Sushi Sasabune is famous in Los Angeles for omakase. The restaurant used to be located in a tiny shack (quite literally, a shack) on Sawtelle Boulevard in West LA, with fluorescent lighting, flimsy tables and chairs, and no atmopshere whatsoever. But night after night, Sasabune was bursting at the seams with devoted fan of the fresh fish.
Sasabune has finally moved to a much larger, cleaner, airier space on Wilshire Boulevard (the space used to be a Todai - thank God it's not there anymore). We went recently to check out Sasabune's new digs, and to see if the sushi in a larger, higher volume operation would be the same.
I'm not shy about my opinions on sushi rolls. I don't hate rolls. I just happen to have a personal preference for sashimi and some nigiri sushi, that's all. The fact that most rolls are overly-pumped with ridiculous ingredients, some of which have no place at all in sushi (steak and cream cheese?!?), are accessorized with strangely sweet, creamy, unidentifiable sauces, and are accordingly named WWF things like "Godzilla" and "Monster Crunch" has nothing to do with it at all. Really.
However, there are a few rolls that I really do like. While I do understand that many people simply adore the California roll, especially ones that are made with real kani, I am not a huge fan. However, I love the spicy tuna roll. The thing about spicy tuna is that it isn't even "spiced" with something like wasabi or togarashi. Most sushi bars I've seen use the little green tipped bottle of chili sauce - sriracha. When I see that, I ask the chef to add a little more to the tuna bits to make it extra spicy.
Once, I had a spicy tuna roll that had a little bit ofmayo mixed in with the tuna and spice. I didn't like that one too much.
So I was mistaken. I called uni the best, and thought it would be the ultimate, but alas, it was the penultimate. It is everyone else in my family who order uni last because perhaps to them, the luscious, creamy flavor of sea urchin gonads truly is the best way to end a meal of sushi. For me, I make it unagi - freshwater eel that has been broiled or barbecued, then glazed with a sweet sauce. It really is sweet, and that is what makes it the best for last. If you're squeamish about raw fish, unagi might work since it is cooked, but then again, it is eel.
I love it when the unagi is charred to almost black on the edges, and inevitably end up burning the roof of my mouth with its soft, fatty flesh because I can't wait patiently for it to cool slightly from the oven. There is also saltwater eel, called anago, which is not barbecued like unagi. I have had it several times before, and it just fish filler. I'd much rather have the unagi.
Previous lessons at the School of Fish: Saba - holy mackerel! Hirame - white fish, sometimes halibut Tai and Suzuki - snapper and sea bass Maguro - tuna Toro - fatty belly of tuna Shiro Maguro - "white" tuna, aka albacore Ahi tuna Hamachi - amberjack, aka yellowtail Sake - salmon Gai - the bivalves, i.e.clams, scallops, and oysters Ebi - shrimp Ika and Tako - squid and octopus Kani - crab Masago and tobiko - roe, roe, roe your boat Ikura - salmon roe Uni - sea urchin (but not roe!)
I said I was saving the best for last, and yes, it is finally here. The end. El fin. Dessert. It's uni.
Uni is typically grouped with the "roe" family, which is an understandable mistake, since it certainly comes from the inside of the spiny sea urchin. However, the actual thing we eat, the soft, dark yellow ochre colored stuff that sits atop an ovalette of rice, enveloped with a collar of nori is not sea urchin roe. It is the sea urchin's internal organs that produce the roe. What does that mean? It means that uni is a gonad. It can be male (darker) or female (lighter).
I used to shy away from uni because of its appearance - it looks like it would feel somewhat like what I imagine a cat's tongue, and taste like the cat's tongue after it ate a can of Starkist. However, when uni is fresh and of high quality, it is sweet, luscious, and just ever so slightly firm. It should look like whole pieces, not broken and mushy.
Previous lessons at the School of Fish: Saba - holy mackerel! Hirame - white fish, sometimes halibut Tai and Suzuki - snapper and sea bass Maguro - tuna Toro - fatty belly of tuna Shiro Maguro - "white" tuna, aka albacore Ahi tuna Hamachi - amberjack, aka yellowtail Sake - salmon Gai - the bivalves, i.e.clams, scallops, and oysters Ebi - shrimp Ika and Tako - squid and octopus Kani - crab Masago and tobiko - Roe, roe, roe your boat Ikura - salmon roe
We're getting close to the final chapters of the School of Fish. Today is the last of the roe. Or caviar, as some would call it.
Many are familiar with the tiny orange sometimes reddish eggs that are used to garnish the outside of rolls. These are tobiko (from flying fish) and masago (from smelt), and can be served on their own as well. The bigger eggs, which also range in color from dark orange to bright red are salmon roe. They are called ikura. I am not a huge fan (in fact, I'm not a fan of any sort of fish eggs in any cuisine), but some people love the the extremely salty taste and when perfectly fresh, the "pop" as they are eaten.
Previous lessons at the School of Fish: Saba - holy mackerel! Hirame - white fish, sometimes halibut Tai and Suzuki - snapper and sea bass Maguro - tuna Toro - fatty belly of tuna Shiro Maguro - "white" tuna, aka albacore Ahi tuna Hamachi - amberjack, aka yellowtail Sake - salmon Gai - the bivalves, i.e.clams, scallops, and oysters Ebi - shrimp Ika and Tako - squid and octopus Kani - crab Masago and tobiko - Roe, roe, roe your boat
Sushi is a hot topic here at Slashfood, whether we're talking about types of fish, my personal distaste for overly creative rolls, ore "reviews" of various sushi bars around the globe. Recently, Dakota asked which place has the best sushi in LA, and the May 2006 issue of Los Angeles Magazine has their top ten choices. Agree? Disagree? 
I said I was saving the best for last, and yes, it is finally here. The end. El fin. Dessert. It's uni.
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