PANTRY ESSENTIALS for Sushi and Japanese Cooking with The Sushi Man

what's going on June with the sushi man and in this video I'll be covering the 11 Pantry Essentials for making sushi cuz I get it it can be confusing and overwhelming when you're standing in front of a wall of different condiments at the Asian market so in this video I break down what you need why you need it and which one to get and I'll also go over some bonus items in the later part of the video so be sure to stick till the end all right without further Ado let's Jump Right [Music] In [Music] so first and foremost the most important ingredient in sushi the rice now there are thousands of different varieties of rice but you only need to look for one type and that is Japanese short grain rice and there's a couple breeds that I recommend kosari and tanishi they're both great for sushi and you really can't go wrong with either of them Koshi Kar though is more common and probably easier to find so I said go with that and I'll have a full list in the description for all these items with links to where you can buy them all right next up we have rice vinegar and this is to make the sushi vinegar which is mixed into the rice to make sushi rice and remember it's not Sushi unless the vinegared rice is used so obviously it's a very essential ingredient when it comes to Sushi now when you're at the store you probably see regular rice vinegar and then seasoned rice vinegar the season one is sweetened and can be used to make sushi rice as is however making sushi vinegar is extremely simple plus it tastes better so I recommend getting the regular unseasoned one check out this video if you want to learn how to make your own brand wise mean maruk kikan they're all good brands and you'll be fine with any of them all right next to go along with our rice vinegar we have some sugar we add this in to make our Sushi vinegar and I recommend just plain white granulated sugar nothing special just keep it simple and then salt as well again used to make our Sushi vinegar and there's not much to it you could just use regular table salt kulta salt or sea salt I'm sure you have some type of salt already in your pantry okay on to number five which is our no or dried seaweed and obviously you're going to need some if you plan to make any type of makizushi or sushi rolls now picking out the right one can be a lot more complicated than it should be and this is because there's really no standard grading system and different brands have different grading levels some use a letter grading system which is pretty straightforward a being the highest and then down to B down to C and so on the color system on the other hand can be much more confusing but typically it goes something like this gold silver or blue green or yellow and then Red Gold being the highest quality and red being basic however I've seen some silver even gold level noty from some companies have lower quality than a red from others for example this yamamotoyama red is great and it works totally fine for any type of sushi now of course if you want to get a more premium one then go for their silver or gold but this is solid and it's probably one of the most used noty in mass production settings like restaurants this one here is called June and yamam motama actually custom made this for me and my channel I'm just kidding this is another grade that they had think it's discontinued now but I honestly don't know where this Falls in their grading system anyways the size of the Noy comes in either full or half sheets half sheets are what we use for majority of sushi rolls but you can simply cut the full sheets in half if that's all you can find all right moving on number six is show you or soy sauce I always say that soy sauce goes with sushi like butter does with bread it's not a necessity but it just wouldn't be right without it and I recommend using Japanese toy sauce because of its flavor profile now the brand and type are really up to you kikoman which is the most famous and readily available is totally fine I personally use the low sodium version but again it's up to your preference and if you guys want to learn how to make your own soy sauce for sushi then be sure to check this video out Niki joyu is what we call it and it will definitely level up your sushi game okay next we have Wasabi and most of you guys will probably find something like this this is wasabi powder and and this one comes in a tube and they're actually not real Wasabi real Wasabi is a root ryome to be exact and it's really expensive and difficult to find at least here in the states these are made from horseradish and are colored to make it look like real Wasabi and I've seen some higher grade ones that mimic real Wasabi a little better but overall they're all pretty similar now that said I am a huge fan of this this is called kisami Wasabi and it comes either Frozen or refrigerated and typically in packages like this it's real Wasabi that's been chopped up and marinated there's a little bit of Hors radish in there but since it's primarily made from real Wasabi it tastes so much better I put it on sushi and sashimi of course but it's also amazing with steak oysters Yaki oaz I mean anytime I want a little bit of that Wasabi kick this is my go-to all right up next we have GTI or pickle Ginger and this is used as a pallet cleanser when eating different types of sushi and there are two main types white and red or more so pink traditionally young Ginger is used to make gutti which have red tips to them and during the pickling process that color seeps into the rest and gives it that light pink color now that said most pink Ginger you'll see at restaurants these days is dyed with food coloring young Ginger is seasonal so it's much harder and more expensive to get than the regular fully grown ones which most of these are made from so I personally like to use the regular non-dyed version but they both taste pretty much the same and it's really up to personal preference all right let's keep going our ninth item is Japanese Mayo now this is not really an essential item in traditional sushi but it has become such a big part of modern Sushi and we use it all the time in so many different ways you can use it as is mix it into a crab salad or make some awesome spicy meal with it which you could check out with this video right over here and I use the QP brand always have and always will they're the original and why change something that's not broken okay next we have GMA or sesame seeds we usually use this as a topping or add in onto the rice when making Inside Out rolls and I recommend getting toasted or roasted sesame seeds by toasting it it gives it a richer nuttier flavor while also bringing out more Aroma and to take it a step further I like to grind mine with this cool little Gadget right here it's an automatic sesame seed grinder and with just the push of this button it grinds it and dispenses it for you and grinding it brings out even more of that Sesame Aroma plus it's just fun to use all right our last item is ponzu which is Citrus soy sauce now if you haven't heard of ponzu it's basically soy sauce mixed in with different types of citrus juice along with vinegar and meting sometimes it's a great ingredient in salad dressings marinades and also for sushi and Sashi I personally like to use it with salmon sashimi because that Citrus flavor goes really well with the clean buttery Taste of salmon but again you can use it for so many different things so I had to include it onto this list Kik mang maruk again are the top man manufacturers and they're all good options all right now that's it for the 11 essential Pantry items for sushi but as I promised you in the beginning of the video I have another bonus list that goes over some essential items for Japanese cooking in general and some of these will cross over to Sushi as well especially when you become more advanced so first one is Dashi Dashi can be said to be the heart of Japanese Cuisine or the mother of umami it's a stock made from Umami Rich ingredients and is the basis of so many Japanese dishes if you plant to get into Japanese cooking then you'll for sure need to learn how to make Dashi stock it is that important speaking of which you can learn how by going to this video right over here and don't worry it's really simple and you only need a few ingredients and I go into a lot more detail in that video but let me cover some Basics here kbu or dried kelp is one of the most common dashy ingredients and you can find this at probably any Asian market look for it in the dried seaweed section kobushi or dried Bonito flakes is another very common one adding this with the kumu makes what's called a Dashi which is my personal favorite way to make Dashi dried sha mushrooms are also a great dashy Source it's vegan and vegetarian friendly and it gives a lot of that Umami flavor though I personally like it combined with one of these other ingredients all right I also want to show you this which is instant Dashi powder hondashi is probably the most famous and widely used one but you can find some that are Kashi Dashi Kashi or combination ones you just just mix it in with water and basically you have yourself some instant dhy stock and honestly Most Japanese households would use something instant like this you just can't beat the convenience however making it from scratch does taste better so if you have the time make your own if not there's nothing wrong with using one of these okay next one is sucket or Japanese rice wine and I'm not going to get into much detail here because you guessed it I have an in-depth video that covers everything about sucket and yep that's the link up there just know for cooking King get one of these cheap bottles they should be like 8 n bucks at least at the time I'm making this video who knows what it'll be with inflation but anyways these are meant for cooking and you don't need to get a high-end bottle save those for drinking okay moving on this one is meing or Japanese sweet rice wine it's different from sake because it's much sweeter and almost syrupy it's used as a sweetener and also to add glaze to a lot of dishes such as in titty yuck sauce it typically has a lower alcohol content especially these types which are technically not true meeting home meeting or true meeting will have a lot more alcohol pretty similar to suake but it's expensive and harder to find the ones you common see at most markets like this one is actually an imitation version to replicate the taste of real meeting but it's so Mass distributed that most people just refer to this as meaning and it does the job fine plus the cost difference is pretty substantial so M maruk K Morita are again all solid choices all right next we have miso miso is fermented soybean paste it has a rich salty and savory flavor while also having a lot of depth to it it can be used to marinate fish Meats vegetables used as a dipping sauce or make soups like the classic miso soup and yep I have a video on that as well and I break down the different types of miso in that video so be sure to check it out if you're looking to buy some and the last bonus Pantry ingredient is tempura Co which is tempura flour making tempura batter from scratch isn't difficult but this makes it much simpler it's a powder that you just add water to and that's it dip your ingredients in and Fry it's convenient but more importantly it has great results it's basically a foolproof way of making tempero batter however the actual frying part has a lot more to it so if you want to learn about that go to this video you know what just subscribe and follow my channel you'll find all this on there all right and that is it guys the 11 essential Pantry ingredients for making sushi and then some bonus items if you're getting getting into Japanese Cuisine in general I hope this list helps you figure out what you need and choose the right ones and also give you more directions so that you're not hopelessly lost next time you're at the Asian market and if you enjoy this video and want to learn more about making sushi then be sure to check out my book it's called how to make sushi at home a fundamental guide for beginners and Beyond I cover basic topics like this and also take you step by step on how to actually make sushi all the way from sourcing the right fish to presentation and even how to pair it with the right bottle of sucket so if you've always wanted to try making sushi but didn't know where to start definitely check this book out I'll have links in the description below and now that you know what Pantry ingredients to get watch this video to learn about the correct tools you need to start making sushi all right hope you enjoyed the video and let me know in the comments if you have any questions thanks for watching and I'll see you on the next one

Channel: The Sushi Man

Views: 2,439

Keywords: how to, cooking, how to make, sushi, how to cook rice, make sushi at home, how to cook sushi at home, how to make sushi, japanese food, Japanese cooking, the sushi man, sashimi, how to roll sushi, sushi guide, sushi pantry essentials, sushi essentials, pantry essentials for sushi, sushi pantry items, Japanese cooking pantry, Japanese cooking pantry essentials, Japanese pantry items, sushi pantry, sushi pantry ingredients, Japanese cooking essentials, Japanese pantry

Id: th_DxvQMips

Length: 11min 52sec (712 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 25 2024