I'm going to chart my progress week by week, addressing two of my ten inquiry questions at a time. My end goal is, of course, to create delicious sushi that myself and friends will eat.
What fish are the best?
Through the content curation I've been doing on scoop.it I've found a few interesting things about the fish that are used in sushi. First, they don't have to be raw. Though traditional, it is true; however, there are many alternatives using cooked fish that are equally delicious. The eel ("unagi") roll is just one example. Second, I learned that though tasty, the blue fin tuna will not be here forever at the current rate at which we're eating it. There are no two ways about it. We consume too much for the population to naturally keep up. Unless we change our habits, the fish will be extinct and we'll never see or taste it again (to say nothing of the ecological effects). Lastly, I learned that the future of our sushi is in farmed fish. This, of course, goes along with the second thing. The general population growth as well as the increased demand for sushi (which parallels the growing middle class in various countries) means that there simply are not enough wild caught fish to keep up with our consumption. Farm raised fish riles a lot of health and environmentally conscious folk, but either the world consumes less fish (unlikely), or we accept that farm raised fish are the future. Fish are healthy; if sushi and seafood more generally are to be a healthy food for people both poor and rich, then we must promote farm raised fish. Other than most site preferring wild-caught fish, the general advice is to seek firm fleshed fish from stores who you believe have high turnover of fish, avoid any store selling fish that "smells like fish," avoid cod (unless it has been frozen first), and generally, look for the stuff that sushi restaurants are using. There is a reason they use those specific fishes.
What are the essential supplies/tools?
My research on scoop.it has indicated to me that few supplies are needed for sushi making.Other than basic stuff like bowls, cutting board, etc, the additional tools are not so esoteric and specific to sushi that you may never use them again (with the exception of a few things). Asian knives, are preferable. They're made at different angle than western ones, which helps in cutting fish. A rice cooker is useful too, but not totally necessary. It makes consistently good rice every time and its hands-off. I happen to have one already and I love it. Beyond that, you do need a bamboo mat, which you use to roll the sushi. You most likely won't find another use. I have Asian knives already and a rice cooker, so I just need to get a bamboo mat! Off to the store!
What fish are the best?
Through the content curation I've been doing on scoop.it I've found a few interesting things about the fish that are used in sushi. First, they don't have to be raw. Though traditional, it is true; however, there are many alternatives using cooked fish that are equally delicious. The eel ("unagi") roll is just one example. Second, I learned that though tasty, the blue fin tuna will not be here forever at the current rate at which we're eating it. There are no two ways about it. We consume too much for the population to naturally keep up. Unless we change our habits, the fish will be extinct and we'll never see or taste it again (to say nothing of the ecological effects). Lastly, I learned that the future of our sushi is in farmed fish. This, of course, goes along with the second thing. The general population growth as well as the increased demand for sushi (which parallels the growing middle class in various countries) means that there simply are not enough wild caught fish to keep up with our consumption. Farm raised fish riles a lot of health and environmentally conscious folk, but either the world consumes less fish (unlikely), or we accept that farm raised fish are the future. Fish are healthy; if sushi and seafood more generally are to be a healthy food for people both poor and rich, then we must promote farm raised fish. Other than most site preferring wild-caught fish, the general advice is to seek firm fleshed fish from stores who you believe have high turnover of fish, avoid any store selling fish that "smells like fish," avoid cod (unless it has been frozen first), and generally, look for the stuff that sushi restaurants are using. There is a reason they use those specific fishes.
What are the essential supplies/tools?
My research on scoop.it has indicated to me that few supplies are needed for sushi making.Other than basic stuff like bowls, cutting board, etc, the additional tools are not so esoteric and specific to sushi that you may never use them again (with the exception of a few things). Asian knives, are preferable. They're made at different angle than western ones, which helps in cutting fish. A rice cooker is useful too, but not totally necessary. It makes consistently good rice every time and its hands-off. I happen to have one already and I love it. Beyond that, you do need a bamboo mat, which you use to roll the sushi. You most likely won't find another use. I have Asian knives already and a rice cooker, so I just need to get a bamboo mat! Off to the store!