Need sushi help please!

[TXBeth]

For Christmas I am giving DH a sushi starter kit - a beginner book and supplies. I got a mat and paddle, a santoku knife, and some chopsticks. What food ingredients should I include? Pickled ginger, wasabi, nori, rice (does it have to be "sushi rice" or is any kind of rice fine), rice vinegar, anything else?

 

Thanks in advance!

[mytwomonkeys]

sesame is good to have too. yes, i only use sushi rice:)

[Mergath]

You'll need medium or short grain rice. The long grain stuff doesn't hold together as well.

[Spy Car]

For Christmas I am giving DH a sushi starter kit - a beginner book and supplies. I got a mat and paddle, a santoku knife, and some chopsticks. What food ingredients should I include? Pickled ginger, wasabi, nori, rice (does it have to be "sushi rice" or is any kind of rice fine), rice vinegar, anything else?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

In terms of non-perishable items I think you have it pretty well thought through. As to rice, yes, you will need Japanese-style short-grain sushi rice. I will sometimes use short-grained Japanese brown rice for making rolls, but it is not traditional.

 

A Japanese (or French) mandoline vegetable slicer can be handy for cutting things like cucumber, gobo (burdock root) or carrots for rolls or daikon for a garnish or sunimono, but a good knife will suffice if one lacks a mandoline in the short term. The Japanese (plastic housed) ones are way cheaper than the stainless-steel French ones, and are nearly as good for most purposes.

 

Otherwise I think you are gold. For the wasabi it comes both powdered (dry) and prepared in a tube. I prefer the prepared wasabi. If one can get fresh wasabi, better yet (but not likely).

 

Pickled Ginger is easy to make, and Japanese pickles generally are simple to prepare and a great accompaniment to sushi.

 

Oh...Green tea. Add a good Japanese green tea to the list. And miso, dried bonito flakes, and kombu for making Miso soup. Actually exploring the whole range of sea-vegetables is a good idea. A good shoyu (soy sauce). And both black and regular toasted sesame seeds. And toasted sesame oil for salads and side dishes.

 

That should about do it :D

 

Bill

[Mergath]

 

Oh...Green tea. Add a good Japanese green tea to the list. And miso, dried bonito flakes, and kombu for making Miso soup. Actually exploring the whole range of sea-vegetables is a good idea. A good shoyu (soy sauce). And both black and regular toasted sesame seeds. And toasted sesame oil for salads and side dishes.

 

That should about do it :D

 

Bill

 

So it is possible to buy bonito flakes somewhere in the US, then? Because I've been looking for months in every town I've been in, and have yet to find a single flake. :glare:

[elfgivas]

we just use whatever rice we have on hand.... usually jasmine, sometimes basmati. once we add the rice vinegar to it, it sticks together just fine;)

 

i can't remember; did you mention the bamboo roller? that is really the only thing we've found that we really really need to have; the rest, we can improvise. what a great gift!

 

ann

[BillieBoy]

There is a sushi rice packet, like seasoning packets, that is sold in Asian stores that makes sushi rice just the right flavor and texture for forming. I'm sorry I don't know the name (And it's a Japanese label). If you want to go very authentic you could add in some small, dainty dipping sauce dishes or be creative and use clam shells. What a nice present. Good job.

[eternalknot]

So it is possible to buy bonito flakes somewhere in the US, then? Because I've been looking for months in every town I've been in, and have yet to find a single flake. :glare:

 

I've seen it at larger chain health food stores, and even at Whole Foods in some cities. Higher end or gourmet grocery stores typically carry it, too.

 

I live in an area sorely lacking in Asian ethnic resources, but my grocery store will order it. Failing that, there's always Amazon :D!

 

ETA: It looks like SpyCar lives in CA, whereas you're in MN. Definitely (ethnic) worlds apart in terms of available resources! Maybe he can run to Marukai and mail you a box :)

Edited December 15, 2011 by eternalknot

[Cinder]

A good shoyu (soy sauce).

Bill

 

Bill, you're the first person I've met since I left HI that calls shoyu "shoyu." Except dh, who has been trained. :D I miss Aloha shoyu.

[Spy Car]

So it is possible to buy bonito flakes somewhere in the US, then? Because I've been looking for months in every town I've been in, and have yet to find a single flake. :glare:

 

Sure, but it helps to live somewhere flakey :D

 

I get mine at a nearby Korean supermarket, and there are many Japanese markets here too.

 

Bill

[Spy Car]

Bill, you're the first person I've met since I left HI that calls shoyu "shoyu." Except dh, who has been trained. :D I miss Aloha shoyu.

 

I lived for years on the edge of the westside Japanese community here in LA, Japanese girlfriends, etc.

 

Bill

[Ferdie]

Cute idea!

 

For California rolls we use sake, rice vinegar, nori sheets, canned crab meat, this hot sauce:

 

http://www.huyfong.com/no_frames/sriracha.htm

 

Also my children have trouble hand wrapping sushi so I bought them one of these from Amazon:

 

http://sushezi.com/

 

We use short grained white rice, (fat and round) from the bulk section at Sprouts. I rinse, rinse, rinse per these directions:

 

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/?s=sushi+rice

 

Enjoy!

[Spy Car]

Rhee Drummond tells people to use 1 part sugar to 2 parts rice vinegar for their Sushi-su? :eek:

 

And no salt?

 

While is is nice that the Marlboro Man can hire a private sushi chef to enliven their simple lifestyle as pioneers out there in the country (:D), there is so much nonsense in this blog post one barely know where to start.

 

Bill

[stripe]

While is is nice that the Marlboro Man can hire a private sushi chef to enliven their simple lifestyle as pioneers out there in the country (:D), there is so much nonsense in this blog post one barely know where to start.

 

Bill

oh come on, he's half japanese, heh

[Spy Car]

In culinary school I was told no salt.

 

I have never in my life (until now) seen a recipe for Sushi-su (the rice vinegar based dressing one adds to rice after it is cooked) or a pre-made commercial "Seasoned Rice Vinegar" that did not contain a scant amount of salt.

 

Are you confused with not adding salt to rice while it is cooking?

 

Bill

[sweetbasil]

I would add a bottle of really good quality soy sauce or tamari (search somewhere like Chowhound for brand recs), and a bottle of sake.

 

For a future gift you might consider a high-end rice cooker, like a Zojirushi Fuzzy Logic. They make absolutely perfect rice every time with no effort and keep it hot and ready to eat for hours. I got mine a few years ago and use it daily (you can also use it for cereals/grains).

[Spy Car]

I don't think I'm confused because I was kinda stunned by the insistence of no salt because we were told to put salt in everything (even baked goods).

 

The only thing I can think of is that everything tends to get dunked into sauces (soy sauce, etc.) and that stuff has a lot of salt.

 

Dunking sushi into shoyu (soy sauce) is an act of culinary vandalism :D

 

Bill

[Spy Car]

I would add a bottle of really good quality soy sauce or tamari (search somewhere like Chowhound for brand recs), and a bottle of sake.

 

For a future gift you might consider a high-end rice cooker, like a Zojirushi Fuzzy Logic. They make absolutely perfect rice every time with no effort and keep it hot and ready to eat for hours. I got mine a few years ago and use it daily (you can also use it for cereals/grains).

 

I will recommend a sake. I'm sure many of us have experienced bad sake. Stuff that tastes like an industrial solvent that is raw and burns on the way down. Vile stuff!

 

Then there are ultra-expensive high-end sakes that are delicious, but ultra-expensive.

 

An alternative is Nigori sake. This is a simple sake made in the ancient traditional style. It is only lightly filtered so there is still milky-white sediment that clouds the sake (shake before serving) from the rice the sake is made from.

 

The taste is mildly-sweet and rice-like. It is not super-complex but is quite pleasant, and should be consumed cold. Takara (an old Japanese sake concern) makes a domestically produced Nigori sake in Berkeley CA that is quite good and economical.

 

Nigori sake is wonderful for cooking with as well as drinking. A favorite use of mine is to score Japanese eggplants lengthwise (leaving the ends intact) and simmering them in a combination of nigori sake, shoyu, and sugar until tender. The sauce should reduce until it is a syrup-like constancy. Pour the reduced syrup over the cooked eggplants, garnish with toasted sesame seeds, and you have a delicacy awaiting you.

 

Bill

Edited December 15, 2011 by Spy Car

[Spy Car]

That's the only way I'd get through it. :tongue_smilie:

 

I can't stand sushi.

 

Then I think we can safely ignore any future contributions on your part :tongue_smilie:

 

There was a sushi place here (two different ones actually) where the sushi chef was know as a "Sushi Nazi." Customers who asked for soy-sauce to dunk their sushi in used to get screamed at and were considered fortunate it they were not thrown-out of the restaurant immediately. I think regulars considered these outbursts part of the "entertainment," but these sushi-chefs were dead-serious.

 

One of these places closed (a not altogether unpredictable outcome of screaming at ones patrons) but one lives on as a testament to higher-standards :D

 

Bill

Edited December 15, 2011 by Spy Car