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On November 26 2008 09:59 pyrogenetix wrote:
Rice
Good rice is really important. A medium to short grain rice is good. There is no such thing as "sushi rice" just like there is no such thing as "sandwich bread".
Actually after working in a Japanese-owned sushi/teppanyaki restaurant in Waikiki with chefs that had been rolling for like 40+ years I can honestly tell you that the amount of preparation and quality of rice that goes into real "sushi rice" makes more of a difference than you think.
Here's the method we used:
Take high quality Japanese rice--calrose is fine if you can't find anything else, but the important part is that you don't break ANY of the grains. If you cook rice for sushi with broken or cracked grains the inside leaks out and makes it all sticky. Each grain should be a separate entity from the rest.
Wash it LIGHTLY in water until the water runs clear using a strainer and a large metal bowl. Put the rice into the strainer and put the strainer into the bowl, then run water into the bowl and move the strainer up and down so the rice agitates in the water. Drain the water, repeat 3 times. Drain the water again and pour the rice into the bowl. Using the palm of your hand, LIGHTLY scrub the rice, making sure no kernels break. Put it back into the strainer and do the water thing again. Repeat until the water runs clear or until you see a broken kernel.
Drain the water and put the rice back into the strainer. Put the strainer in the bowl and leave it for 30 minutes to an hour. We left ours overnight because we used like 50+ cups of rice a day.
Use one of those sushi rice-making nets that resembles reusable cheesecloth and put it on the bottom of the rice cooker. Cook your rice with less water than you usually do. We put our finger in touching the top of the rice and put water up to the first joint. Some places add some potato starch here.
After you have your rice cooked, take it out and flip it into a large wooden rice barrel. Add your vinegar mix by pouring it over the wooden rice paddle and spread it gently, making sure not to mash anything but still breaking up all the large clusters. Each grain should be an individual grain, not stuck to anything else.
Flip, cut, and cool the rice for 10 minutes. Leave it for 5 minutes. Flip, cut, and cool the rice again.
Put it into a plastic cooler or a warm rice cooker to keep it warm. If the rice cools too much it sticks together and is not very easy to work with.
Honestly, I didn't think any of this was important at all until I had it explained and demonstrated by a Japanese chef. He gave me a tekka-maki that he made fresh and it was like I FINALLY understood what sushi was supposed to taste like. The roll looked like shit but my god, it was something else.
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France1920 Posts
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Nice bump, now I'm freaking hungry ...
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Hong Kong20321 Posts
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wow... I do so many of those "don't"s... What's wrong with:
1. rubbing chopsticks together to remove splinters
2. dunking rice in the soy sauce
3. dumping wasabi into soy sauce
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Hong Kong20321 Posts
On April 25 2010 17:03 stalife wrote:
wow... I do so many of those "don't"s... What's wrong with:
1. rubbing chopsticks together to remove splinters
2. dunking rice in the soy sauce
3. dumping wasabi into soy sauce
2. u only taste soy sauce after, nothing else lol
3. 41212 wasabi in soy sauce... u only taste soy sauce with the wasabi removing all sense of taste and smell after
1. well if the chopsticks do have splinters i say who gives a shit. if it was a nice place the chopsticks wouldn't have splinters in the first place anyway
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On April 25 2010 17:28 alffla wrote:Show nested quote +On April 25 2010 17:03 stalife wrote:
wow... I do so many of those "don't"s... What's wrong with:
1. rubbing chopsticks together to remove splinters
2. dunking rice in the soy sauce
3. dumping wasabi into soy sauce
2. u only taste soy sauce after, nothing else lol 3. 41212 wasabi in soy sauce... u only taste soy sauce with the wasabi removing all sense of taste and smell after 1. well if the chopsticks do have splinters i say who gives a shit. if it was a nice place the chopsticks wouldn't have splinters in the first place anyway
I read this blog at least once every month. Now is the 1 year anniversary of the last bump.
I eat sushi as we speak. Everybody who hasn't read this blog, take a second to bask in it.
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On December 27 2009 14:25 ZERG_RUSSIAN wrote:Show nested quote +On November 26 2008 09:59 pyrogenetix wrote:
Rice
Good rice is really important. A medium to short grain rice is good. There is no such thing as "sushi rice" just like there is no such thing as "sandwich bread". Actually after working in a Japanese-owned sushi/teppanyaki restaurant in Waikiki with chefs that had been rolling for like 40+ years I can honestly tell you that the amount of preparation and quality of rice that goes into real "sushi rice" makes more of a difference than you think. ... Honestly, I didn't think any of this was important at all until I had it explained and demonstrated by a Japanese chef. He gave me a tekka-maki that he made fresh and it was like I FINALLY understood what sushi was supposed to taste like. The roll looked like shit but my god, it was something else.
As someone who has eaten a lot of sushi (some by people who were in the business for decades and learned their stuff apprenticing in sushi bars in Japan), I can vouch for how each of the elements of sushi, from the rice to the quality and cut of the sushi, is really freakin' important to its taste. The art of making sushi is one of those things that seems simple enough at first glance, but it takes a lot of work to get right. It's been said that the art of making sushi can take as long as several years to get just right...
...but when it's just right, it's downright amazing. You actually appreciate the fish more in a well-made nigiri sushi than you would have if you had it in sashimi form (i.e., just the fish itself).
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![[image loading]](http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff313/pyrogenetix/022.jpg)
Your holding your knife wrong  !
Gotta be careful with those things I've had more then enough emergency visits and shaved finger tips !
I can make a hell of a pressure bandage though. !
This is how you hold a knife:
+ Show Spoiler +Take your index and thumb fingers and pinch them together with the top of the blade held in between. The pressure here should be firm. ![[image loading]](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gDH8azZVJPM/TV2IuP9WerI/AAAAAAAAAA8/bYGM2VoAmh0/s200/IMG_1619.JPG) With the other three fingers, hold the handle. Do not grip too tight, a looser grip will actually allow for more stability and control. Your index and thumb fingers should be doing most of the work. Keep those fingers tucked in ! ![[image loading]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--XLVptUR4ho/TV2J8C_z3sI/AAAAAAAAABA/vgCmFA_jblg/s200/IMG_1620.JPG) Also just as important, keep your guiding hand's fingers and thumb tucked in at all times ! Once you cut an item in half and have a flat surface to work with its hard not to go wrong.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://21.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kulz9rkZFT1qz72y0o1_500.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.cooking-made-easy.com/images/knife_skills_claw_grip1.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.cooking-made-easy.com/images/knife_skills_cutting_motion1.jpg)
