Sushi Buffet

The Sushi Buffet is a very popular form of eating out. In Japan Sushi-ya restaurants are among the specialized Japanese restaurants. Generally a Sushi Buffet in one of these establishments will be served where the customer sits at a table, or the customer can sit at the counter. The Japanese love their sushi on special occasions, such as celebrations. Sushi-ya restaurants are rather expensive though. Perhaps this is one reason why the Kaiten-zushi restaurant has gained in popularity. Here the sushi dishes are served on a conveyor belt, and the customer simply picks their required dish. The Sushi Buffet allows for customers to pick and choose according to their preference.

Sushi is one of Japan’s greatest exports. You’ll likely find a restaurant serving a Sushi Buffet in many countries outside of Japan.

Sushi is made with white, short-grained rice. The rice is mixed with a dressing made of rice vinegar, sugar, and salt, and occasionally with a few other ingredients. Certain parts of Japan favor greater use of salt, other parts prefer more sugar in the mixture. This rice is then combined with various toppings or fillings such as vegetables, eggs or meat. The toppings in sushi are incredibly varied. Some toppings are raw, others cooked, or marinated. What you will find in a western Sushi Buffet you might not if you have a Sushi Buffet in Japan, since tastes – and palates – are different.

Some of the more common sushi recipes are

Nigiri. This is small rice balls with fish, such as tuna, shrimp, eel, squid, octopus on top.

Chirashi. Sushi rice, on which seafood, mushroom and vegetables are spread.

Norimaki. Wrapped in sheets of dried seaweed, sushi rice and seafood, these are beautiful looking – and tasting – sushi rolls.

Inari. This term translates as ‘golden rice pouches’ where sushi rice is filled into deep fried tofu bags. Inari is probably one of the easier sushi to make at home.

If you haven’t yet tasted sushi, a Sushi Buffet will be sure to be a delightful experience.             Sushi at Home. Sushi is a food that is eaten worldwide in both casual and formal settings. If you dont have the ability or experience to eat sushi in a high class or formal experience you can make your own sushi at home and it can taste just as good as when the chefs make it.

First you must understand exactly what sushi is. The basic form of sushi is that it is a roll of fish or other sea food wrapped up with rice. These ingredients are placed inside of seaweed, also known as nori. There are two different types of sushi as a base.

The first is simpler and is hosomaki which is translated as thin maki. This type of sushi only contains one type of filling which can be fish, seafood, or just a simple vegetable for those who dont eat any type of fish and/or seafood. The second type is futomaki also known as fat maki and this contains two or more fillings for a fuller type of sushi. These two are the basics for sushi making. They can be spiced up by adding additional sauces or seasonings.

Sushi can also be rolled or folded in different ways. Hand formed sushi, also known as nigri sushi, is the most common type and includes pressed rice along with some type of topping. Another type is known as maki sushi and is rolled up. The seaweed is wrapped around rice and a filling. It may be hosomaki or futomaki.

In order to make sushi a few basic ingredients are required. Nori, short grained rice, seasonings, and a type of raw fish or vegetable are the basic essentials. The vegetables may include but are not limited to avocado, cucumber, carrots, and asparagus. The seasonings can be plants and other items such as ginger root, wasabi, or soy sauce. If you want to include seafood you may want to include shrimp, eel, salmon, or any other seafood.

Now that we have outlined ingredients the actual process of making the sushi can occur. Place nori down flat on a bamboo mat for the filling to be placed inside. Spread a very thin layer of rice on top of the nori that leaves enough visible for the nori to be seen. Any ingredients you wish to be placed inside the sushi are now placed in the middle of the nori.

Now it is time to roll the sushi. Hold the bamboo mat edge and roll away from you. Be sure that the roll is tight but not tight enough that the fillings seep out of the edges. After the roll is complete the bamboo can be separated and the roll is left intact. The entire sushi roll is now ready to be sliced into sections. Depending upon the size you want each roll to be, now cut it into either sections of six or eight.

Dont be afraid to experiment and try different ingredients and combinations. You never know what kind of creation you will come up with.

1. The main ingredient in sushi is white rice with vinegar. Since going vegan, I had switched to eating only foods made with whole grains. I became used to making genmai (brown rice) at home for its nutritional benefits (3 times the fiber, more vitamins and minerals) compared to white rice, and I could no longer reconcile eating white rice sushi from a taste or health perspective.

2. Sushi vinegar contains katsuo dashi (extract of dried tuna). Other ingredients used in sushi, such as pickles, umeboshi (sour plums), and sauces are also prepared using sushi vinegar and/or dashi. In fact, I discovered recently that the only food at most sushi shops that doesn’t contain fish extract is the powdered green tea!

I am not sure why many people seem to have difficulty eating brown rice. Westerners either eat it or they don’t, while Japanese who say they enjoy eating genmai frequently mix it together with white rice, so apparently they are eating it for its health benefits rather than its taste and texture, which I actually prefer.

Once I stopped eating sushi out, I still longed for a vegan substitute, so we began making temaki zushi (hand-rolled sushi) at home using vinegared genmai, nori (seaweed laver), and various fillings such as avocado paste, natto, umeboshi, cucumber slices, etc.

When there’s time, and for special occasions, we lightly pan-fry sliced eggplant (nasu), and eat it on top of sushi genmai as well. Warm (aburi), and dipped in a bit of soy sauce with wasabi, it tastes as good as otoro (fatty tuna), uni (sea urchin), ikura (salmon roe) or any other traditional sushi delicacy ever did!

So, if you think you can’t start a plant-based diet because you could never give up your favorite food, think again! There are infinite tasty plant-based alternatives if you will just start down the vegan road. I am not a nutritionist – just a guy with heaps of useful advice and encouragement to offer those considering eliminating meat and other animal products from their diets.