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.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Actor123 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.

One thing you might try is to age the fish slightly. Did you make the
sushi with fish the day you got it from the store? Tuna can benefit from
a little aging, but obviously not too much. Also the quality fish that a
sushi bar gets may not compare with what you can get at a Japanese market.
Lets just say the restaurants get the better or best cuts, and the rest gets
sold off to the markets.

If you find it bland eating it as sashimi, as you would in a resturant..
then its a quality issue from the market.

--
Dan

Actor123 > 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.

--
Nick, KI6VAV. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their
families: https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/ Thank a Veteran! Support Our Troops!
http://anymarine.com/ You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! ~Semper Fi~

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.

--
Wilson 44.69, -67.3

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.

--
Dan

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

On Jul 14, 7:37*pm, Actor123 > 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.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help.

We have found that when we buy salmon for sashimi we like it better
with a sprinkle of garlic, toasted(in a dry frying pan) Sesame seeds &
uber thinly sliced scallions. I don't know how Japanese the garlic
powder on it is, but we get the other 2 on sashimi when we eat it
out.
You have several good tastes to try from all these posters
suggestions. Good Luck finding the taste you are looking for. You
could also ask the itamae who makes it for you at your fav sushi spot.
Nan

Nanzi wrote:
> On Jul 14, 7:37 pm, Actor123 > 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.
>>
>>Thanks in advance for any help.
>
>
> We have found that when we buy salmon for sashimi we like it better
> with a sprinkle of garlic, toasted(in a dry frying pan) Sesame seeds &
> uber thinly sliced scallions. I don't know how Japanese the garlic
> powder on it is, but we get the other 2 on sashimi when we eat it
> out.
> You have several good tastes to try from all these posters
> suggestions. Good Luck finding the taste you are looking for. You
> could also ask the itamae who makes it for you at your fav sushi spot.

When I was out in San Francisco back in 2000, I found a great little sushi
bar near Market St. The chef served me aji and drizzled a garlic sauce over
the nigiri. It had that thought for a second.. how Japanese is this? But it
was very good!

--
Dan

Dan wrote on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:30:06 -0400:

> Nanzi wrote:
>> On Jul 14, 7:37 pm, Actor123 > 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.
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance for any help.
>>
>> We have found that when we buy salmon for sashimi we like it
>> better with a sprinkle of garlic, toasted(in a dry frying
>> pan) Sesame seeds & uber thinly sliced scallions. I don't
>> know how Japanese the garlic powder on it is, but we get the
>> other 2 on sashimi when we eat it out. You have several good
>> tastes to try from all these posters suggestions. Good Luck
>> finding the taste you are looking for. You could also ask the
>> itamae who makes it for you at your fav sushi spot.

> When I was out in San Francisco back in 2000, I found a great
> little sushi bar near Market St. The chef served me aji and
> drizzled a garlic sauce over the nigiri. It had that thought
> for a second.. how Japanese is this? But it was very good!

Interesting,do you know the recipe for the garlic sauce?

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

James Silverton wrote:

> Dan wrote on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:30:06 -0400:
>
>> Nanzi wrote:
>>
>>> On Jul 14, 7:37 pm, Actor123 > 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.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks in advance for any help.
>>>
>>>
>>> We have found that when we buy salmon for sashimi we like it better
>>> with a sprinkle of garlic, toasted(in a dry frying
>>> pan) Sesame seeds & uber thinly sliced scallions. I don't
>>> know how Japanese the garlic powder on it is, but we get the other 2
>>> on sashimi when we eat it out. You have several good tastes to try
>>> from all these posters suggestions. Good Luck
>>> finding the taste you are looking for. You could also ask the
>>> itamae who makes it for you at your fav sushi spot.
>
>
>> When I was out in San Francisco back in 2000, I found a great little
>> sushi bar near Market St. The chef served me aji and
>> drizzled a garlic sauce over the nigiri. It had that thought for a
>> second.. how Japanese is this? But it was very good!
>
>
> Interesting,do you know the recipe for the garlic sauce?

No, but I saw it was thinner than tare sauce and somewhat light in color.
The other times I went back, the itamae did not have aji, so that was the
only time I had it.

--
Dan

> 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

Rice is the key in sushi. It may not be the problem here but it took me several years to get it right. Brand of rice is important. Even if the packge says 'sushi rice' it not necessarily is. Good sushi rice is pricy but usually there is no sense in buying the most expensive japanese rice. Using kombu (seaweed) is a good option too although I like to use it in making the vinegar not in cooking the rice. How you cool the rice and mix the vinegar is important too. Basically any very large bowl will do but a wooden hangiri is the best. I just recently bought one and the diference is clear.

> 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.

Exacly the same food can taste different. You except that sushi is good in sushi bar but you are not sure how good your own sushi is. This may have some effect and it is best to get a second opinion from a friend.

> 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

As far as I know less preparation the better. Fish is very delicate and spoils easily. Overnight in fridge and it may not be even catfood grade anymore.

I've made sushi at home for about 20 years now and it still is far from perfect. So there is no shortcuts like there isn't in any kind of cooking. But don't be discouraged, with some practice you'll be able to make way better sushi than many sushi bars have nerve to pass as sushi.

Jukka

> 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.

Not always. It depends on the fish used.

But if usd it should be under tane (toppping) NOT mixed with shoy.

Jukka