(Part 2) Top products from r/sushi

I don't have a rice cooker, but I have a pressure cooker. Still, I've tried it once in there and wasn't impressed. I prefer the old-fashioned stove top way. Sure, you have to time it, but it's great and works really well for me.

My tried and true recipe is straight out of Sushi for Dummies. I use short grain rice (I've only ever used Lundberg Sushi Rice, but any one will do), and rinse it until I am sick of rinsing. This recipe calls for a "splash of saki" and something pickled(?) to add flavor. Since I had neither of those, my tip is to take a bit of condensed stock/base (my favorite is Better Than Bouillion), and mix it up in the water. Which flavor you choose is up to you, but I prefer the vegetable base. I have a lobster base that I've been eager to try, but even with the veggie base, it always comes out delicious enough to eat on it's own, but not overpowering or outshining anything I make with it.

There are a variety of options. Some include:

Catalina Offshore Products

Honolulu Fish Market

Fish for Sushi

Great Alaska Seafood

Personally I'd vouch for the first two. Before living somewhere with a reputable fish market not far away, I'd used Catalina with some regularity. And I know several fish markets which source stuff from Honolulu Fish and it's been quite good.

With respect to rice - have you looked at your local supermarket? Even my local mid-tier supermarket carries both Lundberg Organic and Nishiki as well. Though I feel like how you cook your rice will make a huge difference.

Your mileage may vary - but I spent a TON of time looking for / drooling over awesome $150+ Shun knives. Considering how frequently I need it I went with this Joyce Chen knife. It's not sexy but it works, has a nice feel, and kept its edge for a while. That said - like any knife you WILL need to have a plan for sharpening it over time.

I'm by no means an expert, I've probably only made sushi about five times, but I started less than a year ago. However, based on my limited knowledge, I would highly recommend the book that helped me get started, Sushi: Taste and Technique.

The book helped me learn how to make rice, different types of rolls, nigiri, etc. It has many pleasant illustrative photographs of prepared sushi (and ingredients, recipe steps, etc.), and can serve as a mini "coffee table book." It also has a guide to many different types of fish and other toppings, which has been interesting to look through, but not as useful for me, since the store I go to only has a few types .

I've recently bought Washoku: Recipies from the Japanese Home Kitchen to supplement my sushi knowledge with other elements of Japanese cuisine (though the book covers sushi also). I haven't used it much yet, however, and although it also has very nice photographs, it has a far lower photograph-to-page ratio than the aforementioned book.

Assuming your rice game is strong and you're using high quality artificial crab, a few other things to experiment with:

• sesame oil
  
• lemon juice
  
• green onion
  
• masago
  
• mascarpone
  
• sriracha
  
• shichimi togarashi
  
• real crab meat (the stuff that comes in a can works just fine)
  
  My guess is you're missing the sesame oil. Usually I just make a mixture of real crab (either lump meat from a can or frozen stuff- because i'm lazy) and Kewpie mayo with a little bit of sea salt, masago, and sesame oil. Usually comes out great. Make sure your ingredients are not overly wet, the soggy feel can ruin your perception of the roll regardless of how good it might taste (and the fishy water tastes a bit gross).
  
  It's easy to make several small batches with slight variations of ingredients, so make a bunch!
  
  tldr: try adding a small amount of sesame oil. make sure your ingredients aren't wet.

Get a good chef's knife and you are even better off.

It doesn't have the length but for the home sushi chef it will be perfectly fine.

http://www.amazon.com/Lee-Kum-Kee-Hoisin-Sauce/dp/B0001DMTPU
any cheap Hoisin sauce is great for teriyaki and as a sushi goop.
http://casaveneracion.com/bottled-vegetarian-mushroom-oyster-sauce/
this veggie oyster is surprising good as well for both purposes.

pretty sure this one is the one I have, I use plastic wrap on it but I feel like I don't have that much control on it. However I don't really make sushi at home that much so for me it works well enough.

You forgot one of the main ingredients of Poke… Alaea... Hawaiian Salt

You probably can't get Limu where you are, but you can get a small amount dried, in this Poke Seasoning packet. It also comes with the Hawaiian Salt so you kill two birds. It tastes really good and authentic too.

Hi! new to this sub but I have a suggestion! Have you been vegan for long? I've been slowly making my way to eating less meat and more veggies. I also live in an area where "sushi quality" fish is hard to find and expensive (and yes, I know that "sushi quality" subjective term).

Anyway, it may sound weird but there's a way to prepare a SCOBY (like the mother from kombuhca) for sushi! In this book they give a recipe that involves thinly slicing the SCOBY and marinating it in things like sesame oil, soy sauce, etc. and putting it over rice in a nigiri fashion. The taste comes from the marinade and the texture is akin to squid. I'd write the recipe down but I can't remember it or find my copy of the book at the moment.

Definitely weird and "out there", may gross some people out. But I have tried it myself and served it at a sushi dinner party and it was a hit! The SCOBY doesn't necessarily have any nutritional benefits to eating it, but it doesn't really have anything to harm you either, outside of the risks that raw foods can have.

There is really nothing special here every sushi place does a generic Ahi tower of sorts... Siracha goes in the tuna to the correct color, regular mayo goes into the imitation crab meat(broken into strands) to the correct consistency and desired flavor then just go buy yourself a piece of PVC pipe cut to the desired size and width or you can cut the bottom off of a Styrofoam cup to use as a form. Now just layer into your form the rice on bottom, sprinkle with togarashi , avocado, tuna, and then crab. Dress the plate with eel sauce and wasabi mayo(wasabi powder, lime juice, half mayo and half Japanese mayo) all ingredients will be to taste, consistency, and color; trust your pallet. Lastly plate the form and gently remove the form to reveal the tower. Dress with a sprinkle of black and white sesame mixed and micro greens. That's it. All laid out. If you're going to be doing this with salmon I would recommend first making the salmon into a sort of spicy poke(pronounced pohkay) with sesame and soy(maggi is best)and then follow the plating as usual.

edit: I just saw the orange spicy mayo, that one is siracha, a sprinkle of tagarashi, Korean chili paste, and the garlic chili sauce made by the company that makes cock sauce but it is NOT cock sauce. Mix with half Japanese mayo and half regular. All ingredients again are to YOUR taste and pallet as I have not eaten this dish at that particular restraunt. There is also a spice mix that I missed that goes between the rice and avocado layer that consists of nori, sesame and other spices that I forget... Anyone know what that stuff is called?

edit: found it. This stuff. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0006G5KEY

Not a sushi chef, but i sharpen my own knives and i have come across these little guys. I imagine the chef has to be using something similar. Binder clips might work

How much was it? What is the differnece between this $350 sushi Knife
and this $18 sushi Knife

If your budget is up to $150, I'd look at the Chroma knives by Porsche. http://www.amazon.com/Chroma-Designed-Porsche-Knife-P01/dp/B0000CNWJ0

I apologize if this doesn't belong here. Here's the book:

https://www.amazon.com/Sushi-Home-Mat-Table-Cookbook/dp/1623155975

For anyone that isn't familiar with Humble Bundle: As long as you pay at least 1$, you will receive this book and every book in the same tier. Just scroll to the bottom and hit "Custom Amount"

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F41XX7N/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ndTSCbWDFZC0R

If he takes his job as seriously as you say I would get him some vegetable garnishing utensils. He probably doesn't have them because it's not too common for sushi chefs. They are also really inexpensive and is practical.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00032S1HY/ref=pd_aw_sims_6?pi=SL500_SY115&simLd=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00095VK7S/ref=pd_aw_sims_3?pi=SS115&simLd=1

Just look around using vegetable garnish as keywords.