jayplay The University Daily Kansan Thursday January 31,2002 1B
SEX IS BACK It doesn't matter if you love her or hate her — Meghan's back and as saucy and sassy as ever. SEE PAGE 2B
Tasting sushi
Japanese food brings rich history, flavors to Lawrence area
AARON SHOWALTER/KANSAN
By Mandalee Meisner Jayplay writer
Sushi chef Richard Moon stands behind the glass counter at Kokoro, a Japanese restaurant in Lawrence, picking up handfuls of rice and deftly shaping them into oblong pieces.
His green and black bamboo-print figure bends slightly as he peers at the range of brightly colored fish spread behind the counter. He extracts some salmon, tuna and eel -and then carefully slices a thin laver of each to drape over the rice pieces.
Eventually, a platter emerges with six or seven neatly-spaced pieces of nigiri-sushi — a very welcome sight to his customer, KU graduate student Nanker Parker.
graduate student Furke Pankow
"I was only in Japan for two weeks, but it was long enough for me to get a really good taste for sushi," he said, gripping a piece between his chopsticks.
Parker gives most of his attention to eating the bite-sized delicacies arranged in front of him, but turns his head and laughs when asked how Lawrence sushi compares to that he ate in Japan.
"Let's be honest," he said, grinning. "We're about as far away from the ocean as possible."
Indeed, the prospect of dining on raw seafood is a daunting — if not unthinkable — proposition to many, especially in the heartland of America. Sushi in Kansas is literally a fish out of water.
But with the recent opening of Wa Restaurant, a stylish establishment at 740 Massachusetts St. that serves Japanese-style dishes — along with the availability of sushi at other eating establishments — may be reconsidering the somewhat unjustified stigma of sushi.
Sashimi is actually the literal translation of "raw fish" in Japanese. The word sushi refers to the culinary marriage of vinegar and rice.
When sashimi and sushi are combined, the result is nigiri-sushi — sliced fish covering a little pad of rice, often dabbed with green wasabi paste and dipped in soy sauce by customers.
The fact Kansas is far from oceans and seas brings the question of how fresh is the fish used in Lawrence restaurants, but neither Wa nor Kokoro has had any complaints.
"The fish we serve is frozen-fresh." Moon, the sushi chef, said. "This means that right after catching the fish on the boat, they freeze it and then ship it to us. Since it's frozen, it tastes differently than fresh fish, but many people actually prefer it."
But American audiences aren't always completely sold on the concept of sushi. But the ever-popular California Roll is a fully
Americanized version of maki-sushi—with ingredients that would satiate the wariest of sushi patron: cucumber, avocado and crab or shrimp, both cooked.
Ryang Hwangbo, a sushi chef who sells boxes of already prepared sushi at Target and Hy-Vee in Lawrence, said his biggest seller was, by far, the California roll.
"It appeals more to American tastes," Hwangbo said. "But it's not real Japanese sushi. Sushi is simple and strait, and the Japanese would never combine those three ingredients."
Another issue of authenticity is raised with the way sushi is eaten — and naved for — in America.
In Japan, "if you go to a very authentic sushi bar, you can spend 100 bucks very easily." Yoko Numata, a KU graduate student from the Tokyo area, said. "But in kaiten-sushi bars, where sushi go around on a conveyor belt in front of you, it's very cheap."
Although these inexpensive cafes are becoming increasingly popular in Japan, American audiences haven't exactly embraced the fast-food side of sukii, but things may easily change.
Hwangbo imagines opening a McDonald's style sushi drive-through in Lawrence sometime—a step beyond kiten-sushi.
"People would drive up to the window and ask for the No.1 special," he said. "Then I'd say, 'California roll, coming right up!'"
Contact Meisner at jayplay@kansan.com. This story was edited by Cassio Furtado.
Chef Richard Moon explains the technique he uses to prepare sushi at Kokoro Japanese restaurant, 601 Kasold Dr. Kokoro offers more than 50 varieties of *Nigiri* and *Maki* sushi. *Nigiri* sushi (Below). *Maki* sushi (far bottom).
Sushi eqtiquette
Always eat nigiri-sushi with chopsticks, and never pass pieces of sushi from one set of chopsticks to another. This resembles a funereal ritual in Japan where the bones of ancestors are passed
from one relative to the next and is frowned upon when dining.
Sushi can be eaten with fingers at the bar; but not at a table.
With nigiri-sushi, always dip it fish-side down into the soy sauce. If you soak the rice, the sushi will lose its subtle flavor and shape. Put it fish-side down in your mouth so the flavor of the fish lingers on your tongue.
- Never drink sake with the meal always drink it beforehand. Green or another unsweetened tea is said to go best with sushi.
Sliced ginger (the light pink stuff) and wasabi (green stuff) should be eaten in moderation. Eat the ginger in between individual sushi pieces to cleanse the palate, and put a dab of wasabi (a hot Worcestershire sauce) on the fish for flavor.
Willie Nelson his guitar share history together
By Brad Weiner Jayplay writer
Last night Willie Nelson not only brought his family to the Lied Center, he also brought his greatest friend Trigger, the dilapidated guitar he acquired in 1969.
No other instrument in popular music has as much popularity as Trigger, with the possible exception of B.B. King's darling Lucille.
Once in 1970, he ran into a burning building to retrieve both the instrument and a stash of marijuana, two items he considered prized possessions.
Trigger is an acoustic/electric Martin classical guitar with gut strings. The combination of the classical woodwork and the electric pickups give Nelson the soothing twang that is his trademark sound.
Dozens of stories involve Trigger, which is named after Roy Rogers' trusty sidekick.
More recently, he hid Trigger at his manager's house to avoid its confiscation and sale by the IRS.
When Nelson was asked what gives Trigger its personality, Nelson responded, "old age, abuse and having a lot of beer poured on it."
Contact Weiner at bweiner@kansan.com. This story was edited by Justin Guenley.
ROCK SNOB
Just as we Kansans were experiencing a period of pleasant, unseasonably warm weather, a cold front laid waste to our doorsteps, making treks into the outside world about as appealing as an all-Muzak Paul McCartney and Wings tribute album.
The snow can be your ally: expand your musical taste
The important thing is that such conditions give the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time with your headphones and the perfect escapist album — that is, an album with a pleasant, engaging continuity from song to song that can take you on a brief aural journey.
Cornelius: Fantasma Matador, 1997. If all your childhood storybook and cassette sets were to fall into a chipper shredder only to be reconstructed with tape and played over a thundering drum machine while a fledgling garage band jammed along, the result would be something like Fan-
So secure your favorite chair, a cold beer and your phones, because the following phones are absolutely worth enjoying in their entirely.
COMMENTARY
Andy Gassaway agassaway@kansan.com
tasma.
Cornelius, a Japanese DJ/recording artist/maniac takes your entire Saturday morning vernacular and combines it with pop sounds of the past and the future to create the lush, 40-minute audio equivalent of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Ween: The Mollusk Elektra, 1997. Gene and Dean Ween rented a beach house to write and record this somewhat nautically-themed album that runs a miraculously cohesive gamut of pseudomystical sea chantees, acoustic folk tunes and overblown progrock numbers.
The mind-bending vocal and keyboard effects garnishing these beautifully absurd songs help this
anum to create a world into which you can escape to snicker at third-grade bathroom jokes while shredding the bejesus out of your air guitar.
Red Red Meat: There's a Star Over the Manger Tonight, Sub Pop, 1997. The burned-out, lo-fi sound quality of Red Red Meat's final studio album before disbanding gives it a sparse, yet intimate feel, like a single candle in a dark room.
As garbled, soul-strained vocals drift over faux-Delta blues chops and garbage can drum machines, each song is like aged, disjointed Super 8 footage of people you don't know and will never meet, leaving you to wonder what their stories were.
Just because you're snowed into your abode is no reason to sit and brood. Instead, take advantage of it and give yourself an escape with the right album.
Hey, it beats shoveling the driveway.
Contact Gassaway at agassaway@kansan.com.
LIVE MUSIC CALENDAR
TODAY
The Bottleneck
737 New Hampshire St.
Kristie Stremel, Jade Raven and
Windsor Medium
The Jazzhaus
926 1/2 Massachusetts St.
Midday Ramblers and Bluegrass
The Music Cafe Will's Kitchen and Tabla Rasa
Grand Emporium,
3832 Main St., Kansas City
Green Scene and Odds Even
Davey's Uptown Ramblers,
3402 Main St., Kansas City
The Dirty Van Band
The Pub,
1727 McGee St., Kansas City
Trusty Defiant and Volta
TOMORROW
TOMORROW
Grand Emporium
Kristie Stremel, Trouble and
Junction
Hurricane, 4048 Broadway, Kansas City Ultimate Fakebook, famousfm and Inspection 12
Triple R Lounge Scene 24
The Bottleneck Band That Saved The World and Monovox
The Jazzhaus
Tim Mahoney and the Meenies
and Killer Rock From
Minneapolis
Abe & Jake's Landing,
8 E Sixth Street
Brent Barry and the Roots Crew
SATURDAY
Grand Emporium
Phillip Walker
The Bottleneck Jumbo's Killcrane, Traindodge,
A Storied Northwest and Big Bruiser
The Jazzhaus Lisa Donnelly Band, No Lessons and Blues Acoustic Rock
SUNDAY
The Bottleneck
Live Action Trivia-doors
Outrageous Karaoke-doors
TUESDAY
MONDAY
SUNDAY
TUESDAY
The Bottleneck
Hip Hop DJ night
WEDNESDAY
The Bottleneck
Clint K Band, Attention and
Elevator Division
Abe & Jake's Landing Brody Buster (blues)
The Jazzhaus Poetry Slam with open poetry readings
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