Sushi! And a sustainable replacement for unagi.
The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to you by Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen. They chose sushi as the challenge.
To be honest, I was both excited and disappointed when I saw this challenge. Because, well… I love sushi! But… I make sushi all the time. Where’s the challenge for me?
Sumeshi. Dragon Roll. Decorative rolls. Nigiri sushi. Those were the “challenges” for this month. For most people, this is a great challenge, because if I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard someone is scared of trying to make sushi at home… I’d be a very rich woman indeed. But for me… I’ve done that all already. Countless times. *sigh*
But!!! In fact, I was able to find something here to challenge me. You see, unagi is bad, bad, bad. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve eaten unagi many times in the past and enjoyed it quite a bit. But… it’s not sustainable. At all. Not good. Especially when these days, I’m trying to go completely sustainable, at least when it comes to seafood.
Inspired by a roll Hajime Sato made at the Sustainable Sushi Dinner at Mashiko, I decided I would make my own sustainable replacement for unagi. Made from catfish. And that, my friends, was my challenge for this month’s Daring Cooks challenge.
So how did it turn out? Wonderfully. Perfect. The taste, the texture… we might as well have been eating unagi. It was fantastic.
For the Dragon Roll instructions and the sumeshi recipe we were to use for this challenge, go check out the posts on Audax’s and Rose’s blogs. For lots and lots more sushi recipes and the instructions that I use for my own sushi, check out Sushi Day, my sushi blog.
Catfish
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mirin
- 1/2 cup shoyu
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 catfish fillets
Cooking Instructions
- Combine the mirin, shoyu, and sugar in a small pot.
- Bring to a boil, then simmer for half an hour. Let cool.
- Marinate the catfish in the sauce overnight.
- Bring the oven to 350°F.
- Wrap the catfish fillets in individual foil packets, pouring some of the sauce over each fillet. Bake 30-45 minutes, keeping an eye on the catfish so it doesn’t overcook.
- Let cool. Enjoy!
Audax Artifex 11/16/2009 at 01:41am
Ummmmm…. you have a sushi blog (which is full of the most beautiful sushi photography I have ever seen) yes…. I think this wasn’t much of a challenge for you at all and your pixs are so elegant (almost to good to eat but I would in a moment). Superb work on this and the catfish sounds so great and sustainable. Bravo bravo bravo on this ‘challenge’. Cheers from Audax in Australia. .
chef_d 11/16/2009 at 03:09am
gorgeous looking sushi, and your sushi blog is so beautiful!
Contest Winners, and a Sushi Post on Fridgg - Sushi Day - Sushiday.com 11/16/2009 at 11:28am
[…] I’ve posted about sushi on my other blog, Fridgg, for this month’s Daring Cooks challenge. The recipe called for unagi… but unagi isn’t sustainable, and you know I […]
LaraQ 11/16/2009 at 01:19pm
What a great substitution! I love unagi as well but will definitely make this version instead as soon as I pick up some catfish fillets.
Sushi Greg 11/17/2009 at 01:39pm
Monterey Bay Aquarium has a pretty good list of Seafood that is safe to eat. I posted it on my facebook page recently.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_regional.aspx
Carmelita 11/22/2009 at 09:38pm
Always so find it so amusing that the Japanese do no make sushi at home but everyone else thinks nothing of having a go.
Faux-Nagi - Sushi Day - Sushiday.com 11/19/2010 at 11:47pm
[…] a year ago, I came up with my own version of a sustainable replacement for unagi, using catfish. Personally, I really love this, because the taste and texture are very similar to […]
mjskit 02/08/2013 at 02:55pm
Oh I am definitely going to try this! I but catfish all of the time because that’s about the only fish I can get in the high desert AND I love unagi! Great recipe and it looks like the real thing!
Jen 06/13/2014 at 01:15pm
Unagi could easily just be substituted with salt-water eel (anago – genus, conger, a different genus than freshwater unagi). It’s really quite similar. Anago is a little lighter in taste.
Jeff 07/12/2014 at 01:41am
Now I wanna try Catfish sushi tomorrow. Thank you for the insight and cooking directions.
Joe 12/03/2014 at 07:42am
I’ve done this with tilapia as well. Works as a substitute for taste, but it’s flakier. I bet the catfish would work better for texture.