the pragmatic chef™

They DOOMED !!!

Er, haven't they been keeping up with our fresh fish situation? Our coastal regions have been fished pretty much dry compared to 100 years ago. The coastal communities that survived on the fishing industry have shrivelled up and turned to tourism or related. Here in Northern California Ft. Bragg who built its city on the lumber and fishing industries has gone compleletey to tourism. And the farmed fish isn't doing the environment any better. AND I'll bet farmed fish makes absolutely nasty suishi, gack. It's tough enough to choke down slathered with sauce and grilled over alder, let alone raw.
??? oh sorry. Uh, to answer your question directly, no. I'm not a fan of the suishi. I've never been introduced to it and haven't had the inclination to try it (costs more than pork). This isn't to say I'm turning up my nose, I'd be more than willing to be led around by someone who knows where to get the good stuff.

Biggles

Love it...Love it...LOVE IT! Could eat my weight in sushi at a single sitting (but let's not get piggy :>)...I recently had an order of sake nigiri (salmon over rice) at Furu-Sato in Campbell, CA that was the best two bites of food I've ever had in my life. If there's no sushi in heaven...then I ain't goin'! As for the little 'fake plastic grass thingees', they're called 'baran' in Japanese, and are meant to symbolize seaweed. One of the important elements of sushi presentation is to create the illusion of the fish in its native setting by the style of the dish on which it is served, and by the arrangement of garnishes on the plate. I guess in this modern age, fake plastic grass thingees are the best they can do, and the technique of cutting them into intricate shapes is an art unto itself, although most of them are mass produced. Sushi is definitely an acquired taste though, and a fascinating cuisine, once you get to know it.

Thanks, Celeste. I don't think I've ever hear the term 'baran'. I still think they're hokey, though.

Personally, I could live on sushi. I've spent quite a bit of time in Japan and there is so much variety in the cuisine that if I had to eat one nation's food for the rest of my life, Japanese would be it for me.

When someone expresses trepidation about trying sushi, I always ask them if they like fish. Not fish sticks, but a regular baked/grilled/steamed piece of fish. If they say yes, I know I can make a sushi eater out of them.

I was a slow student myself, it was a full year of eating sushi before I could make a meal of only raw choices. But the journey is worth it on so many levels. Raw dishes are packed full of nutrition and the Japanese are masters of complementing each piece with the appropriate condiments to maximize the flavor of the fish. A good piece of sushi is firm enough that you would think it had been cooked first then chilled.

If you're eating sushi for the first time, go with someone that knows what they're doing and spend the money to go to a good restaurant. And ease into it. There are lots of cooked choices so even if you only try one raw dish it's a great start. Many people have bought sushi for the first time in a supermarket and never went back. Sad.

Thankfully, we don't have to relegate ourselves to a single cuisine. Like you, I could live and die eating nothing but Japanese food too, but not if it meant never getting to enjoy another Italian meal! Or Greek, or Arabic, or Philippine, or French, or... Thank heavens we're lucky enough to partake of such a richly varied banquet.

I stand corrected by Celeste. She mentions that some farmed fish are far superior for suishi rather than their wild counterparts. I'd cut and paste in her comments, but the sheer volume of page breaks when I paste it in would take me 20 minutes to comb out.
Earlier this year I was attempting to educate myself on farmed fish versus wild. I was also interested in finding out what "The Industry" was doing to improve, if at all, the farmed versions. If they truly want to help and make money at the same time, they need to adopt some of the better practices done by animals with hoovens and beaks. I know there are some doing "natural" farmed salmon, this I can get from my local butcher. But it still nothing like the Wild Kind salmon we're getting in now. The salmon fat is amazing, yumbo.

Biggles

Thanks, Doc B. Here's what I wrote (minus the page breaks...)

"Actually, the part of your post I took umbrage to was about the farmed fish. When it comes to salmon (the most delicious sushi of all in my opinion) the only ones you can eat raw are the ones that come from Atlantic fish farms. The wild ones traverse the coastal waters between fresh and salt and pick up nasty parasites along the way. So they have to be hard frozen, smoked or salted before using for sushi, which affects the flavor and texture of the meat.

And yellowtail, also known as hamachi (yellowtail of a specific age and size) is all commercially farmed and is one of the creamiest, loveliest fish on the sushi menu. Other farmed varieties include shrimp, soft-shelled crabs, and oysters. And I'm sure there are many others as well.

No doubt, the best fish for grilling and other cooking methods are the wild varieties, especially those you catch yourself. But for sushi, the commercially farmed stuff is much safer and more consistent in quality.

With the growing appetite for sushi around the globe, the commercial fishing industry is working fast and furiously to keep up, either by farming or fishing. And truth be told, I'd lots rather see commercially grown fish used for sushi and let the wild things survive as nature intended in their native habitat."

Of course this begs the 'animal cruelty' question, much like veal and fois gras. But Omigod! how I do love sushi, no matter where it comes from.

Mmmmm, hamachi. Good hamachi is really great, but a lot of sushi bars don't do it properly, from my experience.

Celeste, are you familiar with Hiramasa? It's part of that yellowtail family, I'm told by old sushi chefs and it's amazing.

Haven't had the pleasure of hiramasa. Not to get all 'Cliff Claven' on you, but here's my 'fact file' on Yellowtail (which includes a little snippet on hiramasa).

"Typically listed on sushi menus as hamachi, yellowtail or amberjack is the collective name for several species of Serilola, including Seriola quinqueradiata from Japan, Seriola dorsalis from California, and Seriola grandis from Australia. Yellowtail is a cylindrical fish with a gold stripe that runs lengthwise along its body to the yellow tail that inspires its name.

Much smaller than most varieties of tuna, yellowtail typically reaches an average length of only three feet, and a maximum weight of about 30 pounds, although the Australian variety tends to be somewhat larger. However, yellowtail is also available in much smaller sizes, each with its own name. The smallest fry are called mojako, fingerlings are called wakashi, adolescent yellowtail are called inada, young adults are called warasa, and fully grown yellowtail are called buri.

There are several other species related to the yellowtail, including hiramasa, a larger, gold-striped amberjack, Seriola lalandi, with lean, firm flesh and a mild flavor; kanpachi, Seriola rivoliana, a blue-purple fish with a deep gold stripe, very lean flesh and somewhat richer flavor; and shima aji, a plump silver fish with the characteristic yellow stripe and tail, and slightly darker flesh with a rind of reddish meat near the skin.

Yellowtail labeled hamachi are actually raised in commercial fish hatcheries in Japan, where they are specially bred and fed to enhance the buttery tenderness of the meat. Hamachi are somewhat smaller than their ocean-going cousins, only reaching about two feet in length and 20 pounds in weight before they are harvested at about a year old.

The flesh of the yellowtail is creamy in taste, texture, and color, with a darker, more flavorful band of meat near the bone. And much like tuna, the underbelly of hamachi, called sunazuri, is even more succulent."

Wow, interesting stuff. I don't care for the dark part of the yellowtail by itself, it doesn't have the same flavor profile of the rest of the fish, I think.

I tend to remove the dark part of a salmon filet when grilling it for the same reason.

Yum, Hamachi bones. Sounds like it'd make good soup.

Biggles

Probably would. The Japanese are amazingly efficient in their food usage.

I gotta find a good sushi joint around here.

I wonder if the SF Bay Area has any good Sushi?

Prolly huh?

As long as it ain't out of the bay. Apparently, you can only have 1 fish a month out of the bay without poisoning yourself.

Biggles

The only one I remember around your neck of the woods was Yoshi's, which is a big jazz club in Oakland. I remember the music being better than the food, but that was quite a while ago.

Obviously, there's some great places in Japan Town around the Miyako.

Sushi. Love it. My son ate California roll before he could talk. And nothing beats a good bento box lunch. Mmmmm. And MC over at Pull on Superman's Cape has some pictures of sushi under his Japan pictures that'll make you dive into the neighbor's koi pond and slink off with dinner. The description was intoxicating as well.

Omakase (chef's choice) is the way to go, too. There's a place I used to go in LA that was strictly omakase and very traditional. 6 seats at the bar and a few tables, but it was amazing. If you tried to order a California Roll he would ask you to leave.

I love little places like that.

Celeste, I learned a lot about hamachi! Which I love! Merci.
Oh, P-Chef: and I love those little plastic grass thingees. Shoot, I even have some plastic replicas of Sushi! The kind they place on glass shelves in Japanese restaurants. When I lived in Japan briefly, my Mom and I would drag the waitress outside and point into the window at what we wanted to order. (Keeno decor at my house.)

I'm down with the plastic sushi, I'd love to have some of those udon and sukiyaki bowls and sushi plates. Oh, and some rubber yakitori while I'm wishing out loud.

But the fake kelp (baran, as I learned from Celeste today) sucks, but loathing non functional garni on a plate is deeply ingrained into my psyche.

I stumbled upon my Don Ho LPs just now and I have to say, if you can't handle the Sushi? Dig in to Don Ho, it's the same. Pure heaven from the tropical islands where love is everywhere.

Biggles

I went googling for 'baran' and just learned from a culinary chat board called LTH Forum that it used to be made from cut bamboo leaves in the old days. So the plastic version is just an artificial iteration of the fresh garnish that was originally used. Apparently some of your better class sushi bars still go to the effort and expense of using the real thing.

For sushi around the SF Bay Area, I like Furu-Sato in Campbell, and Tachikawa in Pinole is good, although I haven't been there in years. When I go for sushi in San Francisco, I usually go to Isobune, the sushi-go-round place in the Japan Center, but mainly for sentimental reasons. It's the place where I had my very first taste of sushi, so there are lots of fond memories associated with the place. And although the quality isn't the top-shelf fare you will find at a more traditional place, it's great fun for beginners because the sushi just floats by and you can choose based on whether you think it looks tasty or not.

For a more refined experience, I would recommend Ozumo on Steuart Street. And you can't go wrong with Anzu in the Hotel Nikko.

Thanks, Celeste, good stuff. We'll get Biggles eating sushi one of these days...

I love sushi! Great post and photo!

Not my photo but thanks, MC.