Miami Living Magazine features the best Miami has to offer. Click on any magazine below and enjoy. You can download our free app on iTunes. Ideal for iPad and iPhone users.
Issue link: https://digital.miamilivingmagazine.com/i/1275200
What to know about mackerel (saba) This is the number one type of sushi fish that is known for food poisoning. Saba is a very oily and particularly strong tasting fish. It's the cheapest fish you can buy, and most restaurants cure it with salt so they can hold it for a long time. Some restaurants hold it for up to a week or ten days. That is where the food poisoning comes in. Some people really like saba, but if you don't trust the sushi restaurant, it's not smart to order this stuff. Note: At Uchi, we buy all of our mackerel fresh and cure it in-house each day. Whatever is not used that day is then moved to our grilled mackerel dish, Saba Shio. After that, whatever is not used is discarded. Beware of too much escolar Not many people know this, but escolar is a natural laxative. It's a great fish to use for sushi, but order it only in small amounts. There are some big horror stories attached to it and those who have consumed too much of it. Sake It is meant to be enjoyed when it's very fresh and cold. It's amazing how well it goes with sushi. It's so clean and delicate. A lot of people don't know how to enjoy sake. They'll order a bottle of hot sake and sip on that for their whole meal. It's disgusting. In Japan, the only time they drink warm sake is at festivals when it's cold outside, sort of like how we drink mulled wine at holiday festivals. You wouldn't drink that stuff on a regular basis, though, especially because it's made from cheap wine. Guess what? Warm sake is also cheap. If you're going to pair your sake with sushi, be sure to order cold sake. Don't mess with the warm stuff. One bite nigiri Nigiri is the sushi rice pressed together with a slice of some sort of fish on top. You really shouldn't take two bites. It's supposed to be one bite. Unfortunately, some restaurants get carried away with the size of their nigiri. If it's just too big, hold it with your fingers. Smear a dab of soy sauce on top of the fish (not the rice) and take a bite. Then take the second bite without setting it down. Clean your plate If you're in Japan or in a real Japanese restaurant, don't ever, ever, ever leave anything on your plate. You eat everything. Their philosophy is, "We're an island nation. We barely have enough resources. So when you have something on your plate, you better be thankful for it. And you better eat it." Avoid pre-sliced sushi If you go to a sushi bar and everything is pre-sliced, it's not a good sushi bar. You see pre-sliced sushi at a lot of restaurants. It means it's cheap. It means the restaurant is cutting corners. They're not paying attention to the product or respect to the fish. They're exposing the fish to more air, which is breaking it down and ruining its texture.