A Lunch Community http://www.lunch.com/ilovesushi
]]> http://www.lunch.com/Gourmand/reviews/food/UserReview-Toro-2-1334190-222137.html http://www.lunch.com/Gourmand/reviews/food/UserReview-Toro-2-1334190-222137.html Thu, 22 Mar 2012 03:41:04 +0000 http://www.lunch.com/Gourmand/reviews/d/UserReview-Sake_Bomb-2-1010864-213146.html http://www.lunch.com/Gourmand/reviews/d/UserReview-Sake_Bomb-2-1010864-213146.html Sun, 11 Sep 2011 01:33:42 +0000 Fugu (blowfish, poisonous; one that kills if not prepared correctly), Uni (sea urchin), Basashi (horse meat), Kujira (whale), Iruca (dolphin), Okura (salmon roe) and Shirako (fish sperm) are some of the queerest food when it comes to the Japanese Cuisine. Eating seafood raw is certainly Japanese style and in some ways it has increased the Japanese life span!

So, if you think the Chinese are strange, the Japanese aren't too far behind!

Shirako (fish sperm)

Okura (salmon roe)

Fugu (Poisonous fish)

Basashi (Raw horse meat)

Kujira (Raw whale)
]]> http://www.lunch.com/gojapan/reviews/food/UserReview-Japanese_Cuisine-141-1333864-207127.html http://www.lunch.com/gojapan/reviews/food/UserReview-Japanese_Cuisine-141-1333864-207127.html Sun, 8 May 2011 02:12:46 +0000 http://www.lunch.com/ilovesushi/reviews/food/UserReview-Ankimo-211-1332045-56349.html http://www.lunch.com/ilovesushi/reviews/food/UserReview-Ankimo-211-1332045-56349.html Mon, 26 Apr 2010 22:35:43 +0000 http://www.lunch.com/reviews/food/UserReview-Sushi-8-1115823-55432.html http://www.lunch.com/reviews/food/UserReview-Sushi-8-1115823-55432.html Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:01:08 +0000 http://www.lunch.com/reviews/food/UserReview-Sushi-8-1115823-55030.html http://www.lunch.com/reviews/food/UserReview-Sushi-8-1115823-55030.html Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:57:04 +0000 http://www.lunch.com/reviews/food/UserReview-Sushi-8-1115823-54875.html http://www.lunch.com/reviews/food/UserReview-Sushi-8-1115823-54875.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:56:01 +0000 http://www.lunch.com/reviews/recipe/UserReview-Fugu-44-1397597-54559.html http://www.lunch.com/reviews/recipe/UserReview-Fugu-44-1397597-54559.html Tue, 9 Mar 2010 08:22:41 +0000 http://www.lunch.com/reviews/food/UserReview-Sushi-44-1115823-54473.html http://www.lunch.com/reviews/food/UserReview-Sushi-44-1115823-54473.html Sat, 6 Mar 2010 19:26:08 +0000 http://www.lunch.com/Gourmand/reviews/food/UserReview-Toro-2-1334190-54272.html http://www.lunch.com/Gourmand/reviews/food/UserReview-Toro-2-1334190-54272.html Thu, 4 Mar 2010 06:18:27 +0000 http://www.lunch.com/Gourmand/reviews/food/UserReview-Toro-2-1334190-54271.html http://www.lunch.com/Gourmand/reviews/food/UserReview-Toro-2-1334190-54271.html Thu, 4 Mar 2010 06:17:11 +0000 http://www.lunch.com/Gourmand/reviews/food/UserReview-Sushi-2-1115823-54256.html http://www.lunch.com/Gourmand/reviews/food/UserReview-Sushi-2-1115823-54256.html Thu, 4 Mar 2010 04:29:33 +0000 And have I had sushi for breakfast? Yep, at around 5.30 am, I do believe!

This is an experience anyone who has the love of sushi must definitely try when in Tokyo. There are lots to see and do in Tokyo so one might not be able to wake up so early (4 am! unless you stay up the whole night ;-)) to venture for sushi!




Tsukiji is a wholesale fish market where the wholesalers auction for their salmons and tunas every early morning. This is where you see all the fishes in their raw state! By that I don't even mean sashimi. I mean the entire fish before they are cut up into pieces. If you stay behind and walk around the marketplace, you'll also get to see these "samurai" performing their skills at deboning those huge tunas and salmons. Highly interesting! I've never seen such a long knife actually in practice anywhere else!

Tsukiji is the largest fish market in the world handling over 2000 tons of seafood daily. It is one of the finest tourist destinations if you have any interest in food and seafood.


Do you know that all fish has to be frozen first before they can be eaten raw (with the exception of tuna)? That's to kill the germs.
How about 80% of the bluefin tuna (maguro) catch is used for sushi?
& The sushi grade bluefin tuna highest price ever recorded at the Tsukiji Fish Market was $173,600 for a 444 lb fish? (ie. $391/lb) 
Incredible, isn't it? A fish costing as much as a house!



Tuna & Salmon are most common fishes found on the sushi plate. You can get them in all sushi houses. 

Types of Sushi:

Makizushi (or Makimono)
These are rolled sushi normally wrapped in nori (seaweed). A single roll order normally is cut into 6 or 8 pieces. Hosomaki (thin rolls) has a diameter of around 0.75" while Futomaki is about double that, ie. 1.5".

My favorites of these is Temaki. Temaki is handroll sushi in a large cone-shaped nori. This has to be eaten fresh or else the crisp nori will absorb moisture from the fillings making the texture and taste not so great.




Nigirizushi
Hand formed sushi. It takes an apprentice 10 years minimum to master this and it's been said that the chef's hands have to be of lower temperature (than normal) in order to prepare good sushi. Hence, many a times, they have to dip their hands in icy cold water before they begin making their sushi.

Common toppings are salmon, maguro (tuna), toro (tuna belly), hamachi (yellowtail), unagi (eel), ika (squid) & ebi (prawn).



Chirashizushi
Chirashizushi is a bowl of sushi rice with raw seafood on top of it. I much prefer nigirizushi than chirashizushi; hence, I hardly order this.



Inarizushi
This is sweet sushi and something I don't fancy. Fried tofu skin with just rice inside. 


Ok. That's it. The place to have sushi for breakfast & the kind of sushi you can order. Sushi is freshest here in early morning and there are plenty of tourists and locals alike who'd be here to sample the most delicious sushi for breakfast! Yum Yum!!!]]> http://www.lunch.com/ilovesushi/reviews/food/UserReview-Sushi-211-1115823-18868-Sushi_for_breakfast.html http://www.lunch.com/ilovesushi/reviews/food/UserReview-Sushi-211-1115823-18868-Sushi_for_breakfast.html Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:41:03 +0000 Froyo Uni Soft-Serve Toro -- it's the basis for our relationship and I'm totally okay with it!), Jason, took me to Ozumo in Oakland for toro, inadvertantly turning my world upside down. 

Below is the picture of the 10 pieces of toro that we consumed that night.  I'd click on it to see the full size if I were you ;)


So just how amazing is toro?  If you read my maguro review, then you'd know all about my love affair with the other 92% of the tuna that's not toro.  Well, imagine maguro infused with a ton of fat, resulting in a creamy, buttery consistency.  If you look at the picture above, you'll see that even while sitting on the plate, it's already flaking off on it's own, so it's no surprise that when I picked it up with my chopsticks, it flaked off my chopstick, and when I put it into my mouth, it MELTED.  If you click on the picture and see it full sized, you'll see the gorgeous marbling of fat on each slice.  The fatter, the better (as it is with all foods, it seems)!

Though I found it amazing, Jason says that hes had better (is that really possible?).  There are actually two kinds of toro -- otoro and chutoro.  Otoro is the very underside of the tuna and is the fattest and most desirable.  Chutoro is the side of the belly and less desirable because it's less marbled with fat.  I probably had Chutoro.  I aspire to eat otoro.

This amazingness doesn't come cheap though.  That plate up there, for example, at $10 a piece, totalled $100.  Jason said that it was worth every penny. 

...Thank you, Jason :)

If I were a rich girl, I'd totally buy blocks of toro and smear it on toast for breakfast every morning.  That'd be the life!]]> http://www.lunch.com/ilovesushi/reviews/food/UserReview-Toro-211-1334190-11292-Toro_Literally_Melt_in_Your_Mouth_Sashimi.html http://www.lunch.com/ilovesushi/reviews/food/UserReview-Toro-211-1334190-11292-Toro_Literally_Melt_in_Your_Mouth_Sashimi.html Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:09:23 +0000 tuna sandwiches, and tuna salad on crackers.  Ya know, the Chicken of the Sea stuff that got Jessica S. all confused.  Well, not this broad....

I like it RAW!

I probably eat way too much sushi and sashimi for my own good.  Or at least that's what my mom says.  She keeps warning me about the dangers of mercury poisoning, but eh... Everytime I see a slab of sashimi-grade fish at the supermarket, or see pictures of big, fat fishies, I can't help but go all Homer Simpson on it and think, "Man, you look tasty.  What I wouldn't give for a bite out of you!"  Tuna, in particular, is one of my fave sashimi.  I love the the texture of it and the way it feels on my teeth when I bite into it.  If there was such a thing as labeling sashimi al dente, tuna would be it.  Plus, it's got such a pretty pinkish-red color, too (don't eat if it's brownish or greyish though!).

I've gotta admit that though I've rated tuna a +5, it's not my absolute favorite sashimi.  If I had it my way, I'd be eating uni and toro all day, but as it stands, it's probably not best for my wallet.  What I can afford to eat on a regular basis, however, is a fat slab of tuna, which is usually pretty reasonably priced and more readily available at supermarkets like Ranch 99.  Plus, tuna is a really, really versatile fish.  Not only can it be cooked and canned, but when consumed raw, it can be prepared in a large variety of ways. 

Here are a few of my favorite ways to prepare tuna:

• Sashimi -- Just slice it up and eat it as is with soy sauce and wasabi!
• Tekka Donburi -- Slice up the tuna and serve it over a bowl of rice.  Add whatever else you want to it, like veggies, seaweed, shiso leaf, tobiko, ikura, etc, plus sauces!
• Tekka maki --  simply tuna and rice wrapped in nori.
• Philadelphia Roll -- cream cheese and tuna wrapped in nori.
• Spicy tuna -- mince up some tuna, and mix in a liberal amount of Sriracha.  Don't have Sriracha?  Just mix some mayo with togarashi (ground red pepper).  If you're adventurous, you can try Tabasco.  Can be made into a spicy tuna roll, or if you're like me and too lazy to roll it up, just spread it onto nori and you're good.
• Tuna Tartare -- This is one of my favorites!  Dice up tuna and avocado and mix with minced cilantro.  The sauce consist of Maggi seasoning sauce, Tonkatsu sauce, wasabi, lemon juice, and sesame oil.  Serve over something crunchy, like tortilla chips, crostini or fried wonton skins.
• Seared Tuna -- Heat up some teriyaki sauce in a pan and sear a block of it lightly on all sides in it.  Slice and serve over rice or a salad.
• Seared Tuna Burger -- Slice the tuna into a thin steak, sear it, plop it on a burger bun with wasabi mayo (which is made by combining mayo with, well, wasabi), and add regular burger fillings like lettuce.

You can see how just one slab of tuna can create many delectable dishes.  I often have tuna-themed dinners, and yes, my friends all love me for it.  A fat block of tuna can get you a long, long way :)

By the way, vegetarians or vegans should check out my TuNori review!]]> http://www.lunch.com/ilovesushi/reviews/food/UserReview-Maguro-211-1334187-11254-Tuna_Sashimi_A_Most_Versatile_and_Tasty_Fish.html http://www.lunch.com/ilovesushi/reviews/food/UserReview-Maguro-211-1334187-11254-Tuna_Sashimi_A_Most_Versatile_and_Tasty_Fish.html Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:09:45 +0000