california rolls?

[SunWuKong]

were california rolls invented in the states? how come i don't see a japanese name for them on the menu?

[angel nympho]

I had them for dinner tonight. *Grin* I'm gonna assume they're not authentic Japanese food, though. But I don't really know for sure. I just am not quite sure I've ever seen anybody eating that crab cake filling stuff anywhere out of the states. ...But then again, I'm hardly a worldly person.

[jimbo]

California rolls are freely available down here in london, And very nice they are too, The hand rolls are much better though.

[luv]

Do they have avocados in East Asia? I thought California rolls were completely American invention like the fortune cookie or crab rangoon.

[DaBestSpooner]

California rolls are american as well as all other combination handrolls

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by DaBestSpooner@Dec 24 2002, 01:50 AM
California rolls are american as well as all other combination handrolls
what about spicy tuna roll? i love spicy tuna roll. am i a poser?

[iris]

hehe, spicy tuna I think is authentic but California rolls definitely are not.

[lethal]

Ooh...California rolls...makes me want to have some authentic sushi now!

[bigwong235]

mmmm... wasabi....

[angel nympho]

Originally posted by bigwong235@Dec 24 2002, 08:26 AM
mmmm... wasabi....
Ew, I hate wasabi.

[terence]

california rolls are very much an american thing. just like burritos and garlic bread. not once did i see garlic bread in italy when i lived there.

[Chris]

Originally posted by angel nympho@Dec 24 2002, 12:39 AM
Ew, I hate wasabi.
word. Can't stand horseradish either.

[wylin]

Originally posted by bigwong235@Dec 24 2002, 12:26 AM
mmmm... wasabi....
yum wasabi! good stuff!

[Chinkaholic]

ditto. WASABI YUCKY.

[DaBestSpooner]

try fresh grated wasabi, thats off hook the hook for schizza!

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by terence@Dec 24 2002, 04:41 PM
california rolls are very much an american thing. just like burritos and garlic bread. not once did i see garlic bread in italy when i lived there.
hahah yeah same thing with most of the different kinds of pizzas that you can get outside of italy but not in italy.

burritos are an american invention? :confused:

[Hiroshi2]

Originally posted by angel nympho@Dec 24 2002, 12:39 AM
Ew, I hate wasabi.
Ditto.

[terence]

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Dec 24 2002, 10:48 PM
hahah yeah same thing with most of the different kinds of pizzas that you can get outside of italy but not in italy.

burritos are an american invention? :confused:
apparently, they were invented in california. i'm sure it was a mexican thing, but maybe a mexican-american creation.

[rakovlam]

wasAAAbi!!

[Shuriken]

The book Eastern Standard Time says this: "Sushi-lovers take note: That all-time favorite, the California roll — a makizushi of avacado, crab, cucumber, mayonnaise — is an American creation. Southern Californian, if you want to get specific. And yes, it's gone back to Japan and become a sushi staple there as well."

Hmm...if the book wanted to get really specific it could have named the sushi chef who invented it...

[amietron]

makizushi is any type of rolled sushi.

most places don't even use real crab in their CA rolls. they use imitation crab.

[Shuriken]

Within walking distance of my apartment in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley sits a small restaurant that some say is not only the best sushi restaurant in the Valley, not only the best sushi restaurant in L.A., not only the best sushi restaurant in California, not only the best sushi restaurant in the U.S., but the best sushi restaurant in the world. Of course, this is all a matter of opinion. However, the restaurant has garnered enough raves to have made the front page of the New York Times. It's a very small, tidy place with absolutely no atmosphere, and it's run by a husband and wife from Japan. The husband is the sushi chef and the wife is the hostess and cashier.

This restaurant's twist is that it's run in the traditional Japanese manner, with the sushi chef making your sushi selections for you when you sit down at the bar. Behind the bar are two signs. One says, "Today's special: trust me." The other says, "Today's special: no California roll, no spicy tuna roll." When some customers have insisted on having something that the chef doesn't want to serve, he throws them out. Really. I've seen him do this. In fact, the New York Times article compared him to the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld.

What's the name of this restaurant? Well, I'm not going to tell you — haha. The place is already too popular, and it's unusual not to find a line stretching out the door of customers waiting for up to an hour to sit at the sushi bar or a table. I went there for the first time in months last Christmas Eve because I thought that it would be a slow night there. And I was right! I got a place at the bar as soon as I walked in! But it's also gotten a lot more expensive than when I was there last. Still, the sushi remains rapturously good, with the best yellowtail I've ever tasted (no jokes, please), and the chef serves an ankimo (monk fish liver) handroll that uses a special sauce — absolutely scrumptious and nothing like anything I've tasted anywhere else.

All of this is a long, roundabout way of saying that the chef refuses to serve California rolls precisely because of the crab thing (I asked). Most of the king crab used in California rolls, according to this restaurant, is processed and not fresh. The chef does, however, serve and absolutely crave-quenching crab-salad handroll made from fresh Maryland blue crab. I once took a sushi-enthusiast friend from Maryland to this restaurant, and he later told me that it was so good, he couldn't eat sushi in Baltimore for six months because it couldn't measure up.

Enjoy your California rolls... Bwa ha ha!

[amietron]

Oh my goodness. That was such a great restaurant review.

[Shuriken]

Originally posted by amietron@Dec 28 2002, 10:47 PM
Oh my goodness. That was such a great restaurant review.
Thanks for your great review of my review. The thing about that particular sushi restaurant is that I discovered it and started eating there regularly not long after it opened, but once it caught on, I got crowded out of my neighborhood place. It didn't feel like "my" place anymore — especially after all the celebrities started showing up there. I hate it when that happens...