Making Sushi at Home - Part 3
By Ross A. Christensen
 

Putting it all together
 

There are several different ways to present sushi.  There is the minimalistic sashimi style, which is simply laying out a couple of pieces of a few different types of raw fish.  This is the purest form of eating raw fish, with nothing getting in between you and the flavor of the seafood.  Since that’s really all there is to it, I will trust you to figure out how to present this best in your home.  Then there is Nigiri sushi, in which the pieces of fish are placed on top of a specially prepared ball of rice.  We’ll take our time here, as the rice is an important pedestal for the seafood.  Then there is the category of rolls, in which there are several styles.  There is maki (roll), uramaki (inside-out roll), and temaki (hand roll).  Finally, we’ll talk about the Gunkan, or Battleship roll.  Generally speaking when presenting any of these styles of sushi, two pieces of any variety are placed side by side on the plate.  Japanese custom states that the numbers one and three are associated with death, and so sushi always comes in twos.

Slicing the fish for sushi is a skill that can take years to learn.  There are even several schools of belief on the issue.  Some people believe that some fish should be cut with a pulling motion while others should be cut with a pushing motion.  We are not interested in these training methods for making sushi at home, so we won’t go into depth about them.  I do recommend using a sharp knife and make as few movements while slicing as possible.  Make every attempt to slice your fish smoothly so as to make an attractive presentation.  When making the rolls it’s best to slice the fish, and any other ingredients like cucumber, carrots, etc., into long thin strips.   

Nigiri.  Nigiri means “grasp” or “hold” because of the way that you make the rice ball.  To make a “shari”, or rice ball, for sushi you should start by moistening your hands with water spiked with a little bit of vinegar.  Take a small amount of rice in your hand, about a quarter of a cup.  Curling the fingers of your left hand up, place the rice into those fingers to begin to form the ball gently into a cylinder.  With your right hand, make a “claw” out of your index & middle finger and thumb, and as your left hand is gently squeezing the rice pinch the ends of the rice ball with your “claw” to keep it from squeezing out of your hand.  This will work adequately but you can form a better rice ball if, when you form the “claw” with your right hand you tuck your thumb all the way under, so that when you are pinching the rice ball, you’re squeezing it against the nail side of your thumb.  Rotate the rice ball in your left hand and gently squeeze again.  Repeat a time or two, until you have a nice oblong ball of rice that holds together well.  Don’t overdo this step; you don’t want your rice ball too firm.  If you go too far you’ll wind up with a rice hockey puck which will detract from the lightness and subtlety of the sushi.  Once you have the shari just how you want it, select a piece of fish.  Take a small dab of wasabi paste (how much depends on personal taste, but if you’re cooking for others stick to the “less is more” philosophy) and wipe it directly down the center of the fish.  Place the fish wasabi side down onto the shari.  Repeat with the same type of fish, and place both pieces on a plate, side by side. 

Maki.  Start with a whole sheet of nori and begin by waving it above an open flame, like a burner on your stovetop, allowing the nori to toast but not curl or burn.  It will become crisp and give off a fragrant aroma.  If you have a maki su (bamboo rolling mat), insert it into a one-gallon size ziptop bag to protect it and keep it clean.  There are also many flexible cutting boards on the market today that will work well for this purpose.  In a pinch, even a magazine wrapped in plastic wrap will work out.  Lay the toasted nori sheet on your rolling mat with the rough side up and shiny side down.  Moisten your hands with water spiked with a little bit of vinegar and grab a handful of rice, about the size of a baseball.  Starting at the edge closest to you, place the rice on the nori and spread rice out to the edges evenly away from you, covering three-quarters of the nori sheet, leaving the far edge clear.  Now place the filling for the maki in a horizontal strip, about a half-inch up from the edge closest to you, evenly spreading it all the way out to either side.  The filling should take up, at most, about one quarter of the area of the rice.  Try starting with a small amount of filling at first until you get better at making the rolls.

Now here’s the part that’s going to take a little practice, the rolling.  Make sure the edge of the nori closest to you is lined up with the edge of the rolling mat closest to you (we’ll call this the leading edge), with no overlapping.  Start to roll the mat away from you, keeping everything stable and tight together.  As the mat rolls one complete revolution, turn the leading edge up just a bit so that it doesn’t go under the nori roll.  Continue rolling the nori away from you.  The leading edge of the nori should meet right about where the rice ends - if it goes beyond it won’t form a tight roll, so back up the roll just a little bit and try to tighten it down a little more as you re-roll it.  Now as you approach the far edge of the nori, moisten the edge with a little bit of water to seal the roll, and finish rolling.  Some sushi chefs like to seal the roll with individual grains of rice, but do we want to get that fussy?  Now before you unroll the mat take a few seconds to just lightly squeeze the roll all along the length to compress everything together prior to slicing.

Here’s a tip for the slicing: dip your knife blade in a bowl of water, then point the tip straight up and let a bead of water travel down the length of the blade.  This sounds like a superstitious ritual sushi chefs have indulged in, but I was astonished at how much easier it made this task.  Also, make your slices fast at the top of the roll, then gentle and steady through the main body of the roll.

Slice your roll in half, then place the two pieces side by side and slice the two pieces in half.  Repeat the process again, slicing the four pieces in half to produce eight equal pieces from one roll.  Now if you’ve followed these instructions word for word, you’re going to have a really lousy looking maki roll.  But don’t worry, it only gets better from here.  Like I said before, this takes practice, even I still make some ugly looking maki on a regular basis.

Uramaki.  Okay, now that you’ve had a little practice rolling with the bamboo mat, let’s try the “inside out” roll.  Toast your nori over an open flame as you did for the maki and place on the plastic wrapped rolling mat.  This time cover the entire piece of nori with the layer of rice, and sprinkle all over with toasted sesame seeds.  Carefully lift the entire piece of nori and turn it over with the rice now facing down.  Spread your fillings for the roll like you did for the maki, in a horizontal strip about a half-inch up from the edge closest to you, evenly spreading it all the way out to either side.  A popular roll made in this style is the California Roll, and for that you would place avocado and crab on the nori.  Once your fillings are properly placed, roll the bamboo mat forward, pressing firmly as you roll to compress the ingredients and form a cylinder.  When the rolled nori meets the rice on the other side, the rice will be sticky enough to seal the edge. Remove from the rolling mat, and slice just as you did for maki.  Don’t worry if a few grains of rice or sesame seeds fall off, and once again, practice makes perfect.

Temaki.  Temaki is so easy to make that even a drunk trout could make it.  This is Japanese finger food and is the least complicated. You may read instructions for temaki that describe precise placement for the rice and fillings on the nori, going diagonally from the center to one of the corners, at a forty-five degree angle, rolling the opposite corners together to form a cone,… but the reality of the temaki is that it just doesn’t have to be that difficult.  No mater where you place your rice and fillings on the nori, just roll it up and eat it.  This makes temaki the perfect party food because not only do you not have to spend so much time preparing sushi in advance, it also makes for an interactive experience for your guests, despite their varying levels of inebriation.  Simply lay out some toasted sheets of nori, put some sushi rice in a decorative serving bowl, and place an assortment of seafood and other sushi fillings on a platter, and let your guests make their own.  Even the drunk trout can grab a piece of nori, spoon rice from the top to the bottom down the center of the nori, lay on some tuna and cucumber strips and roll it into a cone.  Easy, right?    
 

Gunkan.  To make a Gunkan, or “Battleship” sushi, to start out with a well formed nigiri rice ball, or shari, as described above.  Place the shari on your work surface and wrap around the sides of it with a strip of nori.  Lightly tamp down the shari with your fingertip to make the bottom firm, but again, don’t overdo this step. There should now be a pocket formed by the nori with the rice on the bottom.  Fill it with your choice of loose types of sushi ingredients, like tobiko (flying fish eggs), ikura (salmon eggs), spicy tuna salad, scallop salad, even western favorites like chicken teriyaki, or tuna and mayonnaise… anything that can’t be placed on a shari on its own.

Be patient with yourself as you practice.  If you present all these varieties to your guests in your home, I guarantee they will be duly impressed with your talents.  I hope you’ve enjoyed this series and that it has inspired you to try your hand at making your own sushi.

© Ross A. Christensen 2008

By Ross A. Christensen

In Part 1 of Making Sushi at Home, we talked about the ingredients needed for sushi that you can have on hand anytime. Now we’ll talk about the fresh ingredients that ideally you will purchase the day you prepare your sushi at home. Then I’ll give you a recipe for proper sushi rice, which will add a dimension to you home-made sushi that will make it taste like a professional prepared it. Buying the fish When you go to your grocery store or fish monger you will naturally look for your favorites. The one consistent habit you need to get into in selecting your fish is to always request “Sashimi grade.” There is no such thing as “Sushi grade”; that is just a term that people use in place of “Sashimi grade,” but it is incorrect. Also, be aware that you cannot freeze fish in your home freezer to kill parasites, despite the rumors that abound about this practice. Your home freezer does not get cold enough to do any parasites any damage. In order to kill parasites you need the nitrogen freezing process over several hours of extreme cold. Of course, you will want to purchase the types of fish that you enjoy eating, but don’t be afraid to try something a little different too. Here are some types of fish for you to look for that work well in sushi. I should also mention that since all fish in the U.S. intended to be eaten raw must be commercially frozen, therefore purchasing these things via the internet is a great thing to do. The fish typically arrives at your door still hard as a rock so damage in transit is almost impossible and freshness is assured. Many sushi bars are willing to sell sashimi grade fish to their customers and you may be able to buy a whole filet still in the package. Just be sure to make your request far enough in advance (about a week or two ahead of time) - very few restaurants will give you the last of their own supplies so you can take their business away with you. Abalone (Awabi) Considered to be one of the most luxurious ingredients available around the world, abalone is rare and expensive. Residents of Northern California, Oregon, and Washington are able to catch their own with a sport fishing license. People who can’t catch their own can still purchase live abalone over the internet from several farmed sources at a fairly reasonable rate. In Japan the “foot” of the abalone is typically sliced with relatively little processing, but in the U.S. the black “skin” on the exterior of the foot is typically trimmed away to make a snow white piece of sushi. If you want your abalone to be extra tender, when you pry it out of its shell let it sit in a sink or bowl for an hour before any further processing. This allows the muscle a chance to relax and be more tender in the long run. When sliced to be put on sushi, most sushi chefs cut a light pinecone pattern into the abalone which tenderizes it and give sauces something to cling to. To make the best presentation cut off the warty bottom of the foot, scrub or cut off the black skin of the foot, and slice from top to bottom so the mushroom like shape of the abalone foot is displayed on the sushi. Crab (Kani) Raw, living Dungeness crab is available when in season but most of the crab you will find will have been previously cooked. If a crab isn’t alive when it hits the boiling water the meat will stick to the shell and be difficult to work with. Whether you prefer King, Snow, Dungeness, or Blue crab, all types of crab work well for sushi. While larger pieces of crab can be made into nigiri type sushi, smaller pieces like from a blue crab can be made into a gunkan style for the best presentation. Frozen crab will even work well for sushi. The original California roll was made with snow crab but now, most likely due to expense, most are made with artificial crabmeat called surimi. This has trained most people to expect the flavor of surimi in California rolls, and if actual crab is used it seems inappropriate and overly extravagant. For that reason I actually recommend surimi for California rolls. Salmon (Sake) There are many different opinions about what kind of salmon to buy. Is farm raised or wild best? I’m personally a big proponent of farm raised, mainly for the purpose of letting the wild salmon numbers bounce back, and the lower cost is a factor too, but I’ll be the first to admit that wild caught tastes far better. Farm raised salmon tends to have fewer parasites to worry about, although the freezing process of the “sushi grade” fish will kill any parasites that try to sneak though. With a filet of salmon you will want to cut the belly meat off and put it aside. It’s the salmon version of toro and works fantastic in a grilled salmon hand roll. Ikura (Salmon roe) Readily available online through a variety of vendors and in a variety of quantities, this is my personal favorite item at the sushi bar. It is a delicate perishable item so you want to order it fairly close to the time that you need it. Recipes for its manufacture vary but most typically use brown sugar and soy sauce to give them the appropriate taste and texture. My daughter loves salmon roe so much that it is actually going to be one of her Christmas presents this year. Tuna (Maguro) Avoid any tuna that seems very pink, because it has most likely been treated with carbon monoxide which makes it that color. It’s safe to eat, but the CO treatment is used in an effort to make lower quality tuna look more appealing. Seek out whole tuna loins or sections of loins that allow you to control the slicing of the meat’s grain better than just a steak will. Most fish departments will be happy to help you with your tuna purchase, so don’t be shy in asking them to remove “the blood line.” It is an area on the tuna loin that is very dark, tastes really fishy and is the highest in mercury. Most fish mongers or butchers are more than happy to provide this service. I prefer to buy smaller whole tunas when available, just keep in mind, the bigger the fish, the higher the mercury. Eel (Unagi) You will find eel in almost every Asian market in the frozen fish section. It is pre-seasoned and precooked so it is a very convenient sushi. You can also usually find “eel sauce” in a jar at the same market. Cut the eel into serving size pieces on the bias, firmly but gently press to the rice, wrap with a small belt of nori, and baste some eel sauce on the top just before serving. Teriyaki sauce sweetened with a little brown sugar and thickened with a little cornstarch then simmered on the stovetop will make a passable substitution if needed. Shrimp (Ebi) The market is filled with farm raised “Tiger Shrimp.” Its quality is consistent and, due to the shrimp not being fed for the last couple of weeks before harvesting, their intestinal tracts are empty so they don’t need to be de-veined. The down side to farmed shrimp is that the farms are located in areas that used to be mangrove forests. Mangrove forests are considered to be the nurseries of the ocean, and the shrimp farms may be doing irreversible damage to the future of the oceans. On the other hand, the harvest of wild shrimp scoops up hundreds of non-market fish that die during the process. Neither process is environmentally friendly. Shrimp should not feel slimy, or have any holes or dark spots. When cooking your shrimp, first skewer it from head to tail leaving the shell on. The shell actually holds in the flavor. Boil them in salted water and let them cool before shelling them. Then carefully slice them open from the underside and you have a shrimp ready for “ebi.” Snapper (Tai) You may have heard in the news of some sushi bars substituting tilapia for snapper and very few people could tell the difference when served as sushi. It’s a little like trying to pass off beef for veal - someone who really knows the two can easily tell the difference. Snapper is a mild white fleshed fish that is highly prized in Japan. Expect to pay around $15 per pound for good quality snapper. The meat should be white with a slight opaqueness to it with a very light pink stripe down the side. Scallops (Hotategai) Ask your fish monger for dry packed scallops. Wet packed scallops are treated with a chemical that causes them to absorb water, and although they weigh more they have less flavor. Diver or Day-boat scallops are typically fresher and larger than bay scallops. Since the part of the scallop being eaten is the adductor muscle, it isn’t affected by parasites so there is no concern in using fresh unfrozen scallops. Octopus (Tako) Unless you want to catch it yourself, octopus can be found already cooked at your fishmonger. It’s a popular ingredient in the cuisines of the Mediterranean and Asia, it has no parasite problems, and it tastes delicious. Frozen baby octopus is also available, and the whole small cooked baby octopus makes a very unique looking sushi. Lightly slicing it with a pinecone pattern makes it easier to chew and holds sauces better. Yellowtail (Hamachi) This isn’t a common fish to find in U.S. fish markets but due to its popularity in sushi bars I think it should be mentioned. Yellowtail is available both wild caught and farm raised. People in California and Florida can easily catch their own. Wild caught yellowtail has a much better flavor but the quality is inconsistent. If you do catch your own, remember that you have no protection from parasites or the methods available to kill them on your own. Unless you purchase sashimi grade hamachi at your fishmonger or online, well, Diner Beware! Now that you have purchased your fresh Sashimi Grade fish and brought it home, you’ll want to stash it in the fridge as you prepare the sushi rice. How to make good sushi rice 2 ½ cups short grained rice 2 ½ cups cold water (in addition to water needed to wash the rice) 8 inch piece of kelp 2 t salt 4 T rice wine vinegar 2 T Mirin Wash the rice in cold water and drain it three times. Some instructions say to wash it until the water is clear but… trust me I’ve tried, it never becomes clear. Then place the rice in a colander and let it drain with a damp towel over it (I use a moist paper towel which works just fine). While that drains, mix the rice wine vinegar and mirin in a bowl and set aside. Bring out your largest bowl and some sort of paddle or large spoon. Sushi bars and sushi aficionados use a large wooden bowl called a hangiri. Put the bowl and spoon into the freezer. This will help later in cooling the rice down as you stir in the vinegar mixture. Take the kelp and give it a quick wipe with a slightly damp cloth. You are trying to remove any sand and hard particles before cooking, but not the white chalky looking salt layer. Then cut several slices down the side of the kelp; this will help add more flavor to the rice. Add the rice, water, kelp and salt to a pot (feel free to use a rice cooker if you wish) and heat to boiling. Stir a couple of times to make sure no rice is stuck to the bottom, then reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes. When the time is up, turn off the heat and let sit another 15 minutes without removing the cover or opening the top. This is very important to the quality of the finished product. When the time is up again, remove the bowl and spoon from the freezer and transfer the rice to the bowl. Gradually and gently stir in the vinegar/mirin mixture, making sure not to crush the rice. When the rice is thoroughly mixed and cooled it is ready to be used. Make sure all rice grains are in contact with each other since a solitary rice grain will easily dry out and become hard. Cover with a moist towel, but be sure to use within the next hour, or two at maximum. Trying to store the rice overnight doesn’t work because the starches in the rice crystallize and give it an odd texture. Now that you have your fresh fish and your cooked and cooled rice, all that’s left is the assembly. In Part 3 of Making Sushi at Home, we’ll put it all together in a variety of sushi styles. © Ross A. Christensen 2008

Making Sushi at Home - Part 1 - Pantry Ingredients
By Ross A. Christensen
 

Yes, I do make sushi at home. No, not as often as you think I would.  While on occasion I will cater a sushi party for some friends, I’m happier just eating it.  I always have the dry ingredients required to make sushi on hand in case I come across some perfect seafood or veggies that scream out for me to make some sushi.  My daughter loves it when I make sushi and when she invites friends over she has me make more western friendly sushi like teriyaki chicken rolls or canned tuna salad gunkans. 

Let’s start off by stocking your kitchen with the items you’ll need to make sushi at home.  Some will be easy to find at your local supermarket, other items can be found there but you might need to ask someone where they are, and others might best be purchased at an Asian market.  The great thing is that the most common ingredients - rice, nori, vinegar, mirin, soy sauce, and wasabi powder - are all very shelf stable and patient, waiting in your cupboard for you to make sushi at a moment’s notice.  Plus these ingredients can be used for so many more applications that you can always find a use for them.  When I need Asian specialty products I go to an Asian market and I buy a LOT, mainly because for me, the closest Asian market is sixty miles away.

When you want to make sushi at home you will first need to get some supplies.  Resist the urge to buy “Sushi kits” - they are far from necessary, expensive, and wasteful.  Sushi is finger food, not just in the eating of it but in the preparation of it.  If you resort to using the shortcuts, like plastic molds and tubes, you’ll wind up just making odd artificial looking sushi that doesn’t have the right look or texture, which interferes with the whole presentation and experience.  Other than a bamboo rolling mat, the one item I would recommend is a supply of one gallon size zipper lock plastic bags.  They are the exact size needed to store nori, kelp, AND instead of wrapping your bamboo rolling mat in plastic wrap, it fits perfectly in a one-gallon zip bag.

So let’s talk about the items you’ll want to get that you can store in your pantry until the time you’re ready to make your own sushi.

Short grained rice.  Medium grained will work, but the shorter grained is considered better. Calrose is one of the most popular and widely available. I’ve received tons of questions over the years asking if short grained brown rice will work, and after extensive testing I can tell you this:  yes it will work, but the shari (rice ball) doesn’t hold together quite as well and takes a more delicate touch when being picked up.  I compensate for this by adding a little extra white sugar to the cooking mixture to help hold it together.  The brown rice adds a slightly nutty flavor and a much chewier texture which I don’t really prefer in my own sushi, but if you like brown rice that might appeal to you.  The fact that brown rice takes twice the time to cook than white sushi rice should be noted and accommodated in your preparation time.  Long grained, jasmine, basmati, and Arborio rices will simply not work at all.

Rice for sushi is considered to be better if it is a little older and dryer, so I buy rice in ten or twenty pound bags and store it in a dry place in my pantry.

Rice wine vinegar.  Seasoned or plain, it doesn’t really matter because both perform well. I prefer to purchase mine at the Asian market because the price is a fraction of that you will pay at the local mega-mart for the exact same bottle.  For those of you who cook a lot like me, buy rice vinegar in a gallon jug and then use it to refill an easy to use shelf-sized bottle.  Rice wine vinegar is actually made from the filtered-off rice (called lees) used in making sake.  Rice wine vinegar comes in high and low quality versions, and I do keep both versions in my kitchen depending on the intended use (much like having on hand both a lower quality balsamic vinegar for cooking and a higher quality one for salad dressing).  Since there are many different qualities of vinegar I recommend that you ask your store employees what they would recommend.

Mirin, sweetened sake.  There are many different styles but you should be concerned with just two different types, Hon-mirin and Aji-mirin.  Hon-mirin is the good stuff.  This mirin has an alcohol content around 15% and, although sweet, is drinking quality. Aji-mirin (or ajinohaha mirin) is the cheap stuff. Think of it like you would that synthetic cheese that sounds like velveteen. It’s NOT cheese, but it’s cheese-like. Aji-mirin isn’t mirin, but it’s mirin-like.  It has an alcohol content of only 1% or so, just enough to call it “wine.” It is so NOT mirin that it can’t even be sold in Japan.  If you don’t have mirin on hand, you can make a substitute by mixing together ¼ cup sake, 2 teaspoons white sugar, and 1 teaspoon brown sugar. This will work in a pinch fairly well.  If you don’t have sake just use sugar without any liquid.

Nori.  Nori is a sea-vegetable that has been grown for centuries.  The general rule is the darker the color, the higher the quality.  Forest green would indicate lower quality while dark black-green higher.  It should be shiny, thin, and smooth, and have an aroma of the sea.  When eaten it should dissolve in the mouth without effort.  There are ten billion sheets of nori used in Japan every year and the demand continues to rise.  Nori is highly nutritious, high in fiber, calcium, vitamins, and minerals yet low in calories.  China makes very high quality nori at a cheaper price than Japan and a good amount of that is sold to the U.S. This is one rare occasion where the Chinese product is recommended.

Konbu.  Bull kelp grown in the Pacific Ocean.  This is added to the sushi rice prior to cooking and adds a mild ethereal oceanic quality with a hint of iodine scent that is ever present in the sea air.  There are many different qualities and grades of kelp that are used in Asia, but very few varieties can be found in the U.S.  Kelp adds calcium, alginic acids (a dietary fiber), and L-glutamate (the origin of the taste “umami”).  It is always recommended to wipe your konbu with a damp cloth before putting it in with the rice to remove any sand or undesirable particles.  The silvery crystal layer all over the konbu is flavorful and you don’t want to remove it, so it is a very fine line you don’t want to cross, so be very careful that your damp cloth isn’t too wet.

Wasabi.  Japanese horseradish root. Although it is available as a dried powder in a can in most mega marts, the product in those cans isn’t actually wasabi at all but a plain horseradish processed with artificial and natural coloring to make it look like wasabi.  Real wasabi paste is available at your local Asian market or online and comes in a toothpaste-like tube. The difference in taste between canned wasabi and fresh wasabi is as drastic as comparing hamburger to a great steak.  If you do a quick search online for fresh wasabi you can find it quite easily.  For the all-out sushi fan there are even live wasabi roots you can purchase that can be grown as a houseplant until they are ready to be harvested - makes a great conversation piece growing in your living room. A little known chef’s trick to make powdered wasabi seem more high quality is they mix the powdered wasabi with sake instead of water; it becomes then more flavorful and enhances the flavors of the sushi better.  Newly mixed wasabi powder is very bitter but mellows after about an hour, so if you use powdered, be sure to prepare it in advance.  In a pinch, Colman’s dry mustard with a little water and green food coloring makes a great substitute for wasabi that most people would never even notice.

Sriracha sauce.  This is a spicy Southeast Asian chili sauce.  Actually manufactured in California, this sauce is spicy and quite garlicky.  It’s available in almost every mega-mart in the Asian foods section. Sriracha is great for making spicy tuna sushi or spicy mayonnaise.  If you like spicy foods this will become your new ketchup replacement.

Kewpie Mayonnaise.  This is a popular Japanese mayonnaise that has a sweeter and “eggier” taste to it than western mayonnaise.  It is used in making many different sauces in the sushi bar and its flavor is just different enough that western palates can’t quite tell what it is.  If you were to try this type of mayonnaise in your everyday cooking you would definitely enjoy it. This is one item that isn’t commonly found in most grocery stores, but it is an easy to find staple in Asian markets.  

Togarashi.  Japanese hot pepper flakes.  There are many different varieties containing ingredients like hot pepper flakes, orange peel, sesame seeds, etc.  Multi-colored and textured togarashi is a great sushi garnish and it’s used in many ways to make spicy sushi dishes with a different depth of flavor than other means.  Experiment with different varieties to find what you like.

Furikake.  Rice seasoning.  This rice seasoning is popular in Japan and has become an absolute necessity when serving rice in my house.  It’s available in many flavors like nori, shrimp, egg, shiso, and bonito.  Using it to decorate a plate full of sushi or sprinkling it all over the inside or outside of a sushi roll will provide your guests with a flavor experience that very few western people are accustomed to.  Making a small addition of Furikake to your sushi adds a flavor that very few people can pinpoint, but they are pleasantly surprised by the added dimension of taste.  Furikake is typically only available in Asian markets, but it is well worth the search.

Shoyu.  Soy sauce.  I might be the first one to tell you this, but soy sauce is a subject about which sushi chefs roll their eyes and chuckle at Americans.  Too many times I myself have heard someone say “The dark soy sauce is too strong, can I have some light soy sauce?”  Well oddly enough, light soy sauce is saltier and stronger tasting than dark soy sauce.  I know it’s the opposite of how Americans usually think but that’s the fact.  If you would like something less strongly flavored than dark soy sauce then ask for Tamari, which is a soy sauce that is brewed without wheat in it and is lighter flavored, and goes well with sushi. The phrase “Naturally Brewed” means nothing pertaining to the quality of the soy sauce in the U.S., so don’t let it sway you in your choice.  Due to some oddly worded laws, artificially manufactured soy sauce is still allowed to be called “naturally brewed.”  For your home and personal use I recommend tamari that is made in Japan, not the U.S.  Kikkoman is probably the most well-know brand of soy sauce in the U.S. and I personally use it by the gallon for every-day purposes, but for sushi I prefer to use something a bit milder and with more of a “micro-brewed” quality to it, so experiment a little to find what you like.

Gari.  Pickled ginger.  Typically a light pink to red in color, it is difficult to make at home since it is made from immature ginger rhizomes.  Most of the ginger on the market is too mature and too fibrous to make gari. Gari can usually be found in the refrigerated case near the tofu and wonton wrappers at most mega-markets. 

Maki-su.  Bamboo rolling mat.  This is a required item if you want to make rolls or “maki.” It is made out of strips of bamboo and lashed together with cotton string.  There are plastic flexible cutting mats that work well as a substitute to the maki-zu.  Many sushi bars wrap the maki-su in plastic wrap for sanitation but I’ve found that a one gallon zip-top bag works just as well and is easier to use in a home setting.

These are all the ingredients you can stock up on well in advance of preparing sushi at home.  In the next article, I’ll discuss the fresh ingredients you’ll need and how to prepare the sushi rice.  We’re not done yet.

© Ross A. Christensen 2008

What to drink with your sushi.
By Ross A. Christensen
 

The question of what is appropriate to drink with your sushi comes up quite frequently, and I can see the reason for the confusion.  The French are quite picky about what kind of wine to drink with their snails and frogs, and if you ask a German what kind of beer to drink with lunch I hope you’re sitting down.  Since Americans tend to perceive the Japanese as very pedantic, we imagine they must have an entire encyclopedia about drinking with sushi.

Actually, not so much…

The Japanese really are not very particular about what to drink at the sushi bar.   But since folks seem to want some guidance, I will give you my opinions and explanations.

Sake  (SAH-kay)
Is there anything more associated with the Japanese than sushi and sake (aside from weird animation)?  I personally love sake and drink far too much of it, so it might be a bit of a surprise if I tell you to stay away from it when eating sushi.  There was a time when the Japanese thought that sushi and sake were destined for each other, but more recently these items have fallen from each others graces.  The reason for this can be compared to pairing wine and grapes together.  The right grapes go well with the right wine, but eating green grapes with a red wine just doesn’t taste right and it ruins them both.  Some people feel it’s the same principle with the rice in the sushi and the rice in the sake: if you don’t match them up just right you can ruin them both.  I don’t subscribe to that philosophy as much as I just think that sake is too strong a drink for the delicate taste of sushi.  I compare it to drinking moonshine with your peanut butter and jelly sandwich (my apologies to the rednecks reading this saying “Hay, He’s criticizin’ mah breakfast!”).  Sake is a great thing for the occasional shot to toast with your friends while screaming “KANPAI” (the Japanese word for “cheers” but it literally translates to “dry cup” meaning “drink until there is nothing left in your glass”), but for a beverage to drink alongside your sushi, leave the sake out.

For those of you who haven’t tried sake and wonder what it tastes like, I generally tell people this: “Wine tastes like grapes intensified a thousand times, and sake tastes like rice intensified a thousand times.” So the question is, how much do you like rice?  Sake brewers are now coming out with sakes that are gentler to the western palate.  Gekkeikan has a fantastic and mild sparkling sake, and Sho Chiku Bai even is producing Fuji apple sake and lychee sake.  So to tie up this segment on sake, I’ll say that there are some up-and-coming sakes that may well pair wonderfully with sushi, but right now they are few and far between.

Beer
This is my favorite alcoholic beverage to have in front of me when eating sushi. Many beers are mild enough to not overpower most sushi.  I recommend Japanese beer with sushi just like I would recommend American beer with burgers or German beer with Bratwurst, or a French beer when you are screaming “We surrender, please don’t take our cheese!”  Subtle parts of a nation’s beer work well with its food.  Sapporo is a favorite beer of mine, and so is Asahi with their “Dry” brew.  Kirin has a beer called “Ichiban” which is a fantastic beer and Kirin Light has a clean bright finish that won’t challenge your sushi at all.  You may want to experiment with Japanese beers until you find one that you like. Japanese beers you’ll find in the sushi bar tend to come in regular beer bottle size or an extra large bottle.

Wine
In the book Sushi A to Z, The Ultimate Guide, I stated that wine had no business with sushi at all.  Well, because of that statement, I believe the wine industry has sent a hit man out for me.  There are very few wine makers I have met that haven’t taken me aside and given me a good talking to.  What makes it worse is that I live right in the middle of California’s wine country, so I get stopped a lot!  In my defense, at the time I wrote that there were maybe only one or two wines that were actually meant to work well with sushi.  Since then, maaaaannnnnyyyy wines have been made that go well with sushi. 

If you would like a starting point, first try the Shannon Ridge Sauvignon Blanc with any kind of sushi; I think it was made specifically to be served at the sushi bar.  And if you want a red wine to go with a meal of maguro or rare tuna, the Shannon Ridge Barbera screams to be matched with that fish.  These are from just one winery, and it’s forty miles from the nearest sushi bar!  One of the first wines ever created specifically to match with sushi is a Spanish wine created by a Japanese winemaker and is called Oroya, and though I have not tried it yet it’s reported to be great. Wine paired with sushi has finally arrived (and you can call off the assassin now).

Hard liquor
The Japanese love whiskey and this is proven by the fact that a Japanese brand (Yoichi) just won “Best single malt Scotch in the world 2008” at an international competition in London. But here I go again, about to incite another industry to lobby for my demise:  hard liquor has NO place in the sushi bar.  As a matter of fact, I doubt you will find many sushi bars that even carry hard liquors.  Whiskey, vodka, gin, rum, even in mixed drinks, are as tongue deadening as having habañero-flavored breakfast cereals.

Green Tea
I always have green tea in front of me at the sushi bar. The grassy hay-like flavor accents the flavor of sushi without challenging it at all.  The original and only drink served at the first sushi carts was green tea in a giant sized cup.  The customers would sip the tea with the sushi, and when their meal was finished they would wash their hands in the last remnants of their tea and wipe them dry on the cart’s noren.  Most sushi bars will serve a good quality tea for customers, but they may have higher quality teas available for people who request them.  To be completely honest, discussing a good Japanese green tea to drink with sushi is like asking what would be the best music to play while trying to seduce a woman - there are going to be an infinite number of answers but a few names will come up more than once. Here are two things that I have noted:  Gyokuro is the highest quality, sencha is very good, and I wouldn’t think of ordering anything less than either of them.

Water
If you don’t like the taste of your municipal water then be sure to ask for bottled water.  If your sushi bar serves “Ice Age” brand water (in a cobalt blue bottle) definitely request it by name.  It is hands down the best water you will ever try, and I feel robbed because nobody distributes it in my area anymore.  I’ve tried many bottled water brands with sushi and “Ice Age” water’s flavor is so clean that I find that it makes the sushi taste better!  “Iceberg” is also an excellent brand but also hard to find (at least in my area).  Their vodka processing is taking up much of their water stock now and making it (the water) harder to get a hold of.   Many kinds of bottled water come from municipal sources and you can taste the difference, but I always have water in front of me at the sushi bar. 

Soda pop
The first thought that comes to your mind I’m sure is, “Are you kidding me?” and I would generally agree, but with a couple of exceptions.  Ginger ale actually works great with sushi! To a lesser extent some of the clear sodas work fine too, but I would avoid anything with any coloring or heavy sugary tastes.  After all, you are there to taste sushi, not cola.

Milk
I’m not a fan of milk in any situation, and that isn’t going to change here.  Milk contains casein, a major ingredient in glue.  This ingredient, combined with the starches in the rice will just gum up your mouth to the delicate flavors that are instilled in the rice.  Oh great, now the milk board will be sending killer cows after me, I’m sure!

When I go out for sushi, I go for a big experience.  I get lots of food, and as a result lots to drink as well.  You may have noticed I don’t choose just one beverage.  I usually have beer, green tea, and water all sitting in front of me.  The thing to think about when choosing what to drink with sushi shouldn’t be “What should I drink” or “What do I want to drink?” as much as “What do I want to drink that won’t deaden my tongue to the main part of the meal?”  There are now even sake sommeliers that can recommend drinks for you at the sushi bars and help you get the most out of your dining experience.  If your sushi bar doesn’t have one of these people on staff, it’s always acceptable to ask the Itamae (your sushi chef) what he recommends with what you are eating.

The most important thing to remember is that you are there to enjoy a meal and the people you are with.  Becoming overly sophistic about the meal and its accoutrements does nothing to enhance the meal; if anything, you lose some of the pleasure of the experience.  So eat, drink, have fun, and have a designated driver.

© Ross A. Christensen  2008

Umami
By Ross A. Christensen
 

Sweet, Sour, Salty, and Bitter.

These are the four taste areas of the human tongue.  Now in the food world, all the rage is the fifth taste, what the Japanese have long called “Umami” (pronounced “oo-MAH-me”). The best description of this taste is that it could be called “earthy” “heady” even “unctuous” although the word in Japanese means “savory, meaty, delicious.” Umami is the detection of earthy flavors in your food, and the presence of umami flavors is proven to enhance foods it is eaten with.

The actual taste can be traced to a natural amino acid, Glutamic Acid, which breaks down into (monosodium) L-glutamate.  This is naturally found in many foods.  It also has linking factors with other ribonucleotides like guanosine monophosphate and inosine monophosphate.  Not only do some foods naturally contain umami like tomatoes, mushrooms, and kelp, but certain processes produce it as well.  Slow cooking, brewing, and fermenting all create umami during their processes.

The recent growing acceptance of Umami as an official fifth taste can be traced back to the renowned French Chef Auguste Escoffier, who arguably is one of the most important chefs in the history of cooking.  In the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s he set the culinary world on fire.  His contributions to gastronomy are still seen in restaurant and home kitchens today, and will no doubt continue for a long time into the future.  One of the things he did was to create a veal broth that didn’t contain any of the four primary flavors, and yet it was truly delicious.  How was this possible? How could a recipe contain no “flavors” yet be so wonderful? By making a stock of veal, which contains inosinate, and adding onions, containing glutamate, he had created a big steaming bowl of umami.

Almost simultaneously (1907), in Japan, biochemistry professor Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University came to realize that kelp (kombu) broth had a taste to it that was reminiscent of many other foods such as asparagus, cheeses, meats, and tomatoes that didn’t fit with the four known tastes.  He traced this factor to the glutamates which are found in all of these items.  He finally isolated this factor (its actual chemical profile is C5H9NO4) and turned it into a product, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).  Scientists of the day ran to their microscopes and looked at the human tongue. Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, but NOPE, no Glutamate section of the tongue!” Professor Ikeda, although he is now known as one of Japan’s ten greatest inventors, was discounted by his contemporaries, and umami itself faded into obscurity.  Now, new research started in the 1980’s and another more recent study at the University Of Miami School Of Medicine in 2000 have both come to new conclusions.  They agreed with the past assessment that “there is no glutamate section to the human tongue”, but revised their predecessors findings with “There are glutamate receptors all over the human tongue”.  Sweet, Sour, Salty, and Bitter all have specific, defined areas where those tastes can be received and transmitted to the brain.  Glutamate doesn’t have one distinct area, but receptors over the entire surface of the tongue.  So it looks like Chef Escoffier and Professor Ikeda had in fact discovered something new, something the scientists couldn’t, if not wouldn’t, see or explain.  Now-a-days still not all (western) scientists will agree with the concept that there are five primary tastes.   

There is a dichotomy with the growing acceptance of Umami, and that is the hatred the general public has for MSG.  For years, people have avoided Asian foods because of the fear of the MSG causing a headache or asthma attack.  So what is the basis for this hatred of MSG, and what is the MSG headache?  Oddly enough, it’s a myth.  People who speak of the evils of MSG are promoting their theory from anecdote and coincidence.  The thing I find really amusing is that no one, not one scientifically verified speck of proof has been found, that MSG is bad for you in any way.  Even the FDA has stated several times and over numerous studies that MSG is safe for human consumption. If you have eaten at a Chinese restaurant and had an asthma attack or a headache, it is most likely from something besides MSG, or it’s psychosomatic due to the bad press MSG has had.  After all, if it’s the MSG then you couldn’t eat sushi, Thai food, almost any meat from a crock pot, meat based soups and stews, parmesan cheese or beer because MSG occurs naturally in all these foods.  Having a Caesar salad would probably kill you; with the ingredients it contains, it might as well be an umami grenade. So it begs the question, “If glutamates are bad for you, why does your tongue have so many receptors that detect them and why do they make other tastes so much better?”  After all, your tongue doesn’t have taste receptors dedicated to cyanide or anthrax. 

Trying to avoid MSG? It’s impossible. As I stated previously, it occurs naturally in many different foods, including meats, beers, soy sauce, and fish sauce. It’s in your fast food, boxed foods, nacho cheese flavored chips, ketchup, it grows naturally in your garden vegetables; literally, it’s everywhere.  Even products that are labeled “organic” can contain MSG since it is a naturally occurring product.  Vegetarian foods use lots of MSG (under various different names) in order to give the foods a more satisfying taste.  Even your own body produces 40 grams of it per day, and human breast milk is ten times higher in glutamates than cow’s milk, regardless of the mother’s diet.

Other names for ingredients that provide umami to a food.

Some people say that using these alternative names constitutes “hiding” MSG in foods, but the truth is that glutamates come in many different products.  While just the act of adding soy sauce to your dinner adds glutamates to it, but you wouldn’t call adding ketchup to your hot dog “sneaking” MSG into your lunch, but it amounts to being the same thing.   Glutamates are a safe, natural flavor and are inescapable in the world today.  Keep that in mind when you are trying to avoid:

Calcium Caseinate

Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP)

Monopotassium Glutamate

Hydrolyzed Plant Protein (HPP)

Glutamic acid

Sodium Caseinate

Vegetable Protein Extract

Autolyzed Plant Protein

Hydrolyzed Protein

Natural flavoring

Carrageenan

Maltodextrin

Gelatin

Protein Hydrolysate

Yeast extract

Yeast food

Yeast nutrient