Making Sushi and Rolls at Home!

Making sushi and rolls at home is an excellent group activity and makes consuming this usual expensive cuisine a little more affordable. The key things you need are fresh sashimi grade fish, Imitation Crab meat, Seaweed sheets, Avocado, Sesame seeds, Cucumber, Japanese rice, Carrots, Japanese mayo, Siracha, Rice Vinegar, Wasabi, Sushi roll mat, and plastic wrap.

How do your sushi and rolls look like? Give it a try!

Fresh New Zealand Salmon

Hamachi (Yellowtail) from Japan

Fatty Toro portion of Hamachi

Marinating the Hamachi removes the fishy smell and enhances the taste

Big Eye Tuna from Hawaii

Rainbow Roll

Sashimi Platter

Sushi

Fist-Sized Sushi @ Uoshin

Do you remember those times when you go to a sushi bar and you got shoved with very little fish meat and a lot of rice in your sushi? Yeah, I have been a victim of those encounters. This place does exactly the opposite! My goodness, their sushi are humungous! Each was like the size of my fist! I was like where's the rice?? Although I must admit the quality of the fish wasn't quite the same as say a more expensive sushi bar but it was still relatively decent quality for the price let alone the portion!

Without realizing how much the pictures on their menu were very not to scale in a good way for the consumers, I ended up ordering more than I could handle. I ended up having to ditch some of the rice to at least finish the proteins! If you are ever in Osaka and see this place, don't underestimate the size of their sushi! This was quite a unique sushi experience that I never had before and I think it's worth a visit!

Store Front

Name: Uoshin
Location: Osaka, Japan
Google Maps: Click Here!
Food: Sushi

haha...Butchigiri Sushi

Yummy hot savory Egg stew

Only two Nigiris on this massive plate!

Same for this!

And this!

Even these were still pretty large, plate was actually really large...

Flying Sushi - Into the Future

Flying sushi is no longer a thing of the future.  You can experience this at Uobei Sushi.

Uobei Sushi  一貫入魂 魚べい 渋谷道玄坂店

Address: Japan, 〒150-0043 Tokyo, Shibuya, Dogenzaka, 2 Chome−29-11 第六ｾﾝﾄﾗﾙﾋﾞﾙ1階
Google Maps: Click Here!
Website: Click Here!
Phone:+81 3-3462-0241

Sure, the plates don't have wings, and the sushi don't come to you on hover boards, but they certainly do "fly" out at you in a mystical and almost magical way.  You will never get the chance to see the people who prepare your food, and it only takes a matter of seconds to minutes for your order to appear.

So here's how it works:
1) You get seated at a bar-like table. All your friends will be seated alongside you. Or you can eat alone. That's a common thing in Japan.

2) You order through a touch screen. There is an English menu. Or you can just go with the colorful pictures and choose what looks appetizing.

 
3) You may order 3 things at a time. There is no limit on how many orders total you can make, and you can make orders as frequently as you want.
4) Serve yourself some matcha green tea! (free of charge)
5) In seconds to minutes, you sushi will "fly" down the rail on plates like a bullet train and stop right in front of you.

Flying sushi too fast to capture on camera!

6) Take your food. Don't forget to return your "train" back into the kitchen!!
7) Enjoy. Repeat steps 3-7 until you have a stack of plates as high as Mt. Fuji.

Couple of items I ordered:
- salmon (average)

- Uni (it was awful, not fresh, and had an odd bitter flavor)

- Orange clam (chewy but fine)

- Geoduck clam (chewy but okay)

- Unagi (average)

- Hokkaido Scallop (surprisingly okay) 

- Fish Roe and Mayo (don't ever get this unless you really super super salty roe!)

- Chu Toro (Fatty Tuna, average/mediorce)

- Conch (not so good, sandy..)

Eating at places like these, there are it's pros and cons:

Pros:
- insanely cheap sushi; the cheapest plate is Y105 per plate (<$1 USD for two pieces of sushi)
- fast food, literally
- a fun and innovative experience
- great for groups and friends because it's just exciting!

Cons:
- when in a group, you are seated linearly
- you don't see the people who are making your sushi
- the quality of the sushi is very mediocre (you get what you pay for!)
- your evil friend sitting just "upstream" of you can snatch your order! Beware!

Live Spot Prawns - Sashimi style @ Home

My folks came down here to visit and thought I'd share them some fresh LIVE Spot Prawns to enjoy! If you never heard of "Spot Prawns", they are also known as "Sweet Shrimp" or "Amaebi". They are super delicious, sweet, and bouncy when fresh! Usually a restaurant would charge over $7 a pop but if you do it at home, I got it down to $2.50 a pop! Amazing eh? You can save some money or if your food budget doesn't allow for $7 a pop, try getting some fresh LIVE spot prawns for home at your nearby seafood market!

Off with their heads!!!

Oink oink oink!

Voila!

Sushi Week continues with Sushi OTA (Part 3)

Last orders from Sushi OTA experience!

If you haven't seen the first part it's right here: Click Here!!!
If you haven't seen the second part it's right here: Click Here!!!

Egg (Tamago):

I was having high expectations for this but sadly it wasn't as great as the one I had in Tokyo, Japan. This sushi was more on the savory side. I was expecting a dessert/sweet tasting egg but never got it. I would be hesitant to order this one again here.

Soft Shell Crab:

It always intrigues me that you can eat a whole crab in its entirety with the shell included! It has a unique taste and texture. May not have as much taste if you compare to the other sushi but it's still worth your while!

Yellowfin Tuna (Maguro):

They didn't have Bluefin Tuna in stock so it was just regular Yellowfin Tuna. I'm not overly excited with regular Tuna though so I probably might skip this one next time and only order the fatty parts of the Tuna!

Amberjack Tuna (Kanpachi):



This is one of the very few fish that tastes great no matter what old it is! I have had this before and eating this here brought back great memories of its flavor and texture. This has got to be one of my favorite fish to eat raw besides Salmon!

It's the lighter color fish above the O Toro! Forgot to take a picture of them by itself!

   
Monkfish Liver (Ankimo):

This is quite the delicacy and really is an acquired taste. If you like liver or livery kind of texture and taste, you'll love this or you'll most likely hate it! It's a love-hate dilemma with this. I personally love the texture and taste. If you had liver before it's no different in texture. It almost has jelly texture but a little more stiffer.

Sushi Week continues with Sushi OTA (Part 2)

Continuing the remaining orders from the lovely Sushi OTA!

If you haven't seen the first part it's right here: Click Here!!!

Sea Eel (Anago):

This is the first time trying the Sea Eel. I have had fresh water Eel (Unagi) before and both are pretty good. I usually prefer salt water seafood/fish than fresh water. I felt it had a more natural light and sweet flavor than the fresh water Eel as evident with the use of very little Terakyaki sauce on it. The fresh water Eel usually are drenched with a lot of Terayaki sauce which looks to be used to tone down the super rich and oily flavor it has. This is worth a try. I am a little surprised at how the fresh water Eel is more costly than the Sea Eel though.

Giant Clam (Mirugai) also known as Geoduck Clam:

This is the one that looks like a... male genitalia if you ever seen the clam in its natural form. Don't be alarmed though, I'm just describing the shape of it! You aren't really eating that part of the seafood.. :)
I enjoyed this sushi, very fresh and is super bouncy in texture! Flavor is pretty subtle but I enjoy it none the less. Texture is kind of like something between a cucumber and squid.

Orange Clam (Aoyagi) also known as Surf Clam:

Don't be confused with the other surf clam which is bright red and very chewy. This is different! It's pretty similar to the Giant clam in texture and has a nice sweetness to it.

Golden Eye (Kinme) Snapper:

I think this was my first time having the Golden Eye Snapper. It was lightly seared on the flesh and on the skin. This was bursting with natural flavor. I think this was one of the highlights of my meal that night! This is a must-try! I'll probably be ordering more of this next time.

Hmmm.. I still have more to share but looks like I'll need to have a Part 3 for that!

Sushi Week continues with Sushi OTA (Part 1)

It was a special occasion today and where else to grab dinner than the popular Sushi OTA restaurant! It's one of the best sushi restaurants in Southern California outside Japan! They serve one of the freshest selection of seafood and fish you'll ever have! You basically get what you paid for and you need to pay some serious money to dine here.

Name: Sushi OTA
Google Maps: Click Here!!!
Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/sushi-ota-san-diego
Location: San Diego,CA,USA

First off here's the monster platter we got! =D It's okay, go ahead and drool! There's no shame!

Sushi Platter

Let's get down to business on what I ordered..

Japanese Squid (Yariika):

It had a very silky and creamy smooth texture to it which is very different from your typical squid which is known to be chewy. I really enjoyed it!

Sweet Shrimp (Amaebi):

Classic favorite and always a must get as it's super sweet and has great texture (like consuming a lobster) unlike the regular Shrimp sushi.

O Toro (Fattiest part of the Tuna):

The only sushi that actually melts in your mouth as you consume it. "Melts like butter" in your mouth sensation! Before you realize it, all that is remaining in your mouth is the rice! This is a must try! Very buttery and in a good way!

Salmon Belly:

Every fish that you are served that comes from the belly part is just so rich, buttery, and melt in your mouth sensation! Salmon Belly is no different! The texture and flavor is totally different than a cut of the fish that's not the belly! Simply Amazing!

I'll share the remaining sushi pieces I ordered in my next post! For now, drool on the above sushi and plan for your next sushi meal!! :D