Sushitimes

Some of My Dishes . . .

sushitimes — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 23:24:33 +0000

Sushi News…

sushitimes — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:11:55 +0000

The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is in the process of creating a team of Sushi Police,who will travel abroad to award those few Japanese Restaurants who make classic sushi (and classic sushi only) with certificates of authenticity. The idea is to halt the widespread popularity of California Rolls, spicy tuna rolls, caterpillar rolls, rainbow rolls, crunchy tempura rolls and the like, all of which are viewed as edible abominations by purists.According to the ministry, more than 20,000 restaurants outside of Japan “claim” to be Japanese-but only a precious few actually are. – Food Arts

I have provided a link to the actual Ministry of Agriculture and their web page for the subject here.

Also 1st meeting of the Council of Advisers for the Recommendation of Japanese Restaurants Outside Japan- actual minutes of the meeting with pdf links to the documents here.

Sushi in Space?

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency announced the approval of 29 Japanese dishes for use by astronaut Koichi Wakata when he ventures to the International Space Station in the fall of 2008. They include instant ramen noodles, Japanese-style curry, onigiri rice balls, powdered green tea, and mackerel in miso sauce.

miso soup

sushitimes — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:09:35 +0000

Traditionally miso soup can be very complicated to the average person but is really one of the easiest soups to make. The basis is a dashi and to make this in the simplest way would be to fill a pan with water, try to use the best tasting water you can. Because this will definitely effect the taste of your final product. Some tap water taste pretty bad because of the additives they put in it. Add in about how much soup you want for that day. Cut a piece of konbu seaweed that’s a little shorter than the length of the bottom of the pan. Wipe it with a dry cloth. Some konbu will have a white kind of coloring on it this is normal and will add flavor to the soup. Then lay the konbu seaweed in the water and start to heat the water, just before the water boils remove the konbu(you can also, if you have the time leave the konbu in overnight). This will leave the water with a nice soft flavor. As the water begins to boil add in your dried bonito flakes only for about a minute. Skim out and discard. Now you have created your dashi(base). To this you want to add in your miso, but let the water cool a little first.Too hot of water will kill the kojikin(fermented ingredient). When first starting out most people use white miso but you can also use red miso(aka miso) that has a darker saltier more richer taste. Awase miso is a blend of both. Some restaurants even blend the two together themselves to get a specific blend. How much you want to add in is up to you. but you can always follow the directions on your miso package. That’s it.. To this you want to add in whatever you like..a simple mixture would be to add small cubes of tofu and some scallions or even a little wakame seaweed taste nice and is extremely healthy for you. Adding small pieces of shrimp adds a really nice flavor. The trick is though to only add in a little bit of ingredients so not to over power the soup. Remember Japanese food is simple, pleasant not overwhelming.

a good resource for miso can be found on wikipedia/miso

Welcome…

sushitimes — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 09:53:58 +0000

to the first week of Sushi Times!

This blog was created with the basic premise to inform those who apprecieate Japanese Cooking, Sushi and Japanese Culture.
I have been in the restaurant business for 12 years, and have a lot of knowlege to share about Sushi,what goes on behind the bar, sushi tips and how to’s, sushi news and whatever else i think would be of intrest.
We are celebrating the launch of

Sushi and Japanese Market
Which is a portal where I can make available all the tools and authentic ingredients of the trade.
This past few weeks have been a whirlwind of web development and good ‘ol fashioned business, we’re having alot of fun with it though..
i hope to be posting as often as i can so stay tuned…
E. Yomochi