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Nice group of people from San Francisco Ballet. Still amazed at how good their sushi looks. Great job guys! #SushiClasses #TeamBuilding #Photos

This is yet another question that I get asked frequently. What I can say about the knife is this: When you hold the knife in your hand, if it feels good to you, that's the best knife for you. It's like finding a partner in your life. What's best for me will be different from what's best for you. I certainly have used Masamoto sushi knives before and I think they are fantastic knives. However, just because Masamoto is one of the most popular sushi knives in Japan and the US, does not automatically mean it's the best for you or me. Let me tell you two stories relating to sushi knives. Story #1 Knife shop, Kappabashi, Tokyo Kappabashi is a famous street filled with restaurant supply shops ranging from kitchen equipment, crockery, restaurant furniture, and of course knives. I was browsing one of the knife shops and heard this conversation between the owner and the customer. Customer: “So, which one do you think is a good knife?” (Pointing at several knives he picked) Owner: “Well, they are all good knives.” Customer: “Yes, I know they are all good. I mean which I should I buy?” Owner: “If you are asking for my recommendation, I can tell you that almost all the professional chefs buy inexpensive knives because they use them every day. They know they will damage expensive knives if they have to use them every day. Almost all the amateurs end up buying expensive knives. I suppose that is because they want to own and collect knives rather than using them.” I don’t know which one this customer ended up buying - my guess is that he ended up buying an expensive knife. Story #2 What I learned about a knife from the most talented sushi chef I’ve ever worked with. I met Jin-san at this sushi restaurant in Long Beach, CA. He told me that he started working for a family-run sushi restaurant in Tokyo when he was fifteen. He started his day at six in the morning by cleaning and finished his day at midnight by cleaning the entire restaurant. For the first few years, all he did was cleaning and errands that seemed to have nothing to do with sushi making. He practiced his knife and sushi skills on his own using leftover ingredients, sometimes purchasing his own. He worked in Japan for a while before he was asked to work in LA. Jin-san had over twenty years of experience as a sushi chef when I met him. He was very gentle, polite, and most of all, laughed a lot. One day I saw Jin-san fileting halibut, and I was shocked at how fast he filled the whole fish. It only took him a few minutes or so, where it would have taken me at least ten. Not only Jin-san was fast, and he moved so gracefully and beautifully. His knife handling was so precise that it had the appearance of a choreographed dance sequence. Realizing I was watching, he started talking to me, “You see that the trick is not about the knife you use. I have a very expensive sushi knife at home. It costs over $2,000, and I rarely use it these days. These knives I use right now, do you know how much they cost? They cost me $15 each at the restaurant supply store. You see it’s how you sharpen your knives. I can tell how much of a chef he is by looking at his knife.” The knife I use is a 10" chef knife I purchased in San Francisco Chinatown for $7. It's a great stainless knife that equals any other made in Germany knives because it feels good in my hand. So, my recommendation is to try out as many knives you like until you find the one best fits your hand. Learn how to sharpen your knives properly using sharpening stone instead of the sharpening steel. (A sharpening steel will never "sharpen" your knives. They are meant o used as temporary relief between sharpening.) #Sushi #Tools

Maguro/Tuna is undeniably the most popular sushi item in the world, while many say that Toro/Tuna Belly is the King of sushi. The highly prized toro also comes with high price - $50/lbs. to $100/lbs. at a fish market, which makes one piece of sushi anywhere from $10 - $30 easily at a reputable sushi bar. Despite its popularity, tuna was not widely consumed in Japan until the Edo period (1603-). Two main reasons being: Tuna used to be called "Shibi" in Japanese. It has the same pronunciation as "day of the dead" and was considered unlucky to eat. Japanese preferred Tai/Read snapper over tuna because the word "Tai" rhymed with "celebration." It is also said that its unpopularity was due to the size of tuna - it can be as long as 15 feet and weigh over 1,000 pounds. Because of the lack of refrigeration technology, it was difficult to keep it fresh. Around 1830, Edo had a large catch of Tuna for many years and had an abundant supply of tuna, which lowered its price down. Since it became so cheap, some of the sushi restaurants decided to try using tuna, which caught its popularity. The way they served tuna is called "zuke" - a soy-marinated tuna nigiri. By marinating in soy sauce, tuna lasted longer without refrigeration. It also brought a different flavor to tuna. Until then, tuna was either grilled or cooked and was considered not tasty. Toro, tuna belly started to get popular around 1930. It is unclear the exact reason why it became so popular. One theory says it is due to the changing diet of modern Japanese. #Tuna #Sushi #100SurprisingFactsAboutSushi #Ingredients

(Sushi rice for nigiri is called "Shari Dama" meaning sushi rice ball) What comes to your mind when you hear the word "Sushi"? Would it be a California Roll with crab, avocado, or Unagi/Fresh Water Eel Nigiri with sweet Eel Sauce? If that was the case, then, you are only half correct. The word “sushi” refers to vinegared "Sushi Rice," not rolls, not nigiri, not even fish on top of rice. (nor Sashimi, a slice of fish for that matter.) The word sushi is said to come from the word “Su-meshi.” “Su” means vinegar and “Meshi” means rice. When abbreviated, it became “sushi.” Therefore, sushi means cooked rice mixed with sushi vinegar. Thus, as long as you use "sushi rice," it can be called sushi. When the Japanese think of sushi, mostly they refer to Nigiri. In America, most people think of Rolls. There are many different types of sushi from rolls to pressed sushi using both fish and vegetables. Here are some examples of different types of sushi: Maki Sushi (pronounced as makizushi) - Rolled sushi with ingredients inside Nigiri Sushi (pronounced as Nigirizushi) - Sliced ingredient on top of the ball of rice. Temaki Sushi (temakizushi) - Ice cream cone-shaped hand roll. Sashimi - Means sliced meat, not Sushi. Can be either fish, meat or vegetables. Oshi Sushi (pronounced as Oshizushi) - pressed sushi #100SurprisingFactsAboutSushi #Sushi #Rice

This recipe came to me when I was working at a sushi restaurant in Los Angeles. One day, I noticed that there was an unopened bottle of truffle oil. I’ve never used truffle oil before, so I thought the way to using it. I opened the bottle and then came a very strong and nice aroma of white truffle. Then, I thought it would go well with white fish like Tai. The aroma is wonderful and it's a perfect match with snapper. It's been a constant hit with our clients. They all told me they never tasted anything like this before.
 Ingredients: • Tai/Red Snapper • Kombu Kelp • White Truffle oil • Lemon Juice • Himalayan Salt • Pink Peppercorn • Chives Cooking Instructions: 1. Fillet Tai/Red Snapper to four pieces. 2. Slightly wet kombu with water, then wrap Tai with kombu, cover with plastic wrap. 3. Store Tai in refrigerator for half an hour to an hour. 4. Remove the kombu and thinly slice Tai sashimi. 5. Plate Tai, sear it with a butane torch until the surface turns white. 6. Pour truffle oil, lemon juice and sprinkle Himalayan salt. 7. Garnish with pink peppercorn and cut chives. #Recipes #Sashimi

We love what we do - showing our clients how fun it is to make sushi. There is nothing more satisfying than our clients telling us how much fun they had at our team-building sushi class. Recently, we hosted a sushi class for the SurveyMonkey team and they sent us this note! #TeamBuilding #SushiClasses

(Photo from Ezu Restaurant) It is true that the majority of sushi is fish - tuna, crab, salmon, shrimp, yellowtail, and freshwater eel. However, there is plenty of non-fish sushi out there event a vegetarian person can have a complete meal without ever eating one fish sushi. Here is a list of non-fish sushi. Traditional Japanese Non-Fish Sushi Kappa - Cucumber roll. Japanese maki standard. Refreshing, so it's good to eat between fish nigiri to cleanse your palate. Oshinko Maki- Pickled daikon radish roll. Another maki standard and favorite. One of the finishing pieces before dessert. Kanpyo Maki -Dried shavings of calabash, cooked in soy sauce and sugar. Nothing like this in Western dishes. Chewy texture with sweet soy flavor. Natto Maki- Cut or hand roll. Natto is fermented soybeans. It has a very strong "foul" smell, yet is loved by many Japanese. (though it is also true that there are many Japanese who are unable to eat natto.) Shitake Mushroom - Mostly cooked in soy sauce and sugar, sometimes grilled makes nice nigiri sushi. Wasabi Maki - cut or hand roll. Yes, fresh wasabi has a wonderful aroma and sweet flavor. Cut into small matchsticks, wasabi is rolled into hosomaki - a thin roll or temaki, hand roll. Tamago - egg custard. Some eat it as a finishing dessert piece place for, say ice cream. It's sweet, juicy, and has a fluffy texture. It is said that you should order tamago to find out the sushi chef's skill. There are of course many many other vegetable sushi out there including red peppers, asparagus, zucchini, eggplant - virtually any vegetables you can find (and goes well with sushi rice.) My personal discovery is to use wine vinegar and fruit vinegar instead of rice vinegar. Champagne vinegar also makes nice sushi rice which goes well with vegetables. #100SurprisingFactsAboutSushi #Sushi #Nigiri

What I love about Song Tea & Ceramics is simplicity. Just like Sushi is made up of sushi rice and fish (mostly fish, and lots of vegetables, too!), the shop is about tea leaves and hot water. Peter, the owner of Song Tea & Ceramics has done a beautiful job decorating the store (he told me he did most of the work himself), arranging such eye-pleasing teacups, accessories, and ornaments to create a warm, comfortable, and inviting environment for the enjoyment tea. Whenever I drop by, he invites me to sit down and enjoy a variety of teas he has – oolong, green and red tea – mostly from Taiwan. For a person like me who grew up drinking green tea every meal, Peter’s invitation is very easy to accept. He offers me three to four kinds of tea to try. I’ve done tea tasting in China and China town, here in San Francisco. All I can say about Peter’s tea is they taste different, and I like his tea. Even Oolong from Taiwan tastes different from the one from China. Taiwanese Oolong to me tastes a lot sweeter and milder. I like that. When brewing tea, even most Japanese use boiling water. I’ve been doing that all my life until now. However, using hot or boiling water brings out bitterness from green tea (not from Black tea. Black tea should be brewed using boiling water.) According to Fragrant Tea.com, to brew Japanese green teas, the ideal temperature is 140°F - 185°F. Bitterness comes from “tannins” or “polyphenols,” which dissolve at 176°F (80°C). Gyokuro, one of the highest grades, is best brewed at 122°F - 140°F (50°C - 60°C). Spring-picked Sencha tastes best at 160°F - 170°F (70°C - 80°C). Summer-harvested Bancha and Genmaicha will exhibit their best flavor with a short infusion at higher temperatures of 170°F - 185°F (80°C - 90°C). (source: http://www.thefragrantleaf.com/green-tea-brewing-tips) Peter adjusts the water temperature according to the type of tea he brews. We start talking about how the tea tastes first, then after a few cups started talking about which is our favorite sushi restaurant and so on. (Kabuto was Peter's first-ever sushi restaurant. Coincidentally, I've worked with the first owner, the legendary Sushi chef of Kabuto Sushi, Sachi Kojima.) We probably spent a good hour tasting the tea and talking. About what? Anything from tea, food, Japanese magazines to which cafés in San Francisco he is selling his tea for. (he also told me that he practices cello in the morning, and I am assuming that is why he named the store “Song” Tea & Ceramics.) So if and when you’re in the neighborhood, I highly recommend dropping by at Song Tea & Ceramics and saying hello to Peter. Song Tea & Ceramics 2120 Sutter Street San Francisco, CA 94115 MON-SAT 11 AM-6 PM Closed on SUN #SanFrancisco #Tea

Sushi is more than raw fish. In Japan, many vegetables are used for sushi. For example, Kappa Maki is a traditional seaweed out cucumber roll. The other popular roll is a Japanese pickles roll called Oshinko Maki. Umeboshi – pickled plum and Natto – fragmented soybeans are the other popular sushi items. Then there is Yellow Garlic Chives, “Kinira.” It has a very slightly sweet flavor and aroma. It takes two years to harvest Yellow Garlic Chives and it is considered a premium vegetable. #Fish #Sushi #JapaneseFood

Shishamo ししゃも It’s a rather small fish – about 15cm (6inches) in length, silver. Only caught on the Pacific Ocean side of Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan. Normally, Shishamo is grilled or fried. In Hokkaido, local Sshishamo fishing is allowed only during October – November. During this time, it is served as sushi or sashimi because of its freshness. Its taste is similar to Hirame/Halibut and a lot sweeter has almost no “fishy” smell. It goes well with soy sauce, however, eating with just a pinch of salt brings out the most flavor, according to many sushi chefs in Hokkaido. #Fish #Sushi #Ingredients

Shiro Ebi means white shrimp is only found in Toyama Japan. It’s about 6-7cm (2-2.5inches) in length, living deep-sea about 100-600meters. It has a slightly pink color when arrives and becomes white after it dies. Because it must be very fresh for raw consumption such as sushi until recently, it was only served at local sushi restaurants in the Toyama region. As such, many Japanese are unfamiliar with Shiro Ebi Sushi. It has a very sweet flavor like sweet shrimp. Because of it’s beautiful color, it is often referred to as the Jewel of Toyama. I have a chance to try this shrimp when I visited Toyama during summer, and it was just fantastic! #Fish #Ingredients #JapaneseFood

Thank you so much everyone for attending Saturday's class! #SushiClasses #Recipes