Sushi 101

[Masala]

Yella,

Yes, I AM A SUSHI CHEF!


And yes, Tuna is very good. Toro, which is fatty tuna from the belly, is the best cut of tuna and can go for upwards of $15 per peice!

A bit of trivia for you;

The Guiness Book of World Records, a single Blue Fin tuna sold for $83,000. The tuna was reduced to $2,400 servings at $75 per serving. The estimated takings from this one fish was $180,000

Playboy had an interesting piece in their year of sex for 1999 (January 2000 issue) - "Careful With That Chopstick". For $1200 each, guests at one nyotaimori feast eat sushi and other Japanese cuisine off the body of a naked woman. It further states that virginity is "no longer required" for the guest of honor, but she does have to wax, pluck, and lie still for eight hours.

Sabrutat (or sabrutats imps)
thanks! The three of you have me thoroughly confused.... I love it!

Patterson,
Salaries for Sushi Chef vary widely depending on skill/experience and the part of the world the job is in. In Japan, good sushi tends to be much more expensive than here in the U.S., and so Sushi Chefs earn reletively more. While you can find a lot of cheap sushi in Japan, you will not find many 'family restaurants" that have a sushi bar in Japan. In other words, restaurants in Japan tend to specialize...a 'Noodle House" or "Yakatori House", or Sushi Bar. Sushi Bars tend to be for the wealthy and generally do not serve other kinds of food, unlike here in the U.S. where most Sushi Bars also have a full kitchen menu.

A U.S. Sushi Chef can expect to make between $35,000 - $60,000 per year, and if they are the head sushi chef at a restaurant, they will usually have some percentage of ownership in the restaurant as well, potentially earning much more depending on the success of said establishment.

Being a Sushi Chef can be a great job for a single guy (sorry ladies, but there are very very few female sushi chefs in the world) who wants to travel and see the world. For example, the other day I came across some sushi chef job listings in the Virgin Islands;

Sushi Chef wanted for 4 star resort in St. Martin.
Starting Salary of $40,000 per year (only work 8-9 months of the year though...the rest is off season, so infact you are getting $40,000 for 8 months).
Housing and meals provided.

If I were still a single guy, I would have jumped on that job...free rent and food for a year in paradise, plus $40 k ta boot? No prob! Work for a year and then take a job somewhere else in the world!

[sabrutat2]

Masala, don't mind the imps. As for the sushi, keep doing what you do. Sushi is fantastic.



Cheers

Stef

[YeLLa-TiGeR]

Thats awesome Masala. Did you take the long route to being a chef?

I think you should challenge the Iron Chef, then kick his ass then steal his shiny suit!

[aikidoka]

iron chef has most effective style! can no defend!

[Masala]

Thanks for the encouragement Sabrutat 2, and don't worry, I won't let your imps bother me.


Yella,

I have taken the road less traveled. My real apprenticeship is under six months old, but I have spent years studying sushi on my own....books, videos, a couple classes, home sushi parties....etc. So, I have moved up rather quickly, much like perhpas a good wrestler or Judoka might enter into Bjj; sure there is a lot to learn and you must start with the basics, but you come into it with an understanding of many concepts that will potentially expidite your learning process. As with Bjj, your teacher promotes you as he sees fit based on your skill and understanding, not on a set amount of time.

My previous self-training has accelerated the initial phases of a traditional apprenticeship, but now I have caught up to my level of skill and from here on out it will be slow going. I figure I will have another 3 years of nigiri before I can cut fish. But, I can already speak Japanese Accented English fluently, so thats a bonus.

I have never seen the Iron Chef

[Ryu (non-working password]

The sushi in that pic sucks. It's the same stuff you can buy at any American grocery mart. What kind of virgin sushi eaters are you?
Get out the tentacles, raw quail eggs, sea urchins, and puffer fish.

Wimps.

Ryu

[YeLLa-TiGeR]

You should watch Iron Chef. its cool!

2nd cookoff with America VS Japan. The Japanese Iron Chef VS Bobby Flay!

Its on tonite.

LOL

Good luck with your future pursuits Masala. Do you consider knives and cutting boards sacred like other Japanese chefs? Or maybe consider joining the C.I.A.? (some chef's school)

[Masala]

Ah Ryu, you poor deluded A-rab; you are mistaking availability for quality. Super market sushi is crap, pure and simple. Just because you can get the kinds of fish in that picture at the super market, does not mean it will be anything close to the same quality of ingredients, preparation, and presentation.

That being said, I cannot stand Uni (sea urchin). Nor do I like natto...I don't even like making it for other people. But Ankimo (monk fish liver) is downright heavenly

The baby octopus marinated in sweet brown sauce looks like a little alien. I'll see if I can find a picture of that

[DIRE WOLF]

Uhh have you people ever heard of tapeworms?

[Patterson]

I should become a sushi chef.

[aikidoka]

all i know is that i hate that nasty seeweed wrap up shit. damn i hate that stuff

[Lithp]

Can you please elaborate more on the fish selection. Is there a specific type of salmon that you need to get? Does it have to be refridgerated at a specific temperature?

The reason why I ask is because my friend (who loves sushi) went to Safeway, bought some salmon, cut it up, slapped it on some rice and tried to eat it. LOL! He said it was the most disgusting thing he ever tasted. Nothing near the flavor he got from a restaurant.

[bobby_steeles]

gorton's fish sticks kick ass!

[Masala]

Hi Lithp,

your friend made a big mistake. First off, you want to get the freshest fish possible, and supermarkets don't have it. Even many fish markets won't have fish fresh enough for a sushi bar. It is important to see the whole fish....the eyes must be clear and the fish shouldn't smell fishy. More like the smell of the ocean than an actual fish. The flesh should be firm and not hold an indentation when you press it with you finger. Also, fish that is too old to use will kind of have a rainbowish sheen when held to the light. In addition to all this, it can be VERY dangerous to eat raw salmon that has not been prepared properly. It MUST be frozen as part of that preparation, for at least 48 hours, but no longer than a week. Salmon contains parasites that can make you very ill and the freezing kills them just like cooking would.

If you or your friend follow the directions I laid out for preparing salmon, AND you get a very fresh fish, then it will taste just as good as it does at the sushi bar. However, getting the rice right is another story

Mr. Steeles,
I make my kids fish stick sushi all the time.

[Lithp]

Masala,

Thank you! I'll pass this on to my friend.

Does this advice hold true for tuna as well?