Hotategai

[j.d.fisher]

Can anyone give some insight on how hotategai (scallop) can be prepared as
nigiri sushi? We were wondering if we could just purchase sea scallops at
the grocer's but weren't sure about freshness or how to prepare it.

We recently tried it at our one of our favorite restaurants in Chicago,
Kamehachi (second after Matsuya), and found that it almost tops our love of
unagi. Almost. But very very close. ;) It was prepared raw at Kamehachi,
but cooked at Matsuya. The cooked version definitely lacked in experience,
however at Kamechi, all we can say is... wowzer.

[j.d.fisher]

Dan Logcher wrote in message ...
>I would not recommend ever using anything from the grocer for raw sushi.
They
>do not offer sushi grade fish, unless you're lucky. You should go to a
>Japanses market that has sushi grade fish and ask them. Luckily there are
a
>few around me.. and I'm sure I can get raw scallop for sushi.

You're lucky then. Our grocer actually has sashimi grade fish, only maguro
though. We had a feeling that the sea scallops one finds in the seafood
counter wouldn't be the properly prepared hotategai for nigiri. *sigh* We
still continue our quest. It seems that the only way to to get sashimi
grade sushi, at least our seemingly hard-to-find favorites (unagi, sake,
etc.), is via mail order. Not that we want to replace our sushi bars, but
preparing it at home is quite the experience. ;)

>
>Ever try ika? Similar creamy flavor.. Mmmmmm.

We haven't found a place yet that will prepare ika raw... that's another on
our list though. ;)

>
>--
>Dan

[wayne ingalls]

jd_fisher wrote:

[snip]

>Our grocer actually has sashimi grade fish, only maguro though.
>We had a feeling that the sea scallops one finds in the seafood
>counter wouldn't be the properly prepared hotategai for nigiri.

[snip]

I wouldn't recommend buying scallops for sashimi from a
supermarket. I'm even surprised that you can get sashimi
grade anything from a supermarket, you obviously don't live
anywhere near me.
We often buy sashimi mail order from Seafood Express, otherwise
known as Fish One (see Wilf's posts below - yes, they are still in
business). Last time we placed an order and asked whether they
had hotategai, they said that they always have it in stock, as
they buy it frozen. They went on to explain that it wasn't possible
to buy sashimi grade scallops locally (NYC/East Coast), so all
their scallops came from Hokkaido. And yes, they do taste very
good! Their uni is also very good, but isn't available all year.
Next time I'll have to ask where that comes from...

wayne
ingallsw/at/frontiernet/dot/net