Pomegranate Wasabi
With 15 rather long comments, Spicy Morality Cat is, by far, the most commented blog post I've ever written. The comments raise some very good points and counter-points, and I'd like to see the discussion continue. I expect that later today, at some point after I get back from my VLSI CAD class, I'll be able to organize the issues presented into a coherent summary and post another blog entry about it, against which more discussion will be warmly welcomed.
[ Update (5:32 PM EST): the morality debate is now summarized here. ]
First, however, I must tell you about dinner last night.
I love sushi. Anyone who has ever eaten sushi with me is well aware of this. I have had sushi in many forms, in many places, and under a wide variety of circumstances. I have had bad sushi, good sushi, and fantastic sushi. I have introduced people to sushi and been thoroughly entertained by their expressions after trying each of the fish that particular restaurant had on offer. I've even eaten sushi in Colorado Springs and Vail, hundreds of miles from an ocean.
I know many other people who also love sushi, but I've never known anyone other than professional sushi chefs who have actually made sushi at home. I did that last night.
Step one is to buy a hunk of fish meat that looks particularly nice and put it in the freezer for a few days to kill any nasty stuff that might be lurking in it. Then, thaw it, and you're well on your way to becoming a homegrown sushi chef. I was worried I'd have no idea how to cut the fish to make it the proper shape, but it turned out to be really easy. Diagonal cuts down the bulk of the steak work very well for this. My only problem was that some of the slices ended up being a bit thin. Oh, I'd also imagine it would be difficult to cut a fish steak well without something very sharp. My Wüsthof Classic Chef's Knife didn't let me down.
Step two is to make rice. I bought special sushi rice at Whole Foods Market (for lack of anywhere better), but I think any rice that has a short grain and is really sticky should be fine. Cook to taste, yada yada, you should know how to make rice by now. For the love of Dog, do not add salt. After the rice has finished cooking, it's only necessary to let it cool down to a temperature at which it won't burn you if you handle it with your hands. I was surprised at how easy it was to form the rice so that a slice of fish would fit comfortably on top.
Step three is to make all the other stuff you want. In my case, I wanted wasabi. I would have wanted ginger, too, but I would have had to go far out of my way to get it with such late notice. I bought my wasabi powder at Whole Foods Market, and I made sure to get the kind with the most actual wasabi in the powder (Sushi Sonic wasabi powder has 45% "genuine wasabi"). It seems some brands use a bunch of dried horseradish and mustard but not a lot of real wasabi. The idea is to mix the powder with enough water to make a paste. If you've never actually eaten wasabi before, go do that, and then you'll know what the consistency of the paste should be.
Water, though, seemed like a drag once I caught sight of the pomegranates in my fruit bowl. So, Katy and I painfully peeled one of those suckers, carefully extracted all the stupid little seed things, and juiced them. That yielded about half a cup of pomegranate juice, which was way more than enough for the wasabi I was about to make.
So, we ate a bunch of tuna sushi with organic soy sauce and pomegranate wasabi, and it was absolutely amazing. If you're in the Pittsburgh area and would like to sample pomegranate wasabi, I still have some in my refrigerator, which I may use to crust the tuna steaks I made from the leftover tuna last night (the limiting factor in sushi-making was rice -- I thought I cooked way too much, but I, in fact, cooked way too little). Yum!