Sushi Night In Los Angeles!

Last month, my friend Lindsey invited me to a Japanese-themed dinner party where she would be making sushi, miso soup, and various other delectable dishes, all in the spirit of fun times and soy sauce. I was immediately intrigued as Japanese cuisine has been something of a neglected area in my general attempts to learn Asian cooking (first time readers should know that I’m heartily obsessed with eating and cooking Korean food). Surely this dinner party would inspire me to explore new recipes and dishes.

Perhaps sensing my eagerness to expand my horizons, Lindsey also invited me to join her at the Mitsuwa Market, a local Japanese grocery store, where she’d be purchasing most of the ingredients for the night’s festivities. I jumped at the opportunity — both to see the store and to observe Lindsey’s process. Turns out Lindsey spends a good chunk of every year in Japan; so she’s quite well versed in the culture and food. My mission that day was to be a giant sponge. Or rather, a giant sponge in a hoodie. After all, who knows? Maybe this would be my first step in joining the ranks of Chef Masaharu Morimoto…

The humble Mitsuwa Marketplace. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to take pictures inside; so you’ll just have to imagine what it looked like. I can tell you that it wasn’t as eye-opening as the some of the Korean, Chinese, Indian, and Vietnamese grocery stores I’d been too; however, it was definitely better than the Thai grocer in Thai Town, and it earned points for being super clean (with friendly workers to boot).

Lindsey with her super cute dog after a good forty-five minutes of shopping. I should note that my attempts to soak in her “process” was an epic fail, mostly because I kept getting distracted by random cuts of sushi out and about (plus I was really tired that day and had just eaten In-N-Out, which had successfully pushed me into a food coma).

We arrive at the dinner party location, and immediately Lindsey gets to work by spreading out various ingredients across the table.

Meanwhile, our friend Alexis arrives and begins whipping up a batch of Crab Rangoon. Part of me wanted to just stick my hand in the bowl and eat a clump of that imitation crab meat. But that would have been unwise.

Alexis continues to shred the imitation crab. I want.

Lindsey poses seductively whilst creating a dip involving miso and… sesame oil? Mirin? Clearly I was not taking notes. With any luck she’ll leave a comment on the blog to better inform us on her dishes.

Crudites rear their tasty heads.

Being the snack monster that I am, I immediately go in for a bite, despite the fact that no one else had really arrived yet.

I should note that the dinner party took place directly on the beach. My sense of superiority to the commoners below was off the charts.

Sad dog.

Back in the kitchen, Lindsey gets to work on another dish: some sort of stir-fried bean sprout business. SPOILER ALERT: this proved to be massively delicious. I believe Lindsey flavored the sprouts with nothing more than just lots of ginger, soy sauce, and perhaps miso. Whatever was in it, these bean sprouts were awesome.

Elsewhere in the kitchen, Alexis’s Crab Rangoons fry away joyfully.

The end product. Unsurprisingly, these were amazing. I only wish we had more. And I only wish I wasn’t scared of burning my apartment down while deep frying. Otherwise I might attempt them myself.

Here I am hanging out with two of the party’s guests: Sita and Julia. In case you’re thinking that I’m just a freeloader lingering about taking photos, I’ll have you know that I whipped up a very traditional Japanese dessert for the occasion: chocolate cheesecake. It was baking during this picture.

Finally, it’s time for the star of the night: the sushi!

Lindsey rolls up some spicy tuna and avocado. Again, I am salivating.

In no time, we have four rolls ready to go.

Now it’s time for me to step up to the plate. My first ever sushi rolling experience — surprising, especially since I have all the tools for sushi rolling in my kitchen.

I fill my prospective roll with avocado and salmon before tentatively commencing the rolling process.

Note my gingerly touch as I try to keep my debut roll intact.

What feels like ten minutes later, I near the end of my first rolling experience.

Success! I then went on to form several more rolls.

I attempt to do a roll with the rice on the outside, but it proves to be a messy, embarrassing affair. Still tasted good though.

Do not interrupt the Master at work.

Ultimately, our combined efforts yield an impressive spread of sushi. I had to severely tame my greedy impulses to just take it all for myself.

Oh, and Lindsey made some miso soup too, which was unsurprisingly a major step up from the powdered variety I often get at the supermarket.

All in all, a glorious night. I didn’t learn too much about the basic tenets of Japanese cooking, but I did successfully make my first foray into sushi rolling. With any luck, there will be future homemade sushi excursions to come…