"spicy tuna rolls" news and stories

The Skinny Chef's Spicy Tuna Cups. Photo: Jennifer Iserloh

Making proper sushi rice and learning to roll your own takes a lot of practice. But even if you feel overwhelmed wrapping sushi, these little pickled cucumber cups are just the easiest thing to make and you can fill them with all sorts of tasty bites.

These nibbles are made from sushi grade tuna that I buy at The Lobster Place in the Chelsea Market in New York City. But if you don't have a great purveyor locally and aren't a fan of raw fish, you can always use the same amount of baked salmon. It works just as well in my recipe, although the texture will be firmer

So what's the deal with mercury?

Learn more about tuna and mercury and get Jennifer's Spicy Tuna recipe after the jump.

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.