I'm Taka Sakaeda,

sushi chef and owner of Nami Nori restaurants.

I'll be answeing your questions from Twitter.

This is Sushi Support.

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QueensCustodian asks:

I know this seems like a stupid question,

but can I just buy sushi-grade fish from the market

and cut it up and that's sashimi?

Simple answer, yes.

Sashimi is raw fish sliced for consumption.

So the only questions coming into mind are

what is sushi-grade?

Generally, in the American markets,

sushi-grade is referring to any fish

that has been treated in a way to prevent bacterial growth.

Generally when we are talking about

sushi-grade fish in Japan,

oftentimes it needs to be wild fish, needs to be line cot.

There's a process called ikijime.

It is a technique used to kill the fish instantly,

and then to remove the nerves from the spinal cord

to reduce the amount of lactic acid

that is released into the fish.

GJ Wellingtonhurst asks: Interactive tweet.

Please reply to this with a description

of your ideal sushi roll.

So my ideal sushi roll actually is very simple.

I like what we call hosomaki. I can show you one right now.

Here, I have a makisu.

Makisu is the bamboo mat designed for rolling sushi.

Seaweed actually has two sides,

the shiny side and rough side.

For this, we're gonna leave the rough side on the outside.

I'm gonna get the appropriate amount of rice here.

Basically make a little bed for my protein to sit inside,

and wasabi.

I'm gonna fill with tuna.

I'm gonna bring the back edge of the noi to the front

where the rice meets, to create one nice crease.

Roll over to make the final seal,

ans basically now my tuna roll is done.

Generally, hosomaki is cut into six pieces.

Very simple tuna inside, some nice wasabi, soy sauce.

That's heaven.

Uverneous asks; How much wasabi is too much?

Let's start with what is wasabi? Wasabi is a raison.

It is often growing on the sides of very freshwater streams.

All you need to do to produce wasabi

is take this wasabi root and grind it.

What's most commonly seen in the US markets

is some sort of derivative of horseradish

that has been colored with food coloring,

and maybe there's some other seasonings added.

Salt or sugar.

Unless you actually see a chef with the actual wasabi root,

you're most likely having horseradish,

and the reason why fresh wasabi

isn't used in all restaurants is that it is very expensive.

If you're using enough to overpower the flavor of the fish,

and you're just using it to mask everything,

I would say that's too much.

Oksese asks: How many of you have had sushi?

Are there different types? Is it good?

Does it taste somewhat like chicken or salmon?

Tell me.

Does it ever taste like chicken? No.

I will say there's no sushi out there

that should taste like chicken.

As far as different types,

I do have a platter here of different types of sushi.

Here we have tekka maki, my favorite roll.

Next to that is called gunkan,

the rice underneath that's wrapped with seaweed.

That's topped with ikura.

From there is two pieces of akami nigiri sushi,

and then here is sashimi, two slices is akami there,

and this is kind of not a traditional futomaki,

but in the style of.

There's salmon, yellowtail,

tuna and some cucumbers in there,

and a salmon roll with toriko called uramaki,

where the rice is on the outside,

and this also is another way that we can incorporate

more ingredients into a roll,

so that we can have more creativity,

or different types of things inside of a roll.

Honey504 asks: For sushi eaters, what is eel sauce?

My son said blood, and all of a sudden, I'm not well.

[laughs]

Okay, I think that your son needs to show you some respect

and stop lying to you. [laughs]

Eel sauce is not blood.

Real eel sauce is made from roasting the bones from the eel,

creating a stock, basically an eel stock,

and adding that with soy sauce, sometimes mirin,

some type of sugar.

Steeping that in the bones to create eel sauce.

SushipopUS asks:

What's the strangest ingredient

you've had in a sushi roll?

For me, it's not personally strange,

but maybe people might find it to be strange.

There's a fish called fugu, the pufferfish,

and in the wild, they eat certain shellfish,

and it creates a poison in their body,

and this is one of the most poisonous fish in the ocean.

If you take that same fish and farm raise it,

not allow that fish to have certain shellfish,

there's no poison created in the fish.

So now you're able to eat the entire fish.

From one of these farm raised fugu,

one of the best parts is actually the liver.

Fugu liver in a roll with shifo leaf and some umi paste

is one of my favorite rolls.

Abahndons asked: Why is sushi so expensive?

It's five grains of rice and like a gram of fish. Wtf?

Fish tends to be expensive,

especially high grade, very fresh fish.

Grading is dependent on obviously taste, texture,

fat content, but also color grading.

From yellowfin, $18 a pound up to $70 a pound,

depending on different cuts of that fish.

The most prized fish are generally lion cod.

That causes the least amount of damage to the fish.

If the boat has refrigeration,

that might increase the cost to the fisherman,

and on top of that,

there's a lot of waste that goes into fish.

A lot of the fish is not edible for sushi.

Colettisusan asks:

Why do sushi chefs wear bandanas when making sushi?

I never thought of that as a tough workout.

Being a sushi chef is tough work.

I think that what you see as a guest is literally 10%

of what the work a sushi chef does.

90% is the prep, and there are large fish,

including bluefin.

Sometimes, whole fish can be 800 pounds,

so if you're carrying a quarter of it,

you need several people to carry that around.

Running around all day long.

This is generally a job that's 12 hours

on their feet minimum.

96dyn asked: When did sushi start having avocados in it?

Can avocados even be grown in Japan?

Sushi, avocados I think was American advent.

This was some time in the 80s, or early 90s,

when the California became popular.

That abbreviation for California being CA

is crab and avocado.

I think that's the original reason why the name

California roll came to be.

Does it grow in Japan?

I haven't seen many avocado trees in Japan.

Maybe there's someone growing an avocado tree

somewhere in Japan,

but this is not common food for Japanese people.

Rehitucom asked:

In Japan, it takes up to 20 years of school

to become a sushi chef,

which is years longer than it takes to become a doctor.

Is this true?

I think that three to five years,

you should have a pretty good understanding

if you're really dedicated and really studying hard

and working hard at it.

There's been a lot of lore surrounding sushi chefs,

and to be honest,

I think the most simple answer is that

if you're a sushi chef and you want to call yourself that,

you're always studying.

You're always learning.

So 20 years is really a short time to become a sushi chef.

Shelbwei3 asked:

I forgot to get chopsticks for my sushi,

so what am I supposed to do now?

Eat it like a fork like some kind of lunatic? [laughs]

I don't think that you're a lunatic

if you decide to use a fork to eat your sushi.

But there's also an alternate option. Sushi is finger food.

So if you'd like, you can just use your hands,

pick it up and enjoy it.

FlipCaboose asks:

What kind of fish do I use for fresh sushi rolls?

There are many different types of fish for sushi.

But if we're talking about sushi at home in the US markets,

I do have some fish here today

that you can find in the markets.

Tuna here, salmon and yellowtail.

Tuna specifically,

we are looking for a bright red color.

Nothing should look sad. It should be bright.

This is called a tsaku,

and these are basically taken from the entire fish

cut into these kind of rectangle shapes

in preparation for cutting for sushi or sashimi.

In order to create a tender cut,

I'm gonna cut against the grain.

This could be for sushi.

Okay, so here I have a piece of salmon,

and it's just a little bit easier to see the sineu lines.

Sineu is the connective tissue

that is connecting the muscle fibers.

Generally speaking, you can cut this in any direction,

and you shouldn't really feel the sineu too much.

GettingSorted asked:

We have been making and eating sushi lately,

but we can't get the rice right.

What is your secret to perfect sushi rice?

I have a bowl here of sushi rice prepared.

One thing we wanna make sure is that we're starting

with the right type of sushi rice.

Most commonly in American markets,

you'll find a type of Japanese grain called kochikari.

It is a short grain Japanese rice,

and that is most commonly used in sushi preparation.

After that, it's really about washing process.

It's really about releasing the starch.

We want the rice to be able to stick together to form a ball

but we don't want it to be gummy and too sticky.

If this is overcooked, you're gonna see that this is, like,

a big mosh, and it's gonna look very very moist and wet,

and you'll see that the grains aren't individually distinct.

Then on the other side, if this is undercooked,

it'll look too distinct,

and it'll kinda flutter and fall apart, versus...

I don't know if you can see.

There's a little bit of a stretch,

and they're kinda dragging each other along.

Understanding that, reading that to really focus in on

and getting those fine details

takes a long time to understand.

Hot_tati24 asks:

It was only right to get sushi on my last night in Cali...

Because how fresh can it really be in Utah?

Will you have fresh sushi in Utah versus California,

maybe it might be a day different.

But also, modern sushi chefs now are using an aging process.

You might be thinking that it's fresh fish,

but sometimes, chefs are now aging, toro for instance,

for up to two weeks,

and allowing kind of a natural fermentation to occur,

obviously in safe environments,

and controlling bacterial growth.

The idea there is to reduce the moisture content

and increase the flavor and the tenderness

by going through an aging process.

Richardchiu asks: Soy sauce question.

Do you think putting soy sauce on everything,

especially white rice, is faux pas?

Personally, it makes me cringe when I see

people put soy sauce on rice,

or dipping their sushi in gallons of soy sauce.

But that's just me.

Simply put, the answer is yes.

It is faux pas to put soy sauce on everything.

If you're going to a high end sushi omakase restaurant...

Omakase means...

Literally translates to Chef's Choice,

and so generally this is a type of restaurant where you

don't make any decisions except for maybe

what you're gonna drink.

Generally, the chef is gonna basically manicure everything

to the way the chef wants it.

So that would include the amount of soy sauce or seasoning

that's put on every fish.

If you are in a more kind of casual sushi restaurant,

you do have the option to have your own soy sauce,

and it won't come seasoned.

But generally, the idea here is if you put soy sauce

all over the rice, the rice will fall apart,

and you won't have a beautiful piece anymore.

It'll decompose just from being wet.

AmalieOver asked:

Today while eating sushi,

I told my boyfriend he's meant to eat the ginger

between the different pieces and not on top of the sushi,

and he snapped back 'this is how they did it in Japan,'

and I've been thinking of it ever since.

Have I been taught wrong?

I think that Amalie Over, you've been taught correctly.

Sushi ginger is meant to be a palate cleanser

between bites of sushi.

There are certain pieces that work really well

with sushi ginger,

and I think that there's nothing wrong with it.

But again, setting is important.

If you're in a restaurant where the chef is serving you

exactly how the chef wants it to be eaten,

it would be very disrespectful to put that piece of ginger

on top of that fish and enjoying it together.

Codytwist1 asked:

What is imitation crab even made of...

Sushi is ruined.

Imitation crab most often is made out of pollock

that's been turned into a paste

mixed with some sort of starch and some seasonings.

Sometimes, they use artificial crab flavor

or maybe real crab juice.

This is actually a Japanese fish product called surimi.

In Japan, surimi products are not marketed

as imitation crab.

Viviewirosa asks: What is temaki?

So temaki directly translates to hand rolled.

I think most commonly is the cone shape

to where you'll see kind of the ingredients

sticking out of the top,

and the idea here is to turn this corner into the side here

and wrap.

The noi stays crisp because it's so quick and easy to make.

But also, this style has become very popular to do at home.

So generally, if people are coming together

and having a party at home,

everyone is making temaki's at home.

GazDeaves asks: Question for sushi lovers:

Am I supposed to eat this leaf?

And if so, how do I do it using chopsticks?

This is called shiso, or also known as oba, and yes.

It is edible.

It kinda has a minty, herbacious flavor,

and I love to have it

just wrapped around a piece of sashimi.

It adds a great, different dynamic

to the flavor of the dish.

NicoleConnaghan asked:

How do sushi chefs cut sushi rolls so perfectly neat?

I don't get it.

So it takes a lot of time, dedication and practice.

Most commonly in the beginning,

when you first start learning how to cut,

we go from center and cut it in half.

Cut this in half again, and then on each side,

we cut these in half.

It's obviously much easier to see something bisected,

something that's half,

than to see it and understand what one piece is.

But as we advance, the faster way is to cut this in half,

and instead of cutting it in half again,

just going from left to right straight.

But this takes practice so that we understand each piece,

and how big it should be.

So generally, Japanese sushi knives, called yanagi,

designed to be a little bit thinner behind the blade,

and has the bevel, which is much more elongated

to kind of create a thinner blade

and make it easier to slide through.

Ryan D Jacobs asks:

What kind of vinegar do you add to rice for making sushi?

Sushi vinegar can either be made with rice vinegar,

or red vinegar called akazu.

This is vinegar produced from the leeds of sake.

This is kinda the residual byproduct of making sake,

and then aged to create a vinegar,

and through the aging process,

it kinda turned to this kinda red color,

and you'll often see now in higher end sushi restaurants

the resurgence of akazu,

and actually akazu now is more expensive

than the rice vinegar,

and the smell is very, very strong.

So this is actually associated with a kind of story

of the apprentice waving the sushi rice

as the master is mixing the rice with the vinegar.

There's a lore that says that actually

that akazu is so cheap and the smell is so pungent

that the apprentice was there not to wave off

and cool the rice,

but just to blow away the smell

and the scent from the master.

Suzy Tobias asked:

What are these teeny wee orange bubble things [laughs]

on the outside of my sushi?

I like them, fun to pop.

I think that Suzy Tobias is referring to tobiko.

Tobiko is the row from flying fish.

This is manufactured, and this is created.

There's flavorings in here.

There's some food coloring in here as well, and you know,

one of the great things about this I think

is that it has MSG in there as well,

and so it adds as a great flavor booster

to anything that you add it to.

From dkd_22. Who invented sushi? Hahahaha, it's so good.

So the sushi that we know today, edomae-zushi,

is credited to a gentleman named Hanaya Yohei.

This was around 1820, I would say.

The original sushi was almost like fast food.

This was originally done through basically street vendors.

These were carts that carried around the rice and the fish

and served on street sides.

So people would come by, eat a couple pieces,

and be on their day.

Sushi_ebooks asks: What is your favorite slice of fish?

I'm gonna assume and interpret that this question means

what's my favorite piece of sushi.

So I have here sea urchins. This is my favorite.

This is actually the gonads from sea urchins.

The sea urchin is kinda a round,

spherical hard shelled creature with a bunch of spikes

sticking out of it.

It has very subtle sweetness, nice ocean flavor,

and for some people, it's an acquired taste.

Amberlynne asked: Sushi question.

Is a spicy tuna roll tuna and wasabi,

or tuna salad made with spicy mayo?

Tuna and wasabi together, we call tekka maki,

which is just tuna roll.

Spicy tuna roll is referring to tuna

mixed with spicy mayonnaise and then put into a roll.

BigNeezyNFT asked:

When did sushi in America become a cream cheese log

slathered in mayo? [laughs]

Late 80s and into the 90s,

there was a little bit of hesitation for

the non Japanese consumer to have raw fish, and obviously,

cream cheese and mayonnaise,

they do work in some types of sushi.

I think it was just a great way and creative way

to introduce sushi to a wider audience.

As long as people understand that this is not traditional.

Chefs have the creative freedom to do whatever they want,

I think, and at the end of the day,

the consumers will decide if it's good or not.

OCRewind asks:

How do sushi chefs not cut off their finger or something

with all the sake and beer they drink? [laughs]

Uh, practice makes perfect, I guess.

This is a practice among sushi chefs.

I think that it is nice for a guest to offer

a beverage to the chef,

and I think that this is really designed,

and was originally to build rapport,

and it's more of a friendly gesture.

You're out with friends and you'll offer somebody a drink.

I don't think that sushi chefs should be there

behind the sushi counter getting belligerently drunk.

I don't think that's appropriate.

A responsible sushi chef should know when to say no.

[laughs]

All right, that's all the questions.

I hope you learned something. Until next time.

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