Sushi Advice, Straight From An OG Iron Chelf

Chef Masaharu Morimoto’s 3 Golden Rules for Eating Sushi

Rule 1: Don’t even think about mixing wasabi into your soy sauce

That’s right – if the first thing you do when your sushi arrives at the table is to mix a lump of wasabi into your soy sauce, you’ve broken one of Morimoto’s cardinal rules before even tasting a bite of fish. That’s because the perfect-sized dollop of spicy green paste is already tucked into your sushi. “Trust me, don’t put,” Morimoto says. “I already put wasabi between the fish and the rice. The right amount.”

Rule 2: Dunk carefully

“You dip the rice in the soy sauce,” says Morimoto, and laughs. “That’s wrong!” Yep, dipping your sushi into the soy sauce rice side down is another no-no. While the rice in poorly made sushi (or at least stuff that’s been sitting at the grocery store all day) may have a spackle-like consistently that’ll stand up to a dunking, professionally-trained sushi chefs spend years learning how to gently fold the seasoning into the rice without mangling the grains and releasing too much starch. The rice should be just sticky enough to hold together, but it’ll fall apart the second it touches liquid.

Rule 3: Eating sushi is a one-bite deal

See rule number 1: Each piece of sushi is designed to be a balance of flavors and ingredients, so if you eat one part at a time, you’re sacrificing the perfect bite. “Some people say I can’t eat this in one bite, too big,” Morimoto says. “Tell me which one is bigger: a hot dog, a hamburger or sushi? Not the sushi.”

(Food&Wine.com)

This Is Not, I Repeat, This Is Not A Burger!

(CavemanCircus.com)

A Well Executed Meal

(BroBible.com)

A Well Executed Meal

(CavemanCircus.com)

Some Of These Items Are Not 'Sushi'

(Facebook.com)

There's Some Interesting Pieces Listed On Here

(FoodRepublic.com)

Did You Know - Mackerel Sushi Edition

A Guide To The Different Types Of Mackerel Sushi

Mackerel (saba)

• Mackerel has the longest history in [traditional] edomae-style sushi. It is rich and has a strong flavor. Saba is usually cured for many hours with salt and vinegar before being served as sushi. This technique was developed to avoid food poisoning but has become essential to showcase the skills of a sushi chef. Many chefs also sear the fish to enhance its aroma. In addition to being served as nigiri, it can be prepared as a maki roll, with sushi rice wrapped inside cured saba. The fish’s best season is fall.

Spanish mackerel (sawara)

• Sawara is the largest mackerel among the four listed here. It is known to be a spring-season fish and is very popular from spring to early summer. The variety of Spanish mackerel caught in the winter season is called kanzawara, and they are more buttery and super-tasty, as well. The color is whiter compared to other mackerels.

Horse mackerel (aji)

• In Japan, horse mackerel is categorized in a different family. (Mackerel belongs to the Scombridae family, while horse mackerel belongs to the Carangidae family.) It is smaller than other mackerel and has a lighter flavor. Horse mackerel is also popular in edomae-style sushi and is usually served with freshly grated ginger and scallions. Its best season is summer.

Mackerel pike (sanma)

• Mackerel pike, also known as Pacific saury, actually belongs to another family, too. It is a very popular fall ingredient in Japan and is usually served grilled as a whole fish; it was not commonly served as sushi until recently. Like saba, there are many ways to serve it as sushi. Some chefs sear it, while others serve it as pressed sushi (a more traditional and regional style); others serve it fermented. At Sushi Ginza Onodera, the fish is cured for many hours with salt and vinegar before being served as sushi. The best season is right now, from late summer to fall.

(FoodRepublic.com)    

Did You Know - Sushi Edition

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)

If It Weren't For Rolls, 'Sushi' Wouldn't Be As Popular

Why You Shouldn't Order Sushi Rolls

You can't taste the fish

• To continue the steakhouse analogy, you wouldn't want to take a prime piece of beef and coat it in a mixture of A.1., cream cheese, and caviar. The kitchen sink of ingredients in an Americanized roll run together such that the competing fatty flavors will overshadow the integrity of the fish.

Complete list (Thrillist.com)

How To Eat Sushi Like A Pro

(FoodBeast.com)

I Would Eat Here

Inside America’s Most Expensive Sushi Restaurant Where Meals Start at $450

For those who love sushi and also for whom money is no object, Masa is a restaurant to experience at least once.

Masa is a sushi and Japanese food restaurant located in Manhattan and is the most expensive restaurant in New York City and the most expensive sushi restaurant in the United States.

Masa is omakase-only (chef’s choice) and has no menu. An omakase dinner for one costs $450, not including tax, tips or drinks. Kobe beef costs an additional $150.

The chef behind Masa is Masayoshi Takayama, who opened the restaurant in 2004.

Masa is only one of four New York restaurants with three Michelin stars and the first Japanese restaurant in the country to have received as many.

The restaurant’s fish is imported fresh from Japan and is rarely ever frozen. “Just, the thing is my ingredients. I don’t think they have equals.” Takayama told Eater.

The restaurant is minimally and elegantly designed, with a $60,000 hinoki wood sushi counter that is sanded daily to ensure smoothness.

The restaurant’s food isn’t the only thing that’s expensive. Reservations must be made with a credit card, and cancellations — even for one person in a party of diners — not made within 48 hours of the reservation time will mean a $200-per-person fee.

(FoodBeast.com)

Warning: There's A Lot Of Tuna & Salmon

Here Are Japan's Top Five Sushi Choices

1. Salmon
2. Chu Toro (Medium Fatty Tuna)
3. Negitoro (Green Onion Tuna)
4. Maguro (Tuna)
5. Ikura (Salmon Roe)

(FoodBeast.com)

Useless Info - Sushi Edition

(FoodBeast.com)

Did You Know - Sushi Edition

14 Things You Didn't Know About Sushi

6. Uni isn't exactly what you think

• You probably know that uni is sea urchin, but you may not realize the delicacy is, specifically, that creature's genitals. And now that you know, perhaps you wish you could forget.

8. Japanese knives are sharpened differently

• Unlike the sharp objects that cut food in the West, most Japanese knives are sharpened only on one side. They cut on the pull stroke rather than the push stroke, allowing chefs to keep their elbows close to their side.

13. Plastic grass in takeout sushi had a historical purpose

• Actual leaves were once used instead of the now-ubiquitous plastic grass. The leaves were used for decoration and dividing food, but also offered antibacterial properties to help fish stay fresh longer.

Complete list (Thrillist.com)