Know your Sushi
This very popular seafood speciality originates from Japan, where it started off as a historic way of preserving seafood.
Seafood was covered with layers of vinegared rice until the seafood was needed and then the rice was discarded and only the seafood consumed. It later became popular to consume the rice with the seafood in what is known as Sushi.
The first common mistake people make is to classify Sashimi as Sushi.
What is the difference between Sushi and Sashimi?
Sushi is rice combined with seafood, vegetables and tropical fruit.
Sashimi is slices of raw fish arranged on their own.
Sushi popular to the Western world and available to us in Rustenburg include:
Hand Rolls
Also called cone sushi or Temaki Sushi. It is made of a rolled cone of seaweed, called Nori, wrapped around rice and fillings.
Maki
Sushi rolls, or makizushi in Japanese. Fillings are wrapped in rice and nori seaweed.
Futomaki: Thick rolls with lots of ingredients.
Hosomaki: Thin rolls with simple ingredients.
Urimaki: Inside-out rolls. The seafood ingredient is on the inside followed by a nori layer with rice on the outside. This is a newer, non-traditional style of sushi.
Shikai maki: This is the show off of sushi chefs. This style involves complex layering of ingredients to create an artistic style of presenting the sushi which then resembles art more than food. This style is becoming increasingly popular.
Nigiri
A slice of raw fish pressed over rice. Some chefs may add a dash of wasabi inbetween the rice and fish. Only the fish portion should be dipped in soy sauce.
California Rolls
A California roll is a makizushi, usually made inside-out, containing cucumber, crab meat or imitation crab, and avocado. The avocado can also be replaced with mango or banana.
Tempura Rolls
Makizushi with a seafood ingredient that has been tempura fried.
Rainbow Rolls
California rolls with four different coloured toppings.
Fashion Sandwiches
Triangular or square rice sandwiches made from sushi, rice, nori and avo. This is a type of urimaki as the seefood filling is surrounded by a layer of nori, followed by rice and with an outer layer of another ingredient eg. toasted sesame seeds.
Condiments and Etiquette:
Sushi and Sashimi is served with sweet, pickkeled ginger(Gari), Wasabi and soy sauce.
Gari’s colour can range from tan to pink, with the paler colour considered to be an indication of higher quality.
Wasabi is a paste made from the grated root of the Wasabia Japonica plant and be warned, it is hot. It was traditionally added to sushi by the chef, but due to personal taste and preference to wasabi it is now added on the side. It has antibacterial properties.
The soy sauce is for flavouring the toping and not the rice. Rice shouldn’t be soaked in the soy sauce but the ginger should be used as a brush to coat the topping with the sauce.
Sashimi is always eaten with chopsticks, while Nigiri can be eaten with fingers even in formal settings.
Sushi and Sashimi are low fat, high protein foods which provide lots of vitamins, minerals and omega 3 fatty acids. It should however be prepared properly and because of high levels of methyl mercury and potential parasites may pose potential health risks to pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.
Where to find Sushi and Sashimi in Rustenburg:
- Ocean Basket
- Cape Town Fish Market
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