"school of fish" news and stories

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

We're getting into the final chapters at the School of Fish, and as always, I save the best for last. Fish eggs, roe, caviar, whatever you choose to call it, isn't my favorite, so you know there's something awesome coming soon.

Many are familiar with the tiny, crunchy orange eggs that are added as a garnish to many of the rolls that are wrapped "inside out" (with the rice on the outside). These are either tobiko, flying fish eggs, or masago, smelt eggs. Tobiko are sightly larger (though not as large as salmon eggs, ikura, which will be covered separately). Sometimes, chefs "dye" the fish eggs a greenish tiny with the use of wasabi. Though they are garnish, these can be ordered as sushi in an of themselves, as pictured. The raw quail egg is, of course, optional.

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

This weekend, we're cramming here at the School of Fish. With all the hype about dangerously high levels of mercury in tuna, we certainly want to expand our personal choices at the sushi bar!

Kani is crab. Thankfully, many sushi bars are steering away from that imitation krabby krab meat stick that's made from something fishy, and going with real crab. When real crab is used for sushi, it is served in two ways. If the meat is lumpy and shredded, the chef will usually put this in the little sushi "cups," where the rice ball is wrapped with a large piece of nori, creating a sort of collar that sticks up over the rice (this is how many of the roes are served), and the crab is placed inside. If the crabmeat hold together in one large piece, like crab leg meat, it is often placed atop the rice and belted on with a narrow strip of nori.

If the chef has tarabakani, it's King crab, and is best inthewinter time. If you see "krab" meat in the case in a package and they look suspiciously brick-like, don't order kani (or a California roll, for that matter). Unless you into the fake stuff.

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