Posted on 10/29/2005 10:46:23 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - America's growing appetite for exotic sushi may help preserve vanishing beds of seaweed seen as an important part of the ecosystem along the California coastline.
Diners in sushi restaurants are eating ever greater amounts of sea urchin roe, known as Uni, creating a $23 million industry in California for harvesting the creatures, the California Sea Urchin Commission said this week.
The spiny echinoderms, a potential peril to swimmers stepping on rocks, feast on kelp, which is dwindling along California's coastline.
Divers in the state now harvest 800,000 pounds of Uni annually, the Sea Urchin Commission said, adding that it expects growing consumer demand for Uni in the United States.
My sushi place is run by Koreans, they all speak English, Japanese, and Korean. You can get a spectacular meal for $50, and the fish is exceedingly fresh because the owner is a hardass about not compromising the fish quality. It does taste a bit different from Japanese places because they use California rice instead of bringing in expensive Japanese rice.
If you find yourself in MD, suburbs of DC, freepmail me if you want to try it. I won't post the name here, it is hard enough to get a table now.
It is. Actually I save that for last, first doing the 'nicey-nicey' stuff to get them hooked in.
That's it, in living color!
The Korean's themself seem to just have one type of roll (maki) and they call it kimbob.
I finally found a good sushi restaurant where I live! I moved to the dessert, so you can imagine why I was so hesitant! I think I'll treat myself tonight!
I finally found a good sushi restaurant where I live! I moved to the dessert, so you can imagine why I was so hesitant! I think I'll treat myself tonight!
I've tried to figure out the hard addition to sushi and I think it's the body's craving for raw enzymes. That plus you always feel energized and great after eating it.
Properly made, they oughtn't flop out. Ooze, maybe. Fall, maybe. Not flop.
That's very true, but it's a seasonal thing. Around here, the uni harvesting just started a couple weeks ago, and will last until sometime in January.
The live critters are delivered to the restaurant and prepared onsite for maximum freshness.
But when the season's over, that's it. You either get the stuff in trays (from Alaska) or do without until the season opens next September.
People keep saying "only eat sushi near the ocean", but that really means nothing for many/most of the items on the menu. Some of the best sushi fish, and some species, come frozen. Quality all depends on how they were originally prepared, frozen and stored.
Hamachi, Octopus, Unagi and many others - frozen, frozen, frozen in most cases. If done properly, it can be better than fresh because there's no chance to decay before serving.
Some things like Mirugai (geoduck) and Uni are pretty much fresh-or-nothing-at-all items, though. I wouldn't eat either in Denver unless the critters arrived live at the restaurant.
And salmon is *always* deep-frozen before serving raw, for safety - salmon is notorious for picking up parasites migrating between saltwater and freshwater; these are killed either by cooking or deep-freezing. You won't necessarily get sick eating fresh raw salmon (sashimi-loving fishermen do it all the time), but the risk goes up substantially. A good chef will take the prime pieces, set them aside for deep-freezing as sashimi later, and grill the rest.
2. Why is it that this overpriced crap is so popular. Why is it that everything "Asian" seems to be popular with yuppie douchebags?
Still waiting, however, for the giant squid to reproduce in great numbers, and migrate to the Pacific coast.
Good tagline. Ya can't go wrong with Spacecataz.
I agree, I eat sushi about once a week, the expensive kind. The difference between it and the cheap stuff is the same as the difference between steak at Ruth's Chris and steak at Denny's. Plus with the obvious health risks from improper handling of raw fish, I can't understand why anyone would want to eat discount sushi.
Mmmmmm, sushi!
Uh, most raw sushi in the US is fast frozen on the boats. It matters not where you live. However, when in Korea, I learned how to select the raw seafood restuarants. The best ones are on the east coast and have tanks continually refilled by fresh sea water directly from the ocean. Nothing like being served a large platter of various raw fish species surrounded by other edible (and not so edible) varieties of raw seafood.
Sheesh, there is some kind of bureaucracy for EVERYTHING, isn't there? Good grief.
From my first and only expereince eating sushi that was "awful", I do remember the salmon being the best. I love salmon any way it's prepared - even raw!
Ok, good start. Now, when you have the opportunity, branch out. Try different varieties of salmon and see what you think. Coho, Chinook, Silver, Copper River etc. - they taste different from each other.
My first experience with sushi raw fish was when I went on an overnight fishing trip with my 5th grade buddie and we tried to cook our catch over an open campfire on sticks.
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