I fail at blogging

So much for consistent blogging =(

Since the release of Aion and the newest member of my family i've just had no motivation or energy to post anything worthwhile. But enough of you have bugged me for another so i'm doing it for the fans! To make up for my laziness i'm going to take a huge dump of pictures on you. =)

Here we go.



Beheading Shrimps FTL

We had 3 types of shrimp to work with. Big ass shrimp w/ head. Not as Big ass shrimp w/head. Tiger prawn w/o head. Yeah I totally don't remember their names anyways. DeHeading shrimp is gross.



Cooked Shrimp

After skewering them and boiling them fo ra little bit this is what most of you are familiar with when you imagine shrimp for dinner.



Careful Arrangement

No.. not served like this. This is just our material plate. Even the materials near our station has to be neat like this.




Wasaaaaabi

Copious ammounts of wasabi usage in the restaurant. You can't tell but the bowl is about 10 inches in diameter. That's a whole lot of green stuff. I always thought it came like.. in its wet form because that's all we're ever exposed to but this was actually made from powder.




Shrimp Head Soup Taste Test

Nothing gets left behind. Even the heads are used for soup base.



Ebi Nigiri

My Attempt at shrimp Nigiri. Looks alright.



Shrimp Head Soup

Looks delicious. Is delicious. Too much veggies. Still good though.



Like a shirmp horror movie

We prepare the other heads for a little something special




Batter up

Sprinkle a little tempura powder on the heads for frying.



Sushi Rice

The infamous tub of sushi rice. The secret ot most good sushi.



Shari Dama

I'm getting pretty good at making the "rice balls"



Tofu..skin.. thingies

NO idea what they're called in english but i LOVE these. True, its just rice, sesame seeds and tofu skin wrapper but its so delicious.



Out of the bowl into the vat of boiling oil

Even frying shrimp heads has its technique and dangers. Im still scared of deep frying stuff >.<

Golden

Golden brown that is. The standard for all well fried objects.



Finished Frying

Camera didn't do it justice. Doesn't look quiet brown enough in the picture but you get the idea.



Finished Plate

Didn't document the clam nigiri (bottom left) but its just putting a slice of clam while wrapping a strip of nori aorund it. The shrimp on this platter is amaebi and it is raw.




Another angle

That wad of wasabi was cut to look like a leaf! pretty neat trick. Also, see how the tail on the ebi sticks up and fans out like that? Another trick of the trade. It's always the little things that make Japanese food exquisite.

Alright. I'm done. Sorry for the lack of proper commentary but my kitten is begging me to play with him. Peace i'm out.

JL

Yellow Tail FEVAARRR

Thanks to all those who bugged me to update my blog. No, really. I need to be constantly reminded to move my lazy butt.

Ok i'm changing formats cause I'm not to sure how to exactly go about blogging this. It's not like I have crazy exciting, edge-of-your-seat stories to tell everyday. I also doubt you wanna hear me QQing about how hard it is and how I feel like I'm failing the whole way so I'm going to just post pics of what I learned each day with some notes. Maybe a heartfelt wrap up. A song and a dance. Watever.



Not for the Feint

It's almost 11 o'clock and i'm very late for class. ( I blame LA bound traffic. I wouldn't say I have the worst commute in the world but it's certainly not a fun drive. The 60 freeway is mainly occupied by big ass 18 wheelers so they're slow and dangerous to maneuver around.)

I step in and Akio-san already has a yellow tail on the cutting board. I freeze in terror as memories fill my head, the stench of fish spiraling up my nostrils and into my lungs. I'm suddenly a child, no more than 6-7 years old, standing in a fish market in Flushing,NY.

My mother tries to coax me, convince me, drag me into the fish market where 10's and 100's of fish are swimming about in tanks. I see the butchers wearing all white with their giant cleavers ending the lives of fish with one hard chop..The smell. oh god the smell. My sensitive nose is scarred as the smell of so much nasty is concentrated on one street.

I wave my mother off. Tell her I'd rather die than go in there. She leaves me on the curb with no choice as heads into my personal hell. The memory is so vivid it feels like yesterday.

Thus began my personal crusade on hating fish. I didn't touch the stuff through life until college. I still would never choose fish over meat at a restaurant but at least i'll eat it. Ironically enough, it's all ill get to eat from now on. Not only that, i'm the guy in the white with the cleaver.

The next few images you're about to see are graphic. Please look away if you can't deal..



Cut up from the Anus

Hands on approach is not something I'm used to. The last time I cut something open was 7th grade life science and we had a sorry excuse for a bio class in 9th. I'm a nerd for crissakes, i don't do any of that manly hunting/fishing stuff so I got pretty squeamish as i saw blood spurting out and the smell of guts filling the air.



Mmm Mmm Mmm

Can you spot the fish..jaw/chin thingy? Japanese delicacy. Yeah.
Took quite a bit of work to strip the fish down and cut it into sizable portions for using and fridging. I still can't get over how disturbing it is to eat raw fish now. Before it wasn't anything special. Even novelty like. Now every time i pop sashimi in my mouth I make this face and i force myself to chew and swallow. It'll take some time before I can get over this silly mindset.



Salvaging Every Bit

If I learned anything during my training, it's that everything can be used and nothing should be wasted. We stripped this fish down to nothing and kept/used every last bit. Every. Last. Bit. Even the tail/head skin/bones.



Hando Lollu

My first attempt at making a hand roll. Messed up pretty bad but you can't tell =) See that red stuff? Meat scrapped off the bones and skin. I held this roll for a good 10 mins before finally forcing myself to scarf it down, trying not to think that I just pwnd a fish.



'Battleship Sushi'

Gunkan-sushi is the name of this style. I think its pretty obvious why. The black hull of a ship! Yeah, that's more yellow tail remains to top off this gunkan. Pretty good for my first try, i think.
This took me only 5 mins to consider before popping it in my mouth. Getting better!



Aka Miso

So for those of you not in the know, there is actually more than one type of miso (prob the typical white kind you see in most restaurants.) In fact there is like more then 30 types of miso! Today, while we were busy killing stuff, Yuki-san was in the kitchen preparing some Aka miso (red) for us. The taste was very unique, it had the usual miso taste but it had a slight kick to it. Pretty good.




Fail Nigiri

I used too much rice. Give me a break, i only learned how to make shari damas (rice balls) like a day ago! Well at least you wont go hungry after 30 mins. I packed enough rice in there to be like.. 3 bowls of it. I took it home for my family i didn't want any of it. I think I'm gonna swear off on yellow tail for a bit.

So my first real challenge as a sushi chef. This is something that will take repeated exposure until im fully used to sticking a knife in to a fish. Cutting the fish is pretty hard too. Getting them to be the right size and shape to use as ingredients is not as easy as it looks.

One thing that's bugged me to no end is the smell of fish on my hands. I've tried everything. Soap, Soap + lemon, Soap + even more lemon, Detergent, toothpaste everything short of peeling my own skin off. It takes about 2 days for the smell to go away but it doesn't matta cuz I'm handling more fish the next day. So i perpetually smell like fish. sigh

Look forward to my next installment as I present ebi! (shrimp)

JL

First Week Round Up

This blog was created to motivate me to work harder while reinforcing what I learned. Instead it's become more of a chore =p

My original intent was to update everyday after class but whenever I get home all I want to do is veg out or play games. Just so we're clear on my original intent, starting today I will force myself to update once a day even if it's just a picture post.

Moving on. A week has already passed and it's one of those "feels like a month" kind of ordeals. From the humble history lessons of "Edomae Style" sushi to popping the heads off live prawn I've feel like the difficulty and speed has ramped up considerably.

So fast, infact, that I feel like I have to try super hard just to keep up in the kitchen. Yes, true. I have no prior training and spent little to no time in the kitchen before in my life. But I just feel like with each passing minute that i'm not understanding or excelling at a specific task, i'm flushing dollar bills into the toilet.

Note: I calculated it's about $160 a day. Geez...

So being the emo guy I am, i'm effortlessly nitpicking and stressing out over something I've never done before. On hand it's a good motivator to try harder yet on another it's making the learning experience miserable. Oh, let's not forget to mention my two other classmates who are like 50 years old ohbasans who've cooked all their lives and can command thier way around a kitchen. The only thing that makes it bearable is the fact my teacher pays more attention to me. Its the little extra bit of guidance that keeps me from getting completely overwhelmed.

Before I go on, it's not all doom and gloom though, I assure you. While it's a frustrating experience it's equally exciting and new. Each day, literally, each and everyday I learn something new and it's awesome for my ADD nature. From basics of how to properly weild a knife, to small tips like using fresh lemon to wash hands to get the stink out ( doesn't really work.. more on this later) my binder has already accumlated 20 some pages of multi colored notes and scribbles!

Ok now that that's out the way, Shifting gears into photo blog mode.

Day 1

Notes

My notes that i can barely read myself. Taste the rainbow!! Notes are trilingual. Japanese, English, Chinese haha. Don't ask. I just copy whats on the blackboard. This is what will get me through the permit exams when the time comes. God help me >.<

Tempered Steel

The all-important tools of my trade. I haven't gotten my own set yet (sensei said we'd go down to the fish market to pick one out next week). These buggers are sharp. I've cut my own thumb, just a graze, and have split skin and sometimes drew blood without even realizing it. I'll be spending quite a bit on a set of good knives.




THE BOARD

Other than the white board, this is the most commonly referenced board in the room. I've only learned how to make 5 of the items in that picture. I have a long, long way to go.



This Guy
^ the man responsible for making your sushi. Please direct all complaints to him.


Schooled

Getting some pointers on how to stop rolling like a n00b after repeatedly FAILING on Cali rolls.
This is Yuki-san. Not my teacher but the co-owner of the restaurant. She acts as the occasional interpreter for my Sensei when he can't explain well enough in his broken engrish.



Results

After some pointers and much practice, the rolls are starting to look somewhat "sell-able". My mess is on the left. Teachers is on the right. Sigh



End of the longest day

After a long first day, I finally have something to show for it. Posing with my roll with my mentors.

Day 2

With a Vengeance

I haven't been this eager to wake up in the morning for a while. It felt good having a reason to wake up. Despite the horrid traffic on the 60 I went to work in a chipper mood. Slammed out this many rolls in a sitting (standing?) LIKE A BOSS.

'

Dragon Roll Z

Today we did a variation(and more $) of the humble California Roll. Thats cut unagi being placed in a toaster to heat it up and unlock its savory smell.The unagi gave me a lot of trouble. I'm not the most delicate feller so handling that big o knife and cutting thin, even slices of eel pwnd me. Discouraged.



Master at Work

My sensei (will refer to him as Akio-san from now on) demonstrates how a proper Dragon Roll is arranged. I used to hate eel cuz of the funky bones in each bite but on a CA roll with the fresh avacado actually helps me forget.



Pre-re-rolled

All the toppings now placed, it's ready to be rolled again to give it a flush shape. You guys hungry yet?



Where to cut??

A question that boggled me to no end. Assuming you're doing a 6 or 8 cut, do you give one peice all unagi? All avacado? Bit of both? Either way it was a nightmare to cut because stuff was sliding all over the place. Stupid avacado..



A Little Decor...

Goes a long way. From what was just a few extra pieces of vegetable and some sea snake thingy, by adding a little bit of this, a little squiggly of that, suddenly I can charge $10.00 for a plate. Man, if that isn't a handsome plate of food though right?



Burn, baby Burn

On my way to the parking lot to go home I see this in the distance. Scary.

OK. Thats enough for now. The other pictures require their own post with story. Look foward to it!! Thanks for reading =)

JL

Why Sushi?

Oops. I forgot I had a blog.

It's been so long since I've last blogged so the the good habit of regular updates is still lost on me. No matter. What's important is I'm updating now with substantial information to blog about! yay!

But before I get into that i guess I should explain who,what,when,where,how this all went down. People have been asking me all sorts of questions about this sudden change and envision some kind of crazy encounter or a twist of fate or clashing destinies.

I assure you, it is nothing that epic.

* WARNING* BIG ASS WALL OF TEXT. Discretion is Advised.

In a sentence, my mom found a chef who was taking students in the Sunday Chinese newspaper. That's it. See I told you! But this is more to this story if you'll continue reading.

If any of you have met my mom or know OF my mom, you know she's batsh*t crazy. I mean I love her to death and I put up with her zaniness but she's not a very normal mom. Those of you who don't know, my mom's been blessed/cursed with a entrepreneur's mind.

My mom's mind spins at 10,000 RPM and is always on the look out for potential business opportunities or ventures. My brother and I always thought she was just easily bored or just fickle. Why couldn't she be like other people's moms who had jobs and stuck with it? Nope. Not mine.

Like a sponge, she absorbs everything she possible can about a business, a product, whatever, and then moves on like a locust. I asked her once why she couldn't just stick with 1 thing and she told me, "Because I have you kids to take care of." What does that even mean? It wasn't until years later that she meant despite her longing to start her own business of any kind, she was first and foremost a mother. She did not believe in hiring a nanny. She did not believe in daycare. She believed a children needed their mother most. I blame my sister.

So, after absorbing all she could, the next step would seriously be "Start a Business" and she couldn't because of us.

Damn I'm going way off topic. Ok back on track.

So in other words, my mom in her 50's pretty much has no chance of accomplishing her dreams so lives vicariously through us now. My mom first proposed the idea of sending me to culinary class in Taiwan taught by a now very popular sushi franchise. It'd be about a month and very expensive (you are pretty much buying the know-how and franchise rights)

I thought, "Ugh, seriously? That's a terrible idea. No" First of all, I had an action packed summer that had a major event at the start and end of every month. 2nd.. SUSHI?? REALLY?

So after aggressively turning down this latest proposal life went on as usual; uneventful. Summer came and ended and my mom asks me if I wanna drive up to Hacienda Heights to check out this sushi chef who's taking students. "Only looking..right?" I said, as i stared her in the face. "Yes. Look only." She replied with a straight face.

So we get there and it's hard to find cuz its in a inconspicious corner nook of a shopping center. First thing I noticed was the state the restaurant was in. It looked like either it was closing down...or renovating. It was the latter. The owners beckon me in and I take a seat. They start questioning me, asking me my opionions on some things and its starting to feel like an interview. I'm not sure I liked that.

The entire time, every 15-20 mins the phone would ring and it would be another prospective student asking questions over the phone. The lady co-owner would say the same thing, "Come on over so we meet in person and talk in detail." After much asking and answering, the chef started going over tuition and schedules, notifying me to get in 10:30 the next morning. I start to panic cause neither my mom or I said anything about agreeing to anything.

Then my mom busts out her check book and I start pooping bricks. Yet, I didn't stop her. She writes him a downpayment to secure a spot in his class because he only accepts 3 or so students at a time. I had a night to sleep on it. Needless to say I gave my mom the stink eye all day because she's always pulling crap like this to lock me in. Just look my ass.

When my siblings heard the news they were stoked and that kind of softened the blow. I spent some time in meditation and prayer to seek some confirmation. But at the same time i felt like there was no real need. It's as if I was meant to do this. It felt so.. right! Everyone's comments on FB really helped put me in a positive mindset too. I'll make something of myself soon enough.

So that's it. This is why I'm hot. This is why. This is why. This is why i'm hot.

JL

Preparing for the first day of the rest of my life.

I never imagined I'd be where I am now. No child dreams of becoming a chef, let alone a sushi chef, while growing up.

I remember wanting to be a scientist...or pro gamer as a kid. Hell, just last week I was still trying to land a job at blizzard for a GM position so nothing prepared me for this sudden turn of events. In fact I'm still staggering from shock and awe.

Tomorrow is my first day training under a Japanese master sushi chef. This will be an interesting adventure as I take on the intricacies of how nigiri, sushi & sashimi is made. Other than the sushi I will also be learning how to do sukiyaki, shabu shabu, tempura, miso, udon & soba.

Hopefully I can do well enough to impress my sensei so that he will make me a employee in one of his restaurants. God willing, in a few years I'll be able to open a little sushi bar of my own one day!

I'll be training 4 hours in the kitchen, 5 days a week for 2 months and this is my blog.

JL

ps. Talk about a major departure from what I majored in. (Business administration)