| Japanese food is all the craze nowadays in all | | | | yellowtail, shrimp, squid, sea urchin and scallops. |
| parts of the world. It is no longer exclusive to | | | | The quality of sashimi served in a Japanese |
| people in Asia, nor is it enjoyed only by gourmets | | | | restaurant is usually an accurate gauge of its |
| and those with highly sophisticated tastes. People | | | | greatness. |
| from all walks of life now flock to Japanese | | | | Like sashimi, sushi also often features the |
| restaurants and sushi bars in various cities, | | | | freshest raw seafood. The difference is that the |
| including Tampa FL. People who have grown to | | | | main ingredients of sushi are sticky Japanese rice |
| love nigiri sushi, makimono sushi, sashimi and | | | | flavoured with Japanese vinegar. There are also |
| tempura would also be interested in knowing how | | | | sushi variations which do not have raw seafood. |
| these are made, even here in Tampa FL. | | | | All of them are dipped in or drizzled with soy |
| Sushi and sashimi are quite daunting at first for | | | | sauce with wasabi paste, though. They are |
| those who are new to Japanese food. Everyone | | | | served in sushi restaurants and sushi bars in |
| always immediately takes a liking to tempura, | | | | Tampa FL and elsewhere. |
| though. It is usually the most popular item in the | | | | Nigiri sushi is presented as an oblong of vinegared |
| menu of a Japanese restaurant, and not just in | | | | rice topped with a variety of ingredients. The |
| Tampa FL. | | | | topping could be fresh raw seafood but it could |
| Tempura is a deep fried dish of seafood and | | | | also be cooked squid, cooked eel, cooked octopus |
| vegetables coated with a special light batter. The | | | | or scrambled eggs. Sometimes, toppings like fresh |
| usual seafood used are prawns, shrimps, fish fillet, | | | | raw fish roe, oysters, sea urchin or corn mixed |
| squid, scallops and crabmeat while the usual | | | | with mayonnaise are loose and unwieldy. In such |
| vegetables used are eggplant, okra, mushrooms, | | | | cases, strips of dried seaweed or nori are used to |
| sweet potato, yam, squash, bell pepper, carrot | | | | fence in the toppings. You can easily find nigiri |
| and green beans. The resulting pieces of tempura | | | | sushi in Tampa FL. |
| are dipped in a mix of dashi or broth, mirin or rice | | | | Makimono sushi is presented as a roll sliced into |
| wine, shoyu or soy sauce and wasabi paste. It | | | | thick disks. To make the roll, a sheet of nori is laid |
| takes much skill, however, to ensure that the | | | | on a special bamboo mat and the vinegared rice is |
| tempura comes out really very airy and crispy. | | | | spread on it. Fillings like fresh raw seafood or crab |
| At the other extreme in terms of simplicity is | | | | meat, avocado, cucumber, carrot slivers, |
| sashimi. Often considered as an icon in Japanese | | | | mayonnaise and wasabi paste are then rolled into |
| food, sashimi is nothing but the freshest raw | | | | the rice and nori. Temaki is makimono sushi in a |
| seafood still firm and sweet from the sea. It is | | | | different form. This time, the nori sheet is formed |
| sliced precisely with the sharpest knives and then | | | | into a cone and the vinegared rice and fillings are |
| dipped in shoyu or soy sauce spiced with wasabi | | | | stuffed into it. Both styles of makimono sushi are |
| paste. A lot of people try sashimi on a dare and | | | | available from sushi restaurants and sushi bars in |
| are afterwards forever smitten. The best | | | | Tampa FL. |
| seafood for sashimi are salmon, tuna, mackerel, | | | | |