Easy Spicy Mayo.

Hey y'all, I know it's been a while, but I'm going to try my best to catch up with this. Gonna start off with something easy! 

Anyways, most of you know what spicy mayo is. It's commonly found as a topping on rolls (usually cooked stuff.) A lot of people really love it. Personally, it's not really my thing when it comes to sushi, I'm just not a really big fan of using mayo that way. However it's pretty good as a dipping sauce or spread too. I've put it on a burger before and was pretty pleased. 

Since I'm making this for the bar it's going to be a large batch, but you can scale it down and tweak it. Just remember that tasting as you go is important. I believe it helps you get a better product. 

I used:

Mayo - 1/2 gallon (I used light mayo)

Sriracha - 3/4 of a bottle

Sugar - about 2 cups

Lemon - 1

Whisk the mayo and sriracha together first. You can add it all at once, but doing it gradually is recommended if you're looking for a certain spice level. 

Next I gradually add in the sugar. Some types of mayonnaise have stronger flavor so you could end up using more or less than 2 cups; just remember to keep tasting it was you go. For instance, the Japanese Kewpie mayo tastes a little strong to me so I usually end up using a lot more sugar. 

Finally you want to cut the lemon in half and squeeze out the juice. Be careful not to get any seeds into the mixture. Do keep in mind that adding lemon juice will thin out your sauce. 

There you go!

Of course all restaurants have their own variations. Some places use different hot sauces, some sweeten it with orange juice or sprite. All in all, a very simple thing to make. You can mess around and create your own if you so desire.  

Spicy Tuna recipe!!!

So I've decided to post the recipe that I use for spicy tuna. I was going to make a video, but I don't have everything with me. 

Anyways, in the past I've been pretty exclusive to who I share this with, but I think it's better to share ;) Some chefs will keep things like these secret because it could give them some kind of upper hand. However, I was once told that: It's not about the recipe, but the hands that make it. Over time I've realized that this is very true. You could give multiple people the same recipe, but it doesn't always turn out identical.

On with the show...

When it comes to tuna, you want ground/minced tuna. You can usually find this at most Japanese markets or you can get a block of tuna and then mince it yourself. If you're using a block you want to watch out for all the sinew (that stringy white stuff.) It doesn't look good, it's hard to cut and hard to chew. Best to remove it. If you use a spoon to scrape at the meat (so that it kind of flakes away into small pieces) it's easy to pull all the sinew out. AGAIN, make sure your fish is SUSHI GRADE.

Spicy tuna mix:
5-6 large cloves garlic (minced fine)
Diced green onions (the amount should be equal to that of the garlic)
4 generous pinches of Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese chilli powder)
1/2 cup Sriracha
1/4 cup Sesame oil

Mix all of the ingredients together (leave the tuna out for now.) The oil will separate naturally so if you still see a little floating on top, that's ok. 
This recipe will yield about a cup of sauce. If that's more than you need you can always refrigerate it. (it goes great on just plain rice too.)
Take your ground tuna and gradually add the mixture. You want the tuna to be well saturated, soft and shiny. Don't be afraid of adding too much because it will eventually soak in, and by using more sauce it helps keep the tuna from drying out.

Hope you guys give this one a shot! It's very easy and if you don't have tuna around it's a great condiment for whatever you want :)

Review: K1 Teck - Silicon Makisu (Sushi roller)

Hey everybody,
So this is a product I randomly stumbled upon while cruising through Hmart. I decided it would be a good idea to give it a test run. 

When making rolls it's very important to have a "maki", the bamboo mat that is used to form and actually roll your sushi (pictured on left). These aren't super hard to find and are pretty cheap. I'm seeing these more and more in stores that have any kind of Asian foods section. One thing that can be kind of annoying though is that cleaning can be difficult, between each little piece of wood and after time the string holding it together can become worn. One easy way to keep it clean is to wrap your mat in plastic wrap, but this has to be changed every so often. 

So, when I saw this product I thought it would be a good investment since it's non-stick and would be easy to clean. (not to mention the color is kinda fun.)

It totally looks like a silicon pot-holder, but I tried to look passed that. 

It's extremely flexible and, like I said earlier, it's really easy to clean. Rice doesn't stick to it at all so plastic wrap isn't necessary.

Unfortunately
Being so flexible and flimsy, it's difficult to get a firm and uniform shape. Honestly, I thought I just needed to get used to it, but it just became more annoying over time. 
Currently it's sitting all alone on the oyster station at work. 

If you see one and want to give it a try, go ahead. It was only 4.99 and it could work better for smaller rolls. If not, you got a pot-holder out of it. 

I've seen similar products that might yeild better results. There are some out there that are made from harder material. When the chance arises, I'll pick up one of those.