Sushi Rice

Sushi is made with white, short-grained, Japanese rice mixed with a dressing made of rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and occasionally kombu and sake. It has to be cooled to room temperature before being used for a filling in a sushi or else it will get too sticky while being seasoned. Traditionally, the mixing is done with a hangiri, which is a round, flat-bottom wooden tub or barrel, and a wooden paddle (shamoji).

Sushi rice (sushi-meshi or su-meshi 酢飯) is prepared with short-grain Japanese rice, which has a consistency that differs from long-grain strains such as those from India, Thailand, and Vietnam. The essential quality is its stickiness or glutinousness. Rice that is too sticky has a mushy texture; if not sticky enough, it feels dry. Freshly harvested rice (shinmai) typically contains too much water, and requires extra time to drain the rice cooker after washing. In some fusion cuisine restaurants, short grain brown rice and wild rice are also used.

There are regional variations in sushi rice and, of course, individual chefs have their individual methods. Most of the variations are in the rice vinegar dressing: the Kanto region (or East Japan) version of the dressing commonly uses more salt; in Kansai region (or West Japan), the dressing has more sugar.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: ramen, sushi tei

Part of Tuna for Sushi

Here’s something that many may not know about Maguro (Tuna) or may not know what parts of the maguro we use here in Japan. I have seen some shows on TV when I was in the US and other countries, alot saw that they throw away good parts of the maguro. Here in Japan we usually don’t waste the whole fish, we use every part of the tuna for different sushi and dishes.

I will explain the parts of the tuna, where they are located, and what type of dish it is used for. I hope that the photo above is clear for you to understand what I’m about to explain. I will explain from the top and go clock wise in order.

• Senaka: Is the center back part of the tuna, this part is mainly used for Sashimi and Chutoro Sushi. You can find this in any Sushi Restaurant and in fish markets that sell parts. This one of my favorite part to eat, cause it has a Medium level Fatty and usually not so expensive in sushi restaurants. *You may have to request this in Sushi Restaurants.

• Seshimo: Is the lower back part of the tuna, this part is mainly used for Sashimi and Chutoro Sushi. You can find this in any Sushi Restaurant and in fish markets that sells parts. *You may have to request this in Sushi Restaurants.

• Akami: Is the middle part of the tuna, this is the leaner part of the tuna. You can find this any where in Supermarkets, Sushi Restaurants, and markets. This is used in most sushi rolls, sashimi dishes, and sushi sets trays. My kids love this part of the tuna, cause it doesn’t have to much fatty and oil.

• O Te-ru: Is the tail part of the tuna. I’m not sure if you can find this in your country, It would have to be a Japanese Restaurant that server fish as their main course specialty. In Japan we use this part to make Steaks on the grill or at BarBQs and also have deep fried dish for this.

• Harashimo: Is the lower stomach part of the tuna, this part is also used for Sashimi, Otoro, and Chutoro. You may find this in Sushi Restaurants, but you may have to ask for it when ordering. This part is also very good, but it could be a little expensive. Due to it is very fatty and oily, the more fatty and oily the part of the tuna the more expensive it gets.

• Haranaka: Is the center stomach part of the tuna, this part is used for both Sashimi and Chutoro. You may find this in Sushi Restaurants, but you may have to ask for it when ordering. This part of the tuna is very good.

• Harakami: Is the upper stomach part of the tuna, this part is also used for Sashimi and Otoro. You may find this in Sushi Restaurants, but you may have to ask for it when ordering. This part is also very good, but it could be a little expensive. Due to it is very fatty and oily, the more fatty and oily the part of the tuna the more expensive it gets.

• Kama Toru: Is one part of the neck side of the tuna, this part of the tuna is used in Sushi, and in Donburi. You may find this in Fish Restaurants that specialty in fish menus. I haven’t tried this part of the tuna, but I have got a lot feed back that it’s very delicious.

• Kama: Is one part of the neck side of the tuna, this part of the tuna is used in Sushi, and in Donburi. You may find this in Fish Restaurants that specialty in fish menus. I haven’t tried this part of the tuna, but I have got a lot feed back that it’s very delicious.

• Noten: Is the upper head part of the tuna, this part of the is used in Soups, Donburi, and Grilled. You may also find this in Fish Restaurants that specialty in fish menus. I haven’t this part of the tuna also, I’m still waiting on my friends feedback on this.

• Hohoniku: Is the cheek part of the tuna, this part is mostly used for Nabe Meals(Hot pots). I haven’t tried this yet cause its very hard to find this part of the fish in the supermarkets. This maybe hard to find in your area. I have tried this as a Nabe dish and it’s very delicious.

• Sekami: Is the upper back part of the tuna, this part is used for Sashimi and Chutoro. This part of the tuna you can find in most Sushi Restaurants. You may have to ask for it when ordering. This part of the tuna is very tasty and it has about medium fatty and oil on it.

Source: www.naokoscooking.com

See Also: ramen, sushi tei

Museum Ramen

The "Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum" is a unique museum about ramen. In a gallery on the first floor, the museum presents the history of ramen in Japan, including the big success of instant ramen. It displays the variety of noodles, soups, toppings and bowls used across Japan, and shows how the noodles are made. On the two basement floors, visitors can explore a 1:1 replica of some streets and houses of Shitamachi, the old town of Tokyo, circa 1958, when the popularity of ramen was rapidly increasing. Nine ramen restaurants can be found there, each featuring a ramen dish from a different region of Japan. For visitors who wish to try multiple ramen dishes, the restaurants offer "mini ramen" small portions. Tickets for the meals are purchased at vending machines in front of each restaurant before entering.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: sushi, sushi tei

Cooking Pasta

Cooking pasta is as easy as boiling water, but does require care.

1. You should figure 1 quart of water per quarter pound of pasta (1 liter of water per 100 grams of pasta), and expand this to 6 quarts for a pound. If you don't use enough water the pasta will be gummy, so don't stint.

2. Bring the water to a rolling boil, salt it with 2-3 teaspoons of kosher salt per quart of water. Don't skimp on the salt or the pasta will be unpleasantly bland -- it helps to keep in mind that Neapolitans, who are masters at cooking pasta, used to use sea water back when it was safe to do so.

3. Add the pasta, stirring gently to separate the pieces and keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

The pasta package will probably say how long the pasta should cook for, but don't trust it. A couple of minutes before it is supposed to be done, fish out a piece and break it open; in the center you will see a whitish area of uncooked pasta that is poetically known as the anima, or soul of the pasta. Ladle a couple of ladles of hot water into the serving bowl, swirl them about to warm it, discard them, and continue cooking the pasta until the anima barely fades. At this point drain the pasta, giving it one or two good shakes to remove most of the water (it will continue to absorb water for a minute or two), transfer it to the bowl, stir the sauce into it and serve.

As a variation, if the sauce is fairly liquid, say for penne rosé, warm it in a skillet as the pasta cooks, and when the pasta is just shy of being done drain it and transfer while it's still dripping it to the skillet. Turn the heat to high and toss the pasta as you would an omelet; as it finishes cooking it will absorb the sauce and taste much better. On restaurant menus pasta cooked this way is called strascicata or saltata in padella. There are hudreds of pasta recipes on this site; click on the pasta sauces and recipes link on the navigation bar to the left to reach them.

Source: www.italianfood.about.com

See also: steak, sate, sushi

Kind of Sushi

Inarizushi

Inarizushi (稲荷寿司, stuffed sushi) is a pouch of fried tofu filled with usually just sushi rice. It is named after the Shinto god Inari, who is believed to have a fondness for fried tofu. The pouch is normally fashioned as deep-fried tofu (油揚げ, abura age). Regional variations include pouches made of a thin omelette (帛紗寿司, fukusa-zushi or 茶巾寿司, chakin-zushi). It should not be confused with inari maki, which is a roll filled with flavored fried tofu. A very large version, sweeter than normal and often containing bits of carrot, is popular in Hawaii, where it is called "cone sushi."

Sukeroku

Sukeroku (助六, name of a man in Edo period) is the combination set of inarizushi and makizushi, which is served as a single-portion takeout style sushi-pack. In a famous Kabuki play Sukeroku, a good-looking man Sukeroku is the lover of an Oiran courtesan named Agemaki (揚巻, lit. fry for age and roll for maki). Age and maki which form her name correspond to fried tofu namely inari and makimono, respectively. One rumour of sukeroku-zushi is that takeout style packs of inarizushi and makizushi had served at performances of Sukeroku kabuki in Edo period. Sukeroku is a cheap sushi-pack and often vegetarian.

Chirashizushi

Nama-chirashi, or chirashizushi with raw ingredients

Chirashizushi (ちらし寿司, lit. scattered sushi) is a bowl of sushi rice with other ingredients mixed in (also refers to barazushi). It is commonly eaten in Japan because it is filling, fast and easy to make. Chirashizushi most often varies regionally because it is eaten annually as a part of the Doll Festival, celebrated only during March in Japan. The ingredients are often chef's choice. Edomae chirashizushi (Edo-style scattered sushi) is an uncooked ingredient that is arranged artfully on top of the sushi rice in a bowl. Gomokuzushi (Kansai-style sushi) are cooked or uncooked ingredients mixed in the body of rice in a bowl.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: ramen, dim sum

Bagaimana Sushi Mendunia?

Alih Bahasa Oleh: Ratih

Tuna tidak perlu dipromosikan di Jepang, karena merupakan seafood terpopuler disana. Setiap tahun permintaan ikan tuna begitu besar. Nikkatsuren, Federasi Pencinta Ikan Tuna meluncurkan “Hari Tuna” (Maguro no hi). Hari itu, para penjual tuna memajang poster-poster dan membagikan kartu-kartu resep. Tanggal 10 Oktober merupakan tanggal pertama kalinya ikan tuna muncul dalam literatur Jepang, dalam koleksi puisi klasik abad 8 yang dikenal dengan Man'yoshu. Kebetulan tanggal 10 Oktober bertepatan dengan peringatan Hari Olahraga Nasional Jepang. Sehingga, Goro-kun si tuna sportif merupakan cara efektif untuk mempromosikan kebudayaan nasional Jepang, makanan sehat demi kehidupan yang aktif, dan liburan bersama keluarga.

Di luar Jepang, tuna mentah tidak dianggap lezat pada awalnya. Ide soal ikan mentah yang diiris tipis bukanlah sesuatu yang mudah diterima dalam kebudayaan masyarakat lain. Hanya sedikit makanan Jepang yang muncul di media Amerika Serikat setelah Perang Dunia kedua. Baru pada tahun 1960-an artikel tentang sushi muncul di sebuah majalah gaya hidup seperti Holiday dan Sunset. Tapi resep yang ditawarkan adalah sushi dengan bahan udang bukan ikan mentah yang dibungkus nasi. Pada tahun 1972, New York Times meliput tentang pembukaan sebuah restoran sushi dengan artikel berjudul “Wake Up Little Sushi!” review restoran ini menggiring pembaca untuk lebih mengenal sushi termasuk penciptanya di Amerika Utara. Tahun 1970-an memang tahun menanjaknya popularitas sushi di Amerika Utara, Eropa dan Amerika Latin. Sushi menjadi bagian dari fashion, “sushi” lip gloss diambil dari warna merah tuna mentah hingga “wasabi” cat kuku, berwarna hijau muda seperti warna daging alpukat.

Popularitas sushi berpengaruh pada naiknya penjualan ikan tuna di Jepang. Pada tahun 1984 dari 957 ton menjadi 5235 ton. Permintaan ikan tuna sebagai bahan utama sushi di dunia cukup mengejutkan. Hal ini diikuti dengan maraknya restoran sushi di berbagai belahan dunia, baik Asia maupun Eropa. Kendala cuaca kadang menjadi kendala dalam pengiriman sushi. Namun hal ini tidak menjadi kendala para pemilik restoran untuk memesan ikan tuna langsung dari Jepang.

Sushi kemudian menjadi bagian dari kehidupan bergengsi. Sushi disediakan bukan hanya di gerai-gerai atau restoran namun menjadi salah satu menu andalan hotel mewah. Maka permintaan chef ahli sushi pun meningkat. Demi memberikan kebutuhan akan chef di restoran-restoran dan hotel-hotel mewah, sebuah sekolah khusus didirikan di Tokyo, bernama Sushi Daigaku (Universitas Sushi) menawarkan sertifikat sushi bagi para siswanya. Sushi kemudian identik dengan budaya Jepang dimata dunia.

Sumber:

Watson, James I and Melissa I Caldwell (Editors). 2005. The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating: A Reader. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing

Pasta

Pasta adalah makanan olahan yang digunakan pada masakan Italia, dibuat dari campuran tepung terigu, air, telur, dan garam yang membentuk adonan yang bisa dibentuk menjadi berbagai variasi ukuran dan bentuk. Pasta dijadikan berbagai hidangan setelah dimasak dengan cara direbus. Di Indonesia, jenis pasta yang populer misalnya spageti, makaroni dan lasagna.

Dalam bahasa Inggris, pasta adalah sebutan untuk berbagai jenis masakan dengan bahan utama salah satu jenis pasta yang diberi bumbu dan saus. Pasta berasal dari bahasa Italia "pasta alimentare" yang berarti adonan bahan makanan. Dalam arti luas, "pasta" bisa berarti semua adonan seperti adonan roti, pastry, atau cake. Dalam bahasa Italia, pasta yang berarti bahan makanan seperti mi disebut pastasciutta.

Pasta dibuat dari tepung terigu semolina yang merupakan hasil gilingan biji gandum durum dicampur telur sehingga sedikit berwarna kuning cerah, dan bila dimasak dengan benar akan menghasilkan tekstur sedikit kenyal. Pasta buatan Amerika sering dibuat dari campuran tepung terigu Farina dan Semolina, sehingga mempunyai tekstur yang lebih lembut untuk dijadikan hidangan seperti kaserol.

Di luar negara asalnya di Italia, pasta biasanya dijual di dalam kemasan dalam bentuk kering. Pasta kering dibuat di pabrik dengan menggunakan mesin ekstrusi yang mendorong keluar adonan pasta melalui lubang-lubang saringan. Bentuk-bentuk pasta yang lain diperoleh dengan menggiling adonan pasta menjadi lembaran yang kemudian dipotong-potong atau dicetak.

Pasta segar buatan rumah tangga dan restoran dibentuk dengan tangan beberapa saat sebelum pasta direbus. Pasta segar memerlukan waktu masak yang singkat, namun pasta segar tidak tahan lama disimpan karena memiliki kadar air yang tinggi. Pasta kering bisa tahan lama disimpan hingga 3 tahun atau lebih karena hanya memiliki kandungan air sebanyak 10%. Pasta yang sudah dimasak dan tinggal dipanaskan dengan oven microwave juga sering dijumpai di bagian makanan beku pasar swalayan.
sumber: wikipedia
lihat juga: steak, dim sum, wine

Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki (すき焼き, スキヤキ ?) adalah irisan tipis daging sapi, sayur-sayuran, dan tahu di dalam panci besi yang dimasak di atas meja makan dengan cara direbus. Sukiyaki dimakan dengan mencelup irisan daging ke dalam kocokan telur ayam.

Sayur-sayuran untuk Sukiyaki misalnya bawang bombay, daun bawang, sawi putih, shungiku (nama daun dari pohon keluarga seruni), jamur shiitake, dan jamur enoki. Sebagai pelengkap ditambahkan ito konnyaku atau shirataki yang berbentuk seperti soun berwarna bening atau sedikit abu-abu.

Sukiyaki memiliki dua versi, Sukiyaki versi daerah Kansai dan Sukiyaki versi daerah Kanto yang berbeda cara penyajian, jenis bumbu dan rasa.

Menurut Sukiyaki versi Kansai, Sukiyaki hanya dimasak dengan bumbu kecap asin dan gula pasir, sedangkan Sukiyaki versi Kanto dimasak menggunakan saus Warishita yang merupakan campuran dashi, kecap asin, gula pasir, dan mirin yang dimasak terlebih dulu.

Menurut cara Kansai, potongan lemak sapi dicairkan di dalam panci sebelum memasukkan irisan daging sapi. Bumbu berupa gula pasir dan kecap asin dituangkan sekaligus dalam jumlah banyak di atas daging yang sudah matang lalu diaduk-aduk dengan sayur-sayuran hingga matang. Menurut cara Kanto, bumbu warishita dididihkan dulu di dalam panci sebelum semua bahan dimasukkan.
sumber: wikipedia
lihat juga: seafood, pasta, steak, dim sum

SOTO

Soto, sroto, atau coto adalah makanan khas Indonesia yang terbuat dari kaldu daging dan sayuran. Daging yang paling sering digunakan adalah sapi dan ayam, tapi juga babi dan kambing. Berbagai daerah di Indonesia memiliki jenis soto sendiri, dengan kandungan yang berbeda-beda, misalnya Soto Kediri soto Madura, soto Betawi, soto Padang, soto Bandung, soto Sokaraja, soto Banjar, soto Medan, coto Makassar. Soto juga dinamai menurut kandungannya, misalnya soto ayam, soto babat, soto kambing. Soto memiliki banyak kemiripan dengan sop.

Karena ada beberapa jenis soto di Indonesia, masing-masing mempunyai cara penyajian yang berbeda-beda. Soto bisa dihidangkan dengan berbagai macam lauk, misalnya kerupuk, perkedel, emping melinjo, sambal, saus kacang, dan lain-lain. Dan juga pula dengan tambahan lainnya seperti sate telur pindang, sate kerang, jeruk limau, koya (campuran tumpukan kerupuk dengan bawang putih) dll. Seperti kita ketahui bahwa makanan pokok orang Indonesia adalah nasi, sehingga soto biasanya dihidangkan dengan nasi sebagai menu utama. Namun, ada perbedaan dalam hal menu utama nasi tersebut. Kebanyakan soto dihidangkan secara terpisah dengan nasi, seperti Soto Betawi, Soto Padang, dan lain-lain. Namun, ada juga yang dihidangkan bersama dengan nasi atau soto campur nasi, misalnya Soto Kudus. Selain itu, ada juga soto yang dihidangkan dengan lontong atau nasi yang sudah dimasak dengan dibungkus daun pisang, misalnya Coto Makassar. Kemudian, ada juga yang memakai mie, dan bukan nasi sebagai menu pokoknya, misalnya Soto Mie Bogor
lihat juga: wine, soto, restaurant

saatnya dorayaki

Dorayaki adalah kue yang berasal dari Jepang. Dorayaki termasuk ke dalam golongan kue tradisional Jepang (wagashi) yang bentuknya bundar sedikit tembam, terdiri dari dua lembar kue yang direkatkan dengan selai kacang merah. Dorayaki memiliki tekstur yang lembut dan mirip dengan kue jepang yang disebut Kastela karena adonan yang mengandung madu.Makanan doraemon nie, hehehe
lihat juga: sate, sushi, seafood
sumber: kotakgame