Intrigued by the title, I started watching this video. I like the way the lovely couple casually talk to the camera as they explore Rome, but not until three quarters of the way they walk into a Japanese restaurant, but the video has nothing to do with sushi. The couple tries sake. The guy likes it, but for the girl, it’s an acquired taste. Still no sushi. What they tried is tempura instead. I guess the Japanese food is a curiosity item for them.

Japanese Customs – What is Sushi?
By Nancy McDonough

Once virtually unknown in the USA, sushi is now a common food associated with the Japanese. So what is sushi? Basically, sushi is cooked rice that has been treated with vinegar and then topped with other ingredients, most commonly seafood. It can also be rolled into a cylinder and sliced, which is called makizushi. Sushi is different from raw sliced fish (served without a bed or rice), which is called sashimi. The traditional form of sushi is fermented fish and rice, preserved in salt. Sushi literally means “it’s sour”, not raw, a misconception of the Western world.

So how is sushi made? Sushi rice is special, short-grained variety of white rice. After cooking, it is mixed with rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Sometimes sake is added. The rice has to be seasoned at room temperature or it will be too sticky to handle. Traditionally, it is mixed in a hangiri, a round wooden tub, with a shamoji, a wooden paddle. The consistency of the rice is different from the long-grain rice of India and Vietnam. What makes the Japanese rice so desirable for sushi is its stickiness. While different regions of Japan use different types of vinegar and seasonings for the rice, the rice variety remains consistent throughout Japan.

Traditional Japanese sushi is topped with raw fish. Uncooked fish of course must be fresher and of higher quality than fish that is cooked, which is why professional sushi chefs are trained to recognize high quality fish. They have to be able to judge a fish’s characteristics, which include smell, color, and firmness. Commonly used fish are tuna, snapper, yellowtail, mackerel and salmon. Nori, the black seaweed wrapper used to make sushi rolls, is a type of algae. Pressed, dried and flavored with teriyaki and salt, the nori is often eaten alone as a snack, though nori used in sushi making is rarely flavored with teriyaki.

Condiments used to compliment sushi include soy sauce, pickled ginger, gomashio (roasted sesame seeds and sea salt) and wasabi (a green horseradish paste). True wasabi has anti-microbial properties which reduce the risk of food poisoning. A commonly used substitute is horseradish and mustard powder mixed with a green dye, sometimes called “Japanese Horseradish.” In traditional Japanese sushi bars, green tea is always included with the meal. Sake is another common drink served with sushi. Sake, a wine made from rice, is normally served hot in the winter and cold with lemon in the summer months.

Want to impress your friends or family? Host a sushi party – it’s easier than you think. Prepare a low table with some cushions or mats surrounding it. Place a simple vase with a flower or two on the table. Purchase or download some traditional Japanese music that includes the shakuhachi (flute) and shamisen (stringed instrument) to play in the background. Buy a low cost vintage kimono for your guests or just one for yourself if you are serving. Purchase fresh sushi to go at your favorite restaurant or food store (make sure you use it right away). Use a wooden platter for the sushi and small plates for each guest. Don’t forget the chopsticks! Heat some sake, make some green tea, light the candles, turn down the lights, and you are ready to go. A wonderful evening in Japan for your guests!

Nancy McDonough was for many years an English teacher in Japan. She is conversant in Japanese and travels to Japan yearly. She founded her retail kimono company in 1992. Nancy currently manages her kimono retail company Kyoto Kimono and her blog is here, Kyoto Kimono Mania.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nancy_McDonough

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You want to be easy on soy sauce, but I’m a soy sauce junky. I cannot help but to give my sushi and soy sauce a good bath. When it comes to eating sushi, how I look goes out the window. I’m not a sake connoisseur, but for me, a hot sake is a perfect thing to have with cold sushi. I’d rather be happy than being right. BTW, I’m married. There’s a freedom in not having to look for fish to catch.

This teriyaki chicken recipe is so good I made it twice in a row!

When I made the teriyaki sauce this time I didn’t hover over the stove
watching nervously.
By mostly ignoring it, the sauce cooked nice and thick, like honey.
It developed a delicious caramelized complexity.

Teriyaki Chicken-and-Asparagus Rolls

Asupara-maki Tori no Teriyaki
serves 4 as an appetizer, 2 as a meal

Soak skewers in a tall bottle.

page 201

• Soak 8 to 10 bamboo skewers for at least an hour

Marinate:

• 2 large boned chicken thighs, with skin attached
• 2 Tablespoons shoyu
• 2 Tablespoons mirin
• 2 Tablespoons sake
• 1 Tablespoon finely grated ginger

Combine the shoyu, mirin, sake, and ginger in a shallow bowl or small baking dish. Marinate the chicken for about half an hour, turning several times. Remove the thighs from the marinade and dry with paper towels. Discard the marinade.

Assemble and Grill:

• 6 thin spears of asparagus, cut to fit the thighs
• 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce (recipe)

Chicken thighs vary very much in size! Try to choose two that are similar! If they are uneven in thickness, make a horizontal cut to butterfly the thicker meat off to the side. With smaller thighs, pound the meat to even the thickness. Don’t pound too much or the skin will separate from the meat.

Arrange the asparagus on the chicken and roll. Secure cross-wise with bamboo skewers: thread the skewers through the overlapped part of the chicken in a fan shape. The long ends of the skewers make it easy to turn the chicken as you broil it.

Heat your grill or broiler. Place the chicken, skin side toward the heat and cook for 10 minutes. Turn and cook the other side for 6 minutes.
Remove the chicken rolls from the heat and apply a coating of teriyaki sauce to both sides. Return to the heat and cook for 1 to 2 minutes to dry the sauce. Repeat several times until the rolls are coated with a nice glossy layer of sauce.

Serving:

• warm the remaining teriyaki sauce
• mixed salad greens
• sansho pepper

When the chicken is cooked, twist the skewers to loosen them, but don’t take them out. Let the chicken sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Slice the rolls into 1″ disks. Lay the disks on a plate a bed of mixed greens. Drizzle with a little teriyaki sauce and sprinkle with a bit of sansho pepper.

Note: I was using a boiler and my chicken was on a foil lined cookie sheet, so I applied the sauce one side at a time.

This dish serves as a great accompaniment to most Japanese meals. Sunomono translates into English roughly as vinegared food. The following recipe is both light and refreshing. It is particularly good to eat in the hot summer months.