Sushi: The Naked Truth — Edamame

Anyone who has tried to make sushi knows it is harder than it looks. But
when you are plopped at the sushi bar watching the chef make rolls, nigiri, or
sashimi it looks easy. I, too, thought it was easy when I first watched my
master show me how to make a roll — until I rolled my fist roll. When I was
done I didn’t know if he was pissed or if he was going to burst out laughing.

But that’s the easy part. The key to making sushi — what is critical — is the preparation before you actually make it: fish selection, fish handling,
rice selection, method of washing and cooking rice, vinegar mixture,
etc. It’s the pain-staking little things that determine wether the outcome of sushi is
ok, or an orgasm in your mouth.

What does this have to do with edamame? It’s the little things.
Since we opened, I’ve been hearing guest’s commenting on our edamame. I find it odd,
because its just edamame, steam, then salt. Simple as that. How can our edamame
differ from anyone else’s?

Well, my question was answered on Sunday night. In part three of the
"Sushi: The Naked Truth" I talk about my new guy, who has worked
at several sushi bars in the Twin Cities. I was in back working with my
head hot foods chef Alex. While we were waiting for some edamame to
finish up, the new guy came back and asked, "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" we
both asked.

"Cook the edamame to order. It’s a pain!"

"How did
you do it at other places, especially when its busy?"

"Pre-cook it, wrap it in the bowl it will be served in, then stick
it in the microwave when ordered."

Most sushi bars do not have a kitchen behind the sushi bar, so it is a pain
when shrimp tempura or soft shell crab tempura is needed for a roll. With
our open kitchen we just call back an order if needed, and we have a
Chinese wok range on the line to speed up orders. Part of every Chinese wok
range is a big stock pot. Since we do not serve up Chinese stir-fries we
do not use that pot for actual stock but instead we use have boiling water for edamame.
In and out, in about a minute fresh to order.

So, again it all comes down to the small things that make the biggest difference.