May 2008
Monthly Archive
Wed 28 May 2008
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Articles Sushi
Introducing Someone to Sushi
By Ross A. Christensen
So your new girlfriend has never had sushi, or your boyfriend is always calling your lunch “bait”, or perhaps your wife is a shrill hag and you just want to feed her so she’ll shut up at least long enough to chew.
Introducing someone to sushi is always a little fun and a little tenuous, but no matter what, it will be an event to remember. Whether one is struggling to use a pair of chopsticks, dropping sushi in your lap, or joking about the next course being whale testicles, sushi is best eaten with someone you enjoy being with.
If you aren’t a sushi aficionado and you’d like to study up on the etiquette of sushi bars, or discover a little more about what’s on the menu, or learn about the great nutrition of sushi, I recommend a fantastic book named “Sushi A to Z, The Ultimate Guide”. You could even bring the book with you to the sushi bar to answer any questions that might pop up.
Now that you have brushed up on everything you will need to know to have a good meal, double check the hours of the sushi bar you plan to go to. There are very few things more embarrassing than showing up to lunch at a closed restaurant.
Your wait staff may bring you a moist towel for you to wipe your hands, just place it back in the basket when you are done, usually they will leave it so you can use it throughout your meal.
Sit at the bar right in front of the sushi chef (called “Itamae”, ee-tah-may). If he/she doesn’t already know you, introduce yourself and your friend, mention that this is your friend’s first time eating sushi and you would appreciate any help and input that they can provide. Most Itamae will suggest starting out with a California Roll. This is typically made with surimi (imitation crab), avocado, cucumber, and mayonnaise wrapped in rice, nori, and sesame seeds. This is one of the most popular sushi rolls ever invented, and since there is no raw fish involved it is rarely offensive to someone unfamiliar with Japanese cuisine.
Tamago (sometimes spelled tomago) is a cooked egg omelet made with chicken eggs, bonito stock, soy sauce, and sugar or mirin. It is similar to a French crepe in the way it’s made, but instead of removing each cooked crepe, the first crepe is rolled up to one end of the special rectangular tamago pan and becomes the base for the next crepe which, when cooked, the first crepe is rolled inside to the other end of the pan. The process is repeated until it becomes a thick log. That is why it’s called “thousand layer omelet”, because of the several layers all rolled together. It is then chilled, cut into sushi sized pieces, and then placed on top of a ball of rice. Due to its mild flavor, this is also a good entré into sushi.
There is plenty of cooked sushi to try in order to familiarize someone with sushi so they can become accustomed to it before indulging into the raw or exotic sushi. There’s ebi, which is cooked shrimp; kani, cooked crab; anago and unagi, cooked eels; shako, cooked mantis shrimp; tako, cooked octopus; all of which can be a good introduction to sushi without eating raw seafood. There are numerous styles of maki that have cooked ingredients for the squeamish. The Spider Roll is a large maki type roll that is made from a whole cooked soft-shelled crab and several other ingredients. It just happens one of my favorites since it fulfills every American man’s need of breaded, deep-fried food. The maki is so large that just eating one piece of it in one bite is almost impossible, so be prepared for a mess.
Ordering edamame (fresh, boiled & salted soybeans) to snack on during the meal is a good idea, because sometimes it can take a while for sushi to be prepared. If you’ve never had them, the soybeans in the pod are eaten by putting the end of the pod in your mouth and pinching the beans out. Many sushi bars will provide a paper bowl to put the discarded pods in.
Once you have someone comfortable with the idea of being in the room with a shark’s buffet table, you can introduce them to the idea of eating from the raw side of the smorgasbord. The selections that are easiest to introduce are negi-toro maki, raw tuna and onions, which makes you feel like you are eating beef tartar; or a spicy tuna maki, which is tuna, mayonnaise, and flying fish eggs, with a fantastic southeast Asian based hot sauce called sriracha (it’s actually made in central California and it makes the world’s best buffalo wings).
You can appear exceptionally skilled by knowing a few little things to pass on to your guest, like adding only a few drops of soy sauce from the pitcher (called a shoyu sashi) to your dish (called a kozara). Filling your kozara up with soy sauce is considered wasteful by the Japanese and is a sign of an amateur sushi eater. Adding just a few drops to your dish every time you need it is the sign of a pro. You can also make yourself look more accomplished by being sure that only the fish part of their sushi touches the soy sauce and not the rice. If the rice is dipped into the soy sauce, it soaks it up and the rice ball will fall apart before you can raise it to your mouth.
What I would consider as one of the most important things to do when introducing someone to sushi is that you don’t get all tied up in forcing etiquette and rules upon the newbie. Nobody wants to get involved with a hobby or pastime that is overly complicated or dogmatic. Although there are people who believe that sushi should be eaten at a certain time of day in a certain way with special rules, most of those people started eating sushi just as you and I and weren’t born with the knowledge of the sea gods floating within their heads. And since you aren’t in Japan you aren’t expected to act like you are Japanese. Even if the entire staff of the restaurant is from Japan and the menus are written in Japanese, YOU are an American, so you don’t have to feel the need to blend in. (If you’re reading this and you happen to be of Japanese decent, the idea still applies; the restaurant you’re dining in is in America and the staff realizes they’re serving Americans.)
Be supportive while introducing this new world to your companion. Although jokes about parasites and deadly fugu may be funny to the people who love and understand sushi, it’s scarier to the person who’s new to the group. Let me further illustrate this point. One day I went to the doctor, and as we reviewed the current set of my x-rays he said, “Does looking at this concern you, because it scares the heck out of me!?” Although I understand his comment and there was some humor there, a big part of me also had this feeling of, “This is NOT how to ease a person’s fears, Doctor!” Think of yourself as the doctor when you are taking someone to a sushi bar, they are looking at you as the expert and the one to put their nervousness and fears to rest; they DON’T want to be the punch line of your next joke.
Introducing someone to sushi is taking them on a journey of discovery. It’s a whole new arena in life to explore with a wide variety of tasty rewards. Sushi is more than a meal, it’s an opportunity to meet people, share stories, make memories, laugh at ourselves and grow closer to the people around us.
Copyright 2008 Ross A. Christensen
Wed 28 May 2008
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Articles Sushi
How safe is your sushi? Part One: Mercury!
By Ross A. Christensen
Recently it seems that news has flooded the internet about mercury in your tuna. Should your dining experience change with this news? Has something happened to the tuna industry that would cause this emergency? Should we abandon sushi bar for the dim sum bar? What is going on?
First of all, let’s set one thing straight, and that is what mercury IS. Being that I live very close to an abandoned mercury mine/Superfund site I’ve looked into the issue extensively, and feel fairly well qualified to answer this one. Mercury is a naturally occurring metal which runs freely through our ecosystem just like any other natural element, and it has been around just as long as all the other elements in our biosphere. Mercury in the biosystem is typically consumed by microorganisms that then convert it into the most toxic version, methylmercury. This is an organic compound that is toxic to living creatures. No, I didn’t say poisonous, I said toxic, and there is a difference. Toxic denotes that living creatures can handle certain amounts of an element without noticeable results (e.g., carbon dioxide; a small amount doesn’t harm us at all, but large amounts can cause death). Mercury can be compared to carbon dioxide and methylmercury is comparable to carbon monoxide, a much more toxic version of its predecessor. Methylmercury is 100 to 1000 times more toxic than plain mercury. Interestingly enough, the toxicity of mercury/methymercury is under constant debate and is still not fully agreed upon. Even European countries, although they share a currency, don’t agree on toxic mercury levels.
Mercury is in almost every living thing simply due to the cycle of life. It falls in the rain, is absorbed into the soil and grass, is then consumed by the cow, and then grilled to perfection and eaten by us. If cows were carnivorous and ate the neighbor’s cats, then beef would have dangerous amounts of mercury in it. So make a mental note: lions and tigers and bears should not be eaten, if only for the chance of high mercury levels.
Mercury comes from many different sources. Environmentalists may screech about the evils of mercury being produced from coal burning plants, or gold, steel, battery and cement producers, but they account for only about half of the amount of atmospheric mercury on the planet. Mother Nature has to take credit for the rest, which comes spewing forth from her volcanoes.
Symptoms of mercury poisoning are heavy sweating; high blood pressure; persistent pain, itching, or burning sensation on the skin; tremors and twitching; headaches; loss of hair, layers of skin, and/or fingernails. Extreme cases can cause memory loss and loss of IQ. Mercury binds itself to the proteins of tissue and over time accumulates in the system. Mercury poisoning can be treated by your doctor in a relatively easy process. However, due to its binding action, it is impossible to remove mercury from your fish.
Those are the plain, bald facts about mercury. So why all the concern about the dangers of mercury right now? One of the reasons this news has come forward is that in 2004 the FDA and the EPA joined forces to warn women to limit canned tuna intake if they were pregnant or planned to get pregnant. So the media, as usual, by not giving the public the whole truth and instead focusing on sensationalism and marketing doom, gave the public the frosting and not the cake. This “dangerous” tuna in sushi often comes from the very same fish that is going into the sandwich that you put in your child’s lunchbox every day, your common canned tuna. There have been several studies done on mercury levels and they have shown that mercury levels in fish have actually lowered over the past 100 years. (I can hear the editor now, “Take that information out of the article, it won’t sell papers! And get me more pictures of Spiderman!”)
Okay, time for a short rant here: Newspapers love to cause alarm. Headlines that read, “Everything’s fine, nothing interesting going on” don’t sell papers. In order to increase a paper’s circulation it seems necessary to threaten the health and safety of America’s children. Whenever you read about dangerous amounts of mercury in sushi, an article will say “Can cause learning disabilities in children!” The choice of words is what the important thing here is. You’ll notice that you’ve never read “HAS caused or IS CAUSING learning disabilities in these children.” Spin; it’s all in how a thing is phrased. This is a tactic that midwives in America could grasp onto: “Hundreds of thousands of children are put at risk of death by driving the mother in labor to the hospital. These babies’ safety could be ensured by giving birth at home and avoiding risks of traffic collisions, toxic highway fumes, and UV exposure!” It’s all hype, don’t buy into it. Since almost nobody agrees what a dangerous amount of exposure/consumption of mercury is, crying “harmful amounts of mercury!” is just Chicken Little, “the sky is falling” type of reporting.
The sushi pieces that were actually reported to be high in mercury levels were tested to find they had one part per million in the samples. According to the FDA’s OWN RULES, pregnant women should limit eating fish containing one part mercury per million to SEVEN OUNCES PER WEEK! This is the very tuna that the newspaper is exclaiming is hazardous, but it obviously isn’t so hazardous if the FDA thinks that pregnant women can eat that very type of sushi several times per week! WOW! If pregnant women can have seven ounces a week, I should have free reign!
My daughter has eaten sushi, raw oysters, and all kinds of seafood since she was five years old, and she’s an A student with no signs of developmental disabilities or social disorders. To date, most studies have shown that the benefits of seafood consumption far outweigh the risks. So while studies have shown the documented benefits of seafood, fear mongers preach ethereal phantasms of dangers, risks, and possibilities. Another problem that should be mentioned regarding these reports is that the FDA and the EPA don’t even use the same criteria of what constitutes a safe amount of mercury a person should be able to consume. If they don’t agree, whose guidelines are the public supposed to follow?
Mercury poisoning can occur in a person in two ways, through ingesting a ridiculously large amount in one shot, or through a lifetime of accumulation. To give you a comparison, you may inhale a pound of carbon monoxide throughout your lifetime and your body can handle that without problem. However, if you were to inhale that entire amount in one hour, your body couldn’t handle that and you wouldn’t survive. (Of course, small amounts of carbon monoxide are released from your system by respiration, whereas mercury is not released from your system without treatment.) It takes a long time to accumulate enough mercury to become a problem, and even then it won’t kill you. And even then, there is not enough evidence from concurring studies to show what is “dangerous” for all people. One person’s dangerous level may not be dangerous for the next person.
The problem with “the dangers of mercury” is that what the FDA and EPA use as “hazardous amounts” aren’t actual dangerous numbers. The level considered hazardous was chosen because one part per million is ten times less than what it allegedly takes for a person to become symptomatic of mercury poisoning while ingesting it in one sitting.
It’s like one day they polled the staff and said, “What level of mercury should we tell the public is dangerous?” Then someone raised their hand and said “How about one part per million?” and everyone agreed. There is no evidence that one part per million is any better or worse than one half of a part per million or three parts per million. And it’s just not accurate to say, “If you eat ten parts per million of mercury you should immediately lay down.” Now maybe I’m not the greatest amateur chemist/biologist/physiologist in the world, but if the effects of mercury are cumulative, and you can’t purge mercury from your system without a doctor supervised chelated treatment, it stands to reason that any amount of mercury is just a slow road to itchyskinville. But does that mean people living in Hawaii should be evacuated since they are living at the base of a 24-hour-a-day mercury-spitting volcano?
Here’s how the cumulative aspect works. Similar to the example I gave in Sushi A to Z, The Ultimate Guide, let’s assume there is one part of mercury in the plankton in the ocean. A shrimp will eat one hundred of these particles inside of the plankton during its life. A reef fish will eat one hundred of these shrimp, therefore accumulating one thousand particles of mercury. A tuna will then consume one hundred of these reef fish with the resulting 100,000 units of mercury accumulating in its flesh. As a result, vegetation and animals low on the food chain are low in mercury, while creatures high on the food chain are high in accumulated mercury. If you want sushi that is relatively mercury free, then you can focus on lower mercury seafood such as abalone, clams, crabs, octopus, salmon, shrimp, squid, or any kind of vegetarian sushi.
I can hear your pleas: “Oh Ross! How, oh how, can we keep eating tuna without taking the same risks as Christopher Walken in a Vietnamese prison camp?” Well first of all, the studies were focused on bluefin tuna, not yellowfin tuna. Yellowfin tuna are lower in mercury, mostly due to the fact that they are caught at a smaller size and therefore haven’t eaten as many of their ocean mates as the monstrously sized bluefin tuna have. Generally speaking, sushi bars prefer to purchase large tuna because it takes less labor to butcher one large tuna into sushi friendly portions than to butcher ten smaller tuna. If the FDA and EPA are truly concerned about mercury in the seafood supply, restricting the tuna catch to smaller tuna and leaving larger tuna out at sea would not only be safer to the tuna eating population, but then the larger tuna would be free to breed and repopulate the stocks. This type of program is already in use all over the world with different types of fish. If the tuna industry would adhere to these policies, thinning tuna populations could start bouncing back in a fairly short time. The tuna eating public would be safer from the dangers of heavy metals by consuming the younger, smaller “cleaner” tuna.
So Ross, tell us: what is the bottom line? Here it is, my daughter (13 years old at this time) and I eat tuna freely. Raw, canned, you name it, anytime we want, any amount we want, without the fear the mainstream media wants us to feel. The nation’s tuna fisheries aren’t slowly poisoning you. Avoiding fish high in mercury is a good idea for women who want to become or are pregnant just for safety’s sake, but the average person doesn’t have much to fear while eating sushi.
Want to learn more? Try reading http://www.mercuryfacts.org or go to the FDA’s official website.
Copyright 2008 Ross A. Christens
Wed 28 May 2008
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Articles Sushi
by Patricia Heller
If there is any alcoholic beverage more misunderstood that Sake, I know not what it is. And, I speak from experience. The first time I had it, undoubtedly in a Japanese restaurant many years ago, was the last (I likened it to rubbing alcohol, which I admit I haven’t tasted), until recently, when I spotted a variety of sakes (at a variety of prices) in a local Japanese market. I had driven by it for years and my decision to take a look not only revealed a plethora of wonderful foods, but allowed me to discover the pleasure of a long-disdained drink.The cool news: These high-end sakes are meant to be drunk over ice, or at least chilled. Depending on what you get (tasting several is the only way to go, since each of you will taste them differently), some actually have a creamy quality. Whatever you do, savor each one…they are full of surprises. Now, surely, to each his own. Millions of people drink “restaurant” sake and like it just fine. But trust me on this: If you like that, you’re going to love the fine sakes available and, if you don’t, you are in for a treat. In fact, sake aficionados will tell you that it’s actually a spiritual experience to drink sake, that they get an emotional lift from it, not to mention energy from the nutrients that do wonderful things for the human heart and imagination.
Simply put (which is impossible, because there’s lots to know about, but I’ll try), sakes are wines made from rice and water and while various sources say “it’s the rice” (anywhere from twenty eight to more than sixty varieties of rice cultivated are ideal for sake production, depending on the source) it really is a combination of the skill of the brewer, the source of the water as well as the type of rice used that will determine the final quality and taste.
Generally speaking, there are four types of sake categorized by how polished the rice is and whether grain alcohol has been added. Junmai-shu is made from rice and water only. Honjozo-shu is made from rice, water and a small amount of distilled alcohol for lightness and dryness and more fragrance. Ginjo-shu is a more highly milled rice and may be made with or without alcohol. Daiginjo-shu is made with an even more highly milled rice and with or without alcohol.
What differentiates the milling is the percentage of the grain that is removed. The more skin and protein removed (about 20 percent is taken away for table rice), the purer the starch content and the finer the sake will be. At the very least, thirty percent is milled away and, for the premium wines, forty percent. As much as sixty five percent may be milled away for truly superior sakes. Junmai-shu is milled thirty percent, Ginjo-shu forty percent, Daiginjo-shu from fifty to sixty five percent. Hard water with high mineral content yields a fuller sake, soft water a fresher, cleaner tasting brew. And, unlike grape-based wines, it needs to “balance” only six months before drinking. In fact, sakes are best when fresh (soon after release) and shouldn’t be kept for more than a week or so after being opened. Sake requires a double chemical process, first turning the rice starch to sugar (saccharification), then turning the sugar to alcohol (fermentation), using enzymes in the air and water versus chemical additives used by some wine and beer makers to complete their processes.
The history of sake begins in Japan, of course, then moves to Hawaii where Japanese countrymen were recruited to work in the sugar cane fields. About fifteen breweries were built in California at the beginning of the twentieth century, but all have disappeared since World War II. Later, around 1977, Japanese brewers began setting up shop in California and today some of Japans biggest operations have U.S. breweries which produce about two million gallons a year. Now, the race is on to produce a superior American-made wine.
From a dining standpoint, while you may serve a different grape-based wine to complement each course, when you serve sake, it’s the star, and the food is varied to complement the wine. And, with the now long-standing trend in low-fat eating, it’s a perfect accompaniment to pasta, seafood and, of course, anything Thai, Chinese or Vietnamese as well as Japanese.
Cool.
Wed 28 May 2008
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Articles Sushi
by Rhonda Adair
Are you eating your “5-A-Day” of vegetables? Watching your calories? Your cholesterol? If you are, you probably dutifully try to enjoy that garden-mulch salad, or brick of steamed pollack, again, while really wishing you could just sink your teeth into something more appealing. The problem, it always seems, is that if it is something you crave, it is probably not on your diet.That problem is a little less daunting if you are a sushi fanatic. Current nutritional data suggests that you can have your futomaki, and eat it, too. Sushi uses simple, healthy ingredients-seafood, seaweed (nori), rice, and vegetables-carefully seasoned and arranged to satisfy all the senses. Sushi is a perfect food not only for calorie counters, but also for those following more specific nutritional guidelines. So whether you’re trying to keep your high-blood pressure down, boost your energy level, or just fit into your favorite jeans, pick up your chopsticks.
Even the fattiest varieties of fish used in sushi-tuna, salmon, and eel-contain fewer than 200 calories per four-ounce serving. That’s about half what you’d get with a prepared steak. Shrimp and octopus are even lower, at only 100 calories per serving. And the fatty fish calories pack the nutritional power of not only protein, B-vitamins, and minerals like selenium, but also Omega-3 fatty acids. Studies continue to demonstrate the enormous role these fats play in maintaining a healthy heart, and metabolism in general. The Omega-3’s have even been touted to improve conditions such as arthritis, psoriasis, and depression.
Nori, rice and vegetables add another mere 150 calories per serving. These calories provide more vitamins, minerals, and fiber, especially if brown rice is used, and provide a good source of carbohydrates to complement the fish protein. Even wasabi can claim its own small health benefit, being rich in vitamin C.
The artful manner in which sushi is presented provides yet another health benefit to dieters. Portions are relatively small, by American standards, and consist of several bite-sized pieces, encouraging the diner to practice the art of slowly savoring one’s food. The intricate beauty and variety of flavors inherent in a sushi arrangement contribute to the savoring experience, making it a little easier than it might be, say, with a hamburger and a side of fries.
While the raw fish used in sushi is considered higher in many enzymes and nutrients than its still heart-healthy cooked counterpart, certain individuals, including pregnant women and those with immune disorders, should not eat raw fish or shellfish, because of the risk of exposure to bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes, and parasites. However, for the majority of enthusiastic diners, these risks may be considered minimal, as long as the restaurant is reputable and obtains and maintains its fish according to high quality standards. Not all sushi uses raw fish, anyway; there are many options using cooked crab, shrimp, or eel, scrambled egg, tofu, or simply vegetables, to please the more cautious palate.
So rather than whiling away in the diet doldrums-hit your favorite sushi bar, and feed your body and spirit without the guilt. And as you savor each beautiful morsel, you might consider that a little less guilt in your life has to be good for you, too.
Thu 15 May 2008
by Marie Richie
SABURRO’S SUSHI HOUSE
1667 SE Bybee Blvd.
Portland, OR 97202
(503)-236-4237
If you’ve ever wanted sashimi bigger than your fist, this is the place for you. Renown for giant portions, this almost claustrophobic location tucked in the historic Sellwood neighborhood always has a line out the door. Reservations are not accepted and groups may wait up to an hour, but it’s a testament to the gluttonous portions and quality that most in line are repeat customers. Not a place that stands on pretension, yours may result in the definition of poor service. Customers who behave themselves will be repaid with one of the best sushi deals on the West Coast and very friendly service. The house special Sabu-roll is a meal unto itself.
Thu 15 May 2008
by Genevieve Wheeler & Anthony Simeone
Haru
241-243 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, Pa 19106
(215) 861-8990
Located in a former bank in Philadelphia’s Old City section, Haru’s
high, rounded ceilings and large windows create a bright, modern
ambiance for enjoying the impressive Japanese Fusion menu. Generous
servings of fresh sushi and sashimi, as well as hot entrees, can be
enjoyed on the dining room level, which includes an intimate sushi bar
area. Atop the glass staircase is the sake lounge, where guests can
enjoy a variety specialty cocktails, such as the “Hip Stare” (made
from vodka and peach puree). Though the prices lean to the expensive
side, the inventive menu and stylish decor make this chic, NYC-based
eatery worth the cost.
Thu 15 May 2008
by Jake Kulju
ORIGAMI
30 N. 1st Street
Mpls, MN 55401
612.333.8430
Located in the heart of downtown Minneapolis, the Origami is considered one of the finest Japanese restaurants in the area. An elegant, pretty place I was immediately impressed with the atmosphere and service. In the event you are a sushi novice, this is a good place to start. Elegantly presented sushi, soft shell crab and crunchy rolls are just a sampling of the wonderful menu choices at this upscale establishment.
Thu 15 May 2008
by Katharine Branham
RA SUSHI
3908 Westheimer Road,
Houston, TX 77027
(713)651-5800
This is one of the hottest Sushi spots for stylish young singles. There is a fantastic happy hour from 4-7. It’s a place to see and be seen. The music is loud and the Sushi has an American flare. With an almost limitless selection, customers love to try a new dish every visit. The Chili Ponzu Yellowtail is savory and is served up with sautéed pine and cashew nuts. This is not a family joint: age range are 21 and up. Be sure to make reservations around holidays.
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