What to serve with sushi?

pinktichel

Wed, Jun 03 2009, 12:20 pm

We're having (I hope!) sushi for first course on Friday night. What salads go well with it? Not looking to do a whole Japanese theme but don't want random salads either.

Clarissa

Wed, Jun 03 2009, 12:23 pm

When I make Asian food, I sometimes do Asian themed salads to go with them, like an Asian cole slaw or marinated cucumber salad. The acidity of the salads goes nicely with the fish and rice, I think. I also like edemame in their pods. I know those are sort of theme things, but I like theme meals, right down to dessert, because the flavors seem to compliment one another.

pinktichel

Wed, Jun 03 2009, 12:45 pm

I like to do themes too. Problem is, I can't do a theme without transforming the room and spending weeks, sometimes months, planning, shopping and buying.

This week, we just "advertised" sushi. I have Asian theme planned for another time.

I like the idea of cucumber salad. Can you post your recipe for Asian cabbage salad?

Thanks for your help!

Clarissa

Wed, Jun 03 2009, 12:50 pm

I didn't really use a recipe. I just worked from something similar to this recipe, which of course makes too much:

http://www.epicurious.com/reci.....04469

Vinegar, cilantro, I also did shredded red bell pepper and carrot.

Last week, when I made a Thai Shabbat dinner, I did a marinated cucumber salad on the side -- thinly sliced English hothouse cucumber that's been peeled, cider vinegar, sugar, finely chopped red onion and chopped cilantro. That one was better after it marinated overnight.

If you go to Epicurious and type in Asian cole slaw or Asian cabbage salad, you'll get loads of ideas.

The kind of oily, rich quality of raw fish and the heaviness of rice are offset nicely with something that has some acid and bite.

Last edited by Clarissa on Wed, Jun 03 2009, 12:54 pm; edited 1 time in total

pinktichel

Wed, Jun 03 2009, 12:52 pm

Clarissa wrote:

I didn't really use a recipe. I just worked from something similar to this recipe, which of course makes too much:

http://www.epicurious.com/reci.....04469

Vinegar, cilantro, I also did shredded red bell pepper and carrot.

Last week, when I made a Thai Shabbat dinner, I did a marinated cucumber salad on the side -- thinly sliced English hothouse cucumber that's been peeled, cider vinegar, sugar, finely chopped red onion and chopped cilantro. That one was better after it marinated overnight.

If you go to Epicurious and type in Asian cole slaw or Asian cabbage salad, you'll get loads of ideas.

The kind of oily, rich quality of raw fish and the heaviness of rice is offset nicely with something that has some acid and bite.

Thank you!

poelmamosh

Wed, Jun 03 2009, 1:00 pm

We did an asian-themed shabbos. First course was the sushi with sesame rice noodles, edemame & mini eggrolls (all warm) with some bottled sauces on the side (thai red pepper, teriaki, duck sauce)

Stepmum

Wed, Jun 03 2009, 3:04 pm

I think noodles (thai, sesame, soy, etc) go well with sushi, and work with chopsticks...

I think the cabbage salad would go nicely as well. Maybe a veggie stirfry? Are you a tofu person? (I'm not - DH bought a container of tofu months ago b/c he thought it would be interesting, and it's still sitting in the fridge... I have no idea if it's still edible!) If you want another fish option, grilled salmon in a teriyaki sauce might be nice.

And edamame beans will be nice for nibbling. I agree with Clarissa, 'themed' food tends to work well together.

bubby

Wed, Jun 03 2009, 3:07 pm

I'll ask my DH. He spent a month in Tokyo. Maybe he has some ideas from watching all those Japanese chow down in the street.

Mrs Bissli

Wed, Jun 03 2009, 8:06 pm

Salad can be either plain green salad, or soba (buckwheat noodle) salad with soy-sesame dressing. It's basically tehini diluted with a bit of lemon juice or rice vinegar, seasoned with soy sauce. You can also add bean sprouts, chopped water chestnuts with canned mandarine segments to add oriental flavour (and far less fattening than fried chowmein toppings). IMHO you just have to be careful with edamame in the pods as they may have bugs. (Here I usually serve the frozen ones that come pre-shelled).
When we do sushi shabbat, I usually serve miso soup before the main course, which is usually chicken or beef teriyaki.

PS. if you're serving sushi as the first course, you may want to alert the guests there will be main course afterwards. VERY often, I find guests getting totally stuffed on sushi alone...

ra_mom

Thu, Jun 04 2009, 1:53 am

I love avocado salads with sushi. I have a wonderful recipe that I would serve over a bed of greens.
I am trying to decide if my Asian orange/edamame salad would go well with the sushi.

pinktichel

Thu, Jun 04 2009, 4:05 am

Thanks e/o for your ideas! So many choices...

Mrs. Bissli, I wanted to make won tons for my soup but don't have any ground chicken and can't get any. Sad

Anyone have a recipe for a pb dressing for a lettuce salad? Heard of one once but don't know where.... I'm in the mood of s/t different.

Mrs Bissli

Thu, Jun 04 2009, 5:16 am

oh about the dressing, I forgot to add you'll need to add water to dilute so that it's not too thick. I use unseasoned tehini from a jar. sorry I don't have wonton recipe.

BTW, we did gefilte fish roll the other day, complete with wasabi instead of chraine. It actually went quite nicely.

sarahd

Thu, Jun 04 2009, 5:29 am

Clarissa wrote:

Last week, when I made a Thai Shabbat dinner, I did a marinated cucumber salad on the side -- thinly sliced English hothouse cucumber that's been peeled, cider vinegar, sugar, finely chopped red onion and chopped cilantro. That one was better after it marinated overnight.

Which do you think would go better as a substitute for cider vinegar, plain white vinegar or white wine vinegar?

greeneyes

Thu, Jun 04 2009, 8:57 am

pinktichel wrote:

Thanks e/o for your ideas! So many choices...

Mrs. Bissli, I wanted to make won tons for my soup but don't have any ground chicken and can't get any. Sad

Anyone have a recipe for a pb dressing for a lettuce salad? Heard of one once but don't know where.... I'm in the mood of s/t different.

There's a really good peanut butter sauce in Norene's Healthy Kitchen that is also excellent as a salad dressing. The peanut butter chicken & mango salad in that book is realllllly good & it uses this dressing.

(I think I remember you saying in another thread that you have this cookbook. Smile

)

poelmamosh

Thu, Jun 04 2009, 11:13 am

pinktichel wrote:

Thanks e/o for your ideas! So many choices...

Mrs. Bissli, I wanted to make won tons for my soup but don't have any ground chicken and can't get any. Sad

Anyone have a recipe for a pb dressing for a lettuce salad? Heard of one once but don't know where.... I'm in the mood of s/t different.

You can take boiled chicken and shred it for the wonton. Or use chopped meat.