Otaku no Podcast » cooking

Video #0004 – The Sushi Experiment 3.0: Nigiri, Temaki, Chirashi, and Facing the Fish

Donald Burr — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:45:34 +0000

Greetings, and welcome to the third and final installment in this series of sushi making videos. It’s finally time to run with the big dogs and face your fears – raw fish. But don’t worry, it’s not as difficult as it sounds, and assuming you have access to a reasonably good Asian foods market (or are willing to order frozen products shipped to you in dry ice over the internet) you’ll be just fine. (Look at it this way, not only do you get good quality raw fish, but also dry ice to play with. Fun!) Today we learn how to make Temaki, or hand rolls; and Nigiri, or pressed sushi. We also take a brief detour and learn the Way of the Blade – handling sushi knives.

This is the final video in the Sushi series. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed it. I’ll be returning to audio podcasting after this. But stay tuned until the end of the video, because I’ll be talking about the future of Otaku no Podcast and these video podcasts.

Links to some of the products mentioned in this video:

Sushi Making Set VI

Japanese Import, Kitchen, $50.50

Laquer Sushi Bowl and Sushi mat set D482

Ekitron, Kitchen, $25.99

Sushi Rice Japanese style – 5 lb (Kokuho Rose)

Kokuho, Misc., $9.99

RiceSelect Sushi Rice, 36-Ounce Jars (Pack of 4)

RiceSelect 2006, Grocery, $24.33

Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5-1/2-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer, Premium White

Zojirushi 2005, Kitchen, $159.99

Sushi for Dummies

Judi Strada. For Dummies 2004, Paperback, 288 pages, $9.47

Snow River 7V03389 Wood Oil

Snow River, Kitchen, $3.05

Edozen – Seaweed Sushi Nori – (10 Full Sheets) – 0.88 Oz – for Sushi or Hand Roll

Edozen, Misc., $2.98

Global 1804/270 10-1/2-Inch Yanagi Sashimi Knife

Yoshikin, Kitchen, $99.95

A good seller of frozen sushi/sashimi-grade seafood
Reasonably priced carbon steel yanagi (sushi knives) on eBay – if this one is sold out, use the “see other items” link to find more)
The more high-end sushi knife I own – again use the “see other items” link to find more, if you’re interested
A source of good Japanese water stones
A really lengthy article about proper knife care, sharpening, etc.
Another article on the proper care of carbon steel knives
How to make proper Nigiri Sushi (this is pretty intense)
Another method of making Nigiri Sushi (somewhat less intense than the previous one, but not by much!)

Video #0003 – The Sushi Experiment 2.0: Rolled Sushi

Donald Burr — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 08:38:09 +0000

Well, I didn’t get any angry e-mails or death threats, so I’m assuming that you folks liked our first videocast (or were at the very least willing to tolerate it). So we’re back with another. In this, our second installment in the Sushi series, we’ll be talking about how to make maki sushi, or rolled sushi. We’ll be making two of the most popular examples of this – kappa maki, or cucumber roll; and the infamous California Roll.

(To those of you wondering when Anime on the Cheap Part 2 is coming, the answer is – “sometime, hopefully soon.” I’m taking a break from audio podcasting mostly because I’m procrastinating, and also because I have fun new toys [video camera, mic, sushi making equipment, knives, etc.] to play with )

Links to some of the products mentioned in this video:

Sushi Making Set VI

Japanese Import, Kitchen, $50.50

Laquer Sushi Bowl and Sushi mat set D482

Ekitron, Kitchen, $25.99

Sushi Rice Japanese style – 5 lb (Kokuho Rose)

Kokuho, Misc., $9.99

RiceSelect Sushi Rice, 36-Ounce Jars (Pack of 4)

RiceSelect 2006, Grocery, $24.33

Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5-1/2-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer, Premium White

Zojirushi 2005, Kitchen, $159.99

Sushi for Dummies

Judi Strada. For Dummies 2004, Paperback, 288 pages, $9.47

Video #0002 – The Sushi Experiment 1.0: Inari Sushi

Donald Burr — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:34:58 +0000

Welcome to our first ever videocast. Okay, technically this is our second videocast, but since the first one was an Anime LA highlights video I put together over 9000 years ago, it doesn’t really count. In this first videocast, we take a brief journey away from anime, and into the kitchen, and I teach you how to make Inari Sushi, a tasty treat perfect for munching on during anime watching parties. (I mentioned this in Anime on the Cheap part 1) And no raw fish is involved!

This is really an experiment for me. I won’t do these videocasts very often – maybe one every few months at best – so don’t worry, your bandwidth won’t be choked up with huge downloads every week.

Products mentioned in the video:

Sushi Making Set VI

Japanese Import, Kitchen, $50.50

Laquer Sushi Bowl and Sushi mat set D482

Ekitron, Kitchen, $25.99

Sushi Rice Japanese style – 5 lb (Kokuho Rose)

Kokuho, Misc., $9.99

RiceSelect Sushi Rice, 36-Ounce Jars (Pack of 4)

RiceSelect 2006, Grocery, $24.33

Hime Seasoned Fried Bean Curd (Inarizushi-No-Moto)

Hime, Misc., $6.49

Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5-1/2-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer, Premium White

Zojirushi 2005, Kitchen, $159.99

Sushi for Dummies

Judi Strada. For Dummies 2004, Paperback, 288 pages, $9.47

How to make Okonomiyaki, TJX style!

Donald Burr — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:23:27 +0000

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese food best described as a sort of Japanese pancake (or perhaps omelette), with various other ingredients (meats, seafood, vegetables, cheese, etc.) mixed in. It may be difficult to type, but it’s pretty darn tasty. Like many other Japanese dishes, it is enjoyed throughout the country, and each region has its own variation on the dish. It’s sometimes cooked in front of you Benihana-style, and sometimes the restaurant leaves the cooking to you – each table has a grill on it, and you basically get a bowl full of mixed ingredients that you can grill to your liking. The most well known ones comes from Osaka (where it is said that okonomiyaki was invented) and Hiroshima. In our 2004 Tokyo trip, we had the pleasure of enjoying some Hiroshima okonomiyaki during a break in our tour schedule. It was indeed mighty tasty.

In their latest episode (and their first video episode), the TJX crew demonstrate how to make this delicious food. Be warned tho, you might want to at least have some snacks nearby, you’ll get hungry watching it! Watch it here.

EDIT: If you want to “kick it up a notch,” (ha!) and you have some decent cooking skills and have access to a decent Asian foods market or specialty store, I found this recipe for completely made-from-scratch okonomiyaki. And if you’re a wimp and/or rather use the pre-made stuff, but can’t find it anywhere locally… well, you can order anything on the Internets these days… Amazon has both the mix and the sauce!

Okonomiyaki kit / Japanese pizza – 4.3 oz x 3

ImportFood, Misc., $14.50

Japanese Okonomi Sauce – 12 oz x 2 bottles

Otafuku Foods, Inc., Misc., $11.50

EDIT 01/05/2010: Locally-mirrored copy of the video removed at the request of TJX, because it was causing confusion. This video is theirs, and I ask that you please direct any inquiries, comments, etc. to them directly. You should be able to play the video directly from their website, but if you can’t get the video to play in their embedded player (like I did), there IS a link to directly download it (look for “Podcast: play in new window / download” below the black video box). Or you can subscribe to their podcast – I’m sure they wouldn’t mind having a few more subscribers Sorry for the confusion guys. Gomen nasai.