Sushi alternatives
 

Working on an idea...trying to come up with an alternative for Sushi for a few people who don't like a)fish and b)rice. I know - what's the point? I guess I want the experience to still be there. As for the fish, I think I can find decent substitutes (realizing I am not going for flavor here) by using things like Prosciutto and thinkly sliced roast beef or ham, or stick to vegetable styles. Still thinking about the Nori - still from the ocean, so maybe some kind of leaves/cooked spinach? Again, I think I can work around not using a Nori style sushi. But the Rice has me stumped.

I had thought about Couscous, but I dont think it is sticky enough. Also thought about Polenta, but that is too sticky. Any other ideas?

how about just cooking the sushi?

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Or egg salad sandwiches. I don't understand what the OP is trying to do. There are lots of foods that aren't sushi it seems.

I'm not sure that a person who doesn't eat both fish and rice would be thrilled with an ersatz offering. The only time I've ever had Spam was in a sushi presentation.

So you are trying to make sushi without fish or rice.

Why not just go to the Olive Garden and order the Lasagna Rolls?

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I think eggplant rolletini is closer.

I would think that people who don't like sushi because of the fish and/or the rice aren't going to care about their substitute offering being shaped something like sushi because --- wait for it ----

These are the people who don't like sushi!

Give em chicken wings.

I know what you're trying to do, but I'm going to second the opionion of others here. You may be just trying too hard, and maybe these folks would prefer a more standard appetizer fare...

Well, the idea is about theming and atmosphere as anythiong else. This will be a Japanese themed event, the sushi plays a big part of it. I didn't want those people who cant do rice to feel too out of place in the event. I have seen some recipes using cauliflower, might give that a shot but maybe I should spend more time trying to find a presentation style that fits japanese that may not be sushi.

http://www.texwasabis.com/food/menu.html

Scroll down to Gringo Sushi, is that something that might work for you?

Never been there, but that is possibly the most interesting menu I've ever seen. I wouldn't know where to start.

"Growing out of the imagination of Food Network's star Guy Fieri (Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives)
is the whimsical melding of two disciplines, sushi and B-B-Q, and then breaking all of the
rules with a California twist. Tex Wasabi’s Rock N’ Roll Sushi B-B-Q restaurant is a paradox
that works! The food and the zealots who are drawn to the Santa Rosa and Sacramento
California locations can be best typified as—rebellious! A noisy bar is the pivot around which
spins unique cocktails that combine savory with kick-... sassy, and a menu that includes original sushi (Tootsie Roll, Spyderman Roll, Kemosabe Roll, Jackass Roll) and mouth watering slow roasted B-B-Q (BBQ Brisket Platter, Smoked Pork Ribs, Ribs-N-Chicken, New York Steak with Wasabi Butter)."

I may have to make a detour this summer on my drives from Redding to Auburn.

There's lots of Japanese food that's not sushi. Perhaps do a shabu shabu or yakitori, or even soup with udon/soba noodles.

Seriously... and I have met lots of picky eaters... there are those who can't do rice?

If you can't do rice you're just a freak and will feel out of place at any eating event. :p

nerd: i wouldn't go straight off the bat to call them crazy; they may have a medical condition etc. etc. =)

but that aside, chicken wings =)

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Sushi is an important but by no means all encompassing part of Japanese cuisine. I have eaten many Japanese meals at outstanding Japanese restaurants in NY, Tokyo and Kyoto with little or no sushi. I would suggest rather than the fake sushi focus on making some nice tempura or soba/udon dish or robato stye grilled meats. It will be much more likely to come out delicious. It's making me hungry just thinking about it.

Most sushi places offer things that don't include fish or rice. Most have meat/noodle/salad like foods too.

For people who like rice but not fish, serve vegetarian makisushi (simple rolls). Common vegetarian ingredients include avocado, cucumber, and plum. You could also use cooked chicken or beef instead of fish, though at that point your food is becoming more Japanese-inspired than Japanese-- by which I mean that I've never seen "grilled steak maki" served anywhere in Japan.

For people who can eat neither rice nor fish, why make it difficult by trying to feed them sushi? Sushi is not the only style of Japanese food. Serve an izakaya style dinner with a variety of dishes such as yakitori (grilled meats on skewers), udon noodles, agedashi tofu, and Chinese dishes such as shu mai and gyoza, in addition to sushi.

The main point it, don't get hung up on creating facsimiles of fish and rice. A vegetarian friend of mine observes that the worst vegetarian food is the stuff designed to look and taste like meat. As if all vegetarians are secretly craving bacon! For your guests who dislike rice and fish, look for other Japanese foods they will like, or find ways to serve the food they do like with Japanese ambiance.

Not in Japan they don't. And anything else is imitation. Sorry.

GadgetFreak makes some good points. I agree that there are a wealth of alternatives that would be very pleasing.

That said, if the host is doing a course menu as would occur in Japan, and one of those courses is sushi, it may be necessary to come up with an alternative so as not to make the guest terribly uncomfortable at that stage of the meal.

A thought that occurs to me is that the inside part of a loaf of french bread (i.e. the soft part after the crust has been removed could be shaped to roughly equate to a piece of rolled sushi rice) could be used. Then one could place a piece of similarly colored meat (roast beef for maguro for example) on the bread and place it on the plate discretely.

Mike

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I have eaten at a lot of restaurants in Japan that had a lot of other dishes than sushi.

As have I. The point was a traditional sushi place may offer soup or similar warm dish, but other than that and sushi not much else. Many restaurants offer a wide variety of dishes but are not called sushi shops. I was referring specifically to a sushi shop not a Japanese food restaurant as a more general term.

No need to split hairs, because I am sure one could find a few sushi shops that do try and offer alternative menus, but to say that

"Most sushi places offer things that don't include fish or rice. Most have meat/noodle/salad like foods too."

just is not the case here. Japanese food while sold overseas is by and large (i.e. by the Japanese) considered authentic here.

The point I was trying to make in a post immediately preceding he one commenting on your very good point about alternatives, was that sushi is what one gets at a sushi shop, but alternatives aplenty exist in Japan.

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Understand and agree. Fake sushi creeps me out. Good yakatori, yum ;)

That is an awesome suggestion for the OP actually. Grilled skewers are fun, delicious, can contain all kinds of acceptable ingredients, and can even be done in manner that includes the guests while it is cooking.

And, when you are next here, if your time allows, I will show a place you definitely want to return to again. :)

Vietnamese summer rolls or lettuce wraps could be a decent subsitute for a hand roll type sushi.

Grated steamed cauliflower makes a nice low carb rice substitute, but it wont stick together like sushi rice.

In Japan, proper sushi is only eaten at sushi restaurants. Izakayas and other casual restaurants (such as hotel restaurants) may offer a small selection of nigiri sushi or rolls, but it is not the "real deal" so to speak.

At sushi restaurants, a meal will usually include various "tsumami," such as small grilled fish or shellfish, crabs, makimono etc... but the focus is always on the sashimi and nigiri sushi. These restaurants do not offer "alternative" menues for those who don't want to eat sushi.

Sushi is only one kind of Japanese food, and most people in Japan do not eat it very frequently. Additionally, there are many different types of sushi, and sushi chefs often offer their own renditions of various items (as opposed to offering strictly edo-mae sushi, for example). In other words, endless variety is possible.

I wonder if large grain couscous (maftoul, the stuff from the Middle East) couldn't be used instead of rice? As to couscous not being sticky - over cook it ;)

Re: Fake Sushi


The only time I've ever had Spam was at a Hawaiian restaurant in a brick of "sushi" with that item substituted for the fish.

I made these at Easter & they were quite a hit--lol.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2...ts-easter.html

Thats not sushi, thats musubi. YUM!

Well ... it qualified as "fake sushi" to me (Ohana in Belltown, BTW). My father refused to allow Spam in the house as he hated it during WW II as kid (meat substitute) - no liver either as my folks both hate it.

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Heh. My dad was like that too. WWII vet and having to eat cold Spam during the war was apparently a very unpleasant experience. Oddly, he would occasionally eat cold Campbells soup right out of the can, a more favorable wartime experience apparently. Except my mom and I were both so weirded out by the latter we would harass him when he would do it ;) So I never tried Spam until I left for college. When you are young you tend to assume your parents are wrong about everything. As you get older you realize that isnt necessarily the case ;)

Cocktail wieners wrapped in bacon would be an excellent substitute for people who don't like fish, rice, or sushi. :D

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He, you laugh but I have been served those at a reception in Tsukuba. ;)

I lived in Hawaii for 4 1/2 years and I love me some fried up Spam.

I haven't tried the musubi at Ohana. Marination Mobile's musubi is a little dry, but their Spam slider is tasty.

My parents tried to make us eat liver until one night when the neighbor came over with their dog (who found the liver my brother had hid under the couch). They didn't serve it to us any more after that :)

Mine finally got the message when I refused to eat it and told them I'd rather eat nothing at all. They made me sit at the table until I finished it, but finally relented after I fell asleep there and they were going to bed themselves. Fortunately, I never saw it again or there would have certainly been a repeat performance.

I think I can still taste the last liver I had from 14 years ago when a friend convincingly said, "But, you've never had it the way I make it." Don't fall for that line. I felt like I needed to rinse with lye to get the nastiness out of my mouth.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

If it weren't for the grilled meat on skewers they serve on the streets in Tokyo, I would probably starve there. I'm pretty sure that Anthony Bourdain did a show that featured these, so you might find some help by viewing that episode.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Things never really flushed out with the idea. in hind sight is was less about "Japanese" than it was about presenting savory small items that looked exotic without feeling like a cocktail party. I liked the rice crispy idea, and the rolled bread. I will keep those in mind for the next time. I did not mean to criticize Japanese cooking, which is how it seemed to be taken by some. I was looking for something that perhaps was a little lest "authentic" and didn't take itself so seriously.

What a silly post. You make it sound like a backwater. More Michelin stars here than anywhere else in fact. :rolleyes:Try eating food in a restaurant next time too. Its amazing the things you will find. ;)

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Thanks. That sounds very interesting. I'm giving a talk in Kyoto in the early fall. Haven't sorted schedule yet but going to Kyoto likely will need a day in Tokyo rather than arrive late afternoon and then have to go into the city and get on the train after a 12 hr flight.

Cool. Other than the 3rd week of October I am good. Looking forward to it.

Mike