Demystifying Sushi Ingredients For The Ordinary Cook
It is very easy for the new cook or the hobbyist to think of sushi ingredients as exotic and highly unattainable. Actually, because of the phenomenon called globalization, most if not all of these ingredients are available in Asian stores or in the imported foods section of large groceries. Perhaps all that is needed is for wannabe sushi chefs to take a closer look at the stuff sushi is made of.
1. Of all sushi ingredients, sushi rice is the most common. This is made simply by cooking short-grain rice then flavoring it while hot with rice vinegar or rice wine vinegar flavored with a little sugar, salt and dashi.
2. Nori is the dark seaweed wrapper used for some types of sushi. Nori, made of algae, usually comes in the form of thin rectangular sheets. This wrap is also available salted or flavored in Asian stores but the nori used in sushi should not be flavored. Usually, nori sheets measure 21 by 18 centimeters.
3. Fish or neta used in the preparation of sushi should be firm in texture and fresh. If frozen, the technology used should be good enough to preserve the taste of the fish. European health standards recommend that the fish be frozen at -20 degrees Centigrade for more than 24 hours before they can be used for sushi in order to kill harmful parasites. The usual choices of fish for sushi are tuna, grouper, yellowtail and salmon.
4. Seafoods for sushi are exotic sounding until they are translated into plain English. Iko in Japanese is squid in English, unagi is eel, octopus is tako, ebi is shrimp, masago is fish roe, uni is fish and kani is crab. Usually, imitation crab or crabstick is used for sushi. This is made with fish that is cured, shaped to look like crab meat then cooked.
5. Pickled radish is called takuan while pickled vegetables are referred to as tsukemono. Other commonly used non-meat ingredients for sushi are asparagus, cucumber, yam and avocado.
6. Sweet pickled ginger is sometimes served with sushi as a side dish. This is usually dyed deep orange or red and is believed to aid in digestion as well as clear the palate of the strong flavors of fish and seafood.
7. Tofu, called inari in Japanese, is often used as a pouch to be filled with rice and fried. This type of sushi is called inarizushi. When the tofu is used to fill a roll of rice the resulting sushi is called inari maki.
8. Tamagoyaki is none other than a thin omelet which is sometimes used instead of nori to wrap rice. It can also be cut into strips and used as filling for a roll.
9. The basic dipping sauce for sushi consists of soy sauce and mirin which is rice wine for cooking. A fancier version would mean cooking the soy sauce and the rice wine with dried bonita flakes or katsuobushi. To this mixture a dab of wasabi is blended just before eating. The amount of wasabi used depends on how hot the dipping sauce is to be.
10. Wasabi is simply horseradish. Today, the wasabi used for sushi usually comes in the form of paste in a tube or as powder which is to be mixed into a paste prior to serving.
11. Japanese mayonnaise is available in Asian stores. Normally sold in squeeze bottles, this mayonnaise is made with rice vinegar and dashi.
12. Classic dashi is a broth made from shavings of preserved bonita and kelp. Today’s user-friendly version comes in instant liquid or granulated form. Dashi is supposed to lend authenticity to sushi and other Japanese dishes.
13. Other easy-to-find ingredients for sushi include sesame seeds and cream cheese.
Perhaps the first step in making sushi ingredients seem less intimidating is to first decide what kind of sushi is to be made. To avoid having to shop for too many items, the new cook must remember that simpler versions of sushi are just as delicious and enjoyable as the more fancy types. Such is the magic of sushi: with just nori, sushi rice, an omelet, a small fillet of tuna, a few crabsticks, a cucumber and a simple dipping sauce, a feast is on the way.
