I've been a home cook and always wondered why fish on rice can cost so much. I got into it recently, watching a bunch of YouTube videos and getting kind guidance from a friend who's an actual sushi chef.
A japanese vendor in Singapore where I live offers "omakase" fish sets where you pay a fixed fee and get whatever is in season. I paid $200 and got myself these – a kinmedai, a kasugodai, 3 aji fish (pic 8), and a kanpachi.
Filleting all of them and learning how to best treat and process each fish was a stressful encounter. So much so that I forgot to take pictures which is why the nigiri pictures all turned out pretty bad.
After this experience, I truly understand why so much money is paid to sushi chefs. I'll try again, but not soon 😵
by hkmckrbcm
31 comments
Looks good considering it’s your first attempt. It’s a skill that takes years to master, don’t be so hard on yourself!
dunno what these other people are on, especially in a sub for sushi, but i’d say you did a fantastic job!
Pretty nice, gotta say. I mainly do rolls myself since thats the only thing my dad taught me how to do and i don’t really have the budget to practise a lot, but i should give something like this a try.
This looks phenomenal!!
looks professional
Looks fantastic.
Looks pretty good man
Fantastic result for a first attempt! I’d happily pay money for what you came up with. This is really why sushi masters train for decades. Keep it up!
Looks great for a first attempt! Those cuts look a bit rough. Train your fish filleting/cutting skills and all those sashmi slices will look even better.
I think you did a great job.
Some of these fish (kin medai and aji) are really technical for nigiri especially compared to things like tuna and salmon.
Sharp knives and a bit more practice and you’re well on your way
That looks great, respect!
As someone whose been a sushi chef a long time, this is very impressive. Nice work and nice choice if fish
Looks delicious!
The first pic – that’s a red bream right? What’s up with its eye, it’s looking a little old…
Much respect starting from a whole fish! How did you enjoy it
That first fish looks terrifying
Kinmedai, aburi with salt and citrus. Can’t go wrong 👌
I’m surprised you went with kinme on a first attempt. Good work chef
U did great looks good but why u holdin those fish like a stack of money lmfao
Congrats on starting this journey. It is a home passion of mine too.
My advice is that fish with whole filets like kinmedai or aji you have here are very difficult because of the pin bones. Much easier to work with larger fish like salmon or tenen madai where you can cut the midline bony part out and have the top loin a convenient size for sashimi. I’m still working at being able to pin bones these fish without mangling them. Love that you get access to seasonal product though.
Looks great, keep up the good work!
Looks beautiful. Great job.
This is a fantastic post.
You started from scratch with interesting, high quality ingredients.
You learned a lot along the way.
You put yourself out here knowing you’d be subject to criticism.
Your final product looks really good, a lot better than I think you’re giving yourself credit for.
Looks very good! Tasty!!
At the very least your learned how to deconstruct several fish! Question – did you use special knives for the purpose? A Deba and a sushi knife?
Holy moly. You went for the real-deal-total-fresh put-it-on-my-plate experience!!!
Looks pretty good! The refinement of the prep, consistency amoung cuts, and understanding what flavors work together takes time. I learned from a Japanese trained chef and even after two years, I still am a beginner compared to many years legends.
Looks delicious
Not a bad start! The only things I can advise you (as a noob like you; I’ve never been trained by a sushi master) are to sharpen your knife more. No, more. *More*. If you can’t shave the hair off your forearm with it, it’s dull. Sharpen it again. Also, the single-bladed knives are used for sushi for a reason, invest in them. And then once your knife could cut God himself, pay more attention to your cuts. Straight lines, with confidence–and remember that knives don’t cut with an up-and-down motion, they cut by sliding. Aim for a single stroke per cut, delivered with confidence and conviction, in a straight line.
ummm…I didn’t see a reservations link on your post…so who do I call for a seat at this sushi bar?
You’re off to a great start! If you want to get nigiri practice in for cheap then shrimp and tamago are good lower budget ways to practice.Â
First time? This looks fucking amazing