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I realize that food can be a touchy subject, and I hope this doesn't come across as rude, as cultural appropriation (or worse, cultural bastardization), but I'v
by daveslash 4y ago
I realize that food can be a touchy subject, and I hope this doesn't come across as rude, as cultural appropriation (or worse, cultural bastardization), but I've been eating a lot of sushi at home lately in a way that I really love, but don't see anywhere except for one restaurant.
I can't roll my own sushi. I don't have tools or the skills. But I've been making sushi at home in a way that I really enjoy and I thought I'd share. I make what I call a "sushi pile". Or, as my Asian wife and stepdaughter teasingly call "white guy sushi". The closest thing it might come to would be nigiri, but it's not quite that.
We buy frozen fish steaks (usually tuna or salmon). Thaw them out and slice them into small rectangles. Make a bowl of sushi rice. You know those seaweed snacks that come in the small rectangular plastic trays? We take two sheets of those and lay them flat on the cutting board. Put a plop of sushi rice on it. Put the fish on top, add sriracha mayo (made with Japanese mayo). Squirt some Japanese BBQ Sauce (we really like Bachan's), and a dollop of wasabi. If we're lucky, maybe, we have some fresh uni is on the table. Shove the whole thing in your mouth. They're large, so it's ungraceful.
When we have sushi night at home, the ingredients are all on the table and we just "build your own" as we eat. I understand if this sounds like a bastardization to purists, and maybe it's not even fair to call it sushi. But my family and I really enjoy it. Alternatively, it makes for really good poke bowl.
- Wojtkie 4y agoI love this idea. Got any good tips on making sushi rice?
- daveslash 4y agoI hate to say this, but I leave that to my wife. She grew up eating sushi rice, so she's very good at making it. I grew up eating the microwaveable rice. I can make a mean bowl of microwaved rice, but I'm pretty awful at sushi rice... This year I'll get her to teach me. What I will say: the rice she makes is just rice and water in a saucepan. Nothing too complicated. It's about selecting the correct rice, the ratio of rice+water, heat, and timing. My goal this year is to figure that out.
- kyorochan 4y agoBuy good rice. At the very least it has to be round grain. Wash the rice thoroughly. Use a little less water than you think you need. Experiment with different recipes for mixing vinegar/mirin/sugar, and save the one you like. It's not particularly hard, just takes some trial and error. If you already make good rice you are almost done already, then it's just down to flavoring.
- daveslash 4y agoFor what it's worth, the closest thing that I've found to my "sushi pile" is the "Toastoba" appetizer at the Sushi House in Ventura, on Seaward Ave. [0]. The toastoba is "deep fried oba leaf, spicy tuna, scallops, masago eggs, spicy mayo, w/avacado and eel sauce" -- essentially my sushi pile, except on fried oba leaf instead of flat seaweed singles. [0] http://sushihousevta.com/ http://sushihousevta.com/