vegetarian sushi research for a Star Trek fic

[edenfalling]

Question: If Spock and Uhura get takeout sushi in future San Francisco, what might be a reasonable restaurant name, and what are the names and ingredients of some good vegetarian sushi options? I ask because I am nearly sushi-illiterate and also averse to raw vegetables, so I have no idea what would taste good.

Comments

[rahirah]

Are Vulcans stil vegetarians in the new continuity?

[edenfalling]

So far as I know they are -- I can't think of any reason for the destruction of the Kelvin to have changed that, and after the destruction of their whole planet, it seems likely that the survivors might cling more tightly than ever to their traditions.

[mischif]

Kappa maki roll is the first thing that comes to mind, which is just cucumber wrapped in rice and seaweed.

If you're not fond of raw veggies, there's also a variety of pickled veggies in sushi. Futomaki is my personal favourite, it's semi-sweet, but I think some recipes have egg in it. But pickled gourd, carrots, and daikon radish is common. Ume, pickled plums, you can also get in riceballs/onigiri. Very sour, which is something that Vulcans might like, from what I remember of my Star Trek mythos.

Can also do a variety of tempura sushi, fried in tempura batter. Cream cheese is frequent too.

Inari-zushi is also a good dessert that is also vegetarian. Fried tofu stuffed with sweet rice.

-dammit, now I'm hungry. ^__________^

[edenfalling]

Ooh, cool! *takes notes* I think pickled something will probably make an appearance, if for no other reason than strong-flavored foods tend to amuse me.

[willowgreen.livejournal.com]

Some basic vegetarian sushi are:

Kappa maki (cucumber roll)
Tamago (sweet omelet on rice)
Inari (sweet rice inside a fried tofu pocket)

Here's a list of vegetarian sushi from a restaurant in Denver:
VEGETARIAN SUSHI & ROLLS
Shinko Maki / Pickled Daikon Radish Roll 5.25
Kappa / Cucumber Roll 5.25
Avocado with Sun dried Tomato Roll 6.00
Avocado Roll 5.50
Ume Shiso / Plum Paste & Cucumber 5.25
Kanpyo / Dried Gourd Strip Roll 5.25
Shiitake Mushroom Roll 5.25
Asparagus Roll 5.25
Tofu Tempura Roll 6.00
Salad Roll

Sushi restaurants often get very creative with their rolls and mix up all kinds of traditional and nontraditional ingredients--for example, California roll is crab, avocado, and cucumber. New York Roll has smoked salmon and cream cheese. A caterpillar roll has a variety of fish inside, avocado on the outside, and pea sprouts on the "head" to make it look like a caterpillar. A restaurant that emphasized vegetarian sushi might go for similarly wild combinations minus the fish.

Sushi restaurants in the Bay Area tend to have either traditional Japanese names (some local restaurants are Fuki Sushi, Hanamaru, Ozumo, Sanraku, Saizo) or [Blank] Sushi, e.g. Bay Sushi, Chocolate Sushi, Blowfish Sushi (Sushi to Die For), Sushi Groove.

Would Spock and Uhura be sushi experts, or novices? Or would they be one of each?

--Willowgreen, whose daughter got the role of "communications officer" on her recent NASA field trip, which was more of a thrill for her mother than herself.

[edenfalling]

Very interesting -- thank you! Creativity is good. (And belated congrats to your daughter!)

[alchymie.livejournal.com]

Bear in mind, this is the 23rd Century. It's easy to imagine that sushi-quality tuna (to name one fish) will be hard to come by, thanks to overfishing. Most "meat" and "fish" dishes might be molecularly-processed soy.

That might be enough to satisfy Spock's vegetarianism. Unless, of course, his philosophy won't allow him to even eat things that resemble animal products, on the grounds that it would still be catering to the carnivorous urges he's trying to suppress...

That said, tofu is popular even in 21st C. sushi. It can used in nigiri (the little mounds of white rice with a bit of fish on top) or maki (rolls with seaweed on the outside). A bit of bean sprout can be added, as can cucumber or (in California) avocado. Some pickled radish for garnish.

Do Vulcans like hot (spicy) food? It might be interesting to see Spock deal with wasabi.

[edenfalling]

Bear in mind, this is the 23rd Century. It's easy to imagine that sushi-quality tuna (to name one fish) will be hard to come by, thanks to overfishing.

Ha, yes! Especially since we know from TOS movie canon that whales went extinct -- it seems very likely that a lot of other ocean species bit the dust before humanity got itself in shape.

I am not sure what average Vulcan palates are like, but someone on Dreamwidth already suggested pickled plums as an interesting flavor option. Wasabi is strong in a different direction -- burning instead of sour -- but I am oddly drawn to the idea of vivid flavors.

Thank you!

[joisbishmyoga.livejournal.com]

I'm told that the first thing a sushi fan tries on the menu is tamago roll, to see the quality of the chef... but talking in terms of takeout sushi, in Ohio a vegatable tray holds cucumber rolls and carrot rolls. Also, avocado is in practically everything with more than one ingredient, yuck yuck. But don't forget that you aren't limited to Earth plants~<3 http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Category:Foods You should be able to ID vegetarian options easily enough.

[edenfalling]

Ooh, thanks! *pounces on link* I hadn't even thought of alien foods. It would be especially interesting if the restaurant used some Vulcan ingredients -- would that be a comfort or a painful reminder? *ponders*

[joisbishmyoga.livejournal.com]

If nothing else, the prices on Vulcan goods are either going to skyrocket from rarity or plunge from market collapse. *heartless* Also, from what someone said about lack of fish and the need for processed soy? At least one of the tie-in novels I've got makes a plot point of humans farming kelp in vast oceanic floating farms, from sheer number of mouths + lack of land about twenty years before first contact. It gets processed into all sorts of food facsimiles, though for simplicity's sake it's probably all labeled as whatever it's supposed to be imitating.

[edenfalling]

...Now I want to do a mock economics study on the market for Vulcan-derived products now, write a pop-culture debate over whether products made on their new homeworld count as 'real' Vulcan items, transcribe an argument between a chef and a farmer about whether spices grown on the new planet taste the same as spices grown on Vulcan used to (I suspect terroir can get fiendishly complicated when you're talking about whole planets), and so on.

*attempts not to disappear into the intricacies of world-building*

[deralte.livejournal.com]

You know, my first thought upon reading your post is that replicated sushi must be awful:(

Seems people have already listed all their favourite vegetarian sushi. I used to eat inari sushi all the time - they sell it in huge pouches in Japan with the rice inside sometimes mixed with sesame or poppy seeds (or with tiny carrot and bamboo shoot pieces). It makes for a very good lunch.

I can see Spock really liking the pickled ginger, but don't ask me why that would be *grin* (The purpose of the ginger btw, is to clear your palate in between different types of sushi.)

[edenfalling]

Replicated sushi defeats the point of sushi, doesn't it? (And yeah, I suspect it would taste rather flat.)

Pickled ginger is good! I am beginning to have a thing for Spock liking vivid flavors, which actually ties in nicely to a moment I have (tentatively) planned for late in the story.