On 07/15/10 11:41 AM, sometime in the recent past Dan Logcher posted this:
> Wilson wrote:
>> On 07/14/10 11:42 PM, sometime in the recent past Nick Cramer posted
>> this:
>>
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> OK, so I've delved in and tried a few times to prepare homemade sushi
>>>> and would love to get better at it. I've got fairly simple sushi
>>>> tastes - salmon rolls, tuna rollls, sometimes spicy, sometimes not. I
>>>> encountered problems when preparing these rolls at home, though, in
>>>> that the taste didn't come out right. After the first failure I
>>>> thought it was my rice preparation technique, but I've altered the
>>>> rice recipe several times and no luck - basically it comes out tasting
>>>> really bland. I know tuna and salmon aren't the inherently tastiest
>>>> fish in and of themselves, but at a sushi bar I always have been
>>>> pleased at the taste and most times don't even need wasabi or ginger
>>>> unless I want it. At home, however, it was like eating... nothing.
>>>>
>>>> I bought sashimi-grade salmon and tuna from a local Japanese
>>>> supermarket, and even tried a different market so that wasn't it. Its
>>>> almost as if the sushi bars prepare the fish in some way (in some sort
>>>> of brine? vinegar?) to bring out the taste a bit more. Is there some
>>>> secret to this? I would have thought these would be the easiest
>>>> things to prepare at home, but I'm not having any luck and am
>>>> stumped.
>>>
>>>
>>> You might try sprinkling a mixture of Dashi and shoyu on the fish
>>> (about 2
>>> Tbs each for 6 oz of fish), let it marinate for 1/2 hour or so, then
>>> drain
>>> and pat dry.
>>>
>>> Also, try spreading a *little* soft, but not runny, wasabi paste on the
>>> rice, just before adding the fish.
>>>
>> The itamae always puts a little 'smear' of wasabi paste on each piece
>> of fish before putting it on the rice when making nigiri, so you might
>> be right, Nick, that could be the missing part.
>
> If you try the fish as sashimi, with soy and wasabi as you would at
> a restaurant and it doesn't taste as good.. its a quality issue.
>
I agree, Dan & I saw your comment. Difficult to deal with the vagaries of
flavor and individual taste.

--
Wilson 44.69, -67.3