Good evening sushi lovers and friends! Tonight we went to Jake's workplace at Rockin' Sushi in Pearl City to have some dinner on his day off. Everything was delicious c:
Fresh Salmon
A lot of the salmon served in sushi restaurants (Atlantic and Pacific) are commonly but not always flash frozen, as salmon is a newer fish introduced to sushi culture. They need to be treated this way to kill off parasites naturally found on this fish. We were served fresh farm-raised Alaskan King Salmon (think of king crab but fish!) The oil and fat gave the nigiri a glistening finish, and looked pillow soft. You could actually taste the oil!
Ika Geso Karaage
A more standard dish in sushi reataurants is fried squid, but instead of the rings of Calamari, Ika Geso is the legs, the batter comes out crunchy, and instead of a cocktail or cream dip is good with lemon, soy sauce, and wasabi.
Albacore
This white-fin tuna nigiri is served with a slaw garnish made of shredded carrots, sliced onions, and chopped ginger. The marinade is soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. It tasted like a mini salad in sushi form, and had a refreshing feel.
Oyster Shooters
This happy hour food is always a good choice at a restaurant, as the ingredients vary by place. Oysters are usually shucked in store and come in sauce with various herb and vegetable garnishes.
Banzai Bunny White Peach Sparkling Sake
A super sweet like soda (ramune) and feels like a merge of sake and champagne. A great date drink, and you can definitely taste the rice in it, but not get overwhelmed by strong taste/after taste.
Misoyaki Butterfish
I try to steer away from sweet dishes in general (except dessert!) The sweetness comes from the type of the sauce and not the fish itself. Bonus points for the bed of sauteed spinich, have not seen that before. I am on the quest to find the best butterfish, and being a little too sweet, this quest continues.
Hamachi with Yellow Tobiko
On the plate we were served Hamachi with Yuzu (citrus fruit maranade) Tokibo (flying fish roe) on top. I have never seen this before either. On the salmon there is bonito and onion which is common. The plate was flavored with ponzu, and went well with the fish not needing any further sauce.
When you eat nigiri sushi like this there is sometimes already a sauce or wasabi inside. To properly dip them into soy sauce, you turn it upside down so that the fish is on the bottom. Using hands is also an acceptable way to eat nigiri.
Chicken Karaage
Chester, Mochiko, and other types of chicken karaage are common dishes in sushi restaurants. The chester chicken we are eating here has chili, soy sauce, and garlic in the sauce. Was a little spicy and sweet too. I did however enjoy it.
Banana Lumpia and Ice Cream
In Hawai'i the are many cultural dishes you wouldn't expect to see in other types of restaurants. Banana lumpia is inspired by Chinese Spring rolls, and is a tasty street food in Indonesia and the Philippines. This banana pastry came on a plate garnishes with chocolate, and came with ice cream and whipped cream. I was so stuffed, I fell into a happy food coma!
Everytime is sushi time, and I hope that you enjoyed and learned something nice from my adventure today. Until next time!