife is that it is only beveled on one side. After only 1 use, I'm really liking it. It was only 10$ and came with a matching chef's knife as well. Will have to see how well it holds up, but its already been declared off limits for regular kitchen duty.

Live baby octopus is pretty hardcore. I've never seen it offered at a restaurant. Typically most octopus is served as a large rubbery unappetizing chunk. When dining with friends and neighbors octopus is usually a pretty tough sell... until they try a piece. Heck, my friends 6 year old daughter even loves it.

[duxthe1]

Originally Posted by elchivito

I do like my Ahi seared quickly and served rare

My wife will crust a tuna steak with coarse cracked perppercorns and sear it oh so lightly in sesame oil. Sliced into 1/4" pieces and served over a wasabi infused slaw.. its divine.

[MTI]

Remember the days when things used to be shipped in popcorn? Sushi has a similar history. Rice was used as a packing medium to ship fish inland to keep it intact.

[Jorn]

Originally Posted by MTI

Remember the days when things used to be shipped in popcorn? Sushi has a similar history. Rice was used as a packing medium to ship fish inland to keep it intact.

Interesting. Sushi was street food; wasabi was used to kill bacteria and the ginger to relieve the stomach in case the fish was a little iffy.