www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Sushi, Sashimi

Who likes Sushi/Sashimi? I actually found a place nearby that sells about the best sushi you can get around here and it was AWESOME. My daughter even ate some Salmon sashimi and liked it! I just wish we had a top-notch sushi restaurant around here. Anyone else like sushi? Go sushi!

I love sushi, and my children and their friends all really like it and have liked eating it since they were little! It has become very commonplace around here. Many of our supermarkets even have sushi chefs next to the 'deli' who prepare it fresh daily.

The good thing about it is that there are cooked sushi (the popular California roll for instance which consists of avocado and sea legs or real crab) as well, for those who don't like the idea of raw fish. If eating the raw fish, make sure that you are VERY comfortable with the establishment serving it.

It is soooo healthy, and also Eastern fasting friendly..(shrimp, crab, etc.)

Don't wish too hard for a top notch sushi restaurant...they tend to be very expensive!

I love the wasabi too--just what the doctor ordered to clear up the sinuses! LOL!

Alice

yep, nothing like bait, whoops, I meant sushi (naughty me). I learned about wasabi the hard way, I was so moved by the experience, that it brought tears to my eyes.
Much Love,
Jonn

Alice, a top notch sushi place is so far away from my house that when I get a chance, it's worth spending a little cash to enjoy something you usually can't.

This reminds me of the time we went to a VERY dimly lit restaurant with a group of old friends in Manhattan.

The sister of one of our friends was in town from Athens. I have a feeling that she didn't really have much experience or familiarity with sushi because when the sushi platters came, and mind you--she was complaining for a while that she was STARVING--, she grabbed a large round piece of wasabi with her chopsticks and ate it before I and the other women sitting near her had a chance to stop her!!!

God only knows the *discomfort* (to put it mildly) of that experience, but she tried to maintain her composure, and we tried to not say anything lest we embarrass her...

Alice

I really love sushi. I was fortunate that my introduction to either sushi or sashimi was in Japan. I was reluctant, but did not wish to offend my very hospitable hosts, so I tried the sashimi and loved it.

I don't use the wasabi and soy sauce. Granted I might touch a piece or two barely into soy sauce, I like to keep the flavour. I think mixing the wasabi/wasabi horseradish and soy sauce with the sushi/sashimi just kills the flavour of the fish etc..

You couldn't have been introduced to it in a better way!

I once had a home cooked Japanese meal by some acquaintances, and it was very, very good. The host also gave us a lesson on what types of fish are good for sushi and sashimi and why.

Alice

Ortho-Pyro,

I LOVE sushi and get it as often as time and finances allow. Have several good places near me that keep me well fed!

John K

You know, you could catch your own fish and fillet it and eat it raw and save yourselves the cost!

What a mouth-watering thread!

We take pride in proclaiming to anyone who cares that Manila has the best Japanese food, bar none!

Although some of the best catch of bluefin tuna are jetted to Tokyo, most are brought up to Manila for the sashimi and sushi connosieurs. Seldom do the Japanese chefs (real Japanese and trained Filipino master chefs) serve yellow fin tuna, which is more abundant in the Southern and Eastern Philippine seas bordering the Pacific Ocean. The difference? Blue fin tuna "melts" in your mouth!

Yes, you could catch your own fish and eat them raw, but there are certain species that are more coveted like the blue fin tuna. Edible would be, as already enumerated are: salmon, sardine, squid, octopus, eel, shrimp, etc.

Closely related to the Japanese sashimi way of "cooking" would be the Filipino "kilawin" variety! The fish (or meat) is also raw but, in place of the wasabe mixed with soy sauce, the "sili" (or "Labuyong Sili") is used to really perk up the entree, mixed in with balsamic vinegar, or lemon or lime, and salted to taste.

While the wasabe kicks you with a thud, it lingers only for a few moments. And it can be moderated by mixing only a pinch with the soy sauce. On the other hand, the "sili" will kick you with a bang and continues to sting you long after you have enjoyed your meal. It is recorded in the World Almanac that the "Labuyong Sili" (or wild pepper) native to the Philiipines, although the smallest, is the hottest of them all eclipsing the red pepper (which is bigger) used by the world-famous "Tabasco!"

In this manner, we "cook" the tangigue (King Fish), bangus, and live shrimps fry to perfection!

Amado

amado, the kilawin sounds awfully close to Ceviche...

Dear Ed:

Could be. The Philippines was a former colony of Spain, as are the Latin American countries, for almost 400 years.

But, perhaps, since the Philippines was trading with China and Japan long before the Spaniards came, the "kilawin" could have been influenced by the Japanese. I don't know if Singapore and Malaysia have also the Filipino lime called "kalamansi?"

We also take pride in our exquisite Filipino-Chinese food. They are the "best!"

I like sushi, I eat it once every other month or so. There's an authentic buffet in Houston which most non-Asians avoid, it's great!

Terry

I don't often eat dinner out, but I do like to get out of the office for lunch.

Being in a metropolitan area, the number of ethnic restaurants within a couple of miles is extraordinary. One of my favorites is called (beleive it or not) The Sushi Chalet. They have a lunch buffet that includes many Korean and Japanese "salads"... dikon, kimchi, etc., along with some great sushi rolls. I am also close to a vegetarian Indian restaurant. They have a limited lunch buffet, but what they have tastes great.

Both places are great for meat-free days, plus you can get away from the ubiquitous side order of french fries/chips that comes with every meal in many restaurants/deli's.

There is a comedian by the name of John Pinnette who does hilarious routines about ethnic food and buffets (http://www.johnpinette.com/). You can also find his stuff on YouTube.

amado, come to think of it, Fujian province does do a similar dish, with thin strips of raw fish, mixed with shredded ginger, chilli and parsley, with a dressing of lime juice and a bit of oil and soy. And most Filipino-Chinese are of Fujian ancestry...

We certainly have the calamansi lime - it's found all over SE Asia, and we love its juice =)

I have never tried sushi although I could easily get it - both at the markets nearby which have 'sushi chefs' doing nothing but making it all day plus a brand new Japanese restaurant two miles away which looks good and hear the sushi is good quality but .... I have to admit I have a lot of hesitation ... I grew up having other Japanese food which I have always liked, but never tried the sushi or sashimi.

You can try some of the vegetarian sushi, that can be tasty too.

Thanks,Terry, I will check it out!

I've never had real wasabi, does it taste any different than the green-coloured horseradish that most of the places I frequent serve?

And what's the difference between sushi and sashimi?

p.s. Thanks a lot guys, for the past two days I've had a craving for tuna and salmon.. =0)

Sashimi is a piece of fish about 2inches long by 1.5 inches wide? My measurements may be off. It's put on top of the rice. What we call sushi here is a roll, it has rice, then kelp, then rice, then a piece of the fish and say, cucumbers etc.. the filling. So in "sushi" you don't get a lot of the fish. But in sashimi you do get a lot more of the fish. I love sashimi. It melts in your mouth. I can't even imagine what it must taste like in a high-end restaurant (the most expensive place I've been taken to was 40 bucks a person I think) or in Japan.

I am predicting a moniker change here.

I am waiting to see 'Orthodox Pyrohy' turn into 'Orthodox Sashimi'!!!

Alice

Nah - not his moniker look at what is written under his moniker - now reads


And have you noticed his location ???

So, my maternal great-grandparent was from Fujian? I have relatives who are 1/2 and 1/4 Chinese, whose ancestors came later in the first part of the 20th century.

Some Filipinos living in the small islands North are culturally closer to the native Taiwanese living in the islands South of Formosa.

Did you know that ex-President Corazon Aquino's maiden name is Cojuangco, the hispanized Chinese "Co Huang Co?" (or "Co Huang Kuo?").

The Philippines might have the largest number of people of Chinese ancestry, outside of Singapore!

Amado

Not quite! Sashimi refers to the raw fish eaten on its own, in small slices, dipped into soy sauce. Sushi refers to the raw fish + rice combination with fish/stuff atop of vinagered rice. The most common is Temaki Sushi, which is a large 2"-3" slice of fish/stuff atop a smaller cigar-shape (cevapcici) of rice shaped by hand. An older and rarer version is Osaka Sushi, where rice and fish are pressed into a mould and the the resulting pressed mass then sliced into rectangles, rather like slices of pound cake (see here [pref.osaka.jp]

Often also called 'Sushi', but strictly speaking a mistake, is 'Maki', which is any sort of seaweed roll encasing rice and various fillings.

The wiki article on Sushi [en.wikipedia.org] is quite helpful.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if your Chinese ancestors came from Fujian. The way the Filipinos do Bihon is very much a Fujian style!

Oh yes, Chinese take great delight in pointing out that in Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and much of SE Asia, many of heads of state and political figures who do not identify as Chinese, are of Chinese ancestry. Taksin, the recently deposed Prime Minister, is of Teochew descent. The Marcoses too, if I recall correctly, as Imelda Marcos did visit her relatives in her ancestral village in Fujian. Abdullah Badawi, current Prime Minister of Malaysia, has also visited his relatives in Hainan province. The list goes on. There's a reason the Chinese were once nicknamed 'the Jews of Asia'!

I have no doubt there are more people of Chinese descent in the Philippines than in Singapore. Singapore is a nation-state of only 4 million people! On the other hand, the Chinese here are the majority and still identify culturally and ethnically as Chinese (though of the diaspora), while those in the Philippines appear to have intermarried and assimilated to a far greater extent.