What do people drink with sushi?

originally posted by Rahsaan:
Sake.

Tea.

Water.

Beer.

But I could see the Muscadet thing.

Chidane Tuffeaux seems kind of rich, no?
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Yeah, at first I was thinking about trying to cut the wasabi but I realize that doesn't make sense...
 
We don't keep beer or tea around the house as a matter of course, we're wine and coffee people all the way.

Water, never touch the stuff.
 
originally posted by Brad L i l j e q u i s t:
Yeah, at first I was thinking about trying to cut the wasabi but I realize that doesn't make sense...
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Well, the wasabi shouldn't be too strong regardless of the accompanying beverage. Pure clean and potent yes. But also very much a background note.

I guess it all depends on the goals.

If you're cooking at home you could also call it crudo, ceviche or something else and just embrace the fusion if you really want to go the wine route.
 
originally posted by Chris Coad:
We don't keep beer or tea around the house...
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What does that have to do with sushi.

You have a sushi bar in your house?

Roosevelt Island is paradise indeed.
 
originally posted by Chris Coad:
You eat it out exclusively?
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For the most part, sushi for me is a high end or nothing type of thing. Pristine perfect fish is such a key element to enjoying sushi that I don't find much interest in the vast mid-range options let alone the cheap stuff.

Maybe things have changed since I last looked, but most of the takeaway sushi comprimises on that pristine element which greatly reduces the interest and leaves me looking for other options.
 
Very different approach here. Growing up in Hawaii sushi was comfort/junk food, fifty cents for cone sushi at Woolworth's. Get some decent nori, a nice cut of fresh aku, rice, inamona, toss in whatever else you feel like, roll it up, slice, dip in shoyu/wasabi, pop it in your mouth, repeat until full.

Not that I don't sometimes enjoy the expensive production values in Manhattan venues, it just seems a bit absurd for something so basic.
 
originally posted by Chris Coad:
Very different approach here. Growing up in Hawaii sushi was comfort/junk food, fifty cents for cone sushi at Woolworth's. Get some decent nori, a nice cut of fresh aku, rice, toss in whatever else you feel like, roll it up, slice, dip in shoyu/wasabi, pop it in your mouth, repeat until full.

Not that I don't sometimes enjoy the expensive production values in Manhattan venues, it just seems a bit absurd for something so easy and basic.
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Yes, but was the quality better?

There is a whole range of sushi in Japan as well, for different moods and occasions. But in my experience the casual snacking sushi in Japan is often better and fresher than the casual snacking sushi in the States. Different standards and all.

Regardless of the occasion, I just can't get behind mediocre fish in sushi (unless there's a whole lot of nori, a whole lot of sweet rice, and a whole lot of pungent wasabi) and that seems to be the norm for mid-range US sushi options.
 
Was the quality better? In other words, can professional sushi chefs, working with prime ingredients, make a better product than I can make at home?

Yes. Yes, they can. But I think you knew that. Just as you know that fish is optional in sushi.

I really have no idea what 'mid-range US sushi options' are. Is that a financial vehicle of some kind?

I suspect professional Italian chefs, working with imported ingredients, could make a better pizza than I could with my rather crude home methods, too. I'm just not willing to pay the tariff to find out. These are tough financial times. Plus, it's actually a good bit of fun to roll your own dough and make your own sauce, as it's a bit of fun to roll your own sushi while watching the latest True Blood and arguing over whether Daniel Craig is the best Bond since Connery. We all have our ways to spend our entertainment dollars. I think it's just a different mindset.
 
For my tastes sushi is primarily driven by the quality of the fish (depending on the type of sushi of course but my main rant in this discussion has been about fish quality). So if you're making it at home and put in a little effort to purchase the freshest fish I am sure you are doing better than if you spent similar money in a restaurant.

My critiques were for the takeaway/delivery sushi places that comprimise on quality to make their profit margin.

I am also a big fan of making pizza at home (that was dinner tonight in fact). For one, the toppings are undoubtedly better at home than in a restaurant where they need to worry about profit margins. The only advantage to restaurant pizza is the special super-high temperature ovens, but those are rare.

The Bond thing I'm less capable of following.
 
Indeed. My puny gas oven will never achieve the subtlety of the crust at say, John's here in Manhattan. I'm willing to pay a bit extra for that kind of quality when we find ourselves wandering around wondering where to eat. But you can do okay with a good stone and thinly-rolled dough and good fresh ingredients, so we don't go out for pizza much. Plus, the process is fun--last Saturday we had chorizo/yellow pepper/Maui onion pizza at home. The crust wasn't the kind of thing you'd get in a 700-degree oven, but it was pretty good.

I do tend to agree about delivery sushi. It's been a longstanding joke with Lisa about those places in Manhattan that offer SUSHI--FIFTY PERCENT OFF! Like, that can't be good. We tried our local place, it was relatively overpriced and bland.

We've done a total threadjack on poor Brad's innocent question. Apologies.

Now go watch your Bond movies. Pronto.
 
roll your own...nice

take out sushi in japan isn't anything spectacular, but for rolling your own, finding decent to excellent grade sashimi is easy in supermarkets/fish markets...i've found similar levels of fresh sashimi in hawaiian supers too. uwajimaya in seattle often has a decent selection of sashimi...including geoduck, which is hard to find elsewhere.

as to what to drink with sushi...japanese beer and sake are easy, and i could see muscadet working (makes me wish for a luneau-papin right now actually). i'd be curious to try a cremant with it, and i had a riesling with sushi a couple of weeks ago that worked just fine.
 
originally posted by Brad L i l j e q u i s t:
What do people drink with sushi?Chidaine, say something like the Tuffeaux?
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I'm with the other beverages crowd, but when forced to produce a wine to go with sushi (assuming nigirisushi) I'll go with Champagne, preferably ros. It's actually quite nice in my opinion.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Chris Coad:
last Saturday we had chorizo/yellow pepper/Maui onion pizza at home.
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Sounds good except for the chorizo part.

Tonight in these parts the pizza was roasted cauliflower, roasted beets, parsley and pecorino. To drink it was red burgundy.

SUSHI--FIFTY PERCENT OFF! Like, that can't be good..
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Agreed agreed. They've been barking similar things in Whole Foods recently for the shrimp and I laugh everytime.

Anyway, maybe Brad needs to specify more about his sushi meal?
 
originally posted by MLipton:
I'll go with Champagne, preferably ros.
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I've long thought Champagne was one of the smartest wine matches. Although I have not done a comprehensive study.

However, am curious why you prefer ros? I would have thought crisp Blanc de Blancs. Although I have not done a comprehensive study.
 
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