The Sushi Thread

[private joker]

Sushi has been brought up a few times in the Ask El Diablo thread and other places, and of course there were suggestions that it be a thread of its own. Clearly that's the case.

Here are some initial points to discuss:

All you can eat/buffet-style vs. a la carte

The all-you-can-eat option is fairly popular among mid-tier sushi restaurants both in L.A. and Vegas, but usually not in the highest class ones for obvious reasons. AYCE is attractive if the price is right -- namely for example Todai at the Aladdin, which is a Japanese buffet for $16.95 lunch & $25 dinner.

The downside is I end up eating too much and feel fairly ill afterwards, when the rice is expanding in my stomach. I tend to eat more nigiri and fewer cut rolls in these situations.

A la carte can be less expensive and less filling, but I don't think sushi is a cuisine you eat in order to stuff yourself. This is why it's the best option, especially because it's all you have at the nicer places like Sushi Roku and Katana, etc.

Nigiri vs. cut rolls

A balanced sushi meal for me means a nice combination of nigiri sushi and cut rolls. For some reason, specific fish taste better as sashimi while others taste better in roll form. I don't know why this is. A typical order for me will be:

yellowtail sushi
albacore sushi
spicy tuna roll
california roll
salmon roll

I like my spicy tuna & california rolls to have the seaweed on the inside and rice as the outer layer, whereas I prefer the salmon rolls to be the opposite. I think this is standard, but I've seen exceptions.

Imitation crab rules

N/T

Wasabi & soy sauce

My routine here is to take a small portion of wasabi and put it in a clean dish, then pour low-sodium soy sauce over it, mixing it together with the chopsticks. I see a lot of people use too much wasabi, which usually overpowers the taste of the seafood and is generally a poor idea -- much like drowning your steak in tabasco sauce or ketchup. I also think the low-sodium presents a smoother soy sauce than the overpowering saltiness of the regular red-top version, which kills a lot of flavor, especially from milder sushi like imitation crab.

Drinks

For dinner I like alcohol, usually hot sake or Sapporo. Beer tends to go better with sushi IMO, though a very well-chosen sake, like the sampler at Katana in L.A., is quite appealing. Cold soda works well at lunch for me, even though Diet Coke + sushi isn't a very sophisticated match. For that, I choose to be unsophisticated.

I'd love to see this thread expand with far more issues than the ones I brought up.

[NorCalJosh]

i can't add to this discussion as i've never once eaten sushi, but i do plan on rectifying this straight away and will read this with great interest.



to add to this... my primary reason for not eating sushi at all earlier in life was that i hated sea food. as i've gotten older i've recently discovered that my palette has matured a bit as well, and have since tried several different fish i hadnt previously, as well as shrimp, lobster, etc. i did not hate any of these things, but was kinda meh about all of them. is there any reason that i SHOULD try sushi if this is still the case?

[kitaristi0]

For someone who's only experience with sushi has been some low-quality supermarket sushi that he didn't like at all, what kinds of things would people recommend as a gateway dish to the world of sushi?

[private joker]

[ QUOTE ]
For someone who's only experience with sushi has been some low-quality supermarket sushi that he didn't like at all, what kinds of things would people recommend as a gateway dish to the world of sushi?

[/ QUOTE ]

I was once like you.

The gateway for most people is the california roll. Its only fish content is imitation crab, which is just alaskan pollock. It tastes good and is buffered in the roll by the cucumber, avocado, and rice. At any reasonably well-reviewed sushi restaurant, it will be a fine dish.

The next dish people graduate to after the california roll is the spicy tuna roll. Just give it a shot, if the restaurant is any good you won't be disappointed.

Novices also like edamame as an appetizer (soybeans) and you usually can't go wrong there either.

If you're then feeling adventurous but still want something that isn't gross, try unagi (eel). It comes with a sweet syrupy eel sauce that is quite delicious. And the eel is warm, so it doesn't taste as raw as other sushi cuts.

[kidcolin]

Your wasabi and soy sauce technique is popular, but looked down up by sushi snobs. Or that's what I've read, anyway. I prefer to keep them separate, putting a small dab of wasabi on one face of the roll, and dip the other face in the soy sauce. Depending on the size of the roll I often use my hands to eat, not chopsticks.

I generally prefer sashimi to sushi.

kit,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conveyor_belt_sushi

This is a fun and interesting way to try out a bunch of different sushi. There's a pretty good one in Japantown in San Francisco. I'm not sure about other major cities.

[kitaristi0]

[ QUOTE ]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conveyor_belt_sushi

This is a fun and interesting way to try out a bunch of different sushi. There's a pretty good one in Japantown in San Francisco. I'm not sure about other major cities.

[/ QUOTE ]

That looks like it could be fun, though I don't know whether they have one here (York, UK). Maybe instead some type of sushi buffet would work, though I always worry that the quality of the food isn't very good in a lot in buffet type places.

[gumpzilla]

I had a great roll recently. Mackerel (I love mackerel sashimi), ginger, scallions and apple. Really good. I would not have thought of the apple, but it really added something.

EDIT: In terms of general form, private joker and I are as one.

[mason55]

I like spicy tuna but a lot of lower end places it can come out like cat food. I think your suggestions are good for novices, but I would question someone who called themself a sushi lover who went out and ordered a California roll, a spicy tuna roll, and a salmon roll.

100% agree on the low sodium soy sauce

[private joker]

There are two good conveyer belt sushi places in L.A., too. One is on Olympic and Sawtelle (I think it's called Daichan), the other is in Pasadena -- Afloat Sushi. Both are extremely cheap and tasty.

I should mention that sushi snobs (also the type who look down at people who use chopsticks, since many like to just use fingers) are often insufferable and I hope they don't permeate this thread too much. I'm just a guy who likes to go eat some sushi.

[WillMagic]

Generally I avoid the all-you-can-eat places because the worst thing ever is low-to-medium quality raw fish. Not that I think Todai or places like it are trying to poison me, but when you are running an all-you-can-eat place you have to make some compromises on quality in order to put out such a large quantity of food.

I try to find hole-in-the-wall, quiet, sit-down joints, and just order whatever sashimi combination is on the menu. My basic philosophy is that I am going to the joint to eat great raw fish, so there's no reason to mess up a good thing by adding rice.