Cape Town Sushi - News Update #2 - Nigiri [Nigiri-Zushi]

Hi All,

As promised, we continue to serve by providing our readers with interesting facts and information with respect to the world of Sushi. Many people and potential patrons find Sushi and other Asian restaurants to be very intimidating. For conservative folks, such eateries are often surrounded with mysticism particularly with respect to cultural and dining etiquette. However all is not lost. For those of you who still believe that all meals should be eaten with a knife and fork, we have decided to provide you with quality tips in an attempt to get you to explore in the delicate exotic delights of Sushi.

Today’s focus is on a Sushi serving known as Nigiri. Also commonly known as Nigiri-Zushi, it simply consists of an oval shaped, hand-formed mound of sushi rice topped with a slice of raw fresh fish or other related seafood. This topping is also called Neta. Nigiri is usually served in pairs and depending on the type of topping you ordered, it may by wrapped with a thin band of seaweed (Nori).

Thus to put it plainly, Nigiri is simply fish on rice. The Sushi Chef may occasionally put a light spread of wasabi between the rice and neta. However, we have rarely seen this done in some of the restaurants we have reviewed.

(pictures compliments of istockphoto and sushi-sushi)

Nigiri Sushi can be topped with most seafod items. The most common is of course salmon, tuna or prawn. Other toppings include clams, squid, fish eggs, scallops, mackerel, eel, sea urchins, bean curd, vegetables and even sweetened egg . Depending on your choice of topping, this seafood can either be served raw, cooked, smoked or cured, grilled or batter fried. Don’t be shy to ask the Sushi Chef or waiter if you are unsure about your choice of toppings.

As with most Sushi dishes, Nigiri is accompanied with the usual condiments of wasabi, soy sauce and pickled ginger. Nigiri can be eaten with chopsticks, although the most authentically correct manner of eating this dish is as follows:

• Pick up one sushi piece between your thumb and middle finger, putting the index finger on top of the nigiri;
• Dip the end of the neta into the soy sauce (not the rice part);
• Bring the sushi to your mouth and bite in half; and
• Before your next bite, dip the neta side in the soy sauce again.

(pictures compliments of foutz and foodiesite)

We recommend that you start with the more common Nigiri toppings and work you way to the more savoured and sought after toppings after a few visits. Of course like everything else in life, we cant guarantee that you will like them all, however life is too short as the saying goes, and you should be happy in the fact that you at least attempted something different...yes maybe even I learnt something new in the living life happily article in the latest Mens Health (sad to hear the Editor Andy Ellis is leaving though).

Enjoy and remember, the discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of a new star :-)

Grant

Jimmy's Killer Prawns (Kloof Street, Cape Town)

Address: Corner of Kloof Street and Union Garden Street
Tel: 021-4260327
Email: kloof@jimmyskillerprawns.za.net
Web: www.jimmyskillerprawns.za.net

Jimmy's Killer Prawns - another well-known seafood franchise. Their specialty, is of course prawn and seafood dishes. They have also expanded their menu to include sushi and much to my girlfriend's dislike, a hearty selection of "Buffalo-Bill" portioned meaty (red meat) dishes.

We recently attended a birthday party at the Kloof Street franchise. Not everyone will appreciate the home-restaurant feel about the place and seating is sometimes a little awkward, especially if you are a party of more than 6 people. Finding parking is also at times an issue. The venue does feel a little cramped, or as some estate agents will debate, somewhat "intimate". Personally, overhearing echoes of personal gossip and insider-company information from my neighbours table is a little awkward. Made me wonder if they in turn, could hear my imaginary shrieking with respect to the red wine a particular group were savouring with their garlic-buttered prawns. A sinful combination really. But folks, my apologies, I digress as our primary concern here is the quality and presentation of the sushi at Jimmy's Prawns.

The Jimmy's selection of sushi platters is fairly broad and well presented. Unfortunately no particular platter bowled us over with much excitement. We decided to add a bit of "pizazz" to the standard platter by opting for additional complimentary orders of salmon roses, salmon rainbow rolls and salmon sashami. Yes, that's quite an omega boost for one evening - I'm sure my friends at Men's Health would have been proud, or disgusted with the excess kilojoule intake. But hey, "tis the season..." as the saying goes.
Our sushi arrived in good time and was very well presented on a large round wooden serving board. As hungry as we were, we took a moment to appreciate the intricacy and effort that was taken to prepare such an eye-catching, tasty feast. Our excitement was shared by the rest of our party, who sat and stared in awe of our sushi delights. If dining protocol was unfounded, the lesser reserved would have stopped what they were already eating to order a similar main dish.
The sushi and sushi rice was very good. The salmon and prawn was of course very fresh. However, the salmon lacked a little of that "melt-in-your-mouth" quality that is often followed by an explosion of fresh, tasty, deep-sea, woody aroma's, all concluding in a buttered avocado aftertaste. Notwithstanding, the sushi overall were quite good, and the prices were fairly reasonable.
For some reason, it appeared as if the sushi-items as offered by the platter we ordered had more salmon and prawn portions as opposed to equal tuna portions. This could have been from the influence we may have had on the Sushi-Chef due to our additional "side" orders of salmon sushi. We have to mention that the tuna portions we had, were not the best. It tasted somewhat lumpy, and its texture was far too soft.

Presentation and condiments are often overlooked by many sushi bars and restaurants. We already gave praises for Jimmy's presentation, however when it comes to condiments, they were somewhat lacking. In my opinion, we had just about enough pickled ginger for the entire platter, which we already started using sparingly since the first bite. The surprise to our condiment-selection included mayonnaise and needle-strip sliced cucumber. The only other sushi bar or restaurant where I have seen these "extras" is at Balducci's Royal Sushi Bar.

After enjoying some good sushi, we still felt as if something was missing in terms of the overall experience. It took us a while to figure it out, and that was that we had no view or contact with any of the Sushi-Chefs. At most sushi bars and restaurants, patrons would have some direct or indirect contact with their chef. This we believe adds tons of enjoyment to the overall experience. Regardless of if you strike up a conversation with the Chef or not, or if you quietly and tentatively appreciate the skill that goes into the preparation. This is certainly an oversight on the part of Jimmy's management in terms of their floor planning. Every Sushi-Chef, whether they want to admit it or not, wants patrons to appreciate their skill and experienced hand. Critics would argue that watching an experienced Sushi-Chef at work, is certainly a performance of fine art.

After enjoying some good sushi, why not treat yourself, or preferably your better half to an exhilarating head, neck and back massage for R30 (10 - 15 minutes long) from the resident masseuse. Try ignoring the stares and grins from your jealous neighbours, as you will be receiving an enjoyable, rejuvenating massage.

Overall Jimmy's managed to serve up some good quality sushi, barring the poor sushi tuna portions we had. Their sushi menu is passable and their prices are very reasonable. On the evening, and thanks to a well presented platter, we managed to baptise some more friends into sushi-lovin-newbies. Jimmy's Killer Prawns in Kloof Street should definitely be on your shortlist, amongst all the other, ever increasing sushi-establishments in Cape Town's central business district - Grant

P.S. Someone should inform Jimmy's website administrator that he/she has the wrong Cape Town area code for the Kloof Street contact details. Hope he/she is reading.