Tasty Sushi in Orange County, California

Let's face it-sushi or sashimi can be either the most delicious thing you have ever put in your mouth or horrible. People either love the idea of eating out of the sea raw fish or shutter and grimace at the thought.

As a fan of this cuisine, I have tried several places within Orange County, California. Let's face it you stay where you are most comfortable and for me, the "OC" has been home for all but the first 5 years of my life. My entire family-even the newly teenaged niece and nephew have an affinity for the freshest and best of japanese "good eats".
These were some of our favorites:

O-nami's Seafood Buffet located in the Laguna Hills Mall. It is a buffet, but the restaurant has an attentive wait staff, so you never have a table full of dirty, empty dishes hanging around. Drinks are forever being re-filled without looking around. At any given time there are over 40 types of sushi being freshly prepared right in front of you. They also have an extensive hot food section, salad section and even a dessert bar. This enables everyone-non raw fish lovers included-to go home more than satisfied. Thankfully the mall is there for before and after exercising!
You and I Sushi in Laguna Hills. While not a buffet, this small strip mall family-run venue has a version of it by giving you one hour and a check off menu. We all have but one thing to say however, while the food has always been quite good, the service here is quite spotty. One visit had them second guessing us by serving us some of our favorites before we even got into our chairs, while another time we had nary a bite after the one hour limit, at which point they served everything on our personalized menu to our table within 15 minutes!
Osaka's Japanese Restaurant in Laguna Niguel. This is quite the hopping place! Beside offering a sushi bar with a very helpful master of the art, there is also a teppan area. We've done both. The food is excellent, great for celebrating a special occasion-especially the teppan side where the show is deftly performed by very talented chefs. Because it's located right outside the popular Nellie Gail area, you have a very upscale crowd populating this restaurant.
California Beach Sushi in Newport Beach has been around since 1985. It's a rather typical glitzy spot for this part of the county.
I Love Sushi Japanese Restaurant in Costa Mesa has been around and considered to be one of the county's most beloved institutions for this cuisine. Nothing too fancy, but just plain good.
Osu's in Westminster is another stalwart of the county's-I remember my father loving their miso soup and sushi back when I was in college-in the mid-'70's. It's a bit dark for my taste, but the decor and the good food, as well as the service, has never waned.
Again, sushi and sashimi is a love it or hate it type of cuisine, but the great thing about all of the above mentioned is that they all serve the traditional cooked Japanese fare as well.

Carine Nadel is on The Reader's Advisory Panel of Woman's Day magazine and has had numerous articles and recipes published both on various websites and print publications. To read more of her work, log onto: http://www.Carine-whatscooking.blogspot.com

Sushi Restaurants in Cowtown

Kansas City is known to many as Cowtown or the BBQ Capital of the World. With more than 100 barbeque restaurants, eating barbeque in this city is a way of life passed on from generation to generation.

While BBQ will forever be the staple cuisine of this city, there is a new kid on the block in the KC area. This cuisine has substituted ribs, burnt ends and BBQ sauce with rice, fish, and wasabi. That's right-- we're talking about Sushi. While it's safe to say that you can't find 100 sushi restaurants in KC, it can't be ignored that raw sea critters and spicy tuna are satisfying more Kansas Citians than ever before.
Sushi in Kansas City has hit the ground running with more and more restaurants popping up around the metro area. But unlike mouth-watering BBQ, there seems to be a definite love/hate relationship towards the rice covered raw seafood. On one side of the table are the addicted raw-fish advocates who can't get enough of the bite sized delights. On the other side are those who simply believe that food should not be eaten "half-alive." Regardless where your taste buds stand for these rolled culinary creations, you can't help but try Sushi at least once. As I always say, once you try a California Roll you'll keep coming back for more. Before you know it, your sushiphobia will disappear!
We went around in search of some finger-lickin' good sushi in Kansas City, and this is what we came up with:
Best Happy Hour Sushi: Kona Grill
This Plaza favorite not only has great sushi and a variety of American dishes, but it's also a great spot for grabbing a drink or two. When it comes to their rolls, take your time to look the menu over because they offer a diverse assortment of sashimi and rolls. The Volcano Roll is sure to bring you back time and again. A note to the wise, impatient and hungry-- you may want to make reservations unless you enjoy waiting 90 minutes to be seated for dinner. There's a lot of traffic at this restaurant, especially on the weekends.
Best Sushi Rolls: Sushi House & Jun's
If you're looking for some excellent Sushi in a great setting then don't miss out on Sushi House in Town Center. The Spicy Temptation Roll is sure to tempt your taste buds and the Tropical Roll is anything but Midwest. A full bar and menu of teriyaki, noodles, tempura, and bento boxes is also offered for lunch and dinner. If you want private dining that is relaxed, take off your shoes and try out one of Sushi House's private rooms. This place has such amazing sushi that you actually forget you're eating in a strip mall in Leawood.
Another great place for delicious rolls is Jun's Japanese in Prarie Village. Enjoy tempting tempura, sukiyaki, sashimi or hamachi. Order a bit of sake to wash everything down, and you're all set.
Best Sushi for Beginners: Nara
If you're a little weary about diving into the depths of sushi, then Nara is a great choice. At Nara, there's an assortment of menu items, ranging from Wakko Noodles to Lemon Grass Chicken to the Kobe Burger. Sushi beginners can try the Philadelphia Roll-- anything with cream cheese is automatically a good thing! Aside from the diverse menu, the bar and outdoor seating make dining at Nara a great night out.
Best Place for a Sushi/Steakhouse Compromise: Ichiban
Not quite sure if you want sushi or steak? Well don't worry-- you can have both at Ichiban in Westport. Ichiban Steakhouse and Sushi Bar serves up great entertainment right before your eyes no matter what you order. But if it is Sushi that you are craving, try the Plaza Roll and the Casper Roll both excellent choices, you won't be disappointed.
Best Cheap n' Good Sushi: Friend's Sushi & Bento Box
If you're craving good sushi but on a tight budget, then try Friend's Sushi & Bento Box, especially on Monday night. The sushi is just $1 per piece and select rolls just $3.99.
Best Neighborhood Sushi: Domo
If you're looking for some Einstein bagels, then you've come to the wrong place because you will now find Domo in this Brookside location. Perhaps their Philadelphia Roll will satisfy your cream cheese cravings. If you're looking for a wide assortment of traditional nigiri and exotic maki rolls then you should definitely try Domo out.
Best Date Sushi: Matsu
This great restaurant located in trendy Westport is just the place to have a quaint and relaxed sushi meal for two. The truly adventurous leave their culinary fate in the hands of the Sushi chef by selecting the Matsu special. The chef chooses a sample of raw and cooked sushi, sashimi and rolls. What are you craving? You better be ready for salmon, tuna, crab, caviar, snapper, eel or alligator!
Check out these other great KC area Sushi restaurants:
Kyoto Sushi & Steak House
Izumi Japanese Steak & Sushi
Jins Sushi
Kato
KC Sushi
Kokoro Express
Maui Express
Sushi Gin
Sushi Haru
Sushi Station
Wa (Lawrence, KS)

http://TastingSpace.com is Kansas City's exciting new online restaurant guide. At http://TastingSpace.com you can search over 1,000 Kansas City restaurants by menu item, cuisine, Kansas City neighbhorhood, and more. Rate what you ate and leave comments for your friends. Eat. Drink. Taste KC! For more information, go to Kansas City's restaurant guide, http://TastingSpace.com

Best Places To Eat Sushi

Sushi is an increasingly popular food item these days and many may wonder where the best place is to buy sushi. As more and more stores and restaurants are offering sushi to the raw fish buying public, purchasing the best type of sushi product is on the minds of sushi lovers everywhere. The following will list some of the more popular places to buy this delicacy and detail how to know which sushi is the best to purchase.

Restaurants Which Specialize in Sushi
As one may imagine, restaurants where the specialty is sushi is one of the best places to buy this type of food. Not only will these restaurants have the best selection with regard to sushi entrees but they will also often have the freshest selection due to the popularity thereof. A restaurant which goes through its food supplies quickly will often need to keep up a constant delivery of fresh ingredients in order to meet the demands of the sushi-eating patrons.
Restaurants Which Always Offer Sushi
Even restaurants which may not specialize in sushi but offer it on a constant basis might be a good choice as well. Again, this type of restaurant which always offers sushi will have a fresh supply on hand constantly as it is a staple on the menu. A restaurant which may have an occasional sushi special yet not have it as a permanent menu item might not be the best bet for those looking to buy sushi.
Grocery Stores with a Sushi Counter
More and more grocery stores are starting to offer sushi due to the increasing popularity of this item. Not only are the grocery stores selling this product but they have a sushi counter installed around the deli area. A grocery store with this type of section is another great place to visit for your sushi needs as it will often be freshly prepared by one who knows the art of sushi preparation.
Tips to Keep in Mind When Selecting Sushi Items
Now that one knows buying their sushi from a specialty restaurant, a restaurant which constantly offers sushi or a grocery store with sushi counter will often yield the best entrees, there are a few tips to keep in mind when buying this delectable food item. First, know what you are eating. It is a good idea to inquire about the sushi contents prior to buying it so that you are getting exactly what you want and nothing which you do not wish to have.
Another tip to keep in mind is to inquire about its freshness. Find out when it was prepared, if purchasing from a grocery sushi counter, and only choose one which is extremely fresh. This will help you to find the freshest sushi out there and not take the chance of getting sick from fish which is not fresh.
Lastly, when buying various sushi items, try to expand your repertoire in the sushi department from time to time. Try various sushi plates in order to increase your varieties of sushi which you eat. When you buy sushi, keep in mind that you don't know if you like it until you try it.

Craig Thornburrow is an acknowledged expert in his field. You can get more free advice on sushi and sushi kits at http://www.sushikit.org

Cooking Extreme Sushi Recipes

Let's talk about Japan's greatest creation, just barely edging out Ghost in the Shell, bento, Otsuka Ai, Iron Chef, comedy routines based on torturing Morning Musume and Pocky. Sushi!

First, we have to clear up one of the most common misunderstandings in multicultural culinary experience. Sushi is a category of traditional Japanese food consisting mainly of rice mixed with seasoned vinegar, seaweed, vegetables and either cooked or raw fish. The fish doesn't have to be raw, people! In Japan raw fish is more often used, but it's still perfectly "authentic" using cooked. Actually, till now I've held a general rule that I won't eat raw fish unless I'm somewhere on the coast, but lately I've heard from a lot of people saying that this is mainly a paranoid fear story that we get fed, and raw fish off a fishmonger or supermarket shelf is quite safe to eat.
Anyway, on with the sushi thing. I'll talk about ingredients and preparation today, and construction tomorrow, as I think this is a subject which deserves detailed attention.
First, you need the right rice. This is easier to obtain than you might have been told - a lot of places (I see it mostly in health food shops) sell "sushi rice" which is usually overpriced and not particularly special. I have made great sushi from this, from arborio rice (italian risotto rice), pudding rice and regular big huge economy bag short grain rice. As long as it's short grain and cooked the right way, it'll be fine.
"Cooked right" means cooked the way I'm about to tell you, no deviations. This method of rice cooking is 100% bullet-proof and 99% idiot-proof. It's derived from the guidance of Yasuko-San, who is an actual bona fide Japanese mother. You do not mess with a Japanese mother when it comes to cooking rice. You shut up and cook the darn rice they way they tell you to. Actually I had to adjust the figures a bit because the rice we get over here has a different absorption ratio, but the principle still stands.
(for 2-3 people) Take one and a half cups of short grain rice, wash it till the water runs clean, and put it in a saucepan with 3 cups of water. The saucepan must have a tight-fitting lid. Now, put the saucepan on a medium heat, and simmer it for 15 minutes. DO NOT move the lid at any time or Yasuko-san will find you and beat you with her samoji*.
Now, crank the heat up to the top and cook the rice for 1 full minute. You should hear it start to sizzle at the bottom of the pan at the end of the minute. If you're using electric hobs (as I am cursed with, living in a high-rise), have a hob preheated to high heat and just slide the pan over onto it. Then take it off the heat, with the lid STILL TIGHTLY ON, and let it stand for 10 minutes WITHOUT TOUCHING THE DARN LID.
Rice cooked in this way will have the perfect consistency, will need no draining (because all the water is absorbed), and actually tastes better. For long grain rice, it will be firm and smooth - with a quarter teaspoon of salt added to the boiling water, I'll eat a plain bowl of white rice cooked this way with gusto. For short grain rice it will be sticky but the grains will keep their shape, perfect for sushi or rice balls. All hail Yasuko-san! Ganbatte! Ganbarimasu!
For the seasoned vinegar, combine a quarter cup of white wine vinegar (best of all rice wine vinegar), 1 and a half tablespoons of sugar and 3/4 teaspoon of salt in a small pan, and heat it just to boiling so it all dissolves. Once the rice has finished its 10 minutes rest, spread it out in a shallow container (I use my vertical-sided saute pan which is perfect) and drizzle the vinegar mixture over it, then dig it in well with a spatula or wooden spoon. Try not to squash the grains too much, you want them firm and well-shaped for perfect sushi.
Now you need to cool the rice before rolling. A real sushi chef would fan it by hand. Actually, scratch that, a real professional sushi chef would have one of his underpaid kitchen monkeys fan it by hand. Fortunately we have the benefits of modern technology, and an almost-total disregard for tradition. Stick it in front of an electric fan for about a minute, then dig it around with a spatula to bring the hot rice from the bottom to the top, and leave it there for another minute. This will leave the rice cool, and slightly drier (but still moist and sticky enough to shape well).
So you've got your rice ready, perfectly cooked and seasoned, awaiting your rolling skills. Now all that remains is the final transformation. Find out more tomorrow, as we venture deeper into the world of sushi! Thrills, spills and seaweed! There's danger at every turn!
* Rice paddle

Mark Hewitt is an English foodie, cook, philosopher, geek, shaman and writer. At the start of 2007 he sold or gave away almost all his possessions and left on a backpacking journey round the world, the purpose being (at least in part) to figure out why he would want to do such a thing. You can follow his journey and find other articles at: http://www.scadindustries.com

Ninja Sushi Restaurant Review

When I really feel like I need raw fish, I usually go to Star Market at the Mililani Town Center for a quick fix of poke. But one day, I remembered that there's also a sushi place at the Mililani Town center called Ninja Sushi. At first glance this Hawaii Restaurant is really clean and the photos of the menu are enlarged and plastered all over the restaurant. You are basically salivating the moment you walk into the place. Not only do they have large colorful pictures of their menu all over the restaurant, they have a rather large detailed picture menu at the take-out counter. I'd say that the menu is at least one third the length of the counter. The only thing that I don't like about the menu is that they don't have scallops! AHHH! Scallops are my favorite.

Ninja Sushi isn't very big, I'd say they can seat only about 40 people tops, typical for a mid budget restaurant in Hawaii. But if you don't want to take up an entire table if you're sitting by yourself, they offer bar-style seating (but sorry no bartender). The service is pretty good--I haven't run into a bad egg yet. There are no conveyor belts passing sashimi around for an hour--everything is made fresh upon demand. You basically place your order like you're at McDonald's, but they take your name. They'll either call your name or serve you at your table. I only believe in giving tips at restaurants if the help actually waits on me at my table, and clean up after me when I leave. So I've never left a tip at Ninja Sushi because that's not how the place is set up. On the other hand, they do have a jar for tips at the front counter if you feel inclined to give a tip no matter what.
I have written a lot about many Hawaii Restaurants but now let's get down to the nitty gritty-- the food. I've only been to ninja sushi Hawaii a few times, so I can only comment on a few things. While I think they slice their fish on the thin side, the creativity of the menu was pretty amazing. My favorite thing to eat at their restaurant is the Lion maki. I really liked how all of the different textures come together for each delectable bite-- especially the use of french fried onions on top of the roll.
Hawaii Restaurants & Coupons

Homemade Inari Sushi

One of the cheaper and more popular types of sushi in the market nowadays is the Inari Sushi. It is made by stuffing sushi rice, and even some vegetables into small pouches of deep fried bean curd or tofu, also more popularly known in its Japanese term as aburage. Instead of the usual Nori seaweed or soybean paper, aburage is used in this sushi. Aburage can either be sold in packets or packaged in cans, and is widely distributed throughout most Japanese specialty stores or supermarkets. This type of sushi is also called by some famous nicknames, like pocket-sushi and brown-bag sushi. But whatever the monikers may be, this type of sushi is easy to make, less expensive, and tastes really good!

Following the simple procedures below can have you making your own Inari sushi in no time.
Inari Sushi Rice Recipe
Ingredients:
4 deep fried tofu pieces, cut into half
2 cups prepared sushi rice
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons Mirin or sweet Japanese cooking wine
1 and ¼ cup Dashi or fish stock
Salt
¼ cup shredded carrots (par-boiled)
1 teaspoon sesame seeds (toasted) optional
Pickled ginger (for garnish)
Steps
1. Since the tofu is deep-fried, it is necessary to get rid of the excess oils. Do this by soaking them in boiling water. Cool for a while, and then cut them into half. This makes 8 tofu pouches in all.
2. Combine soy sauce, sugar, dashi and mirin in a small pan. Bring to a boil over slow to medium heat. Add the tofu pockets to the boiling sauce. Let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes, over slow heat, and completely covered. After 20 minutes, turn off heat, and drain the tofu. Squeeze them dry and set aside.
3. Combine sushi rice, carrots, and the toasted sesame seeds.
4. Stuff the rice mixture into the cut tofu, carefully folding over the ends to secure it.
5. Arrange in a plate and garnish with the pickled ginger.
This recipe yields 8 servings of Inari Sushi
Some useful tips:
• Some canned tofu are seasoned and already cut into serving pouches. Therefore, you can do away with the simmering in soy-sauce and mirin mixture. However, boiling the tofu in the sauce is most ideal, as it will ensure more flavor.
• Mirin is a kind of Japanese cooking wine, sort of a sweeter version of the usual sake. The mixture in making this wine usually consists of steamed mochigome rice, shochu (Japanese liquor), and komekoji (rice yeast). These are then fermented to make mirin. There are actually two types of mirin available in the market. Hon mirin contains 14 percent alcohol. Shin mirin has less than 1 percent alcohol, and is therefore more ideal for cooking. Shin Mirin is often bottled and has a yellow gold color. Mirin is also used to prepare seasoning for sushi rice.
• Aburage is often confused with Atsuage. While both are soybean products, and are deep fried, aburage is of the thinner variety. Atsuage is also triangular in shape, thick, and ideal for simmered soups, added in stir fries, or served with soy sauce. Aburage is often shaped into squares and rectangles. This makes the aburage perfect when stuffed with sushi rice and made into Inari Sushi.
• Dashi or fish stock is relatively easy to make. A cup of Katsuobushi or dried fish flakes can be combined with 2-3 cups of water, and then boiled over low heat. Then the fish flakes can be strained to retain the fish stock.

Want to make sushi at home, sushi that are much better than those in sushibar? Can't find the detailed guide? Want to see more Pictures of real sushi? Then http://sushicup.com is for you!
Sushi Cooking Guide

Local Sushi Restaurant in Lake Mary, Florida

Have you ever thought about trying Sushi in Lake Mary and Seminole County? For a great many people the only thought they have about sushi is that it is raw. Many people are turned off by the thought of uncooked fish served to them in a pretty and artistic way. But the truth of the matter is that once you try sushi you may discover that you really enjoy the taste.

The actual meaning of sushi in Japan is the rice that accompanies the fish. Many people believe that sushi refers to the raw fish that is served. Actually the literal translation of the word sushi in Japanese means 'it's sour'. Once you understand that sushi is not just raw fish you will realize that there are many other elements in the preparing of sushi.
Sushi does not have to contain any raw fish at all. You can get different varieties of sushi at your local Japanese restaurant. Try a caterpillar roll for some great tasting sushi. This particular recipe includes unagi, which is a Japanese eel prepared together with avocado and carrot greens. For people who like their fish cooked you can try spider roll. This delectable dish has fried soft shell crab along with avocado, cucumbers, sprouts and a spicy mayonnaise.
Sushi can be quite spicy. The sauces that are used are designed to enhance the flavor of the main ingredients. Sauces like wasabi is typically used in the preparation of sushi.
Sushi restaurants have become quite popular among the very trendiest people. You will generally find that the sushi restaurant is usually very upscale and caters to a trendy and refined clientele. You don't have to be in this class of clientele to enjoy sushi. It has become very mainstream. Some buffet restaurants offer sushi in their buffet. This is a great opportunity to give it a try. Of course, the best place to find exquisitely prepared sushi is in a restaurant that specializes in sushi.
Open up the world of sushi to your children and take them to a sushi restaurant. It is great to expose children to a wide variety of foods and cultures. It might be wise to not let them in on the fact that the fish might be raw. Order them an item that doesn't contain any raw fish and you should not have problems. They might have a bit of a problem with the spicy nature of the food, but let them give it a try. The only way you will know if they like it is to let them try. Taking your children to a sushi restaurant and other types of restaurants is a good way to encourage them to not be afraid to try new things. Many children are very picky eaters. By giving them the opportunity to try new kinds of foods you are opening them up to the remarkable variety of food items that they can enjoy.
Don't be afraid to try a sushi restaurant. Check out a sushi restaurant in Lake Mary and Seminole County Fl to discover if sushi is for you. It might be a great experience and you might open yourself up to a world of food you never had before.
Our next article will give you our recommendations for the best Sushi restaurants in Lake Mary and Seminole County.

Learn more about Sushi Lake Mary Fl and Sushi restaurants in Lake Mary and Seminole County Fl quickly and easily by visiting http://www.lakemarybusinessdirectory.com a very popular website that provides resources, articles, consumer information and business reviews

Hidden Hazards - Eating Sushi

Nigiri. Maki. Sashimi. If you are one of the millions of Americans who have jumped on the sushi bandwagon, then you know exactly what these Japanese delicacies are.

Sushi has quickly become one of the most convenient, hip and healthy ways to grab lunch or dinner, and everyone from college students to business professionals can't get enough of it.
Even though it is recommended that we eat fish at least twice a week because it's rich in omega-3 fatty acids (which helps blood circulate in our bodies and reduces blood pressure), there is definitely a dark side to eating fish that is far more harmful to our health.
What is Sushi?
Sushi was originally created in Japan as a way to preserve fish, but it later spilled over to the Western world as an exotic and artistic way to prepare seafood.
Its main ingredients include vinegared rice, raw fish or shellfish and vegetables rolled up in seaweed. Even though most of the fish is raw, it can also be cooked and marinated in different sauces.
There are literally hundreds of different types of ingredients you can get in sushi, from eel and avocado to shrimp and cucumber, but by far the two most popular raw fish items to get are tuna and salmon.
How Can It Harm You?
It is true that the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish can have a positive impact on asthma, cancer and kidney disease, but there are also many toxic elements found in raw fish that can greatly damage your body.
Here are some dangers of eating raw fish or shellfish:
Mercury
Mercury is the most dangerous element found in uncooked fish. It is naturally found in small amounts in rocks and soil, but due to human activities such as burning fossil fuels and dumping pollutants into our waters, it has become increasingly damaging to the environment.
When factories dump harmful pesticides and other toxins into our waters, they are absorbed by the marine life in the water, and that includes fish. So, when we eat raw fish, we consume the mercury and it absorbs into our bloodstream.
Some harmful effects of ingesting mercury are:

• Damages the central nervous system, DNA and the brain
• Allergic reactions
• Headaches
• Sperm damage
• Birth defects

Even though the amount of mercury you can ingest from a piece of sushi is very small, if you eat sushi on a regular basis this can be a cause of concern for you.
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is caused by a virus that can inflame your liver and damage its functionality. Your liver is basically what fights infections and removes harmful poisons from your body, so if you contract Hepatitis A, it can greatly weaken your body's natural ability to fight off germs.
Hepatitis A can be contracted by eating the raw shellfish, such as crab and shrimp. Symptoms include fever, nausea and loss of appetite.
However, it is treatable. You can get a Hepatitis A vaccine shot to help prevent the virus from attacking your body. Or, if you do contract the virus, by taking proper medication and resting, you can fully recover.
Worms and Parasites
Even though sushi chefs are trained to identify worms and worm eggs in raw fish, they can still slip by the preparation process.
Most fish have some type of worm or parasite in the, but they are killed when the fish is cooked. So eating raw fish offers an opportunity for worms and other parasites to travel into our digestive tract and attack our intestines. This can cause abdominal discomfort, weakness of the limbs and fatigue.
But don't' worry, the probability of contracting worms and parasites from raw fish is often slim to none. Mercury is still the larger concern.
High Calories
Yes, sushi has fish and vegetables in it, which are healthy by our standards, but when combined with other fancy ingredients, they can add up to an unhealthy amount of calories.
A California Roll, which has imitation crab stick, avocado and cucumber in it, has about 350 calories in it, whereas the popular Spicy Tuna roll, which includes tuna, hot paste and red pepper flakes blended with mayonnaise, has a whopping 450 calories! Not exactly a light lunch.
This information is not meant to scare avid sushi lovers from eating their favorite meal. In fact, sushi's popularity will only continue to grow because it's such a tasty and convenient food to eat, and we're all about convenience here in America.
The purpose of pointing out these hazards is to show people that everything that we put into our bodies, especially the food that we eat, can have a dramatic effect on our eco-lifestyle.
In order to live greener, we need to take care of our environment so that whatever we get from it can keep us pure and healthy.

Trish Smith is a copywriter for Green Student U, Student Finance Domain and Study Abroad Domain, websites that are devoted to providing college students with helpful environmental, financial and study abroad advice.

Preparing Sushi

Originally the word "Sushi" referred to the vinigared rice that was placed under fish that was being preserved. The vinegar, salt and sugar from the fish would seap into the rice, which was initially discarded. Nowadays Sushi refers the rice as well as the fish that is used. There are many different types of Sushi and here they are.

Traditional Roll: 2-3 oz of sushi rice flattened (leaving a 1/4-inch gap on the far side for the seam) on a 1/2 sheet of nori; fill with cucumber and roll; cut into 8 pieces
Reverse Traditional Roll (this is what I call them): 3-4 oz of sushi rice flattened on a full sheet of Nori (leaving a 1/4-inch gap on the far side for the seam; flip nori over and add desired ingredients; roll in Makisu (bamboo mat); cut into 8 pieces
Hand Roll: 1-2 oz of sushi rice placed in the middle of 1/4 sheet of nori (quarter nori into squares); to the top of the rice add your vegetables or fish and then roll like a cone.
Nagiri Sushi: this is a ball of rice with fish on top. 1 oz sushi rice; form into an oval; on the piece of fish add a dab of wasabi and then place, wasabi side down, on top of the rice
Sashimi: Slices of fish with out rice. Simply slice your fish thinly and place on a small plate. You can top with jalapenos, soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, ponzu, yuzu, sriracha, spicy mayo or vegetables.
Gunkan: 1 oz of sushi rice, two fingers wide; wrap the circumference with a strip of nori; top with vegetables, uni (sea urchin), or any type of roe.
Unagi (Seat Belt): 1 oz of sushi rice, two fingers wide; place fish on top; wrap with a thin strip of nori
Chirashi: assorted sushi placed or scattered over sushi rice in a bowl.
Next time you go get some Sushi impress all of your friends with your new found knowledge.
Enjoy

I started my culinary career as a child cooking in the kitchen with my dad. He loved food, loved to cook and loved to create, and so the seeds were planted. After college I wasn't sure where to go from there. I tried teaching and didn't like the academics, let me teach the fun stuff. Then I sold my soul and went to work in an office, I quickly learned this was not for me. All the while I knew there was something better for me. Something that would get my creative juices flowing and give me the purpose in life that we all desire.
From there I attended culinary school and proceeded to gain as much knowledge of the culinary industry as I could, still feeling that there was something even better out there for me. This is when it hit me. I had entered the culinary industry for one simple reason - I wanted to create food that would make people happy. After working in several upscale restaurants, I realized that I didn't get the chance to be very creative and, more importantly, I didn't get to see the looks on the customer's faces. Thus I created http://www.cookingrevealed.com