December 2010 – Sushi Day

As I’ve mentioned in years past, sushi is a big tradition for my family (and many other Japanese families) on New Year’s day. (Gosh, I look so young in that post! No laughing.) I can’t remember a single year that we haven’t had some sort of sushi on New Year’s. And ever since I started Sushi Day four years ago, I’ve been the one to provide the sushi for my family.

So every year, this means buying a bunch of fish for my family. Nowadays, I try to be sustainable as I can. But I know as well as anybody how hard that can be when Japanese supermarkets stock so many types of unsustainable seafood on their shelves.

Because of that, I’m sure you can guess where I plan on buying my New Year’s sashimi this year. You know I’m a huge fan of I Love Blue Sea – I really can’t say enough good things about them. Their fish is fresh and delicious, and the entire experience of buying from them is fantastic.

For a while, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to get from them for New Year’s… maybe I would introduce my family to their delicious arctic char, or how about something even more unfamiliar, like black cod? Lucky for me, the guys at I Love Blue Sea have made things really easy for us – they put together a special sashimi package, which includes a pound each of arctic char, ahi tuna, and scallops. (Plus a tub of gari – pickled sushi ginger.) That will be more than enough to feed my whole extended family, and it’s a perfect variety so we won’t have too much of one type of fish.

I already ordered mine, and if you want one, there’s still time! Order by the evening of Wednesday, December 29th, and choose a shipment date of December 30th, so it will arrive on the 31st. Just in time for New Year’s!

(Don’t worry, they’re not paying me or even asking me to say any of this. I just really, really love their company and their seafood. Plus, they sent me photos of all of them wearing Sushi Day shirts. See how awesome they are? ^_^)

To top it all off, I talked to them the other day, and got the coolest hookup for you guys. One of you lucky people are going to get to win a sashimi package! (That’s an $80 value, including shipping costs!)

So I’m sure you’re wondering now, what do you have to do to win? Well, there are three easy ways to enter:

Leave a comment on this post, and tell me what your New Year’s traditions are.
“Like” Sushi Day and I Love Blue Sea on Facebook, then come back and leave a separate comment to say that you did.
Tweet this: “Like sushi? I just entered to win $80 worth of sustainable seafood from @sushiday … you can too! http://goo.gl/szlQD”, then come back and leave a separate comment to say that you did.

Unfortunately, because this is a perishable product, entries are restricted to people with mailing addresses in the contiguous 48 states of the US (sorry Alaska, Hawaii, and everyone outside of the US!). The contest ends at 11:59PM PST on Monday, December 28. One entry per person for each of the three options (up to three entries per person). The winner will be selected randomly.

Good luck!

Congratulations to Lara! She was the winner of the sushi earrings.

In other news, we’re having a sale! From now until the end of the year, buy at least $40 worth of products from our Sushi Day store, and get $20 off. Our Sushi Day shirts are super-soft, way comfortable, and the perfect gift for every sushi lover in your life. Our Sushi Kits are great for anyone who wants to learn how to roll sushi at home, especially with New Year’s Day (a day where we eat tons of sushi!) coming up.

All you have to do is add $40 or more worth of Sushi Day stuff to your cart, then use the coupon code sushiholidays at checkout to get $20 off!

Mackerel. It’s a fishy fish. It’s a silvery fish. It’s a very sustainable fish.

A good thing indeed.

Now, not everybody likes the fishier tasting fish. Believe me, I know. I used to be one of them. But if you’re just starting to try the fishier fish, mackerel’s a good, mild one to try.

As simple and almost boring as it seems to eat mackerel with nothing more than ginger and scallions, it’s actually an excellent combination. The ginger cuts through the fishiness without being overwhelming, and the green onion lightens up the dish.

For someone who never much liked fishy fish… I really enjoyed this.

Recipe
Nutrition Info

Ingredients

sashimi-grade mackerel
ginger root
green onion
shoyu

Cooking Directions

Thinly slice the mackerel.
Peel the ginger, then chop into short, thin sticks.
Slice the green onion.
Sprinkle the ginger and green onion over the mackerel, and serve with shoyu.
Enjoy!

Coming Soon!

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. These values are only estimates based on the individual ingredients, and not meant to replace the advice of a medical professional.