The size of a nigiri sushi piece differs from restaurant to restaurant. The best fit between a piece and a persons actual size of mouth comes when you sit at the counter and the chef actually pays attention to the guest being served. In an article I read in the Nikkei Weekly some of weeks ago, the sushi chef Yosuke Imada of Kuybey in Tokyo could tell us that about “250 grains of rice is just the right size for a person to eat a piece of sushi in one go and to be able to fully relish the taste”.
>> Continue reading ‘Sushi science - counting grains’
Instructables has a great post on the do’s and don’ts when you make bento boxes. It is very nicely written with illustrations and images. This “instructable” (their name for a tutorial) attempts to provide the basic design principles, resources for obtaining the necessary tools, and some of the traditional rules of making a beautiful and delicious bento box. I was both inspired and learned a lot from this tutorial.
>> Continue reading ‘Crafting a Bento Box’
I have not made much sashimi at home I have to admit. Cutting the fish for it is still a bit scary to me, but this video helped make it look easy. Easier… I have also previously posted another video covering sashimi - how to make sashimi from salmon, yellow tail and tuna.
An article I read in the Nikkei Weekly the other day tells us that a western sushi trend make it big in Japan; wine with sushi - and westernized sushi at that. So to keep up - here is a video on how to choose the right wine with your sushi.
Fruit Sushi By Chef Terrance Fong - For more video clips, click here
This is a dessert variant of sushi, where you get tips to how to use your left over rice. By preparing the rice and adding fruit you get a great dessert. Will try this next time I have some rice to spare.
Here the sushi chef explains in Japanese his technique on how to make nigiri sushi. I don’t get all of it, but his motions are useful. Anyone care to translate in a comment?
This video from Videojug.com shows you also how to fillet and prepare a round fish - which in the end means cook it, but what I liked to learn was just to fillet it. Not sure if I am up for trying just yet though. Need to get more used to cutting up just fish filets first…. (Sissy, I know…)
So 90 degrees to the texture of the fish, huh? Good to know!
Just make sure it you are not cutting a Bluefin tuna.
I did not know how you open and eat a sea urchins straight from the ocean. Maybe I will have to try this at some point. They do make it sound good even though I have a hard time with things that look slimy…
What?? Ken Kawasumi was doing Kazari maki-zushi IN NORWAY??? Nooooooo… That hurts. I would have loved to be there! Luckily someone videotaped it.
This video is a brief introduction and shows you the initial knowledge you need to have to go to a sushi bar. It covers the topics of napkin, plate, hashi oki, chopsticks, dish for soy sauce. I see at the VideoJugs website that this video has created quite a discussion on what is actually correct and Japanese behavior. I don’t want to call myself as an expert, but I did see several things here that was a bit misleading. But - in general it does give you some initial pointers.
Here are some previous posts on how to eat sushi:
A very short video on how to make sweet pickled ginger or amazu shoga.
But, but, how do you make the sweet vinegar sauce???
I really get to stretch my Japanese in this video. Ahh. I love kazari maki-zushi!
This just looks so simple, but is so beautiful! And really - it is NOT that easy either. I have tried…
In sushi restaurant your chopsticks usually is lying on a small rest, a hashi-oki. These are usually made of ceramic or wood and very often cutely designed. My favorite is my blue blowfish. The reason for it is that when you need to place your chopsticks back on the table, you don’t want the chopstick-tip to be in contact with the ‘dirty’ table.
But if you’re in an sushi bar and they don’t offer you a choopstick rest, don’t despair. You can make your own! On Flickr I found this guy showing us how to fold a disposable chopstick sleeve into a makeshift chopstick rest.
Here is a list of what NOT to say when you are in a sushi bar. Remember - those knives are really sharp… We hold sushi chefs high in regards here at Sushi or Death, but this was still is funny. Just don’t go out and actually say or do these things. It’s an order! 
>> Continue reading ‘10 ways to make a sushi chef loose it…’
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