Sushi Rice

How to prepared fish for nigiri sushi

2010-03-13T13:26:00.000-08:00

Purchased fish comes in different shapes and sizes. The following slicing guide demonstrates cutting three different shape pieces of loin: salmon, ahi and albacore. Use a long 8 to 10 inch slicing knife. It must be very sharp, especially for tender seafood such as ahi tuna and albacore. You can find a very reasonably priced sushi knife to fit your needs in our store section.

When using fish loins or fillets, look closely and remove any bones with fish tweezers or kitchen pliers. Normally with salmon fillets it’s possible to cut fish into a block shape about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick, 3 1/2 wide and 4 to 5 inches long, as in the salmon photo. This size block is easy to slice.

Sushi Recipe For Making Cucumber Rolls The general rule is to slice across the grain of the fish; this ensures the resulting slice is tender and has an attractive crosscut grain pattern. Lay your knife on the fish at the very back end part of the blade. Cut straight across the width of the block, with the blade at an angle of about 45 degrees, as in the salmon picture.

Draw the blade across the fish in one long stroke to complete the slice. If you do not complete the slice in one stroke, lift the knife out of the cut and carefully repeat the slicing motion in the same direction. Avoid using a sawing motion as this could damage the fish.

Slice fish a little more than 1/8 inch and less than 1/4 inch thick. Slices for sushi magic can be a variety of sizes, although are best cut at 3 1/2 inch long, and about 1 1/4 inch wide as in the salmon photo.

Keep the hand holding the fish behind the knife blade for safety as in these photos.

Fish loins and fillets come in different shapes and sizes. Here are some examples of slicing at different angles to obtain a slice of the desired dimensions, approximately 3 1/2 x 1 1/4 inches. Remember that Sushi Magic will accept slices varying in length from 2 to 4 inches, it is your choice.

How to eat sushi

2010-03-11T15:29:00.000-08:00

Japanese:
How To Eat Sushi

How to make hand roll sushi

2010-03-10T15:42:00.000-08:00

some helpful little phrases/words to use on your next sushi outing

2010-03-10T06:07:00.000-08:00

Domo –Thank You
Domo Arigato – Thank you very much
Dozo – Please
Hai – Yes
Kampei – "Cheers" (While drinking)
Konichiwa – How are you?

Heres some nice termanolgy when it comes to sushi

2010-03-09T15:44:00.000-08:00

Baran – Baran is decorative plastic sushi grass used for its colorful appearance and interesting shapes. Baran is also a functional garnish when used to separate different pieces of sushi.
Bento – A meal in a tray or box with different compartments for each type of food. Usually a couple pieces of Sushi, Tempura, Teriyaki, and Rice.
Edamame – Soy beans that are steamed and served in the shell/pod. Usually garnished and eaten with sea salt and lemon.
Hamachi Kama – Literally meaning the head of the Yellowtail, this is the gill plate from the fish that is broiled with a Ponzu sauce. There is a lot of meat on the gill plate and is commonly seen as a appetizer for 2 people.
Hashi – Chopsticks
Itamae – Sushi Chef (Not to be confused with Shokunin which means master sushi chef.)
Mirin – Sweet rice wine exclusively used in cooking.
Mochi – Pounded rice in paste (Usually seen as Mochi ice cream, which is small scoops of ice cream with a thin layer of Mochi on the outside.)
Ponzu – Traditional sauce that is tart and salty made from simmering soy sauce, lemon juice, Mirin (rice wine), and dried bonito flakes.
Sake – Fermented rice wine (Usually served warm in small cups, or bamboo or wood boxes. Some higher quality sake is often served at room temperature.
Shokunin – Master Sushi Chef
Shoyu – Soy sauce that is made by fermenting wheat, soybeans and seasalt. This does contain wheat.
Sunomono – Pickled cucumber salad
Tamari – Sory Sauce made by fermenting soybeans and seasalt. This contains NO wheat.
Tataki – Style of cooking where a meat or fish is seared or blanched on the outside and raw on the inside.
Tatami – Traditional Japanese flooring made of straw or bamboo. A Tatami room in a restaurant is a private room for your party where everyone must remove your shoes prior to entering.

Heres some classic sushi rolls for you to consider trying/making

2010-03-08T20:32:00.000-08:00

California Roll - Krab, Avocado, and Cucumber Uramaki
(Probably the most popular Sushi EVER! Many sushi bars claim to have created this roll. This sushi roll is great for the sushi beginner just starting out or even the sushi pro looking for an old favorite.)
Hawaiian Roll - Unagi, Macadamia Nuts, Avocado Uramaki
(This decadent roll is very well balanced with texture and flavors. The crunchy nuts add a rich flavor to the creamy avocado and sweet Unagi.)
Kappa Maki - Cucumber Hosomaki
(This sushi roll is very popular with young children because there are only a few ingredients and no strong flavors.)
Philly Roll - Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese, Avocado, Cucumber Uramaki
(This roll gets its name from the Philidelphia cream cheese and is another very tasty and popular sushi roll.)
Rainbow Roll - UraMaki with different colorful fish pressed on the outside of this roll.
(One of the most colorful rolls, this roll can be made with various ingredients but what they all have in common is the colorful fish that is pressed onto the outside of the roll after the sushi is made.)
Tekka Maki - Maguro/Tuna Hosomaki
(This is another classic roll that is about simplicity. Only a few ingredients but if prepared correctly, will be a fiest for the eyes and mouth.)
Ume Shiso Maki- Umeboshi, Shiso Hosomaki
(This combination is as classic as peanut butter and jelly. The two flavors compliment each other very well and leave a clean feeling in the mouth after eating.)

What are the ingredents in my sushi?

2010-03-08T06:32:00.000-08:00

Heres a quick guide letting you know what exactly the ingredients in your sushi are.

Aji – Spanish Mackeral
Akagai – Red Clam
Ama Ebi – Raw Shrimp
Anago – Saltwater Eel
Awabi – Abalone
Ebi – Cooked/Boiled Shrimp
Fugu – Poisonous Blowfish (This can be deadly if it is not prepared correctly. Part of eating this fish is enjoying the sensation of taking your life in your hands. Or really putting your life in the hands of the sushi chef. The Fugu’s organs contains a dangerous neurotoxin, which if ingested will result in paralysis and death in 15 minutes.)
Gari – Pickled Ginger (Bright pink thinly sliced ginger, served on the side of every sushi order. Gari is served as a palate cleanser to be eaten between bites of different types of sushi.)
Gobo – Burdock root. Crunchy slender carrot looking root. Commonly found in Futomaki.
Goma – Sesame Seeds (Black or White)
Hamachi – This fish is also commonly referred to as "Yellowtail" but is really Japanese Amberjack. It has a very buttery flavor and is rich in oils. One of the most common ingredients at a well stocked sushi bar.
Hirame – Flounder/Halibut
Hokkigai – Surf Clam
Hotategai – Scallop
Ika – Squid/Calamari
Ikura – Salmon Roe (large orange carviar with a salty taste.)
Inari – Fried Tofo skin (Commonly used as a pouch and stuffed with rice or a mixture of rice and vegetables.)
Kaiware – Daikon Radish Sprouts
Kajiki – Swordfish (Boycott Swordfish! It is overfished.)
Kani – Crab
Kanikama – Imitation Crab also called Krab (Often found in California Rolls. This is made from various white fish that are pureed, seasoned and cooked into sticks. Also called Kani-kamaboko or Surimi.)
Kanpyo – Pickled Gourd (Dried and pickled Gourd thin strips commonly found in Futomaki.)
Katsuo – Bonito Tuna also known as Skipjack tuna
Maguro – Bluefin Tuna
Mirugai – Horseneck Clam/Geoduck
Natto – Fermented soy bean with a very strong flavor and a mucous consistency
Nori – Seaweed Sheet (Roasted Seaween sheet used as sushi wrapper in sushi rolls. Shredded finely for garnishes.)
Oshinko – Generic term for pickled vegetables but usually people mean Takuan.
Saba – Mackerel
Sake – Salmon (Fresh or Smoked) Pronounced differently than the rice wine (Sake).
Shiso – Japanese mint. Commonly used as garnishes but quite tasty and edible. Used as a wrapper to pick up and eat food. Green Shiso is the most common but red is available also. Very tasty with pickled plum (Umeboshi).
Shiro Maguro – Albacore Tuna (Usually served Tataki style seared or blanched on the outside and raw on the inside.)
Suzuki – Sea Bass
Tai – Snapper/Sea Bream
Tako – Octopus
Takuan – Pickled Daikon (Bright yellow pickled root. Very tasty and colorful in rolls. Some people call this Oshinko.)
Tamago – Sweet Egg Omelette (Cooked in a block. This is the true test of a traditional sushi bar. In Japan, you can tell the quality of a sushi bar by its Tomago. If its bad, people have been known to walk out after tasting it.)
Tobiko – Flying Fish eggs (Bright Red/Orange Caviar that is very crunchy, sweet flavored and often found around the outside of California rolls. Other colors/favors of Tobiko are occasionally seen, Green wasabi flavored, Black squid ink and more...)
Toro – Belly Meat from Bluefin Tuna. (The more fat the higher quality. There are a few "quality levels" associated with toro. They are based upon the amount of fat in the meat. The levels are Toro-Fatty Tuna, Chutoro-Fattier Tuna, and Otoro-Fattiest Tuna.
Umeboshi – Pickled plum (This salty, tart plum helps in digestion and leaves the mouth with a clean feeling. This can be found in a paste or whole plum. Very tasty with Japanese mint (Shiso).
Unagi – Freshwater Eel (Smoked eel and in a sweet sauce this freshwater eel is very common and delicious. Most sushi beginners start with this because almost everyone loves the flavor.)
Uni – Sea Urchin Roe
Uzura – Quail Egg (Usually served raw on top of an order of Tobiko or Uni.
Wasabi – Japanese Horseradish (Spicy Green Paste found on the side of every sushi order. This Green paste is really horseradish with food coloring. Real Wasabi is very expensive and almost never found at a sushi bar. The real wasabi is from a plant that grows in mountainous streams. The root is harvested and grated very finely. Traditionally the root is grated on a shark fin. The taste of real wasabi is sweeter and less spicy than what is commonly found.)

Ever looked at a sushi menu and wondered whats that?

2010-03-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

have you ever looked at a sushi menu and wondered whats that or whats in that.Heres a quick guide translatting the menu so you can enjoy your sushi knowing what youve ordered

Types of sushi

Chirashi – sampler of fish served over a bowl of sushi rice

Donburri – Donburri is like Chirashi but just one kind of fish that you would choose. For example Unagi-Donburri
would be Just Unagi (freshwater eel) served over a bowl of sushi rice.

Futomaki – Thick rolled sushi with many ingredients inside and each piece is very large.

Gunkan Nigiri – A type of Nigiri that holds the ingredients like a boat, usually seen when ordering Tobiko, Ikura or Uni.

Hosomaki – Thin Rolled sushi with the Nori (seaweed) on the outside.

Maki –Sushi Rolls (There are many types of Maki, Futomaki, Hosomaki, Temaki, Uramaki, etc.)

Nigiri Sushi – Pieces of fish on top of two balls of sushi rice, sometimes a slice of roasted Nori (seaweed) is put on to bind the fish to the rice and to add flavor and eye appeal.

Sashimi – Only Sliced fish. Raw, cooked or pickled fish cut into 3-5 pieces. Usually presented on top of a few leaves of shiso and grated daikon with wasabi and ginger on the side.

Temaki – Cone shaped hand rolls that are meant to be eaten from the hand like an ice cream cone.

Uramaki – Rice on the outside roll. Sometimes called inside-out roll. This style of sushi has become very popular and is most seen in sushi bars in America. Some people say that it is popular in America because the Seaweed is hidden on the inside of the roll and sushi beginners are less intimidated to eat it.

Want to make sushi at home??

2010-03-04T14:17:00.001-08:00

Sushi is like an art. In adjustment to apprentice to achieve sushi at home, you should accumulate a few important things in mind. Great sushi is not accessible to achieve on your aboriginal try, as a lot of acquirements and accomplishment is appropriate forth with convenance to achieve acceptable sushi. For instance, it may assume that rice is actual accessible to make, but as it is the capital ingredient, it should be fabricated so that the grains do not breach and it has the appropriate bulk of delicacy to it. This can alone be accomplished with a lot of practice.

Mastering the art of authoritative sushi rice is a above footfall in acquirements to achieve a acceptable sushi. Japanese rice is attenuated with vinegar, while it is still hot, and should be fabricated so the rice charcoal sticky. Although sushi would be abhorrent if the rice is too sticky. Therefore, one should apprentice to achieve sushi rice properly, as the blow would be simpler.

It should additionally be kept in apperception that seafood sushi cannot be fabricated appropriate away. Usually sushi is fabricated application raw angle and that should be arrested and arctic to annihilate parasites to adapt it for animal consumption. So, one should additionally apprentice the administration and freezing of raw angle to achieve it safe for sushi eating.

Since the sushi chefs in Japan absorb their years in acquirements how to professionally achieve raw angle handling, and we do not accept such an experience, it is bigger to achieve vegetarian sushi at home.

Nori is addition accepted additive acclimated in sushi. A nori is a aphotic seaweed which is broiled in the sun and fabricated into bedding to anatomy the abject of sushi wraps. It is important that a nori is unflavored and of aerial quality. A flavored nori is lower in affection and alters the aftertaste of sushi itself.

A nori is not alone acclimated on the alfresco of sushi, but can additionally be acclimated on the inside. Although in acceptable sushi, nori is acclimated on the alfresco as the abject of wrap.

A best accepted blazon of acceptable sushi fabricated at home is the Futomaki. It is a vegetarian sushi and uses a bamboo rolling mat to advice cycle the blanket and achieve it into a absolute sushi. A bamboo sushi rolling mat is additionally a advantageous account for beginners to apprentice how to cycle sushi, so they can after apprentice to achieve nigiri rolls and uramaki rolls.

Sweet, pickled amber is eaten with sushi to both absolve the aficionado and aid in digestion. Sushi is commonly eaten with the fingers back sushi rice is arranged about so as to abatement afar in one’s mouth, and served with soy booze and added dips. Sushi requires lots of convenance but already accomplished enough, it is actual accessible to achieve your absolute sushi.

How to make the perfect sushi rice

2010-03-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

Japanese:
How To Make Sushi Rice
Step 1:what you'l need:
* 3 cups (750ml) sushi rice
* 3 1⁄3 cups (830ml) water
* ½ cups (120ml) rice vinegar
* ¼ cups (60ml) sugar
* ½ tsp salt
* 1 tbsp dashi- concentrated or powdered fish stock
* 1 small saucepan
* 1 large saucepan with a lid
* 1 spoon
* 1 large flat bottomed bowl, preferably wooden
* 1 flat spatula, plastic or wood
* 1 fan
* 1 large glass bowl
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Step 2: Rinse the rice

Put the three cups of rice in a large bowl. Lightly rinse by adding enough cold water to half fill the bowl and swill it around with the rice. Pour the water off. Scrunch the rice about in the bowl with your hand. Then rinse, swill and drain again and repeat the scrunching action. Keep following this pattern until the water is almost clear - this could take 3 or 4 attempts. Transfer the rinsed rice into a large saucepan. Pour in 3 and a third cups of water and leave it to soak for at least 30 minutes. As it soaks, the rice will become whiter, and the water will appear clearer.
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Step 3: Prepare the sushi vinegar

Put half a cup of rice vinegar, quarter of a cup of sugar, a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of powdered Dashi into the small saucepan.

Heat gently and stir to ensure that the sugar and salt dissolve. Don't let the mixture boil as this will impair the flavour, only heat long enough to completely dissolve all the ingredients. Then turn off the heat, and leave it to cool while you prepare the rice.
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Step 4: Cook the rice

Put the pan on the hob with the lid securely on top, and turn the heat to high.

Avoid lifting the lid at all times through out the cooking process as this will allow the steam to escape

When the rice begins to boil reduce the heat and leave to simmer for fifteen minutes.

After the fifteen minutes are up, turn off the heat and leave the rice to stand for another 15 minutes.
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Step 5: Stir in the sushi vinegar

Transfer the rice into a large wooden bowl.

Pour over the sushi vinegar. Use the spatula in a cutting motion to fold the mixture into the rice. While you are folding use your other hand to fan the rice. Keep fanning and folding until the rice has reached room temperature. This could take up to 10 minutes.
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Step 6: Ready to serve

It's best to use the rice immediately. It should be shiny and sticky, with each grain separated and not mashed together. It should be used at room temperature. If you don't need it straight away, cover the bowl with a damp cloth. This will prevent it from becoming too hard.

Sushi Rice

2010-03-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

the officical wiki definition of sushi rice:is cooked vinegar rice which is commonly topped with other ingredients, such as fish, or put into rolls. Sliced raw fish alone is called sashimi, as distinct from sushi. Sushi served rolled inside or around dried and pressed layer sheets of seaweed (or nori) is makizushi. Toppings stuffed into a small pouch of fried tofu is inarizushi. Toppings served scattered over a bowl of sushi rice is called chirashi-zushi.