5/3/26 Japanese
JAPANESE CUISINE - 5/3/26
4/30
still trying to finalize the menu but i think i am pretty close. my notes have this right now:
- miso soup
- build your own sushi bar
- premade sushi
- edamame
- takoyaki
- onigiri
which i think will be good enough and maybe will keep me busy.
i had notes with ideas for other stuff to make which had these:
- matcha ice cream
- shredded lettuce salad
- chicken katsu & curry
- okonomiyaki (idk why i put this on here def not making that)
- yakitori
- mochi
- green tea
- waygu
maybe i’ll add lettuce and green tea since those are pretty easy.
i have 3 sushi rolling matts and a new knife (thx zia <3) so i think people making their own sushi will work.
now for what to have in the subway style sushi building station. probably definitely need raw fish, tuna and salmon are pretty classic. and some spicy tuna mix. some vegetables julienned cucumber and carrots … hmm what else maybe kanpyo (i think that’s how it’s spelt) oh and definitely avocado and let’s do spouts, immitation crab maybe sardines? or some other fishy fish hmm? and toppings we will need spicy mayo, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, ”wasabi” (most so called wasabi is just horseradish), pickled ginger, and obviously most importantly sushi rice and nori (seaweed) !
so that’s the byo sushi station. the miso soup will be easy just miso and silky tofu. same with edamame.
now for the premade sushi that i make. now we gotta break down the different kinds of sushi the most popular in the US is Nigiri, Maki and Temaki:
- Nigiri is hand pressed oval ball things with a topping on top sometimes wrapped in a little bit of nori
-
- i am thinking this is where most of the nice but small amount of fishes will go
-
- probably mackerel, tuna, salmon, eel, octopus and salmon roe (can just used the leftovers for the byo) (also i could do squid, urchin, yellowtail but ill see what i can find)
- Maki is what most people think of when they think of sushi, it’s rolled stuff inside rice and nori
-
- there is hosomaki which is a maki with just one thing in it i’ll probably do tuna, salmon, cucumber and avocado.
-
- also futomaki which as many things inside and sometimes has toppings too i think i’ll leave this for people to build their own.
- Temaki, lastly for what we will be having is a large hand rolled kind of triangle shaped roll that is hand held and eaten. i suppose people can also make temaki from the byo station if they so please.
another sushi thing that isn’t technically sushi i don’t think is onigiri which is a ball of sushi rice that covers something and has a little nori also i’ll make a few of these with a few filling that i still need to think of but probably at least spicy tuna.
besides sushi i also think i will make takoyaki which is a street food with batter that is cooked in half spheres and turn into balls. they usually have octopus inside but can really have whatever idk what else would be good but i can figure that out later.
chicken katsu would be fun but i think im doing enough as is.
and i can pick up a gallon or pint of matcha ice cream for dessert.
i think that’s good for now, i already picked up 20 pairs of chopsticks. i’ll lay out my shopping list later and quantities but im feeling good! maybe ill think of other decor stuff too hmm…
5/8
Okay the dust has settled and it went well!
I ended up having
- 2 kinds of Hosomaki ((3 rolls) cucumber and (3 rolls) salmon)
- 5 kinds Nigiri (Tuna, Salmon, Eel, Yellowtail, and Mackerel)
- 1 kind of Onigiri (Spicy Tuna)
- Big bowl of Edamame
- Big bowl of Miso Soup with Tofu
and also i set out byo sushi station and people built their own rolls and it went great!
If i were to do this again or advise people who want to have their own sushi night i would say make the hosomaki and cut sashimi for the nigiri before people show up and then when people arrive have everyone make balls for the nigiri and then make their own rolls too. I would still keep the miso and edamame those were good for filling out the meal.
All in all it took me around 3-4 hours to prep but i think i was a little hectic because i had a lot more in mind that i thought i was going to make. The onigiri also took a long time for not as many but i thought they were cute just a lot of sushi rice i think itd be better as a packed lunch or something rather than dinner for many.
I didnt do a handful of the other dishes but it was just too much and people were already full with what we had. (takoyaki, green tea, lettuce salad, and more rolls premade) (glad i didnt do more premade rolls because people can just make what they want)
For where i got all the food:
- Salmon was from costco and it was nice but didnt save for super long i would in the future just get some frozen from joong boo and see how that works.
- Tuna i got from work
- Eel Yellowtail and Mackerel I got as sashimi from Lawrence fish market which was probably more expensive but i didnt have to cut it and deal with the hassle for having extra nigiri so i would say it was worth it
- pretty much everything else was from Joong boo (sushi rice, toppings, nori, etc)
It was much easier than i all expected and would definitely have a sushi night again!
Also to go with the Japanese theme I set up our Wii and GameCube. Now i need to return the extra sushi matts i borrowed.
Ill find my recipes i referenced and add them to the end here.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/onigiri-rice-balls/#recipe-video