subject: Learning About the Sushi, Sashimi and Tempura You Order from a Japanese Restaurant in Tampa FL by:Manny Lontok [print this page] Japanese food used to be available only in Japan. Not anymore, though. You can now find more than just one Japanese restaurant or sushi bar in every cosmopolitan city not only in the United States but also throughout the world. But would you like to learn more about the nigiri sushi, makimono sushi, sashimi and tempura you often order in Tampa FL?
If you are not yet a fan of Japanese food you might balk at trying sushi and sashimi at first. A good way to introduce your palate to this cuisine is by trying tempura from a Japanese restaurant in Tampa FL.
Tempura is a dish where seafood like prawns, shrimps, fish fillet, squid, scallops and crabmeat or vegetables like eggplant, okra, mushrooms, sweet potato, yam, squash, bell pepper, carrot and green beans are dipped in light batter and deep fried until very airy and crispy. The distinct tempura dip is mixed from dashi broth, mirin rice wine, shoyu soy sauce and wasabi paste. This dish may be eaten by itself or as a viand with rice on the side.
If you really want to know about Japanese food, you should eventually have a taste of sashimi. This takes a certain boldness because sashimi is simply very fresh raw seafood dipped in shoyu soy sauce spiked with wasabi paste. Among the seafood favored for use in sashimi are salmon, tuna, mackerel, yellowtail, shrimp, squid, sea urchin and scallops. Many people cringe at the idea of eating raw seafood but once they have tried this dish, they find themselves coming back for more. Sashimi is a consistent top seller in Japanese restaurants.
Many types of sushi also include fresh raw seafood like sashimi. Sushi, however, has other additional ingredients. The main ingredient is actually rice mixed with Japanese vinegar. Like a lot of Japanese food, it is dipped in soy sauce flavoured with wasabi paste. The popularity of sushi is attested to by the huge number of sushi restaurants and sushi bars almost everywhere, even in Tampa FL.
Nigiri sushi is the type of sushi most commonly seen and ordered. Nigiri sushi can easily be recognized as an oblong mound of sticky Japanese rice flavoured with vinegar and topped with various ingredients. A favourite topping is fresh raw seafood similar to those used for sashimi. Other popular toppings are cooked eel, squid, octopus and scrambled eggs. To contain toppings that are too soft or lose, such as fresh raw fish roe, oysters, sea urchin or corn mixed with mayonnaise, thin strips of dried seaweed nori are used. Nigiri sushi is is widely available in Tampa FL.
Another style of sushi is makimono sushi. The ingredients used as toppings in nigiri sushi are used as fillings instead. A special bamboo mat is used to roll the fillings, such as tuna, crab meat, avocado, cucumber, carrot slivers, mayonnaise and wasabi paste, inside a bed of sticky rice with vinegar. The roll is then sliced into thick circular pieces. Makimono sushi also comes in the form of temaki where a large sheet of nori is formed into four inch long cone and stuffed with sticky rice, vinegar and various fillings. The soy sauce and wasabi dip is drizzled into the cone. Temaki has to be consumed immediately, though, before it unravels. To try these types of sushi you can order them from the many sushi restaurants and sushi bars in Tampa FL.
Even after learning about nigiri sushi, makimono sushi, sashimi and tempura, it is not as easy to try to whip up these dishes by yourself at home. It would still be best to order authentic Japanese food from genuine Japanese Restaurants and sushi bars in Tampa FL.
