Making sushi and sashimi
Talk to most people about making sushi and sashimi and you will hear tales of Samurai like chefs who train day in and day out whils honing their precision with repetition. Laser sharp knives slicing exact copies of pristine fish and fusing it to perfectly cooked rice with what seems like sleight of hand.
It is true that sushi can be elevated to that level of discipline but it is also extremely accessible for any cook and completely forgiving to any mistakes. Indeed the hardest part of making sushi is gathering the correct ingredients and equipment to execute the task and in this simple cuisine (like most) quality makes the difference.
Jeffrey Elliot and Robby Cook
The Complete Guide to Sushi and Sashimi
Tim’s tuna katsu monster roll photo credit A Cook Not Mad
Tips & translations
Elliot and Cook also cover equipment needed and interesting tips & translations and guide you step by step with photos that depict everything clearly. They will have you motivated and prepared to make your cuts of sashimi.
Sashimi, sliced raw fish and seafood, is the simplest and purest way to eat fish and for the cook who has honed his or her knife skills, the pay off is succulent morsels of seafood presented in a highly artistic way.
As we mentioned before, each page is packed with pictures, tips and information like ordering at the sushi bar or how to use the “oshibori” to clean your fingers between eating each piece.
Time to make some sushi
With the pantry full and your knives sharp it’s time to make some sushi.
In this huge chapter we can really see the range from things that are very accessible and easy like scattered sushi, casually arranged ingredients put together similarly to a salad, or something as complicated as a decorative square roll that you definitely would not try on your first go around.
Starting with making proper sushi rice the book guides you, slowly building in difficulty as you go and gives a detailed description of tempura that will allow you to make tempura shrimp rolls or the awesome spider roll with soft shell crab.
The final chapters tidy up loose ends with answers to questions like “what is sushi grade tuna?” and others in its glossary of fish and seafood.
So if, like many cooks do, you get sushi fever and find yourself immersed in a regular ritual of toasting nori, The Complete Guide to Sushi and Sashimi will need a prominent place on your bookshelf.
Photos made available by the publisher Robert Rose Inc, unless noted.
Disclosure: Robert Rose Inc. sent us this book for an honest review
Wow! Your sushi looks so beautiful. I tried to make it once, and it looked nothing like that!
Practice makes perfect, an excuse to eat more sushi!
I forever get mixed up between the two. Can never remember which one has the rice! You’re so right in saying the hardest part is collecting all the ingredients. One day I will try!
Well they both have rice, sashimi is the one with the fish on top 😉
Tim’s tuna katsu monster roll looks amazing and I was hit with an instant craving as I love both sushi and sashimi. We’re going to have to try this school of cooking one of these days, especially since fresh tuna is so abundant here on the Portuguese coast.
You’re in the right place for fresh fish, hopefully you can find the other ingredients as well 🙂
I admit that the thought of eating raw fish makes me feel squeamish. Thus, I was a very hungry person when we visited Japan. Having said that, your photos make sushi and sashimi look beautiful, but I guess I’ll just be content to feast my eyes. 😉
This looks like the perfect book for a fish out of water, former coastal now prairie girl like me. I like that the book has photographic step by step instructions as I haven’t made sushi since university (aka a million years ago). I also like the fact that the book takes you through the different elements of sushi making from the proper way to make rice to tempura. This is a must for my birthday list….
I love sushi and sashimi, but never tried to make it at home. I used to live in Japan for a couple of months and eating sushi over there was really an experience. Back home I tried some sushi restaurants, but I was never impressed by the taste. Until last year we found a place, right here in our hometown, that served amazing sushi. Next week I will try some more in Copenhagen. Maybe I should try to make it at home with this guide….
I’m a really sushi lover and this looks like a great guide! One of the biggest challenges that I hope it addresses is how to determine whether fish is sushi grade. I love the idea of a ring-bound binder of information that you can keep with you as you work.
Wow, the photos had me salivating… love sushi and would love to learn to make it! Sounds like a great guide 🙂
A fantastic guide with some delicious photos! Absolutely fantastic!