Sushi School - Where should I begin?

I mix soy sauce and wasabi for dipping my Whole Foods brown rice avocado roll.

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I thought saba is a winter fish. If not i had some pretty damn good out-of-season saba at shibumi, shunji, and raku.

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Good question. I picked up the low-brow version for osechi ay Nijiya. Premade, vacuum-packed with an expiration date of over a month. ~$8(?) For a big ass slab. Made in Japan.

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Some of the best Saba- “Seki Saba” from Saganoseki - is found in Autumn/Winter, about September to December, but now in later February would be a bit late, and JL is right, right now is not peak season, though Saba can be an autumn/winter fish. It’s all line-caught and killed ikejime. It’s much more expensive than regular Saba and is known for a clean taste (ikejime is part of the reason, it bled out differently). It’s popular at high end sushi yas or places that serve good sashimi. There are other producers which have Saba around now, though seki Saba is tops. When were your meals?

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from the pictures iroha sounds pretty serious.

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I’ve not the chance to view your second video… Yet. But I’ll say, the first one has probably blighted even the most sublime sushi experience I will have in Los Angeles. But that’s okay! It raised my consciousness to another level. Thanks professor.

They were all in February.

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So a friend corrected me, good saba (including Seki Saba) can indeed be found in October through end of February / early Spring. I was told that September to December was generally regarded as peak season, but it’s been good through right around now.

Different regions / suppliers may have different peak seasons. But the best saba I’ve had, and generally the highest regarded, is around Autumn/Winter time.

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I’ve had saba once or twice years ago and remember liking it. But I feel that about unagi (freshwater eel); I’ve had and loved it in the past, but a couple of times it was awful and that put me off of it. People are so used to getting what we want when we want it we forget about seasonality, hence the overfishing I guess.

Thanks @MaladyNelson!

Shout out to @CiaoBob for the great recommendation.

I had Red Window’s flat white with almond milk. It was really delish. Now I’m spoiled and cappuccino won’t be the same.

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That’s good to know! It’s a seasonal thing, not a rookie thing :relaxed:. I have a long appointment today and will bring my Sushi book along. There is a lot in it about seasonality.

Thanks J_L!

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Good question. Now I’m wondering if the tamago I’ve had in people’s homes was store bought :relaxed:.

Looks good!

It was very good. I’m bummed I didn’t try at least one roll, like the Pink Panther @T3t mentioned. It seems to be a signature of theirs.

I don’t think I’ve ever eaten sushi fish side down. But that might be less awkward after dipping fish side in soy. Hmmm… another experiment.

I cannot believe how many people here are utterly clueless about how to correctly eat sushi.

Please. Sawada doesn’t know what the hell he is talking about.

Educate yourselves…

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Ahh yes, seasonality. It helps to go to the more direct sources

True World Foods (a wholesaler with offices/locations worldwide). This is just but a reference for what restaurants could potentially order from wholesalers in Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo

http://www.trueworldfoods.com/products/tsukiji/ (this list is more comprehensive, you can click on tabs for seasons)

Japanese sites have varying information, though interestingly a bit less on the TWF JP site

http://www.trueworld-jp.com/product/tsukiji/

Deeper digging can net you more catches on JP websites:

http://tokyouoshou.com/ (a fish / commerce association website)

This is just but a sampling of seasonal fish mentioned, I’m sure there are others not listed

http://tokyouoshou.com/season_1.html

Saba: 鯖(サバ) - 1月の旬の魚 - 東京魚商業協同組合 - 豊洲発 おいしいお魚ガイド (in season September to February). So we are at the tail end of it.

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Dang - so that’s what the salt is for…

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There’s that famous troll video!

If it’s not clear enough already, people, don’t follow this, especially not while eating at Sawada :grimacing:

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You say “troll”, I say hilarious satire.

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