The Secrets of Master Sushi Chefs
Each bite is made to be eaten immediately
- “Sushi is like French fries,” says Tyson Cole of Uchi. “It's best eaten right when you make it. Every minute after you make it, it's dying.” This means that preparing sushi at a master level requires incredible multi-tasking to complete a plate of nigiri with timing that preserves the integrity of each bite, as well as laser focus on each piece.
Aromas must be balanced
- A master understands that smell is a crucial element of taste. “A piece of mackerel is going to have a stronger aroma and you don't want it to turn guests off, so I put some ginger, green onion, lemon juice on top,” says Taichi Kitamura of Sushi Kappo Tamura. Some other scent-balancing pairings that our chefs suggested were garlic with bonito and extra wasabi with uni.
Each fish requires a different mastery
- How you slice, season, and form fish for nigiri depends on the fat content and texture of each individual species. “For a fish that's not that fatty, white fish or flounder for example, I cut it paper thin because it's all muscle,” says Cole. For fattier fish, the size of the slice is adjusted, but also the seasoning. “For fattier fish, I use two to three times more wasabi than I do with lighter flavored fish. On a piece of toro, I use four times as much,” says Kitamura.
Knives need to be insanely sharp
- Keeping knives sharp is a craft all in its own. “Master sushi chefs will always sharpen their knives every day before service,” says Katsunori Kawaguchi of MOzen Bistro. This is important to ensure that cutting is a finesse action and not one driven by power. “If you use too much pressure while cutting the sushi it will affect the texture,” says Kawaguchi.
Complete list (Thrillist.com)
The 12 Modern Rules For Drinking Wine
5. Don’t assume you know what your favorite type of wine tastes like
- Turns out, it's not all about the more you know... “The more you know about wine, the less you know,” says Twomey. You might think your Pinot noir tastes weird, and some might even argue with their server or bartender about it (and subsequently make a tool of themselves), but it tastes different because of the terroir. You can plant the same grape in California and South Africa and British Columbia and it’s going to taste differently because of the soil, as well as the climate, and the way the winery harvests and peels the grapes once they’re ready to be made into wine.
8. Do not assume that the food you pair with your wine has to be conventional
- Good wine and good food always go together, so arbitrary rules like “steak can only be enjoyed with red” and “fish should only be had with white” actually make no sense. “There are fantastic red wines that I’d drink with fish and white wines that work well with red meat,” says Marci at B&B, where a rich Chardonnay is a favorite pairing with some of their burgers. And if you find the right red, you can even pair it with sushi.
Complete list (Thrillist.com)
The Thrillist Awards: Vegas' Best New Food, Drink & Everything Else of 2015
Best new Chinese restaurant on the Strip
- Hong Kong Café
- Palazzo
- The menu features a fusion of Asian and Western culture that reflects Hong Kong's long history as a British colony (before being handed back to China less than 20 years ago). The result is a deep and diverse selection of food representing a number of regions, from ham & egg sandwiches to Macau-style roasted pork belly.
Best new grab-and-go lunch
- Luke's Lobster
- Fashion Show Mall
- Head through the mall, walk outside by the Strip, and turn the corner next to some place named Starbucks... That's where you'll find a cozy seafood shack ready to hand over delicious lobster rolls made with a sustainable tender catch from Maine. Add a bowl of the clam chowder or lobster bisque to your order and you'll definitely make your coworkers jealous when you return to the cubicle.
Complete list (Thrillist.com)
Every Important Dim Sum Dish, Ranked
3. Pan-fried chive or leek dumplings (gow choi gau)
- Crispy, juicy, intensely earthy... you can skip the Chinese broccoli if you eat your fill of these veggie dumplings.
4. Sticky rice in lotus leaf (lo mai gai)
- Speckled with bits of chicken, sausage, and mushrooms, this is pretty much everything you love about fried rice, minus the grease, plus gift wrap.
7. Potstickers (guotie)
- Similar to the old truism/meme about sex and pizza, even bad potstickers are worth having now and regretting later.
9. Open-face pork-and-shrimp dumplings (siu mai)
- What har gow could be if they just made a little effort.
14. Deep-fried shrimp balls
- Though mixed and bound with other ingredients like all meatballs, these taste purely of mildly sweet and juicy shrimp. Salty and greasy fried shrimp, but shrimp all the same.
Complete list (Thrillist.com)
Chefs Tell Us 2015 Food Trends That Need to Be Retired
- “I get it, kale is a tasty leafy green that's very healthy. There are dozens just like it that should be getting the spotlight, like collards, mustard greens, dandelion green, beet greens, and carrot tops.” -- Joe Palma, executive chef of Bourbon Steak at the Four Seasons (Washington, DC)
- "I’ve had the feeling that in this country kale is now a religion. You see it on every menu! Being French, we don’t eat it much and we don’t get the fuss about this ingredient! It’s a typical fashion ingredient that won’t last in my opinion. It won't last because it has nothing more than cabbage, it's boring." -- Fabienne Souliès, owner of Pitchoun Bakery (Los Angeles, CA)
- "Unless you have an allergy, I'm over gluten-free. Can we go back to just eating what the chefs want to cook?" -- Jesse Schenker, chef/owner of Recette and The Gander (New York, NY)
- “Chefs telling me how to eat a dish. I’m not a baby. If your food comes with instructions, you’re trying too hard.” -- Dale Talde, chef/owner of Talde Miami Beach (Miami, FL)
Complete list (Thrillist.com)
