Getting the Most Out of Your Wasabi

It’s not as easy to get real wasabi as you may think. Because of the high price of the condiment, most places will serve you a colorized mixture of American horseradish and mustard masquerading as wasabi. Therefore, when you are able to indulge in authentic Japanese horseradish with our Bellevue Japanese restaurant, you will want to make sure you use it properly in order to get the most out of your sushi experience.

The trick with wasabi is knowing how much to add to your fish. You want to complement the flavor of your sushi without overpowering it with that of the wasabi. For the most part, the sushi chef will have already prepared your sushi with an amount of wasabi he deems appropriate. Should you wish to add more, though, remember this rule of thumb: oilier fish can take more wasabi, while less oily fish does better with less.

What is Ponzo Sauce?

Ponzo sauce is a common sight in Japanese cooking, coming in the form of a dressing or marinade that is closely related to the more common soy sauce. It is often made by combining simple soy sauce with ingredients that may include dried fish flakes, mirin rice wine, and an Asian citrus fruit known as yuzu. The final product is a flavorful, complex taste sensation with a delightful citrus tang.

You can find ponzo sauce on many of the dishes at our Japanese restaurant in Bellevue, including our New York steak tataki, our panko crusted soft shell crab tempura, and our crispy salmon dish. Try it out for yourself tonight!

Good Tuna Makes Good Sushi!

There was a time when tuna took a back seat to no other fish. Unfortunately, it lost its seat as the nation’s favorite fish in recent years to the lowly shrimp. This is due largely to the fears that came about from the revelation of the mercury content of certain cans of tuna. However, Flo’s Bellevue Japanese restaurant wants to remind you that this is not typical of tuna, and this amazing fish actually has quite a lot to offer.

One of the best things about tuna is that it is a “fatty” fish. This means that it is a particularly strong source of the omega-3 fatty acids that are a vital part of keeping your heart healthy. It is also full of nutritious, low-cholesterol protein, providing you with twenty-five grams of protein in three ounces. Further, it is a source of important nutrients like phosphorus, vitamin b12, niacin, and selenium. These are good for stabilizing your blood sugar, strengthening your immune system, and purging carcinogenic toxins from your body. Ultimately, the benefits of a low-mercury cut of tuna fish far outweigh the possible drawbacks. Come to Flo to enjoy this classic fish in the form of our many different tuna sashimi, nigirisushi, and sushi rolls!

A Primer to Sushi Rolls

In the United States, the sushi roll represents the most popular variety of sushi. You can find a full list of rolls at our Bellevue sushi restaurant, including such classic favorites as the California roll, the crunchy roll, and the Seattle roll.

In Japan, the word for a sushi roll is makizushi, which literally translates to “roll sushi”. This term is frequently written in English as “maki sushi”. Among this school of sushi, there are two subcategories: the standard maki sushi and the uramaki. A standard maki sushi is one where the nori seaweed is wrapped around the outside of the rice, representing a more traditional way to prepare sushi. Uramaki, on the other hand, has the nori on the inside of the rice. This is where it gets its name, as “uramaki” translates to “inside-out roll”. These rolls often come in the form of fusion-style sushi, and are more common in the United States than within Japan.

The Special Signature of Japanese Soy Sauce

Not many people give a lot of thought to soy sauce. After all, if you’ve seen on sauce, you’ve seen them all, right? Actually, the sauce that you find at a Japanese restaurant is a distinctly Japanese variety, which may very well be different than the sauce you might find in China.

The primary difference between Chinese soy sauce and Japanese soy sauce comes from the concentration of soybeans. Japanese soy sauce manufacturers tend to mix their soy with grains, usually wheat, during the fermenting process to give it a sweeter taste. Chinese soy sauce, by contrast, usually has little or no wheat in it. Most people in the West appreciate the sweet flavor of the Japanese variety, which explains why most soy sauce found in the United States is of Japanese origin.