Forum - View topicAnswerman - Is My Sushi Authentic?
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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There are two other factors at play here: The first is that the Chinese are one of the oldest non-European, non-Native American ethnic groups in the United States, if not the oldest, and they became socially isolated from their native lands, and sometimes each other, when a large number of them went to work on the railroads (which is why nearly every town out there, no matter how small, has a Chinese restaurant.) Over the decades, their cooking evolved separately from the cooking in China, and they adapted to local preferences. This is a pattern you can see in different ethnicities of cuisine in America: The longer they've been here, the less closely they resemble their native counterparts. (Italian and Mexican are other good examples.) The other factor is the explosion of Hunan cuisine specifically due to Mao Zedong heavily playing up Hunan food when Richard Nixon visited China, with Nixon returning saying all sorts of great things about Hunan cuisine. Which, of course, also underwent dramatic divergent evolution. Uncooked, unseasoned rice is very dangerous? I take it that's the purpose of a rice cooker then, so the rice can keep above unsafe temperatures? |
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svines85
 Posts: 42 |
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Yes, a great article, thanks a lot
"Others make sushi snobs like me cringe" Heh.....freaking cream cheese, yeah, it kind of defeats the purpose of eating sushi when all you can taste is the freaking cream cheese 
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st_owly
 Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
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Japanese cuisine in the UK at least is miles better than it was even a few years ago. There's 2 very good sushi places in my city and quite a few perfectly acceptable ones (one of which was awarded best Japanese restaurant in the UK last year) and the good 2 I would say are comparable to the sushi I had in Seattle and Vancouver last year.
Cream cheese in sushi is an abomination and there's a special place in hell waiting for the person who came up with it. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Even though the Philly roll is not only quite popular that every sushi place I've visited serves it (some with avocado, some without), it's my second favorite kind behind the shrimp crunch roll. A Philly roll, consisting of cream cheese, salmon, and rice, is basically the sushi equivalent of a bagel with cream cheese and lox, and I treasure that. The only way for a Philly roll to be even better, if you ask me, is if the salmon was smoked, like lox. |
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H. Guderian
Posts: 1255 |
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Saba, so good.
While home I make do with what's at my Market Basket(Regional supermarket chain), usually eel or Tuna. not really a fan of Salmon. Mackerel (the spelling on that always looks off... ) is my #1 go to. If I'm out with friends looking for a new sushi place in Boston, I'll almost embarrass them if the the sushi is good enough. |
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Paiprince
 Posts: 593 |
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If that actually is a real dish, then I have lost faith in this world. |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4575 |
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I keep hearing "Philly roll" and picturing chopped-up steak and Wiz rolled up in rice, which honestly might be enough to make me try it. 
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Yeah, that actually sounds pretty appealing to me too. (Of course, it's actually referring to Philadelphia brand cream cheese.) |
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ly000001
 Posts: 73 |
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Holy crap, I've never heard of any restaurant doing that before 
As an aside, this old educational video is relevant for anyone interested in learning more about the tradition of sushi: https://youtu.be/bDL8yu34fz0 
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2514 |
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REL-84
Posts: 8 |
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Very interesting read. Thanks.
Personally I love the Inari, fried tofu sushi. I might be strange but I dip this sweet sushi in soy sauce making it sweet and savory in flavor. Delicious. I’m gonna eat it like that even if it’s “wrong”. I’m also a fan of the salmon sushi, quite naturally I guess, since I’m Swedish. Salmon is THE fish for big festivities over here in the traditional cuisine (much like tuna and red sea bream is for Japanese) and eating it as sushi is delicious. BUT,
“However, salmon is not eaten raw in Japan. The sort of salmon that live there quite often have parasites in their flesh, and so they're usually only served cooked. The Norwegian salmon that normally gets served in North America does not have as much of a parasite problem, and now that this breed is getting flown into Japan, some restaurants are, in fact, serving it on sushi. Most Japanese are still a little leery of it.” There is never a 100% guarantee that salmon isn’t infested with parasites. Over here in Sweden we always prepare the fish so that any parasites are guaranteed to be killed. It’s easy. Put the salmon in a freezer for at least 4 days and any parasites are sure to be killed. Never ever eat salmon raw unless prepared like this, because getting the parasite is a serious issue. You’ll end up having to do surgery and as it grows in your body you’ll experience excruciating abdominal pain. Even though we’ve been eating “gravad lax” or “gravlax” (which is basically raw salmon cured with salt, sugar and spices, often dill) in Sweden for hundreds of years, I’ve never actually encountered a Swede having gotten the parasite. It’s common knowledge to not eat salmon fresh/raw I guess. But there are increasing amounts of international reports of parasite infections and one theory is the increasing prevalence of sushi as an international cuisine and the popularity of salmon (being cheaper than tuna due to salmon farms). Lack of knowledge in the preparation of the fish is probably a reason. And just saying, even though the Norwegian salmon is indeed of the highest quality, that doesn’t mean there is a 100% guarantee it’s always free from parasites. At least I’ve never heard of a guarantee like that and I eat a lot of non-sushi salmon. Just like with chicken and pork you yourself are responsible for the preparation of the ingredients so that the food is safe to eat. And a tip for gravlax is of course to prepare the fresh salmon with the spices, salt and sugar, put it in a plastic bag and to put it in the freezer. Take it out 4 days later (or longer) and let it defrost slowly in the refrigerator and the “cooking” and killing of any parasites is done all in one. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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You'll get some hardcore chefs complaining that the ice crystals that will develop inside the salmon over those 96 hours, if not stored properly, will sap the moisture and texture right out of the fish, and the defrosting might provoke a lot of ire too. Not to mention the people as of late who are against freezing anything that isn't ice or ice cream. (Not sure what Alton Brown has to say about dealing with salmon parasites though.) Fish is quite a touchy topic among chefs, foodies, and food snobs though, and in more ways than just flavor vs. safety (though most will err towards safety as no one wants to be poisoned or diseased). Because farm-raised salmon is of lower quality than wild-caught salmon, there are also flame wars over whether one should sacrifice quality for sustainability, as there are currently only a handful of fish species that can multiply quickly enough to stand up under human harvesting. (Alaskan pollock and tilapia are examples, which is why they seem to be everywhere seafood is served, and even those species are currently reaching their limits.) |
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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People should watch Moyashimon. It has a lot to say on the subject of food safety. And the first episode even deals with some Scandinavian fermented fish dish that sounds absolutely horrifying, but has been eaten for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years to great benefit to the people. Probiotics from fermentation are a real thing. And important for the immune system and our overall health.
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D00dleB0Y
 Posts: 120 |
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You never mentioned the East Coast (specifically New York). Didn't you live there before Justin? There are tons of authentic Japanese sushi restaurants in Midtiwn Manhattan that serve both authentic and "American" sushi. Unfortunately, not every restaurant sells the tamago (egg omelet) sushi which is so common and delicious in Japan. My guess is that the sushi doesn't sell well in the US (or at least in Midtown).
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relyat08
Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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he used to live and work in NYC(he was with Central Park Media for a time), but it's probably been at least a decade since then, so I'm sure things have changed dramatically. Even here in DC, just a couple of years ago even just authentic ramen was hard to find, but now there are several places within a 20 mile radius that serve quite a bit of very authentic Japanese cuisine made by actual Japanese people a lot of the time. The aforementioned Blue Ocean being one of them. |
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